Bighorn fire: Questions raised about effectiveness of flame retardant used against wildfires
It was good for Hunter to acknowledge the retardant didn’t stop the fire on its own, said Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, of Eugene, Oregon. “It’s one of many tools, but an expensive tool, with extensive environmental impacts. That was an amazing amount of retardant, a phenomenal amount,” Ingalsbee said of the 358,000 gallons. “This sure smells like a retardant bombing boondoggle.”
Hands on the land, heart in community: Returning cultural fires
It was a California Summer. I was working in a plant nursery tucked into the Cascade Mountain Range—blue mountains in the distance and rivers and creeks to splash in.
But I couldn't clearly see my hand outstretched in front of me. It's the smoke. Like almost every summer of my childhood, a wildfire raged in a nearby forest.
Looking back, what was most disturbing was not the smoke or the thick layer of ash on my car after work, it was how normal this was. Evacuations and high severity forest fires are an almost annual occurrence. California's forest fire problem now routinely makes international news as entire cities are destroyed.
Now more than ever California forest fires have become synonymous with death, destruction, and long-term economic depression.
COVID-19 prompts new fire strategies: Officials aim to put blazes out quickly rather than burning off undergrowth
Marshall said COVID-19 has prompted a new statewide strategy aimed at extinguishing wildfires as soon as possible.
“In the past, we’d let some fires burn and let them burn out some of the undergrowth if it wasn’t threatening structures and try and clear out some of that to help reduce the long-term fire danger,” Marshall said. “This year, that’s not going to be the case. There’s going to be a really aggressive effort to put out fires early on.”
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Firefighters train for wildland fire season
With summer on the way, Colorado Springs firefighters are gearing up for another wildland fire season.
Friday 27 training recruits from the current fire academy and five firefighters from the previous academy were out doing some hands-on training.
With summer on the way, Colorado Springs firefighters are gearing up for another wildland fire season.
Friday 27 training recruits from the current fire academy and five firefighters from the previous academy were out doing some hands-on training.
https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/firefighters-train-for-wildland-fire-season
Cerro Grande Fire remains burned into New Mexico's memory 20 years later
“They didn’t have enough people,” said Tom Ribe of Santa Fe, author of the 2010 book Inferno by Committee, which recounts the Cerro Grande Fire with a critical eye. “They needed to have two or three times the people on the prescribed fire from Day One.” Those overseeing the fire were in a hurry to get it done, which led to errors in judgment, said Ribe, a longtime public lands advocate.
Oregon Lawmakers Bump Up Wildfire Funds As A Potentially Big Season Looms
The Oregon Legislature’s Emergency Board on Thursday approved a spending increase for wildfires in anticipation of what could be an early and challenging season.
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The Oregon Legislature’s Emergency Board on Thursday approved a spending increase for wildfires in anticipation of what could be an early and challenging season.
Full Article: https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-wildfire-funding-increase-2020-season/
Tribes and firefighters work together to prevent catastrophic wildfires
Elizabeth Azzuz had already worked with fire three times during the week I spoke with her from her home at the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in Northern California. Azzuz is a member of the Yurok Tribe, which has used fire for cultural and ecological reasons for hundreds of generations. She burns dense understory to cleanse conifer forests and promote the growth of hazel for basket weaving. At night, she ignites leaf litter and grasses; the resulting smoke discourages weevils and moths, which can infest the acorns used in traditional foods.
Elizabeth Azzuz had already worked with fire three times during the week I spoke with her from her home at the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in Northern California. Azzuz is a member of the Yurok Tribe, which has used fire for cultural and ecological reasons for hundreds of generations. She burns dense understory to cleanse conifer forests and promote the growth of hazel for basket weaving. At night, she ignites leaf litter and grasses; the resulting smoke discourages weevils and moths, which can infest the acorns used in traditional foods.
https://grist.org/climate/tribes-and-firefighters-work-together-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires/
USFS reverts to ‘old’ fire plan in time of coronavirus
“With the prospect of a wildland fire season ramping up at time when the COVID-19 respiratory virus is still lingering in the population, local fire fighting agencies are planning an aggressive suppression strategy this year aimed at extinguishing fires as quickly as possible, a markedly different approach from normal years.”
“With the prospect of a wildland fire season ramping up at time when the COVID-19 respiratory virus is still lingering in the population, local fire fighting agencies are planning an aggressive suppression strategy this year aimed at extinguishing fires as quickly as possible, a markedly different approach from normal years.”
The fire we need. Can managed fire heal more than just the forests?
The fire we need. Can managed fire heal more than just the forests?
For Emergency Personnel, Disaster Planning Must Now Factor in Covid-19
Tim Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, is worried about the ways coronavirus is already undermining readiness. Physical fitness tests, medical reviews, safety training and refresher courses have been suspended or moved online just as crews should be gearing up to be ready for work in May.
"I think there's a fair amount of dread among wildland firefighters about how they are going to do their jobs," Ingalsbee said.
Trump administration finalizes rangeland wildfire plan
Tim Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, said cattle grazing and invasive species like cheatgrass are much bigger problems for sagebrush habitat than wildfire.
“They should kick the cows off the land,” he said. “That’s who’s doing the most damage in terms of fire, changing the vegetation makeup and spreading invasive weeds.”
Good Fire on the Klamath
Native people have been applying good, medicinal fire to their homelands along the Klamath River for thousands upon thousands of years. Recently, amid intensifying climate, wildfire, and social crises, Karuk and Yurok people have been organizing TREX, prescribed fire training exchange events conducted in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and a diverse, international set of participants.
What you need to know about the Australia bushfires
“…Experts told The Verge that under the extreme conditions, there was not much more that firefighters could do until there was enough rainfall to stop the blazes or the fires ran out of fuel and burned themselves out. ‘It’s not humanly possible to prevent [these fires] or put them out,’ Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology based in Oregon, tells The Verge. ‘We have put so much of our strategy for living in fire environments all on firefighters, all on suppression, reacting to blazes. And, you know, now we are facing conditions, given climate change in particular, we can’t do that.’…”
“…Experts told The Verge that under the extreme conditions, there was not much more that firefighters could do until there was enough rainfall to stop the blazes or the fires ran out of fuel and burned themselves out. ‘It’s not humanly possible to prevent [these fires] or put them out,’ Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology based in Oregon, tells The Verge. ‘We have put so much of our strategy for living in fire environments all on firefighters, all on suppression, reacting to blazes. And, you know, now we are facing conditions, given climate change in particular, we can’t do that.’…”