Fire Management Today Is Published by the Forest Service of the U.S
Fire today ManagementVolume 74 • No. 1 • 2014
WWhat have We Learned?
United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire Management Today is published by the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. The Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the public business required by law of this Department.
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Tom Vilsack, Secretary Melissa Frey U.S. Department of Agriculture General Manager
Thomas L. Tidwell, Chief Mark Riffe Forest Service Editor
Tom Harbour, Director Fire and Aviation Management
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September 2014
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Fire Management Today 2 Fire Management today Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014
On the Cover: Contents Anchor Point: The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy: Together, We Can Do More! . . 4 . Tom Harbour
Burning To Learn: An Engine Burnover Project To Improve Firefighter Safety ...... 6 Ryan Myers Safety and the Agency, Part 1: Understanding Accident A fire-gutted vehicle is one result Mitigation ...... 11 of an intentional vehicle burnover Jim Barnett conducted by the Forest Service and CALFIRE to test safety equipment. Analyzing Size Distribution of Large Wildfires ...... 15 See the article in this issue for details. Photo by Ryan Myers. Lloyd C. Irland ArcFuels: An ArcMap Toolbar for Fuel Treatment Planning and Wildfire Risk Assessment ...... 21 . Nicole M. Vaillant and Alan A. Ager Providing Information During Disasters and Incidents . . 24 . Karen Takai A New Truck for Avoca ...... 28 Martin Brammier Flipping Firefighting Training ...... 29 Mark Cantrell The USDA Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management Staff has adopted a logo reflecting three central principles of wildland Safety and the Agency, Part 2: External Influences fire management: on Fire and Aviation Management ...... 33 • Innovation: We will respect and value James K. Barnett thinking minds, voices, and thoughts of those that challenge the status quo while focusing on the greater good. Building a Spatial Database of Fire Occurrence in Hawaii . . 37 • Execution: We will do what we say we Andrew D. Pierce and Elizabeth Pickett will do. Achieving program objectives, improving diversity, and accomplishing Fire Management Today Photo Contest Results . . . . . 43 targets are essential to our credibility. • Discipline: What we do, we will do well. Fiscal, managerial, and operational discipline are at the core of our ability to hort eatures fulfill our mission. s F Success Stories Wanted ...... 32 Contributors Wanted ...... 36
Firefighter and public safety is our first priority.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 3 by Tom Harbour Anchor Director, Fire and Aviation Management Point Forest Service the nationaL Cohesive WiLdLand Fire ManageMent strategy: together, We Can do More!
ddressing wildfire in the conditions. Trends call for a broad- fuels management program that United States is not simply a based, cohesive response to address involves natural resource and land Afire management, fire opera the mounting challenges. This use program managers and plan tions, or wildland-urban interface national strategy allows stakehold ners; it must be a comprehensive challenge: it is a more complex ers systematically and thoroughly plan through which, together, we land management and societal to develop a dynamic approach to achieve the most difference on the issue. For the past 3 years, fire offi planning for, responding to, and ground. It is a program that works, cials from across the Nation have recovering from wildland fire in first, through managers within our been working together to create America. own organization and, then, looks a national cohesive strategy that for opportunities to work along constitutes a shared vision for pres Wildland fire managers know that, with our neighbors and partners to ent and future wildland fire and to be successful, we need to reach achieve its goals. There are good land management activities. The beyond Federal agencies. To be suc examples of works in progress in Forest Service, together with our cessful, we need an approach that several States that are outside of partners at the U.S. Department of builds on past efforts—including but still supported by the Forest the Interior, National Association of the National Fire Plan, the 10-Year Service. State Foresters, National League of Comprehensive Strategy, and the Cities, and State Governors, has led corresponding Implementation The Montana Cohesive this interagency initiative. Plan. Past efforts were most suc Strategy Pilot Program cessful when they were most inclu The primary factors identified that sive, extending across the entire A Forest Service grant provided present both the greatest chal fire community and including a means for the Montana Department lenges and greatest opportunities wide range of Federal, tribal, State, of Natural Resource Conservation for making a positive difference in local, and nongovernmental stake (DNRC) to: addressing America’s wildland fire holders. In April 2014, we com problems include restoring and pleted and released the final phase • Allocate funding for fuels miti maintaining resilient landscapes, of the National Cohesive Wildland gation cost-share assistance to creating fire-adapted communi Fire Management Strategy. treat 100 acres of family-owned ties, and responding to wildfire. forest lands in the wildland Building upon the foundation of Does that mean we are finished? urban interface near West previous efforts to address wildland No: we are far from finished with Yellowstone, MT. This work is fire management across America, our work. I’d like to focus here on scheduled to begin this field the key to this strategy’s success the restoration and maintenance season. Currently, the local fire is its inclusiveness across all land of resilient landscapes through an district is conducting hazard ownerships. active fuels management program. assessments on all properties in the project area. The past two decades have seen When we think of a fuels manage • Use a new computer model a rapid escalation of severe fire ment program, we can no longer developed by the Forest behavior, home and property loss, afford to think only in terms of a Service’s Fire Lab to conduct an higher costs, increased threats to wildland fire management program. assessment on the effectiveness communities, and worsening land The program must be an integrated of past DNRC fuels mitigation
Fire Management Today 4 grants on reducing fire behavior ing Montana wood products, education workshop on biomass and protecting firefighters and forest management, and the heat technologies and opportu structures. The DNRC has hired link among healthy forests, nities in La Grande, OR. More a technician to apply the model, productive mills, vibrant than 45 participants—including and the agency will complete communities, and other ben local landowners, facility man the subsequent analysis and efits. agers, elected officials, timber report by the end of the 2014 – Development of a “Cohesive industry representatives, con field season. Wildfire and Forest sultants, and local citizens— • Provide funding and support Management Strategy” attended the workshop. for eligible wood and biomass appendix to Montana Forest • Received seven applications for projects and business develop Action Plan for Southern biomass grant funding. ment. This summer, the DNRC and Southeastern Montana. • Reviewed and provided support will advertise a request for The areas of southern and for grant-funded opportunities proposals in concert with the southeastern Montana have for two joint Forest Service–pri Forest Service’s Woody Biomass experienced extreme fire vate lands fuel-treatment proj Utilization Grant Program. behavior in the past several ects (Cove II and Mt. Howard). • Fund a forest products promo years. The strategy addresses • Provided input and consulted tion and support specialist and significant issues related on a wildfire simulation host partially fund the existing forest to resilient landscapes, fire ed by the Umatilla National product and biomass program adapted communities, and Forest and conducted by the manager. Working with other effective response to wildfire. National Incident Management DNRC staff, these personnel The southern part of the Organization in the Mill Creek have initiated the following State also lacks significant Watershed, which provides efforts: markets for wood products drinking water to the city of – A competitive grants pro to underwrite the costs of Walla Walla, WA. The simulation gram. The program supports high-priority forest treat occurred in March 2013 and eligible wood and biomass ments. included two States, three coun project and business develop ties, and multiple wildfire agen ment. The Oregon Cohesive cies. – The “Buy Montana Wood” Strategy Program promotional marketing These are just two good examples campaign. A key product of The Forest Service executed this of how we can work together with this effort will be a directory award on August 27, 2012, for our partners to make a difference. of Montana wood products Oregon officials to: Today, I challenge all wildfire man with a Web site interface and agement professionals, forest plan interactive map. • Develop a landscape-level, col ners, and other program managers – Coordination of the laborative approach to address to work together in developing Montana Forest Products the three parts of the Cohesive an integrated fuels management Retention Roundtable. The Wildfire Strategy for the north program to support the Forest roundtable is a forum for ern Blue Mountain region; Service motto of “caring for the stakeholders to create part • Analyze regional opportunities land and serving people” and a nerships, discuss issues, and to create demand for additional cohesive strategy goal to restore develop solutions for main biomass utilization; and and maintain resilient landscapes. taining and enhancing the • Address commonalities of the Concurrently, you should reach out State’s forest products indus first two objectives through a to your neighbors; other Federal, try infrastructure. demonstration project. tribal, State, and local govern – Montana Forest Products ments; and nongovernmental Industry Week. Created by To date, the Oregon group has: organizations that have an interest the Montana legislature, this • Partnered with Sustainable in wildland fire management or in designated week and accom Northwest, a regional nonprofit developing an integrated fuels man panying year-round efforts organization, the Forest Service, agement program, such as those promote educational and and the Oregon Department discussed above. Together, we can outreach activities address of Energy to deliver an all-day do more!
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 5 Burning to Learn: an engine Burnover ProjeCt to iMProve FireFighter saFety Ryan Myers
HOOMP!!! The big dually tire exploded off of its rim, Wcausing viewers in the obser vation area to flinch and the fire engine to list slightly downhill. Flames now engulfed three of the four engines; spectators gawked, firefighters scanned for spot fires, reporters snapped pictures, and data collection devices ran. It was mid-morning on June 3, 2013, on the CALFIRE training grounds near Ione, CA. We were witnessing the second “in season” engine burn- over project, led by the San Dimas Technology and Development Center (SDTDC), designed to test and measure various outputs when fire equipment is overrun by wild Four type-3 engines stand on the midslope road during the overburn project setup in fire. Ione, CA. Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013.
This was a test of questions that, if asked in the heat of operations, The engine burnover generally come too late: “If a fire project is designed shelter is used as a heat shield to test and measure inside an engine cab, will it help survivability?” “What kinds of tox various outputs when ins are released by the heating of fire equipment is combustibles inside the cab of this overrun by wildfire. engine, and what are the conse quences of inhalation?” “If plastic door handles melt, are firefighters the field regarding the effectiveness trapped in an engine cab?” The of safety equipment and practices group conducting this experiment recommended for use during vehi was seeking answers to just these cle burnover situations. The initial types of questions. project proposal sought an evalua tion of protective equipment (such The Story Begins as hose laggings, fire curtains, and The burnover project arose from fire shelters) and procedures (such concerns of equipment operators— as vehicle orientation relative to Data collection device and sensor primarily bulldozer operators—in the fire front) and the development connecting wires are prepared for of testing methods for assessment installation in and on fire engines. Photo Ryan Myers is an operations specialist of proposed solutions. by Ryan Myers, 2013. for the Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management Staff.
Fire Management Today 6 When the project began, the origi The burnover project arose from concerns nal objectives were: of equipment operators in the field • To develop protocols and test regarding the effectiveness of equipment procedures for validating manu and practices recommended for use during facturer’s claims on protective vehicle burnover situations. equipment for vehicles and equipment, • To assess the effectiveness of pro tective equipment as it pertains to operator safety, and • To provide data and recommen dations for the development of guidelines and standard operat ing procedures for equipment operators and crews caught in a burnover situation with their vehicles.
Setting Up the Test In order to accomplish these objec tives, the team at SDTDC parti tioned the study into three phases:
Phase 1: Live-fire tests on closed-cab and open-cab bulldozers in different oper Sensors are mounted inside the cab of a fire engine to gather data during the burn. ating configurations and Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013. using different protective systems (completed July 2010). Phase 2: Live-fire tests on type 3 and type-6 wildland fire engines in different operat ing configurations and using different protective systems (completed October 2011). Phase 3: Development of labo ratory test parameters for heat and flame exposure on protective equipment and assemblies, measurement of the concentration of gas ses from thermally degraded plastics, and mechanical material tests on fire curtain materials and laggings (ther mal insulation around pipes On the morning of the burn, the incident management team set up an observation area or wires) (completed June on the facing slope of the ravine. Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013. 2013).
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 7 The phase 2 engine burnover was • Observe the synergistic effect of Partners in the Test performed on two type-3 and two complex variables in a real fire Numerous agencies and organiza type-6 engines. The phase 3 engine environment to provide parame tions provided support for this burnover (observed by the author) ters (such as temperature effects, experiment, including the following: was performed on four type-3 fire heat fluxes, and toxicities) for engines placed midslope in 2–3 further testing, and • San Dimas Technology and acres of chamise and chaparral. For • Obtain data to assess the surviv Development Center, both experiments, researchers mea ability of the interior of wildland • Missoula Technology and sured ambient temperatures, heat fire engines in specific configura Development Center, flux, wind speed, particulate matter, tions and fire behaviors. and gases released inside the cabs of the fire engines. Testing person nel placed monitoring equipment at the test site: thermocouples (75 on each engine), heat flux transducers, video cameras, fire behavior pack ages, fire atmospheric sampling systems, and infrared cameras.
Technicians outfitted the type-3 engines with different types of safety equipment according to the vehicle model: fire curtains and fire shelters deployed in the cabs, air conditioning and air re-circulating systems, and an external water protection system. Standard fire shelters containing data collection sensors were also deployed on the same mid-slope road among the The start of the firing operation: fire personnel have lit both flanks of the burn area to engines. contain the burn, and the principal fire has begun to burn at the bottom of the ravine. Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013. Additional Phase 3 Objectives For phase 3, additional objectives became important:
• Provide science-based recom mendations for engine opera tors and crews in the event of a wildland fire entrapment and/or burn-over, • Validate the effectiveness of equipment marketed to protect engine operators, • Gather data to support future studies on shelter deployment locations around fire apparatus,
The flame front approaches the vehicles from below. By reducing available fuels, the flanking fire on the right has protected one engine (behind the smoke plume) from the main flame front. Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013.
Fire Management Today 8 • Pacific Southwest Research • Commonwealth Scientific The Test Unfolds Station, Industrial Research Organization In Ione on the day of the test, sur • Rocky Mountain Research (Australia), rounding grass and brush was Station, • University of California- dry, the temperature was quickly • San Bernardino National Forest, Riverside, approaching the mid-80s, and • Angeles National Forest, • Boise Mobile Equipment, the wind was blowing out of the • Bureau of Land Management, • Navistar, and west—right to left from the VIP • CALFIRE, • Campbell Scientific. viewing area, 200 meters north of • Roscommon Equipment Center, the hillside test site. The manage ment team used the incident com mand structure to ensure span of control and to distribute respon sibilities into functional areas, as would typically be done on any wildland fire, prescribed fire, or other natural disaster response. Sam Wu of SDTDC and M. Ramirez of CALFIRE shared incident com mand: Wu focused on setting equip ment and gathering data, while Ramirez focused on the prescribed burn. Under them, several agency representatives, as well as section chiefs, managed logistics, planning, and finance.
With firefighters deployed to con tain the burn to the test site, the As the flame front reaches the vehicles on the road, rubber and plastics on the engines operations section chief gave the begin to burn. Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013. signal for the firing group to start the fire. Personnel lit the left and right flanks of the burn area first to contain the fire’s flanks, a terra torch completed the firing opera tion at the bottom of the hillside and the fire burned up the slope. A remote-controlled helicopter with an attached video camera flew over the heads of the firefighters as a type-2 helicopter was making “laps” between a water source and the burn, dropping buckets on the unburned, downwind flank.
With the flanking fires to the left and right removing fuels to create containment buffers, the downslope fire roared up the hillside toward the four engines on the road. One engine was spared the brunt of the The aftermath: direct flame impingement consumed the three engines on the left while the engine on the right survived the fire. Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 9 A couple of hours after lighting, only a shell remained of one of the engines. Photo by Ryan Myers, 2013. uphill fire run, owing to its prox imity to the nearby flanking fire. When the flames subsided, the remains of three The flame front quickly overtook charred fire engines sat on the blackened hillside, the remaining three engines. The rubber tires and the plastic parts smoldering and rippling with residual heat. on the body of the engines were the first to catch, but after several minutes of direct flame exposure, tims of past fire tragedies—which, valuable images and information to outlines of all three of the engines no doubt, bore a resemblance to public information officers, report were difficult to distinguish from this scene—and also an air of antic ers, and photographers. The cost the flames that engulfed them. The ipation for the insights that may be per acre for preparation of this vegetation near the engines was gained from the day’s efforts. The burn, had this been a standard pre consumed faster than the burning fourth engine, spared by the flank scribed fire, would have been unac engines, and soon, only the engines ing fire’s buffer and appearing rela ceptably high. However, given the remained aflame. Perimeter opera tively unscathed, flashed its emer objectives and potential improve tions contained the burn until the gency lights throughout the test ments in firefighter safety, it seems available fuel within the test site and held its brilliant green paint as a small price to pay and a worthy was consumed. if in defiance of the surrounding investment. devastation, representing the hope The Aftermath that the efforts of this test may Test results analysis is ongoing. For eventually save firefighters’ lives. more information, please contact: When the flames subsided, the remains of three charred fire The test operation successfully Ralph Gonzales, San Dimas engines sat on the blackened hill coordinated multiple agencies, Technology and Development side, smoldering and rippling with hand crews, fire engines, dozers, a Center, [email protected]; residual heat. Mixed emotions type-2 helicopter, and various over (909) 599-1267, x212 or (951) appeared to hang over the observa head personnel, as well as providing 295-6576. tion area: a quiet reverence for vic
Fire Management Today 10 saFety and the agenCy, Part 1: understanding aCCident Mitigation Jim Barnett
Forest Service Manual (FSM) 6700 equal parts confidence and caution. outlines how the agency intends When confidence A support network is also essential to ensure adequate protection trumps caution, bad in the ability to move beyond basic for Forest Service employees and things tend to happen . position qualifications to higher property, as well as the visiting levels of proficiency. Management public. The direction also outlines practices guide firefighters on the circumstances—in the form of Systemic Approaches how not to cause, contribute to, accidents—that generate an inves to Accident Avoidance or become victims of an accident. tigation, the roles and responsibili The cornerstone of such manage Accident avoidance, or “premitiga ties of participants in such investi ment support network is policy. tion,” starts with the individual. gations, and the products of these Existing policies must be applied From their first exposure to opera investigations. Investigations may through training and, afterward, tions, firefighters possess a level of end with specific recommendations proper use of operations guidelines. reliance on procedure and a sense or a finding of a “null alterna Application of such policies and of self-preservation that assist in tive”—that is, that no change in guidelines is left to training and, maintaining an accident-free envi existing procedures can be recom in some cases, development of new ronment. These motivators persist mended (see table 1). Whatever the tools and technologies. All of these while the firefighter’s knowledge, outcome, the intended result of are amendable and subject to ongo skills, and abilities are being devel such investigations is to promote ing feedback and revision. oped. The key to successfully avoid safe operations by individuals with ing accidents is the development of very different roles and person alities in an environment that is never completely predictable. Once the investigation report is signed The key to successfully avoiding and considered official, a variety accidents is the development of equal of staff turn the recommendations parts confidence and caution. into actions within four categories of mitigation or a null alternative. The four categories of mitigation are: (1) policy, (2) procedures, Table 1.—Mitigation Alternatives. (3) training, and (4) technology. Category Action Integration of recommended miti Null Alternatives may not exist or are deemed unreasonable, gation measures presents its own Alternative unachievable, or lack a positive benefit ratio set of challenges at each level and point in application. Policy Agency stated and published employee obligations Procedure/ New or updated via policy (normally, through the Forest Process Service Handbook), training, and/or guide (including standard use of technology) Training New or updated training course materials via course(s), simulations, or elements of a position task book Jim Barnett is a former aviation manage Technology Introduction or improvement of a technology or “tool” ment specialist and management training officer with the Forest Service, Fire and (for example, hand tools, fire shelter, equipment, or air Aviation Management in Washington, DC. craft)
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 11 Policy Few new firefighters have more than a If an internal accident finding general sense of agency policies. requires a policy update, agency experts craft new policy language that “must,” “shall,” or “will” be Aviation Operations or “Red Book.” Guides followed “to the letter” as a binding This guide contains restatements of The Forest Service has a number of standard. Issuing a national FSM, key differences in agencies policies. reasons for not recognizing the Red Forest Service Handbook (FSH), or The 2011 Red Book cover letter Book or any specific document as interim directive may require an defers Forest Service policy control an operational guide. Operational extensive review and multiple con to FSM 5108 (actually a misprint guides present information as need currences (including the employ for “FSM 5107”). ees’ union) and will be processed ed and appropriate for use in vari ous situations; policy documents through Forest Service, Office Periodically, firefighting agen are not intended to advocate spe of Regulatory and Management cies look to coordinate their indi cific actions. Policy language and Services (ORMS) in the National vidual policies, but this may not intent is a moving target. Simply Office. Approved policies go into be achieved—or even be prudent. effect after they are signed by the republishing policy may not always Chief or Deputy Chief and posted by be helpful in the field. Unlike ORMS. Regional foresters have the policy, guidance can’t be violated as authority to approve regional policy Logic indicates that identified in its defined meaning: or supplements as long as they do the closer an accident “advise or show the way,” “form an not lessen or violate national policy is, in time and space, opinion or make a decision or cal (see table 2). the lower the number culation,” or “influence a course of of options that exist to action.” Few new firefighters have more prevent it . than a general sense of agency Many guides beyond the Red Book policies. More frequently, they contain suggested procedures, data are aware that all five agencies While some firefighters argue for tables, and other reference mate (Forest Service, Bureau of Land the elimination of confusion, others rial that applies to everything from Management, National Park support independent policy devel specialized aviation operations to Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife opment that addresses each agen prescribed fire planning. These Service, and the Bureau of Indian cy’s specific issues, environments, guides contain many procedures Affairs) that share Federal firefight responsibilities, and perspectives. or processes that have been identi ing responsibility differ slightly While this debate continues, each fied or updated based on accident in some of their policies. These agency must continue to train recommendation. These guides are differences are reinforced by the according to its existing policies. agency-specific or sponsored by Interagency Standards for Fire and the National Wildfire Coordinating
Table 2.—Direction Instruments Type Goal Applicability Period Forest Service Manual Binding standards Until superseded Forest Service Handbook Binding standards/processes Until superseded Interim Directive Single policy/chapter update 18 Months* Chief Single policy update 1 year Regional Supplement Binding regional standards** Until superseded Regional Forester Regional policy update** 1 year
* Limited to an initial 18-month period and one additional 18-month period. ** Not already covered or restricted by agency policy.
Fire Management Today 12 Training: Costs and Benefits The Forest Service is known for ative effects. One potential upside statistics, allowing fewer Forest its extensive training require to the delay is that it causes most Service personnel to reach the ments. The South Canyon Inci firefighters to remain longer at a top tiers of incident management dent spurred these requirements, given position or level. This extend or reach those tiers only as they which compelled Forest Service ed exposure is significantly more near retirement age. Another way managers to drastically depart effective than most classroom train of looking at the last negative from other agencies’ training ing in developing practical skills, consequence is that, as the Forest requirements by adding NWCG knowledge, and capabilities through Service struggles to increase com “Suggested Courses” to exist hands-on experience. Because most petency, the experience of agency ing training requirements. This Forest Service firefighters remain leadership on more complex inci decision more than doubled the in a position longer, they are often dents is decreasing. number of courses needed to more proficient than their average progress from the most basic counterparts in another agency. In addition to practical consider Firefighter 2 rating to Type 1 ations of training, policy (in the Incident Commander. This man Increased Forest Service training form of FSH 5109.17, Fire and agement decision has added a requirements also come with at Aviation Management Qualifica significant amount of time to the least four negative consequences, tion Handbook) can also hamper professional development process. including (1) not having the energy promotion: specific provisions Though some local units are able and money required for the added limit a regional forester’s ability to provide accelerated training training; (2) losing some personnel to supplement agency training to at the local level to address the to other agencies with an easier and broaden a firefighter’s experience added requirements, available quicker qualification system; (3) and thus sets a barrier to advance training slots and limited travel slowing the exposure of firefighters ment outside of a few very nar funds for additional regional-level to training that often may contain row qualification criteria. A final and national-level courses can higher level discussions, processes, unique aspect of FSH 5109.17 is an slow individual training sched and guidelines that are integrated outline of the criteria and process ules. Slowing the formal training into regional-level and national- for decertification of an individu process has both positive and neg- level courses; and (4) according to al’s position qualifications.
Group (NWCG), an interagency discussion to the Annual Wildland courses tend to be less effective group that oversees several shared Fire Safety Refresher course; than those that contain hands-on program goal areas or systems, and National Advanced Fire and drills, realistic scenarios, and other including training. Resource Institute (upper-division problemsolving or decisionmaking course) instructors may update challenges. Field training can sig Training their outlines prior to any presen nificantly increase short-term and tation. Informal discussions may long-term retention. Like policy documents and opera also take place locally, regionally, tional guides, NWCG-sponsored or within any number of workshops The effectiveness of course content training course content is peri and other forums. and delivery plays a significant role odically updated to reflect recom in the most basic form of behav mended changes that are intended Whether imparting important ior modification. Exposure during to increase safety. Although course accident mitigation measures or training, not only to new infor material updates may take up to simple procedures, NWCG training mation, but also how and when a decade, NWCG provides a num materials and delivery are based that information is best utilized, ber of options for including newly on sound adult learning principles. promotes appropriate response defined mitigations. Instructors Extensive lecture-based courses are behavior. Such training serves a can individually add items to their just a small part of available train broader goal in the development of instructional content; course ing tools: lecture-based and online situational awareness; this aware developers may add information or
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 13 ness can be increased and rein Simple policy statements and Summary forced through repetition of actions training bolster a commonsense FSM 5107 states: “The Forest through drills. Supervision, task approach to safety—though they Service recognizes that the nature books, and other evaluation tools have yet to eliminate easily avoid of the wildland fire environment is can provide feedback intended to able injuries, such as hand burns often dynamic, chaotic, and unpre reinforce awareness, behavior, and resulting from individuals not dictable. In such an environment, appropriate action. wearing gloves. reasonable discretion in decision- making may be required… Forest Technology Service employees must use their Much of Fire and Aviation Training serves a best judgment in applying the guid Management’s presuppression bud broader goal in ance contained in these references get is committed to acquisition, the development of to real-life situations.” replacement, maintenance, and situational awareness. development of technologies and Whether based in policy, process, tools that equip firefighters to over training, or technology, internal come challenges. Most tools and or external accident mitigation is technologies have been laboratory Technology tends to be an area intended to benefit the health and and field tested to assure safety, where costs exceed other mitiga safety of those working in the wild quality, and durability. Whether tion options. For instance, statistics fire environment. No policy will as simple as a Pulaski blade cover show that the fire shelters that ever lead to a continuous sequence or as complex as a computer fire- were designed in the 1960s were of decisions that are both effective behavior modeling application, deployed by more than 1,100 fire and completely safe. No guide will standards, procedures, and prudent fighters and are credited with sav ever lead to complete situational use of that technology are support ing more than 300 lives. Despite awareness in an environment of ed by guides, training, and policies. these positive estimates, sufficient infinite variables. No training will data exists from fatal fires to war ever lead to every firefighter’s Integrating technology into the rant integration of additional having and properly using every safety chain starts with personal engineering and technological resource or technology available protective equipment. Associated improvements to fire shelters. In at every moment. Accident mitiga policy statements are simple and 2000, the Forest Service’s Missoula tion is reactionary, cumbersome, general in order to be all-encom Technology and Development and never 100-percent effective. passing. For example, FSM 6716.03 Center was tasked with develop Still, the current process stands as states that units should “Acquire, ing new criteria, as the first step in a compelling and universally em maintain, and use personal protec replacing the old fire shelter mod braced method for improving safety tive equipment for all recognized els. Ultimately, research, contract and continuing to save lives. hazardous jobs when engineering ing, and purchasing may cost many and administrative means of elimi millions of dollars. nating the hazard are not feasible.”
Fire Management Today 14 anaLyzing size distriBution oF Large WiLdFires Lloyd C. Irland
nterest in extreme fires and fire years is rising (Williams and oth We know that the average is not a good way to Iers 2011; FEM 2013; Climate describe a highly skewed probability distribution. Central 2012), and while an exten sive scientific study would employ long-term and more complete data to be useful. Such analysis is com of the top 112 fires began in 2007 sets with a more geographic focus, mon in the insurance and financial and 2011 as swampland fires in such datasets are rare at present. industries for studying the fre the Okefenokee National Wildlife quency and impacts of hurricanes. Refuge (ONWR) in Georgia and Recent work for the Northeastern Fire science is also now beginning Florida. We considered nine of the Forest Fire Protection Compact to take advantage of this approach. fires as grassland or rangeland fires; contains several useful, simple-to Shifting the focus of analysis to four of them occurred in what we use tools for studying very large extreme events is comparatively might think of as “the East,” from fires. This article examines the 112 simple and can make use of simple east Texas to Florida. We defined largest fires nationally from 1997 to graphics that bring out patterns two of the fires as “forest/rural:” the 2011 from the National Interagency not easily read from tables of data 1998 Volusia County, FL, fires and Fire Center (NIFC) wildfire list and or from statistically estimated the 2011 East Texas Complex Fire. analyzes them from an extreme- equations. Other fires in the database include value viewpoint, presents analysis fires in the contiguous 48 States methods, and points out some of Of the top 112 fires in the United other than the East, grass fires, their general implications for fire States from 1997 to 2011 that California fires, and Texas fires. operations. burned a total of almost 25 million (The groups in table 1 and figure acres (10 million hectares [ha]), the 1 are based on annotations in the How Big Is “Big?” How top 5 percent burned 18 percent NIFC database, are very rough, and Extreme Is “Extreme?” of the cumulative total. Of these, are used for illustrative purposes Fire analysis tends to use long 39 fires exceeded 200,000 acres only.) term averages of area burned and/ (80,000 ha), and the peak-to-mean or fire size. The problem with this ratio of acreage burned was 5.5 (see Area burned, of course, is hardly approach is that it essentially con table 1). the only indicator of impact. The signs the occasional extreme events 2001 Bastrop County, TX, Complex to outlier status. Extreme-value Of the top 112 fires, 7 of the larg burned 35,000 acres (14,000 ha), analysis offers a different perspec est 10 fires were in Alaska. Two with 1,300 homes destroyed and tive to fire analysis than analysis of long-term averages. Some fire man agers find extreme-value analysis Quiz: (1) Which State had the largest average size of fire in the United States from 1997 to 2001: California, Alaska, or Georgia? (2) Which State had the lowest degree of extreme fire behavior, as measured by Lloyd C. Irland is a forest protection con the ratio of the peak size fire to the average size fire? (3) What propor sultant formerly with the Maine Forest tion of the total area burned by extreme fires was in Alaska? Service. He recently completed a major study for the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact that deals, in part, To find the answers, download the database from the National with measuring extreme fire risks in the Interagency Fire Center and analyze it yourself—or simply read this region. article (answers at the end).
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 15 Table 1.—Characteristics of the 112 U.S. fires of more than 100,000 acres (40,000 ha), 1997–2011.
Location No. fires Total acres Average size Maximum Ratio of peak to mean ------thousand acres------ Alaska 31 9,857 318 1,306 4.1 California 11 1,762 160 279 1.7 Forest/rural 2 216 108 111 na Grass 8 2,574 322 907 2.8 ONWR (GA) 2 697 349 388 na Other West 58 11,295 195 652 3.3 Totals 112 26,401 na na 5.5 na=not available Source: Calculations from NIFC database.
$325 million in insured losses (see figure 1). Simply ranking any list of fires (or fire years) and charting the result…renders legible The size of the single largest fire for each year is also of interest (see fig patterns that would not be discernible on a ure 2). Over the entire dataset peri time-series chart or a tabular list. od, the record was Alaska’s Taylor Complex Fire in 2004 at 1.3 million acres. The second largest was the Texas East Amarillo Complex Fire Alaska of 2006. The Murphy, Rainbelt, and Inowak Fires, all in Alaska, California at roughly 600,000 acres (24,000 37% ha) each, follow these in size. In Figure 43% 2 Forest/Rural contrast, in 2001, no fire exceeded 100,000 acres (40,000 ha). Grass Although a trend line drawn ONWR through these numbers shows a 10% 7% Other slight upward slope, the trend is 2% 1% clearly not statistically significant. We cannot say that the size of the Figure 2. Single Largest Fire Each Year, largest annual fire in the United Figure 1.—Area burned in the 112 largest U.S. fires from 1997–2011, by region/type. States has changed for the studied 1997-‐2011 time period. In 5 of these years (see figure 3), a single newsworthy 1,500,0001500000 fire exceeded 7 percent of the total annual area burned for that year. 1,000,0001000000 In some years, big fires come in bunches (see figure 4). In 2004, Acres 500000500,000 almost 5 million acres (2 mil lion ha) burned in fires exceeding 00 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) in size; in 2007 and 2009, it was just over 3 million acres (1.2 million ha). Figure 2.—Single largest fire each year, 1997–2011.
Fire Management Today 16 Figure 3
Analyzing Fire Data The study of extreme fire events is If fire sizes are not distributed important in determining their return normally, why would we keep talk intervals for planning purposes. ing about average fire sizes when Figure 3. Percent of Na2onal Total area we know that the average is not burned in single largest fire a good way to describe a highly skewed probability distribution? 25% Spreadsheet software has come to our aid by making it easy to 20% sort, rank, and chart fire sizes in 15% ways that tell us a lot more than simple averages. Several useful aids Figure 10% 4 can assist in studying events like 5% large wildfires that occur in highly skewed sizes. These are (1) ranked 0% distributions, (2) frequency distri butions and plots, and (3) excess plots. Total Area burned in fires above Figure 3.—Percent of total area burned nationally in the single largest fire, by year. Ranked Data 100,000 A by Year 1997-‐2011 Simply ranking any list of fires (or 60000006,000,000 fire years) and charting the result 50000005,000,000 yields significant insights (see fig 40000004,000,000 ure 5). It renders legible patterns 30000003,000,000 that would not be discernible on a 2,000,000 time-series chart or a tabular list. A 2000000 1,000,000 pattern such as this emerges: there 1000000 are large numbers of very small 00 fires, many kept small by prompt control action; there are significant numbers of medium sized fires; and Figure 4.—Total area burned in fires greater than 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) by year, there are very small numbers of 1997–2011. extremely large fires.
In some areas, fire numbers and Data Sources on Large Fires area burned have declined from the “bad old days” of the 1930s and Twenty largest California wildfires, 1932–2009: earlier. But while the level of curves
One way to compare the fire experi National large fire database (updated to 2012): ences of different regions is to chart
Canada national large fire database, 1990–1999:
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 17 Fig. 5
burn areas by the smallest area in fires (which ignited in swamplands is almost identical for all catego the group so that the fire size dis and were managed for natural ries: the slope of the line is almost tribution can be readily compared processes) are removed from the exactly the same as for the list of across regions. Figure 6 shows dataset,Figure the distribution 5. Fires of fire sizes above 112 fires 100,000 nationwide. A. USA 1997-‐2011 some interesting points, as mea n = 112 sured by the steepness of the slopes. First, the grassland fires exhibit the 2,000,000 highest degree of extreme behav ior. Second, California stands out 1,500,000 as having numerous very large fires, though they generally do not y = 2E+06x-‐0.591 1,000,000 exhibit extreme behavior when Area 500,000 compared to the other groupings— the exception being the 2003 Cedar Fire. Plainly, the “Other” grouping Figure 6. 0 covers several Western States that 111 101 91 81 71 61 51 41 31 21 11 1 merit their own analysis. Figure 5.—Fires above 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) nationally, 1997–2011.
Frequency Distributions Figure 6. Largest fires by Type/Area Standardized to 1.0 Spreadsheet add-ins are readily 14.00 available to run frequency distribu tions and descriptive statistics and 12.00 charts. We used one such add-in to 10.00 generate the frequency distribution in table 2. It can be plotted as a bar 8.00 Alaska chart. 6.00 Cal Grassland/range 4.00 Scientists often translate the above All Other Area standardized to 1.0 frequency information into a log- 2.00 log plot, which helps illustrate the 0.00 nature of the mathematical law 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 underlying the analysis of the size Number, ranked low to high distribution of fires. The slope of the line tells us how the frequency Figure 6.—Largest fires by type/area normalized to 1.0. changes as fire sizes increase (see figure 7). The linear relationship Table 2.—All U.S. fires of more than 100,000 acres (40,000 ha), 1997–2011. strongly suggests a power-law relationship. A power law will not Frequency Cumulative always apply, and for this paper, we Upper limit of size class (acres) (no. of fires) (percent) have already truncated the size dis 200,000 73 65.18 tribution by omitting all fires below 400,000 24 86.61 100,000 acres—which is most of them. 600,000 9 94.64 800,000 4 98.21 Common sense would suggest 1,000,000 1 99.11 that combining fires over such a time period and across conditions 1,200,000 0 99.11 as diverse as Georgia, Alaska, and 1,400,000 1 100.00 California would make such a chart Larger than 1.4 million 0 100.00 meaningless. For many purposes, this is true. If, however, the fires Totals 112 100.00 in Alaska and the large ONWR
Fire Management Today 18 Scientists and engineers study such distributions by setting up mathematical formulas with inter esting names such as “general ized extreme value distributions,” “negative binomial,” or “Poisson distributions” (see, for example,
Sun and Tolver 2012; for a reading list, see Irland 2013; for a valuable study on California, see Holmes and others 2008). Such formulas can be important for testing hypotheses or forecasting. Analyses shown here, however, are entirely descriptive Figure 7.—Log plot of all U.S. fires above 100,000 acres (40,000 ha), 1997–2011. and make no assumptions about underlying probability distribu tions. Some simpler summary measures (such as peak-to-mean ratio; see table 1 above) are easily calculated. Making Excess Plots An excess plot simply plots the degree to which successively large fires exceed their next largest fires in rank. As is common with other weather-driven phenomena, such as hurricanes, large wildfires exhibit excess plots showing that the very Figure 8.—Excess plot of the top 30 U.S. fires by area, 1997–2011. largest fires can be far larger than the next in rank order (see fig though, that successively large ure 8). These wildfire excess plots the Los Angeles basin and other fires can be 20,000 to 30,000 acres indicate that the very next big fire regions. (8,000 to 12,000 ha) larger than could be 10 to 15 percent worse the previous record. No one would than the current record in a given The Upshot be surprised to see this pattern region, and not simply 1 percent The study of extreme fire events continue: one day, a 300,000-acre larger. is important in determining their (120,000-ha) monster fire will be return intervals for planning pur seen. The dataset used here is useful poses. Flood-control engineering for illustrative purposes only. It commonly uses this approach The slope of the curve of ranked cannot tell us much about the in defining the extents of a 100 large fires is rather mild in com long-term incidence of extreme year design flood. In contrast, the parison to the experience of other fires; a much longer series of data applied concept of return periods regions in more recent years. The is needed to study extreme fire for large wildfires is just beginning. extremes in successive fires are events meaningfully. CALFIRE has not large in context (see figure compiled a listing of the worst fires Extreme fires are not random, 10) because the State does not in California from 1932 to 2009. A perverse, unlikely combinations of exhibit truly extreme behavior in plot of the fires on that list shows previously unrelated forces: they fire sizes—though perhaps it does that most large California fires are are normal. They are not accidental in damages or suppression costs. A NOT extreme events: the slope of or “freak” events; they are simply more detailed analysis might sub the plotted curve is rather mild (see rare. Exactly when and how they divide California, for instance, into figure 9). The excess plot shows, will occur is clearly not predictable.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 19
Figure 9.
Figure 9. Largest California wildfires 1932-‐2009 Figure 9.—Largest California wildfires, 300 300 1932–2009. Figure 10 200 200
100 100 Thousand acres 0 0 Thousand acres Thousand 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Figure 1 2 10. 3 Excess Rank 4 order 5 6 Plot: 7 20 Top 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 California Rank Wildfires order 1932-‐2009 Figure 10.—Excess plot 40 of the 20 top California 40 wildfires, 1932–2009. 30 30 20 20
10
10 Thousand acres
Excess next largest: over 0 0 Thousand acres Thousand 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 Size 50 of Fire: Thousand 100 acres 150 200 250 300 Excess over next largest: Size of Fire: Thousand acres Studying them scientifically with ful statistical generalizations from the usual statistical methods is hin such a sample is impossible. The Quiz answers: dered by the small sample sizes in most important observation sup 1. Georgia: the two fires in the most of our datasets (see the side ported by this national data is that Okefenokee National Wildlife bar for available datasets). During there is no reason why the next Refuge (lying partly in the years 1997–2011, only 11 fires extreme fire could not be 10 to 20 Florida). larger than 500,000 acres (200,000 percent larger than the largest one ha) occurred, in widely varying cir experienced to date. 2. California: they ALWAYS have cumstances. Developing meaning- large fires. 3. 37 percent.
Sun, C.; Tolver, B. 2012. Assessing the Williams, J.; Albright, D.; Hoffmann, A.A.; Bibliography distribution patterns of wildfire sizes in Britsov, A.; and others. 2011. Findings Climate Central. 2012. The age of western Mississippi, USA. International Journal of and implications from a coarse-scale wildfires.
Fire Management Today 20 arCFueLs: an arCMaP tooLBar For FueL treatMent PLanning and WiLdFire risk assessMent Nicole M. Vaillant and Alan A. Ager
ire behavior modeling and geo ArcFuels and Fuel Much stand-level modeling involves spatial analysis can provide tre Treatment Planning validating data and iteratively Fmendous insight to land man examining different treatment com agers in defining both the benefits ArcFuels adds a spatial context to binations on individual stands or and potential impacts of fuel treat the Forest Vegetation Simulator a suite of stands in a coordinated ments in the context of land man (FVS) (Crookston and Dixon 2005) landscape fuel treatment strategy. agement goals and public expecta and facilitates its application for The ArcFuels stand-level analysis tions. ArcFuels is a streamlined fuel both stand and landscape modeling using FFE-FVS typically involves management planning and wildfire of fuel treatments (see figure 2). All simulating activities (such as thin risk assessment system that creates functionality and extensions avail ning), as well as surface fuel treat a trans-scale (stand to large land able for use within FVS are avail ments (such as pile burning, mas scape) interface for applying exist able in ArcFuels, including the Fire tication, or broadcast burns), and ing forest and fire behavior models and Fuels Extension (FFE-FVS) examining the resulting changes to within an ArcGIS® platform to (Rebain 2010), which accesses a potential fire behavior and effects design and test fuel treatment alter carbon model and a climate exten (such as tree mortality). Users can natives. ArcFuels does this through sion (Crookston and others 2010). also apply the validation or assess- a custom toolbar designed for use with ArcMap® (see figure 1).
The ArcMap framework helps users incorporate data from a variety Figure 1.—ArcFuels10 toolbar. of sources to address issues that typify many fuel treatment proj ects. ArcFuels was built to accom modate both raster data (such as LANDFIRE data, available at
Nicole Vaillant is a fire ecologist, and Alan Ager is an operations research analyst with Figure 2.—ArcFuels provides a way to spatially link a stand shapefile to FVS/FFE the Pacific Northwest Research Station, FVS data (A) to run individual stands, select stands, or select an entire landscape. Western Wildland Environmental Threat When running an individual stand, the user can run the stand visualization system Assessment Center. to automatically visualize the FVS/FFE-FVS data (B), and FFVS/FFE-FVS outputs are automatically written to an Excel workbook. The surface and total flame length (in feet) for a simulated wildfire under severe conditions using FFE-FVS (C). Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 21 ment of fuel treatment prescrip- The structure of ArcFuels provides users with tions at the stand level to larger landscapes in developing landscape- a logical flow from stand-to-landscape analyses level treatment alternatives. of vegetation, fuel, and fire behavior using a number of existing models. At the landscape level, analysts typi cally use raster data or FFE-FVS outputs to build the input files for spatial data—including elevation, others 2010, Finney 2005, Scott fire behavior modeling in FlamMap slope, aspect, fuel model, canopy 2006). A quantitative definition of (Finney 2006). They can also use cover, canopy height, canopy-base fire risk includes fire behavior prob post-treatment stand development height, and canopy-bulk density— abilities and fire effects for highly and fuel dynamics in FFE-FVS to that characterizes the landscape. valued resources (HVRs) (see figure determine retreatment frequency 4). Finney (2005) calls this quanti over time at both the stand and ArcFuels streamlines the process tative definition “expected net value landscape levels. of building LCPs from attributed change (NVC).” The expected NVC shapefiles, raster data, or FVS/FFE can include financial, ecological, Regardless of the fuel treatment FVS output databases. Users can or other values at present day or plan, users can apply treatments apply treatments rapidly through future discounted values and can to landscape data in two ways options in ArcFuels, outputting reflect both the positive and the through ArcFuels: (1) by simulating both raster files and LCPs. They can negative impacts of fire. all stands through FFE-FVS with also use a suite of tools to postpro treatment prescriptions, or (2) by cess outputs from FlamMap for fur Analysts can quantify fire effects altering raster data to represent ther analysis in ArcMap. Once the through response functions that post-treatment conditions by using fire behavior outputs are entered describe the impact of fire by flame appropriate stand-level FFE-FVS into ArcMap, users can assess fuel length categories on HVRs or via runs, monitoring data, or expert treatment performance in terms of FFE-FVS modeling, in which the opinion to determine treatment changes to the types of fire, wildfire effects are quantifiable (for exam adjustment factors. probabilities, spread rates, and fire- ple, the impact of flame length on line intensity (see figure 3). tree survival). When wildfire ben ArcFuels and Fire efits are not considered, expected Behavior Modeling ArcFuels and Wildfire NVC can be simplified as expected ArcFuels is linked to both stand- Risk Assessments loss (EL). Using outputs from level and landscape-level fire FlamMap5 and other geospatial Wildfire risk is the likelihood of a behavior models. At the stand data on HVRs, ArcFuels streamlines fire occurring, the associated fire level, the user can complete fire the calculation and processing of behavior when a fire occurs, and behavior modeling within FFE-FVS risk metrics, such as NVC, EL, and the effects of the fire (Calkin and through the ArcFuels interface and conditional flame length. then export outputs in the format needed to run NEXUS (Scott 1999). ArcFuels has quick links to open both FOFEM (Reinhardt and oth ers 1997) and BehavePlus (Heinsch and Andrews 2010) for external use, though it does not provide any inputs to those programs.
At the landscape level, ArcFuels contains links to open both FARSITE (Finney 1998) and FlamMap. Running FlamMap or FARSITE requires a landscape file (LCP), a binary file containing a compilation, or “sandwich,” of geo Figure 3.—Maps of crown fire potential before (A) and after (B) fuel treatments as predicted with FlamMap. Fire Management Today 22 Figure 4.— Calculating net value change for a single highly valued resource. Burn probability describes the probability of a fire for a given intensity, and the response function describes the change in the value at that intensity.
Finney, M.A. 2005. The challenge of quan Downloading ArcFuels References titative risk assessment for wildland fire. ArcFuels is available for both Calkin, D.E.; Ager, A.A.; Gilbertson-Day, Forest Ecology and Management. 211: J., eds. 2010. Wildfire risk and hazard: ArcGIS 9 and ArcGIS10 as 97–108. Procedures for the first approxima Finney, M.A. 2006. An overview of FlamMap ArcFuels9 and ArcFuels10. The tion. RMRS-GTR-235. Fort Collins, CO: fire modeling capabilities. In: Andrews, primary difference between U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest P.L.; Butler, B.W. (comps.) Fuels man the versions is that ArcFuels10 Service, Rocky Mountain Research agement—how to measure success: Station. 62 p. Conference proceedings. RMRS-P-41. includes wildfire risk assessment Crookston, N.L.; Rehfeldt, G.E.; Dixon, Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of tools. Other minor differences G.E.; Weiskittel, A.R. 2010. Addressing Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky exist between the functionality of climate change in the forest vegetation Mountain Research Station: 213–220. simulator to assess impacts on landscape Heinsch, F.A.; Andrews, P.L. 2010. ArcFuels9 and ArcFuels10. Please forest dynamics. Forest Ecology and BehavePlus fire modeling system, version visit the Web site,
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 23 Providing inForMation during disasters and inCidents Karen Takai
s in the old westerns, the inci dent management team rides The role and tools of public information officers Ainto the challenges of fighting are in a major transition in response to the fires, hurricanes, and other threats to townsfolk. We come to help worldwide changes in communication technologies restore order out of chaos and to and the rise of social media networks. give communities assurance that the situation is being resolved. As public information officers (PIOs) Disaster strikes! requests from frantic, on the team, our goal is to get the local community mem In the first 24 hours, the Type most current, vital information bers; government agen 1 Team is called out. out to families; communities; the cies; the State’s Governor; media; Washington, DC, adminis PIOs on the team call-out Washington, DC, entities; trators; and the world. roster respond to the inci and media organizations dent (a total of three on around the world. The Demand for the Southwest Incident Information Management Team 1). The landscape is in total chaos! What PIOs actually do and accom In 12 to 24 hours, the team Accurate information is lim plish is changing from what we is “on the ground” but can ited. Do PIOs have enough used to do (the “old school”) to legally take over the man information to confirm or what we now have to do (the “new agement of the incident deny developments? school”). The role and tools of when it has the official Rumors abound. What rumors PIOs are in a major transition in “Delegation of Authority” need to be addressed imme response to worldwide changes in document signed and diately to avoid further con communication technologies and in place. This document fusion and panic? the rise of social media networks. defines the agreement and Society now demands realtime expectations between the Not all information on current disaster information during ini team and the hosting unit operations and outcomes tial attack, even while situational of the incident. may be useful. Has release chaos and an absence of infrastruc of specific information been ture interfere with fulfilling that Most of the local infrastructure approved by the incident demand. Understanding the process is down! commander and by the host unit public affairs officer of disaster response helps us to PIOs immediately need to col (PAO)? understand the realities of informa lect accurate information tion communication and how PIOs and start disseminating Large incidents now generate glob respond to them. updates through phones al interest, and the public expects (“Are there phones?”), realtime, detailed, on-demand The response to natural disasters social media (“Do we have information. can include a mix of planned, connectivity?”), and media expected, contingent, and unfore outlets (“Do we have a cen Gone are the days when informa seen elements. tral distribution location?”). tion was faxed to media stations PIOs immediately start and hundreds of individual phone Karen Takai is a public information officer to receive information calls were made to a public that for the Forest Service, Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team 1.
Fire Management Today 24 wanted additional information. demands: giving in-person inter Keeping Up and Staying Sane Multimedia and social media have views to the media, participating in The widespread use of computers changed the world of information, a social media dialogue, responding and social media has sped up com and the demand for it only increas to congressional inquiries, and pro munications and heightened the es. Leaders and PIOs must embrace ducing community notifications. In intensity of demand during fire these communication tools or years past, a Type 1 incident man incidents. The following descrip become obsolete. agement team could travel with tion illustrates how a situation 10 PIOs, and they could handle might unfold. And yet, the demand for face-to traplines, news releases, media face communication has not abat notifications, and personal interac I am notified by dispatch that ed. The local communities affected tions for the whole incident. With the team has been activated. I by the incident initially resort to the changes in the size of incidents gather my gear and, with luck, multimedia outlets but rely heav and the speed of their devastation, another resourced PIO accom ily on further information from it would be challenging for a team panies me as I head out. As lead community meetings, face-to-face to work with less than 20 PIOs on a PIO for the Type 1 Southwest meetings with leaders, newspapers, Type 1 incident. Incident Management Team, my local radio stations, and traplines cellphone might well be backed of information posted at a central This is the new school, and both up with 125 messages as I head location and updated daily. information needs and formats have to the incident. To prioritize the calls, I hand my phone to This will not change. The PIO’s a PIO, have the PIO screen the main goal is to reach those imme Large incidents now calls, and note the most press diately affected by the incident with generate global interest, ing requests so that I can then relevant and timely information in respond to them immediately. whatever format is most effective. and the public expects As PIOs, we must be well versed in realtime, detailed, The home unit is still managing the technological changes and in on-demand information. the incident but is overwhelmed all media formats. These changes due to the limited resources it have been occurring for the last 15 has available. Phones, electricity, years. The expectations of the world changed. Communication tools and water systems are down and are that we can offer information chaos is everywhere. The sheriff in the formats that are currently now include cellphones, electronic notepads, and satellite phones for is evacuating communities and popular and that we change outlets directing evacuees to shelters with the emerging platforms that the times when cell towers are down or connectivity is unavail that have not yet been set up. meet the demands of our diverse Members of the media are show audiences. able—and this is commonly the case. The availability of such tools ing up everywhere, and rangers are calling me to get someone to How We Work is a dream for most; most PIOs will use their own cellphones and com corral them. The situation is still New Media, New Demands puter notepads to process incident in the initial attack phase—and I have only three staff members. Initial attack information is usu information while the (ICP) post ally handled by the local unit’s PAO is being created to provide support Issues will be resolved but will or PIO, depending on the size and with phones, Internet, and comput take some time. From across the location of the incident and the ers. A camp can take from 1 to 3 country—in areas where there is Government level of interest. As days to become functional. Years still TV reception, working land the size of an incident escalates, ago, the Government had the lat lines, cellphone connectivity, and the PIO or PAO is immediately est high-technology tools. Now, we electricity for lights—calls are expected to provide information in find that society has the latest and coming in, and people are won all media formats: print, video, and greatest equipment, while we are dering why we are not resolving electronic. It is unrealistic to expect challenged to keep up. the situation. that one PIO could satisfy all these
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 25 Demands reaching us from the with releases to update agencies, phones are working, and every world outside are distractions from the media, the local community, one wants information immedi our main focus: to bring order to and Washington, DC, adminis ately. Unfortunately, we do not chaos. Our main focus is to identi trators, but our email notifica have electricity, phones, and fy, prioritize, and work on solutions tion system indicates that many social media at our fingertips. as a team. We continue to swat are being rejected. We have not distractions and turn the incident, encountered this before and Entering the world of disaster, the at first, into a controlled chaos, and are a bit baffled. After a day of PIOs are behind the curve from then, after many days, a controlled research, we find the system we the minute they get the call to go and organized incident. are using can only send out 300 into the disaster area. We assess the emails per day, and we need to situation and assign duties to the I meet my team members and be sending more than 1,000 due social media and operations PIOs. in-brief with the host unit’s PAO to the demand for information. After painful lessons learned, we and leadership. This meeting is The demand for social media and keep our social media expert out where we find out what the host Internet updates for incidents of the disaster area to ensure con unit’s expectations are. I receive is dramatically increasing. We nectivity and access to the Internet current weather conditions and are now in a new arena. Agency to strategize and implement the find out what resources are avail administrators are complain social media plan. Once the main able to support the information ing that they are not receiving ICP is operational, we will stage a cadre. What are the expectations emails, the Governor is calling social media contact at the ICP’s of the hosting unit, and what Washington, and Washington is information center so that the would the unit like us to do calling me. lead social media PIO can travel regarding social media outlets, between the duty station and the news releases, and communica The communications paradigm has main ICP, which could take from tion with local administrators. shifted, incidents are bigger, and 12 to 24 hours. The operations PIO Meanwhile, the incident is still the tools of the past are obsolete. immediately goes to the operations ramping up outside the doors. I Demands put additional pressure section of the incident and gets the order additional PIOs, if needed, on the crisis information function. timeliest information for the other reaching out to different levels— Thanks to the National Interagency PIOs working in the information PIOF, PIO2, and PIO1—to sup Fire Center, we now have a way to center to release to the community. port the incident. bring on an emailing service that After approval of the information, will successfully support thousands the operation’s PIO will group-text Managing Chaos of emails going out throughout the the information to all PIOs in the In the midst of an incident, all deci day. The email service is located field. sions take on new urgency and all outside of the local infrastructure shortcomings threaten to unravel and will not crash due to brown As the incident progresses, there operations. Sometimes it seems outs, downed telephone wires, and is a change in the feeling from that anything that can go wrong lack of electricity. There is a cost the community. There are no will. to the service, but do we have an immediate fixes. Everything option? community members have come Fundamental questions come to to rely on is compromised and mind: is there a bank of phones Calls come in from the Members the reality of the situation is dev I can use as a call center? In one of Congress; the State’s astating. This fire incident will case, I am given a call center Governor; Washington, DC, obviously affect the community with 25 phones. After a day of administrators, and a multitude for years and lifetimes to come. angry cellphone calls, I check of others. Needless to say, not all Most displaced community mem with the center manager and are happy about response time bers are unprepared for the dis he or she finds out that only six and the level of information comfort, chaos, disorganization, phone lines are working. People being forwarded. Again, the out fear, and general lack of reassur are complaining that they can’t side world is plugged into a mul ance. For some, life now is sur get through. We send emails titude of different social media real, and some are in shock. formats, their electricity and cell
Fire Management Today 26 In the midst of an incident, all decisions The Personal Part take on new urgency and all shortcomings But the work doesn’t end with the threaten to unravel operations. operational part. As an ongoing point of contact, I will continue with the issues generated by inci dents for months, even if it is only When the numbness wears off, staff. During an incident, we take answering followup questions from emotions return, anger surfaces, on many roles: the media, writing thank-you notes and some community members to all who supported the incident may look for someone to blame Writer, graphic designer, coun management team, or checking on for their loss. Some members selor, strategist, computer our PIO cadre to make sure we all of the public may accuse the expert, network builder, creative have some sense of closure. response agencies of misman and analytical thinker, social agement and a lack of timely media hub, media relations and Personal after-effects are unavoid response by the firefighters. interview providers, PIO train able. The stress of every incident Some members of the media ers and monitors, congressional takes a piece out of me, and every may encourage conflict, and escorts, and psychological coun fatality takes a piece of my heart. soon the PIOs are in a difficult selors. In 2013, we dealt with 20 fatalities position. Confrontational media associated with operations, from members and some politicians Tasks encompass both incident conducting personal interviews may influence their audiences information setup and operations with friends and family to arrang to turn communities against wrap-up, including dealing with ing memorial services. These are the very people who have come the after-effects of the incident, and life-changing experiences for most, to help. We are put on the spot include: and as professionals and individu as reporters’ question official als, we will have to process some timelines and incident response Becoming familiar with each measure of sadness all of our lives. measures. person involved and affected; facing and addressing the con We are now in constant com sequences of loss; creating and The Team munication with community maintaining work relationships; Ultimately, many things hold us groups. They are afraid, angry, practicing diplomacy; ordering, together as individuals and team and frustrated—and understand scheduling, and training person members and keep us going: the ably so: this is a disaster. It is nel in new tasks; making split- mission, the people we serve, and the PIO’s job to work with com second decisions; taking videos the team to which we belong. All munities, provide a sense of per and photographs; archiving all deserve recognition. This article is spective, and begin the healing. records and communications; dedicated to all the PIOs nation writing meaningful biographies wide: in State, Federal, county, and On the other hand, some individ of the deceased; escorting fami city agencies, and to those PIOs that uals in the community begin to lies of the fallen; and planning come to us as ADs (administratively thank us for our efforts, bring us memorials. determined personnel). We could cookies, and hang hand-painted not accomplish the necessary work signs of thanks along the route We interact, document, file, pho that we do without all of them. To we travel. The two extremes— tograph, film, and clean. We follow each and every PIO I have worked demand/anger and thanks—keep each incident with an immediate with: thank you for your dedication us going. This is what we are after-action review (AAR) and a to change and bringing the PIO trained for, and when we soar. later followup AAR to ensure that world to the next level and for the the lessons learned are followed dedication and hard work you have This article provides a very simpli through. We also must ensure that done to support the incident infor fied picture of the life of a PIO. each one of the PIOs have done his mation mission and me. Gunning along for 16-hour days are or her own healing and is emotion the norm for PIO leads and support ally intact from some of the most stressful and yet honorable work a person can do.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 27 a neW truCk For avoCa Martin Brammier
he Avoca Rural Fire Department spending with the benefits that the When the Avoca fire department serves the community of Avoca acquisition of updated equipment finished refurbishing the truck in Tand the rural citizens of its could provide to the community. February 2013, the department district in the southeast corner of The district representatives met the presented it to the rural board for Nebraska. Though the community proposal for spending with appre inspection. The board’s reaction is small, the department boasts a hension, initially resisting it. was one of unanimous amazement membership of 23 active firefight that such a quality vehicle could ers, 4 auxiliary firefighters, and 3 Seeking its own solution to the be attained for a relatively small cadets. With close ties to the com issue, the Avoca fire department expenditure. The board recognized munity, the department works with negotiated with the Nebraska Forest the value of the equipment and a great sense of pride. Much of Service’s Fire Shop in Mead, NE, quickly reimbursed the department this can be attributed to its build to acquire a new truck through for its costs. In addition, the board ing a more competent and reliable the Federal Excess Personal gave the department financial sup department over time. Property program, which leases port to upgrade other apparatus on excess Federal property to rural the vehicle. Part of this development involves communities. Coincidentally, the working with reliable, quality U.S. Department of Defense had While the new vehicle is already equipment. Recently, the depart decommissioned a number of air a welcome addition to the depart ment applied for and was given a field firefighting vehicles and made ment, the department is negotiat grant to replace 20 pairs of outdated them available to the program. As ing further enhancements with the bunker gear. Without the grant, the a result, the Avoca fire department rural board. Throughout this pro department would not have been was able to lease a 1992 OshKosh cess, the Nebraska Forest Service able to afford the nearly $56,000 P-19, paying $6,500 for a vehicle has played a welcoming and sup cost that came with replacing the that had a base value of $212,000 portive role in providing techni gear. Other gear had become anti at the time of delivery. The depart cal support, maintenance reviews, quated as well. The chief officer, ment then invested about $6,000 to and onsite training of personnel Martin Brammier, presented the repaint the vehicle and an additional for optimum vehicle performance. rural board that oversees district $2,500 in added tools and equip Obviously, the department looks on ment. The Avoca fire department the new equipment with consider Martin Brammier is the chief officer of also welcomed the assistance of able pride and on the assistance of the Avoca Volunteer Rural Fire District in the Fremont Rural Volunteer Fire the Nebraska Forest Service with Avoca, NE. Department in refinishing the truck. much appreciation.
An OshKosh vehicle decommissioned by the Federal Government Repainted and re-equipped, the fire truck is in service to the awaiting its next assignment. Photo by Martin Brammier. Avoca Volunteer Rural Fire District. Photo by Martin Brammier.
Fire Management Today 28 FLiPPing FireFighting training Mark Cantrell
Introduction he challenges of shrinking bud Flipped instruction places online content and gets, lack of travel funds, and classroom content on an equal footing. Tthe ever-pressing need to train wildland firefighters has led to calls by instructors, training officers, participant, and (2) the instructor of formats encourages students to and geographic area training rep from a talking head to an activity grasp concepts, understand lesson resentatives for new ways to safely facilitator. It challenges the instruc content, participate in classroom conduct training. With the develop tor to design an active learning discussion, and, as a result, become ment of multimedia software and experience that builds on the online safe and effective in their duty posi widespread access to the Internet, instruction or videos that students tions. the concept of “blended learning” view prior to class. Silveira (2013) provides one potential option to defined the flipped model of learn Flipped instruction is experien satisfy that need. ing as “a form of blended learning tial. “Blended learning and flipped that integrates the use of technol classrooms are more than a simple Blended learning has been around ogy…to leverage the learning in alteration of the method by which for many years. It combines student a classroom so that an instructor information is imparted. To ensure online and instructor-led learning can spend more time interacting that students gain the most from experiences with the expectation with students instead of lecturing.” these approaches, students require that the combination will promote The technique seeks to move the authentic learning spaces where more two-way interaction and stu student from passive listening to they can work collaboratively with dent engagement than traditional empowered examination of course teaching staff to achieve deeper learning models. Blended learning content in such a way that the stu understanding” (Chipchase 2013). has emerged as the basis for a new dent will retain it beyond the next The emphasis is on creating a de training model called the “flipped quiz or test. signed learning experience in which instructional” model. While this the students can develop a higher model has quickly gained accep Flipped instruction places online or more engrained grasp of lesson tance in academic circles, there is content and classroom content on material. The instructor becomes little information available about its an equal footing. The intent is not a facilitator or guide through the applicability to training—specifi simply to increase instruction time learning experience. cally, to wildland firefighting train by making upcoming lesson content ing. In this article, we explore the available outside of normal training What Training Types flipped instructional model and its hours, but to ensure that students Are Best Flipped? applicability to wildland firefighting have the most time possible to pre training. pare for instruction, ask questions, Traditional demonstration-based and achieve lesson objectives. A and lecture-based lessons are prime Flipping Defined flipped classroom is thus “an inno candidates for recasting into flipped instruction. If a lesson has tradi The goal of flipped instruction is vative model of learning that inverts the traditional teaching model by tionally been taught through dem to change the level of participant onstration, creative online explana involvement in training, moving (1) delivering didactic content through educational technology prior to the tions and demonstrations prior to a the student from a passive role as classroom session help develop an an information sponge to an active traditional lecture timeslot and fo cusing class time on active exercises understanding of what is expected and higher order concept mastery” of students so that they can im Mark Cantrell is a training evaluation (Dasgupta and Tuttle 2012). In wild- mediately go into practice mode in unit leader for the National Wildfire the classroom. Wildland firefighting Coordinating Group. land fire training, the combination
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 29 concepts, tools, and procedures— Ferreri and others (2013) expand Ipadio, digital imaging, streaming for example, hydraulics, portable on this idea: “In-class time is then audio, and interactive case simula water pump operations, and chain freed up to discuss complex top tions.” Schools are using a variety saw maintenance—can be demon ics and work with students, either of education technology tools to strated online and then practiced individually or in small groups, motivate students to watch videos and evaluated in the classroom by [and] increased in-class student or do other preparatory work before the instructor. problem-solving with immediate the class session. Instructors have feedback occurs.” An instructor to be both creative and realistic in Flipped instruction has been found can focus on higher order effects working with the most effective to be effective. For example, phys or the upper levels of the learning instructional formats. iotherapy instructors conducted taxonomy, having built upon lower a research project on the benefits level information. Why Flipping for of flipping and found that “high Wildland Fire Training? resolution videos of practical skills The goal of wildland firefighting with instructions can be made avail The emphasis is on able to students prior to a practical training is to develop safe and effec class. This allows practical class creating a designed tive wildland firefighters. Wildland time to be reserved for feedback learning experience in firefighting is, by its very nature, on the skill… Thus, in the flipped which the students can dangerous. As a performance-based profession, being able to safely practical class, physiotherapy develop a higher or educators spend less time demon and successfully accomplish a task strating, more time interacting with more engrained grasp is critical. With this in mind, we students, and more time support of lesson material. should train as realistically as safety ing rather than driving learning” and necessity permit. In a training (O’Toole 2013). environment, this generally means that the student needs to learn how Jon Bergman, one of the pioneers to accomplish a task proficiently. Some educators have found it help of the movement, helps us to avoid Often, the best way to learn a task ful to have either synchronous (live some common flipping mistakes in is to do it, so the faster instructors chat) or asynchronous (email, a fre addressing his experience in tradi can get the student to safely prac quently asked questions Web page, tional public school education: (1) tice a task, the better. This is where or a blog) communications with keep videos short, (2) don’t assume the flipped instructional model can students to accompany the explana all students have the Internet at help. tion and demonstration portions of home, (3) don’t lecture if students training. This is especially helpful haven’t watched your videos, (4) One of the challenges of traditional with complex topics or higher levels hold each student individually ac learning models is that students of Blooms taxonomy of learning countable for work, and (5) teach have varying levels of knowledge objectives. Instruction designers students how to watch your videos concerning the subject when they can further develop or revise the (Bergman 2014). These are great enter the classroom. By introduc preclassroom portion of instruction points to think about when con ing the content to them before in response to a pattern of students’ sidering if the flipped instructional the class session, flipping enables questions, while the remainder of model would work for certain les the entire class to have a more the questions can be addressed dur sons. ing the practice portion of instruc equal understanding from which to build. Larson and Yamamoto tion. In addition, as the student prepares (2013) elaborate on this: “Students for the next lesson, don’t limit the with prior knowledge…did well in Mistakes To Avoid types of interaction that can occur the assignments without watching only to the topics in the videos. When many people first learn about the videos. However, the students Silveira (2013) lists a number of flipping, they often assume that it who lacked the prior knowledge or education technology tools that is only applicable to basic skills or lacked confidence benefited from instructors may consider, such as concepts. In fact, flipping can lead watching the videos. This result “learning object repositories, lec to higher levels of understanding implies that instructors can refer to in more advanced subjects as well. ture-capture technology, podcasts,
Fire Management Today 30 students’ prior knowledge and the can combine these components to NWCG training has flipped many difficulties of the content in order help the student get to the desired courses in order to maximize in to decide which part of the class to performance level in the most ef structor cadre and student activity- flip.” This does not simply replace ficient and safest manner possible— based learning time. In addition, the lecture with a video but creates which is the objective of wildland many other benefits have come an intentionally designed sequence firefighting training. about from using this flipped model of instructional steps to increase to our courses: reduced temporary student retention of content. How National Wildfire duty for training, cost savings for Coordinating Group the hosting unit, increased student The greatest value of flipping lies in Training Has Flipped satisfaction, and development of maximizing instructor and student competence and proficiency in a time and energy in actually prac Since 2008, National Wildfire shorter period of time. While the ticing a skill or performing a task. Coordinating Group (NWCG) has NWCG distance-learning program Chipchase (2013) writes: “The value experienced solid success with our model, by literal definition, may be of a flipped class is in the repurpos distance-learning program and has considered “blended learning,” it ing of class time [so that] students found that the blended format has still wholeheartedly embodies the can inquire about lecture content, many benefits. The NWCG training flipped instructional model. It does test their skills in applying the blended format moves cognitive this by putting cognitive learning knowledge or clinical skills, and in content in psychomotor lessons content online and then skills appli teract with one another in hands-on online for explanation and demon cation by the instructor cadre and activities.” By designing a learning stration phases prior to classtime. students in the classroom or field experience (both preclass and in Students must complete the online environment. class) to emulate real situations, portion of a lesson, and the learn instructors are able to help the stu ing content management system In 2013, the NWCG distance-learn dent’s understanding of a task and records the results of an online final ing program produced more than proficiency in completing it. assessment. Once students com 13,000 online completions (see plete these two steps, the training figure 1) in a combination of both This two-part design suits the two- system issues a completion certifi online-only and blended-learning part format of flipping. Basic under cate that the students then provide courses. The use of blended-learn standing can be achieved through to their unit training officer. The ing courses results in a significant preclass instruction, and once the system also provides a completion cost savings, provides for standard students enter the classroom with certificate to the course coordinator ization of instruction, and maximiz sufficient knowledge of the material or lead instructor as an “entrance es hands-on time with students and to ask pertinent questions, they will ticket” to the field or classroom instructors in a performance-based quickly be able to move to com portion of the course. During the training system. petent performance. Osborn and field day, students immediately Vinton (2013) call flipping the com move into practicing hands-on ac Future Flipping bination of two key components of tivities as the instructor cadre and Research Efforts learning: educational technology students engage in practicing the and active learning. The instructor appropriate fireline duties. Research into the effectiveness of flipping technical training is gener ally lacking: the concept of the flipped instructional model is still The use of blended-learning courses results relatively new and, as such, does in a significant cost savings, provides for not have a lot of research to support standardization of instruction, and maximizes its effectiveness relative to tradi hands-on time with students and instructors in a tional instructional models. Yet, the flipped instructional model has the performance-based training system. potential to significantly enhance the way wildland firefighting train
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 31 Dasgupta, S.; Tuttle, K. 2013. Human genetic variation: A flipped classroom exercise in cultural competency. Genetics Society of America Peer-Reviewed Education Portal: 2.
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Fire Management Today 32 saFety and the agenCy, Part 2: externaL inFLuenCes on Fire and aviation ManageMent James K. Barnett
orest Service manuals and hand books are full of binding stan No branch of any Federal agency is Fdards intended to protect and autonomous, and jurisdictions cross guide employees. Training, tools, and information bolster safe opera governmental boundaries, even in tional objectives. Everyone from the critical situations. Chief of the Forest Service to forest resource experts provide input and oversight for how Fire and Aviation county sheriff when an accident, formity. Even after consolidation, Management (FAM) personnel State-recognized crime, or search- differences in resource objectives, achieve agency safety objectives. and-rescue operation occurs on fiscal capabilities, and personnel Although agency oversight is exten Forest Service land. Local jurisdic qualifications continued. Limiting sive and continuous, there are also tions provide a number of emer factors, such as incompatible com many external influences. No other gency-related services and can thus munications equipment, inferior program invites more scrutiny from make a positive contribution when firefighting equipment, and limited external sources than the FAM pro fire managers are pursuing Forest operational experience contributed gram, and scrutiny is increasingly Service objectives. to clear safety concerns, violations, expensive and carries both positive and fatalities. Once these organi and limiting aspects. Local jurisdictions often benefit zations matured, they formed the from suppression efforts, and some National Wildfire Coordinating One of Many: level of reciprocity occurs for those Group (NWCG), which eventually supportive and influential com took on the role of uniting orga Interlacing Missions munities that receive federally allo nizations on various governmen and Jurisdictions cated grant money to address local tal levels and operating support No branch of any Federal agency fuels build-up. For instance, fuel systems to mitigate disparities in is autonomous, and jurisdictions treatments around municipalities capabilities and promote safe opera cross governmental boundaries, are a commonsense approach to tions. even in critical situations. For the fact that some forest fires burn example, safety concerns on public down houses and some house fires Over the past 30 years, consolida roads preclude exceeding the posted burn down forests. tion has limited or eliminated speed limit even when an incident numerous safety issues that con response vehicle is responding to Federal and State Wildfire tribute to fire suppression-related a fire, use of an engine siren must Suppression Organizations accidents. However, despite all the coordination that NWCG can mus conform to civic ordinances, and A century ago, when local fire ter, there are many nonfire entities the role of emergency medical fighting organizations were being that still affect safety and accident technicians is regulated on a State formed, the focus was on commu mitigation for Federal agencies by-State basis. Many safety and law nity objectives. Common objectives responsible for wildfire suppression. enforcement duties fall on the local and fiscal realities eventually united their efforts into county, State, and Federal Nonfire Influences Jim Barnett is a former Aviation Federal fire suppression organiza Management Specialist and Management tions. Whether related to public safety, a Training Officer with the Forest Service, fatal wildfire accident, operations Fire and Aviation Management Staff in This efficiency came at the cost of support, or jurisdictional over Washington, DC. ever-increasing demands for con- sight, numerous entities actively
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 33 or passively have influence on FAM their response, and returns copies The National Transportation and operations, including safety con of the response to the requesting Safety Board (NTSB) indepen cerns. For example, Presidential congressional staff and its constitu dently investigates all public air administrations have increasingly ents. craft crashes that involve agency influenced agency policies and or agency-contracted aircraft. procedures through the Office of Legislative responses to operational Although the NTSB findings may Management and Budget. Serious details are not unknown, and, in generate a need for an agency pol response shortfalls to Hurricane rare cases, Congress has added safe- icy update, more often, the board Katrina spawned Presidential ty-related requirements affecting will work with the Federal Aviation Directive-5, formally recognizing the Forest Service through “riders” Administration (FAA) to update the National Interagency Incident attached to more general pieces of Federal aviation regulations, if war Management System (NIIMS) as the legislation. In the mid-1990s, for ranted. Between 2002 and 2005, definitive disaster-response system instance, Congress passed a bill review of the aging contract air for all Federal agencies and State that eliminated the Forest Service’s tanker fleet brought agency avia or other organizations that accept authority to inspect most fixed- tion experts together with numer Federal funds. Although NIIMS was wing aircraft that they might con ous entities, including NTSB, FAA, developed and used by Federal fire tract for during any given year. and a select panel on aviation suppression organizations since safety. the early 1980s, administration of NIIMS was given to the U.S. Liability concerns Some influences are established Department of Homeland Security, through interactions with other whose primary agent was the may also now Government agencies and can be Federal Emergency Management affect the process extremely advantageous to the Agency. This single Presidential of decisionmaking, agency. The National Weather directive in 2003 may have cre leading to less Service (NWS) was, for example, ated the biggest shift in operations an indispensible resource. The authority since Federal agencies specific operational NWS assisted the Forest Service in started consolidating suppression requirements or greater closely monitoring fire weather and efforts. pressure on incident producing general and spot weather managers to control all forecasts that have significantly Congress also affects agency opera aspects of operations, increased situational awareness on tions by making budget allocations wildfire incidents. Although budget and requiring Forest Service rep however minor. and organizational changes at NWS resentation at selected committee eventually ended the fire-weather hearings. Through specific offices, forecasts by NWS forecasters, NWS the Forest Service responds to The U.S. Department of still allows Forest Service fire fore information and other congres Agriculture’s Office of Inspector casters unrestricted access to its sional requests. For example, the General (OIG) is regularly involved data and products. Legislative Affairs Staff coordi in FAM audits. The primary goal of nates expert Forest Service testi such audits is to identify systemic Other influences are the result mony at congressional hearings, faults and make recommenda of different operational goals and and the Office of Regulatory and tions for inclusion of correctives in standards. So, for example, U.S. Management Services (ORMS) agency procedures. Agency experts military, State National Guard, and manages constituents’ letters that may have limited input to the draft personnel of foreign countries are have been forwarded by Members of report contributed near the end of not obligated to adhere to agency Congress for response by the agen the audit process. Agency experts standards during cooperative opera cy. If the subject involves disaster also have limited authority to chal tions, unless those standards are response or fire and aviation opera lenge audit conclusions, and there bound by specific agreements. If tions, ORMS seeks a draft response is no established appeal process in agreements are activated and train from FAM, edits and administers these cases. ing requirements are met, these resources can have a profound
Fire Management Today 34 influence on operational objec tors and their personnel are not support from their congressional tives. The agreements also identify obligated to follow agency policies representatives regarding the terms liaisons that are assigned to ensure unless specifically referenced in of such contracts. safe and prudent operations. their current contracts (including maintenance schedules for equip Table 1 provides an overview of the Public and Private ment and special-use aircraft). To various reviews of Forest Service Organizations ensure minimum safety standards, FAM policies and operations, their contracts often identify the role sources, and their primary objec Individual citizens may influence of a qualified Forest Service liai tives. Table 2 describes some of the agency policy or operations via the son for equipment and equipment influences on policy and operations congressional letter process previ operators on an incident. Small and their sources. ously outlined. Private contrac- businesses can also elicit extensive
Table 1.—Accident and Systematic Reviews Review type Primary objective Reviewers After Action Review Sharing information about successes and Event participants problems Audit (Office of Inspector Reviewing specifically defined policy or opera Auditors–rarely possess topic- General)* tional topic for weaknesses related expertise Individual Performance Providing constructive criticism, whether Direct supervisor Review (National Wildfire on an incident or associated with hiring unit Coordinating Group format) duties Large Incident Close-Out Sharing information about large incident Incident management team, line Meeting (Interagency successes and problems officers, and other interested process) representatives Lessons Learned Board Developing topical information to improve Permanent board member (Interagency sponsored) future actions National Transportation and Recognizing procedural or technological fail Highly trained technical experts Safety Board ures Occupational Safety and Recognizing policy failures relating to work Highly trained technical experts Health Administration place safety Panel Assessing systematic problems and recom Frequently, external experts mending alternatives Review board Developing an understanding of and suggest Variety of subject experts ing fixes for contributing factors to a single event Study Assessing systematic problems, making rec Subject experts ommendations, and suggesting mitigation, as appropriate
* Each department of the Federal Government has an independent Office of Inspector General.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 35 Table 2.—Sample subjective external influence strengths and limitations. Mitigation/support Strengths Limitations Evaluations Receive nearly instant feedback associ Often lack specific need for improvement; under ated with general or specific successes state weaknesses or how to address them Studies Include experts focused on systematic Generally lack methods to accomplish findings or specific problems Audits Tend to be unbiased because it is per Lack of topical expertise of outside viewers may formed by outside viewers limit their ability to make recommendations that fully measure topic complexities Review boards Include experts looking at very specific Additional recommendations do not always serve circumstances and working outward the best interest of safety, the individual, or the to understand causal factors organization
Summary affect how FAM operates. FAM national level. FAM must maintain works with Federal agencies, State not only its ability to deal with The notion that FAM is an autono and local governments, as well as climate change and technologi mous organization that is given with local organizations. Opinions cal updates, but must also keep up unrestricted authority to put out vary, but policy recommendations with new and changing partners wildfires is an unrealistic simplifi and suggestions are taken into and organizations that have invest cation. Many outside organizations consideration and analyzed at the ments in safety.
Contributors Wanted! Fire Management Today is a source of information on all aspects of fire behavior and management at Federal, State, tribal, county, and local levels. Has there been a change in the way you work? New equipment or tools? New partnerships or programs? To keep up the communication, we need your fire- related articles and photographs! Feature articles should be up to about 2,000 words in length. We also need short items of up to 200 words. Subjects of articles published in Fire Management Today may include: Aviation Fire history Planning (including budgeting) Communication Fire science Preparedness Cooperation Fire use (including prescribed fire) Prevention/Education Climate Change Fuels management Safety Ecosystem management Firefighting experiences Suppression Equipment/Technology Incident management Training Fire behavior Information management Weather Fire ecology (including systems) Wildland-urban interface Fire effects Personnel
Fire Management Today 36 BuiLding a sPatiaL dataBase oF Fire oCCurrenCe in haWaii Andrew D. Pierce and Elizabeth Pickett
Introduction burning annually (see figure 1). In partner effort to build relationships Hawaii, fire suppression agencies among fire response agencies and ildfire in Hawaii is an often traditionally have used widely dif resource managers, promote com overlooked, yet extremely ferent incident reporting formats patible reporting processes among important facet of total W with varying types of information fire agencies, and compile the first- fire protection in the State, with and levels of detail recorded per fire ever multiagency, statewide wildfire hundreds to thousands of wildfires event. This creates serious chal history database. Andrew Pierce is a researcher in the lenges in comprehensively map Department of Natural Resources and ping and identifying fire trends and The wildfire history map produced Environmental Management, University of emerging problems at community, by this effort will aid in (1) develop Hawaii. county, and State levels. The Hawaii ing federally compliant community Elizabeth Pickett is the executive direc Wildfire Management Organization wildfire protection plans (CWPP), tor of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization. (HWMO) has led a multiyear, multi- (2) supporting ecological research
Figure 1.—A map of three of the Hawaiian Islands shows the spatial concordance between wildfire ignitions and roads.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 37 to elucidate relationships between environmental and social drivers of wildfire, (3) communicating with national and local funding agencies and grantors regarding the extent and detail of fire occurrence and threat in Hawaii, (4) securing exter nal resources to address fire issues, and (5) engaging communities in wildfire preparedness activities.
We see fire history mapping as a central tool for making advances in successful management of the wild fire threat in Hawaii. We also view this first mapping effort in Hawaii as a template for fire history work on other Pacific islands dealing with fire threats. A wildfire incident burns in invasive grass-dominated drylands of west Hawaii. Assembling a fire history database Photo by Eric Moller, 2011. involves several steps: Hawaii Department of Land and assign spatial locations to each fire 1. Assembling the fire history data Natural Resources (DLNR), and record appropriate for mapping in base, including securing data- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park a geographic information system sharing agreements and data, (HVNP). To our benefit, these (GIS); and (4) assemble supporting compiling a quality-controlled entities encompass all county, biophysical and social data. master list, assigning spatial State, and Federal fire response location, and adding supporting agencies—except for the U.S. Securing Agreements spatial data that includes social Department of Defense, whose and Data records are classified for security and biophysical information lay HWMO, a 501(c)3 nonprofit orga reasons. Our main tasks were to ers; nization, was the primary lead on (1) secure agreements between 2. Identifying data uses, including securing the agreements and fire HWMO and the participating sup fire protection planning and fire event records. Thanks to strong pression agencies to share fire research; and professional relationships, numer event records and coordinate the 3. Creating an efficient method for ous discussions, and coordination logistics of record sharing, includ making database updates. efforts spanning 2 years, each ing electronic file transfers and agency provided HWMO some form paper record transportation; (2) Completing these steps required of access to its records. Although transfer all records into a master considerable communication and many records came digitally, some list in electronic format and apply coordination, analysis, and design. databases were incomplete, requir quality control measures to the list ing arrangements to review the to condense duplicate fire reports Collecting Fire Record paper source documents. Data submitted by multiple agencies; (3) Fire record data comes from a vari ety of sources, including all four The inclusion of preferred and “if-available” data county fire departments (Hawaii County, Maui County, Kauai make the database as robust as possible. These County, and Honolulu City and data are primarily needed to help assess patterns County), the Division of Forestry outside of basic fire regime parameters. and Wildlife (DOFAW) within the
Fire Management Today 38 Compiling a Quality Controlled aid) were unique to a particular single fire incident. We reviewed Master List source and not addressed by all data on spotting and re-ignition agencies. and combined multiple records of The agencies delivered records a single fire into a single record. in various formats. Most records We extracted common fire incident Incident number information was were provided in digital form, but data from each database record and likewise used to consolidate fire because some of the digital records organized them into five main cat records. were incomplete, we reviewed the egories: occurrence date, location, paper records and added missing response, fire behavior and effects, The inclusion of preferred and “if information. One agency’s paper and weather (see table 1). Each of available” data makes the database records were so much more precise these categories contained essential as robust as possible. These data and comprehensive than the digital information that was either includ are primarily needed to help assess records that we opted to recreate a ed in the comprehensive database patterns outside of basic fire regime digital record from them. for all fires or entered from the parameters, including agency written records. We deemed man resource commitment, fuel type, Once all records were in satisfac datory data absolutely necessary for and the initial weather conditions tory digital form, we worked to the database to be usable. at the time of each fire. normalize the information in them. For example, some records con We also asked agencies to include tained very specific location infor Assigning Spatial Location fire size with their fire records, mation and others did not, while Fire perimeter data were extremely though we had to make a deter some data fields (for example, costs, sparse, and while many records mination as to what constituted a equipment, personnel, and mutual contained latitude and longitude
Table 1.—Fire data added to the fire record database from the individual fire reports. Occurrence Date of fire Response First station responding Time of alarm First agency responding Time of response Incident number Date controlled Fire name Time controlled Other agencies involved Duration Other stations involved Cause Fire behavior Size Location Address or location verbal description and effects Spot fire Zip code Reignition City Fuel type Island Intensity Latitude Rate of spread Longitude Depth of burn Coordinate system Weather Relative humidity at first response Property use Wind speed at first response Shapefile of perimeter Wind direction at first response Temperature at first response Mandatory—Recorded for all fires and researched to add when needed. Preferred—Recorded if given or if interpretable from records. If possible—Only recorded if specifically given.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 39 coordinates as part of their fire The intent of this effort was not only to records, others did not. Sometimes, we had to derive such coordinates: characterize long-term fire history trends, for example, we gleaned many of but also to keep track of emerging patterns the latitude and longitude coor and hazardous conditions. dinates from house addresses or road intersections in narrative fire descriptions or derived them from 2009) to the database as well. These national map (USGS 2013), an identifiable topographical features data layers are expected to help online mapping resource, provided in available fire imagery. identify ignition patterns in Hawaii, the basis for the map topography. as lightning is rare in the islands In addition to elevation, we added First-responders hand-drawn maps and volcanic ignitions are currently slope and aspect to the database. and landowners’ expert opinion limited to the Island of Hawaii. We obtained potential vegeta provided fire perimeter data, when tion and existing vegetation cover available. HVNP, on the other hand, Biophysical Data Layers data from the LANDFIRE project provided excellent fire perimeter The biophysical data layers in (Rollins and Frame 2006). data due to their natural resource the database can be divided into management focus and careful roughly three categories: climate, Data Uses recordkeeping. Fortunately, the topography, and current and poten point locations of many small fires Fire Protection Planning tial vegetation. These data are use suffice for most spatial analyses The original intent for this project ful in identifying the biophysical at the county or subcounty level, was to create a fire history data correlates of fire activity. We chose and point location data for larger base and statewide map that would climate averages for this project to fires is sufficient for trend analy enable better wildfire protection help assess general patterns of fire sis. Furthermore, almost all fires planning. Until the completion of occurrence in Hawaii rather than had some record of size in acres, this project, the extent and trends temperature and precipitation data enabling nonspatial analyses of of wildfire occurrence in Hawaii specific to each fire occurrence. burned area trends by county or had not been well articulated, While the latter would be more subcounty region. making targeted prevention and useful for identifying the drivers of mitigation efforts a challenge. In variability in fire occurrence and particular, many of the most fire- Supporting Spatial Data size, the former helps us explore prone areas in the State have not To support ecological research, fire the as-yet-unknown general pat undergone a CWPP process. HWMO adaptation studies, and mitigation terns of fire in Hawaii. planning efforts, we integrated spa and others were tasked with acquir ing fire history for each CWPP tial information on biological, cli Our normalized climate data on an area-by-area basis—a time- matological, and sociological data comprises precipitation and consuming and costly process that into the database. Each data source temperature, and we gridded limits the number of communities described below was added to a these data for the entire State of that could benefit from CWPPs. single, statewide geodatabase to Hawaii. The data come from two Executing this statewide all-agency allow for biophysical and sociologi sources. Precipitation data are collection of fire history records cal analysis across spatial scales. from the Rainfall Atlas of Hawaii concurrently with a separate state (Giambelluca and others 2013) wide street-level hazard assessment Social Data Layers and are gridded monthly for aver process gives all communities in age rainfall and for annual aver Our social data layers included Hawaii access to the information age rainfall. Temperature data for population information and road needed to understand their wildfire- 1971–2000 (PRISM 2006) include network maps. We compiled U.S. related issues, hazards, and risk, gridded monthly and yearly average census data for 2010 at the block and to complete a CWPP based on high and low temperatures. level for both total population and accurate and complete fire occur population density figures (Census rence data. Bureau 2010) and added road The national elevation dataset por network maps (Office of Planning tion of the U.S. Geological Survey’s
Fire Management Today 40 Fire Regime Research warming (Giambelluca and others estimates of area burned, and The extent to which fires in Hawaii 2008) of the Hawaiian Islands, it is because response personnel rarely can be analyzed in a cohesive fire almost certain that more areas and mapped fire boundaries, the vast regime or regimes (Agee 1993) has vegetation types in the State will majority of the fire records are lim never been ascertained, and wildfire be prone to fire in the future. Our ited to point locations. Additionally, in Hawaii outside of research on database seeks to establish current the records from each agency do the grass-fire cycle (for example, fire regime parameters for the State not cover the same span of years, by D’Antonio and others 2011) as of Hawaii, including frequency, making trends and patterns use a relevant landscape disturbance is size, yearly area burned, seasonal ful for community use and agency rarely mentioned in the scholarly ity, and whether these parameters planning, but less ideal for scien literature. A notable exception is vary by land use or land cover, tific analysis of data. Chu and others (2002), who cor vegetation type, climate, or social related annual burned area and factors. Given the high diversity of Database Updates climate types in the State, it is our annual fire starts with the El Niño- The intent of this effort was not expectation that fire regime param Southern Oscillation. The major only to characterize long-term eters will vary significantly both limitations of this study are its fire history trends, but also to within and across the archipelago. reliance on only one data source keep track of emerging patterns (DLNR-DOFAW) for fire informa and hazardous conditions as areas tion and its narrow temporal win Database Limitations are developed, drought condi dow (1976-1997). With observed Because most of the fire records tions increase, and other drivers of drying (Chu and others 2010) and were given as point locations and fire emerge. To achieve the latter,
Table 2.—Summary of fire occurrence and area burned attributes for fires added to the database. Comprehensive reporting of wildfires as differentiated from structure fires began at different times on different islands: Maui, 2000; Oahu, 2001; Kauai, 2000; Hawaii, 2004. Maui Kauai Oahu Hawaii Area Area Area Area burned Average burned Average burned Average burned Average Year Ignitions (ac) size (ac) Ignitions (ac) size (ac) Ignitions (ac) size (ac) Ignitions (ac) size (ac) pre-2000 9 29,201 3,244.56 8 8.25 1.03 265 21,542.46 81.29 190 62,983.69 331.49 2000 139 3.1 0.02 2 5.1 2.55 2 1,300.00 650.00 5 5,358.21 1,071.64 2001 183 442 2.42 27 694.9 25.74 550 1,240.35 2.26 5 0.75 0.15 2002 138 235 1.70 7 10.9 1.56 559 2,832.10 5.07 15 4,091.93 272.80 2003 236 8,019.1 33.98 5 692.7 138.54 910 7,150.20 7.86 13 9,520.89 732.38 2004 200 981 4.91 11 209.6 19.05 541 583.00 1.08 162 2,866.69 17.70 2005 279 1,417.4 5.08 110 954.6 8.68 921 11,445.30 12.43 252 32,515.30 129.03 2006 231 8,516.3 36.87 99 288.1 2.91 551 1,736.55 3.15 243 4,094.30 16.85 2007 243 8,529.2 35.10 147 1,224.1 8.33 608 8,498.50 13.98 259 20,256.50 78.21 2008 223 3,691.97 16.56 101 141.62 1.40 382 345.32 0.90 191 4,419.70 23.14 2009 188 8,006.83 42.59 103 326.39 3.17 500 1,678.79 3.36 155 3,050.34 19.68 2010 236 7,709.17 32.67 161 178.73 1.11 507 1,745.12 3.44 240 5,570.50 23.21 2011 177 233.41 1.32 78 67.24 0.86 314 263.77 0.84 135 1,944.18 14.40 2012* 234 421.46 1.80 124 338.72 2.73 374 2,389.77 6.39 49 131.69 2.69 2013** 52 61.00 1.17 Grand Total 2,716 77,406.94 28.50 983 5,140.95 5.23 7,036 62,812.23 8.93 1,914 156,804.66 81.93
*Data for 2012 is incomplete for Hawaii. **Data for 2013 is incomplete for Oahu.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 41 HWMO is (1) securing records on Acknowledgments References a biannual basis of fires that have We appreciate the assistance of Agee, J.K. 1993. Fire ecology of Pacific occurred since the last data collec Northwest forests. Washington, DC, and Miles Nakahara, Wayne Ching, tion and (2) working with agencies Covelo, CA: Island Press. 493 p. Joe Molhoek, Eric Moller, Darren to shift reporting protocol toward Census Bureau. 2010. 2010 census demo Rosario, James Kino, Robert graphic profile 1. Washington, DC: more compatible formats (particu Westerman, Jeffrey Farris, Jeffery U.S. Department of Commerce, Census larly in regard to location informa Bureau.
Fire Management Today 42 Fire ManageMent today Photo Contest
n 2013, Fire Management Today Photos were judged in several cat Volunteer judges selected the held a photo contest in search egories. These were: top-rated entries from the many Iof recent wildland fire response photos that showed the necessary activities. Response to the call for • Ground Resources, work that goes into fire opera images was widespread and showed • Aerial Resources, tions, including ground and aerial both the wide range of activities and • Prescribed Fire, and resources. creativity on the part of photogra • Miscellaneous. phers. We would like to thank all participants for their contributions.
Photo Contest Judges Dale Dague. Dague has worked Jason Steinmetz. Steinmetz is an Kaari Carpenter. Carpenter in Fire and Aviation Management emergency management specialist started with the Forest Service in as branch director for Disaster/ for Fire and Aviation Management 1990, specializing in timber and Emergency Operations and in the Washington, DC, office fuels management while work- International Fire in the of Disaster and Emergency ing on the Stanislaus, Eldorado, Washington Office since 2003. Operations. Steinmetz began his and Tahoe National Forests in the During his career with the Forest career with the Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. She Service, he has served in wildland at the age of 15 on the Wallowa has been involved in fire manage- fire management positions in Whitman National Forest and has ment her entire career, including California and Montana prior to worked on many different aspects 6 years with a Type 2 Incident moving to the Washington Office. of wildland fire and emergency Management Team. She moved Dague has a Bachelor of Science management. He has spent the last to Washington, DC, in 2012 as degree in Natural Resources 2 years focusing on the National the manager of the National Fire Management from California Incident Management System and Desk. State Polytechnic University at the Incident Command System. San Luis Obispo.
Photo Contest Winners Ground Resources
Honorable Mention: Type-6 engine, Terra Fondriest
A type-6 engine, used as a holding resource during a pre scribed burn, follows the road during a fall burn at the Buffalo National River in 2012.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 43 Aerial Resources
1st place: 802 Air Tractor SEAT, Randall C. Thomas
At the Coeur d’ Arlene Air Tanker Base, an 802 Air tractor SEAT is being marshaled into the upper pit in 2012.
2nd place: K13, Darko Muhic 3rd place: Proficiency exercise, Randall C. Thomas
A Cougar helicopter of the Slovenian Air Force transports water The Alberta Rappel Crew conducts a proficiency exercise in a helitank during firefighting operations in 2013. while being staged at an air tanker base.
Fire Management Today 44 Prescribed Fire
1st place: Holding the line, Katie Isacksen
The Middle Fork Ranger District hand crew holds the line during a meadow res toration burn on the Willamette National Forest in 2012.
2nd place: Wetland blacklining, James Remuzzi
The holding crew keeps a watchful eye during a blacklining operation on a prescribed fire on a Great Dismal Swamp wetland mitigation burn in Chesapeake, VA, during 2012.
Volume 74 • No. 1 • 2014 45 3rd place: Habitat improvement burn, James Remuzzi
Prescribed fire personnel use a Polaris Ranger to ignite a strip head fire for a hab itat improvement burn in Rappahannock County, VA, in 2011.
Honorable Mention: Firefighter, Terra Fondriest
A fire crewmember at the Buffalo National River carries a drip torch and hand tool during a prescribed burn in 2012.
Fire Management Today 46 Miscellaneous
1st place: Willamette National Forest meadow burn, Katie Isacksen
A tree torches during a meadow restoration burn on the Middle Fork Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest during 2012.
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