“The world (the world), is on fire tonight (tonight}”

“The world (the world), is on fire tonight  (tonight}”… Strawberry Alarm Clock

Fire is dynamic, sometimes explosively so… like snowflakes and waves no two are the same: it can be smoldering along burning in litter & duff when a change in wind, fuels & topography turn it into an inferno.  I recently returned from my second fire mobilization and assignment in NorCal. The first was on August 1^st, for the Frog fire on the Modoc National Forest (NF) near Canby, CA.  On July 31^st Dave Ruhl, a young firefighter (husband and father of two young children) on detail assignment from South Dakota as an Assistant Fire Management Officer (AFMO) on the Modoc was involved scouting the fire during initial attack. We stress attention to our basic Fire Orders, 18 Situations that Shout Watch Out, and LCES (Lookouts-Communications-Escape Routes-Safety Zones) because when in place, it (LCES) saves lives. AFMO Ruhl was trapped by a sudden change in weather & fire behavior, which compromised his escape route to safety. He was tragically asphyxiated as he was shaking out his fire shelter for deployment. I looked at the “fatality site” daily for nearly a week, and wondered: “Could that have been me, once upon a time?”

             

My 2^nd NorCal call in August came on the 23^rd, to the Shasta-Trinity NF for the River Complex of fires. As sometimes happens I’d originally been ordered for the Fork Complex, around Hayfork, CA, but as I was traveling was “traded” (reassigned) to the River, named for rivers along the Trinity River watershed. Our Incident Command Post (ICP) was in the town park of Willow Creek, CA. I called it home for 2-weeks. The baseball field, soccer pitch, and tennis court (1) were populated by tents and trailers common to a large fire ICP, including: mobile caterer & shower units, Medical & Supply Units, and workplaces of the General & Command Staff and their support functions. This included the large tent SAFETY shared with the National Weather Service, our Fire Behavior Analyst, The Operations Section Chief/s and Air Ops.  I worked for Safety, imbedded with various Division & Group Supervisors.

I received a daily visual reminder of the fury and power of fire at Drop Point (DP)-16. Before I had arrived a dozer had been left overnight for safekeeping there. Apparently, it seemed a good decision at the time: come back the next morning and start building line. However, fire behavior kicked its heals that night and hotly burned-over the area. Net result: one less dozer for operations, one more file for the Compensation & Claims Unit.

           

A new resource to me was working with REMs (Rapid Extraction Modules) deployed strategically for response. The module was usually a Paramedic & EMT, working with an engine, trained in rope & litter work for high angle rescues over an edge. I worked around some from LA City, LA County, Ventura County and Long Beach City. Extremely professional: our goal was to keep them bored (like all medics), but unfortunately they were needed and responded to an incident when a Safety Officer missed a turn on a curve and ended up 500’ downslope on a 60+% hill (and, no… it wasn’t me). Since the fire started southwest of the town of Denny, and that was where he was driving towards, we’ll just call him that. Safety Denny was OK; medically treated and released, he headed home shortly thereafter.

Jeff Henderson & friend (redwood)

I was fortunate to work with a good group of Safety Officers assigned to the incident: CA Interagency Incident Management Team 4 (Rocky Opliger, Incident Commander) was lucky to have Dan Snow, Sam Wilbanks, Jason Winbigler, and John Kraushaar performing “Team Safety” duties. I was joined in-the-field by a super cadre of young Safety O’s: Rob Pelton (Michigan DNR), Rob Smolczynski (Boise NF), and Jeff Henderson (Ozark NF). “Rev. Jeff” was also a Baptist minister, and as most First Responders or Public Safety Officers will attest, prayers help (as we’re often looking for others to join ours). When I told them “Safety Dude” had a 50-year reunion from Burbank High coming in October, one of the three noted that I was out of high school before they were born. I replied with a "yep" (actually 67.9% of the population of the U.S. was born after I graduated from BHS).

The evening of 16 Sept. (Viva Mexico!) I saw NBC reporter Miguel Amlaguer’s piece from the Valley Fire, where he had fire all around him. He received kudos from his Nightly News anchor, Lester Holt. Safety Dude, however, was thinking he’d put fire personnel, Public Information Officers at the very least, into harm’s way with increased exposure as his escort; a fire safety adage is that 500,000 unsafe behaviors precede a tragedy and he’d just used one.  I am glad he is OK, but... It also reminded me that the Eureka Times-Standard had an article entitled “Crash” citing that Humboldt County was the 2^nd most dangerous place (per capita) to drive: maybe under-the-influence of something and lots of narrow winding roads with steep vertical drop-offs = flying off copious launch pads over very unforgiving terrain. Add fire to the equation and it gets even more hazardous & deadly.   

Historic cabin in back

While out there, I survived “Bigfoot Days” celebrated in Willow Creek on Saturday Sept. 5^th. Yep, only1-day for “Bigfoot Days”, as people had places to go and things to do. One of the things some folks do is tend to their crop of medicinal marijuana. It is relatively easy to get a prescription for 99-plants; a family of four could have 396. These are grown openly on patented lands/private property: no worries.  However, there are still commercial grow sites on NF lands that are illegal, and yes, The Cartel (Viva Mexico!) is involved. Air Attack radioed in a large plantation beyond Division E (in wilderness) that they estimated to be ca. 7,000 plants. A lower level recon indicated more like 35,000. Besides being illegal trespass-use of our Federal lands, and waters, some growers are protecting their plants from wildlife browsers by the application of Carbofuran (Furadan 4F/5G/350FS) a hazardous chemical, per attached “Safety Alert.” So, another Watch-Out to add to the list.

Bottom line amigos, THANK YOU for ALL your good work (and support for those involved with same): “Be careful out there…”