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We are beginning to put large documents into much smaller files using Flash Paper. Flash Paper preserves hyperlinks and provides complete in-document text searching. Most computers now have the Flash Player installed at the factory. Need the Flash Player? Free two minute download at 56 KB/s.
There are many ready to proclaim that cheatgrass has won the battle for the west. The 2007 fire season would certainly attest to that claim with cheatgrass fueling range fires in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming that covered hundreds of thousand of acres. Not everyone is ready to surrender to cheatgrass though. Zion National Park is tackling the cheatgrass problem head-on.
Fire Risk and the Southeastern Drought
In 2007, a complex of fires in and around the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge—eventually named the Georgia Bay Complex—consumed over 500,000 acres across southern Georgia and northern Florida. While state and federal officials are busy preparing for another active fire season they have implemented a number of programs to help recover from last year’s round of fires, and also to better prepare Georgia’s forests for the challenges it will face with a continuing drought. More...
Fire and Climate Change: A Conversation with Peter Fulé
The connection between climate change and the increasing length and severity of fire season has become an important issue in fire science. At the Association of Fire Ecology Conference in Tucson, AZ this past January, almost every talk mentioned climate change to some degree. We sat down and talked with Peter Fulé of Northern Arizona University about his research on the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire, and what lessons he draws from the fire that can help fire managers in facing the challenges of climate change.
Stay or Go? Would it Work in the US?
The last 25 documents posted on the Lessons Learned Center Web site are listed below:
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Behavior Modification: Tempering Fire at the Landscape Level
(1MB pdf posted 5/9/2008)
Description of Mark Finney's research looking at the strategic placement of fuel treatments to modify fire behavior and spread.
Chainsaws or Driptorches: How Should Fire Risk Be Reduced?
(857KB pdf posted 5/9/2008)
Brief describing the benefits and trade-offs of various fuel treatment options: mechanical thinning, brush clearing, and prescribed fire in reducing the level of fire hazard for surface, crown, or ladder fires.
Restoring Mixed Conifer Ecosystems to Pre-Fire Suppression Conditions in Crater Lake National Park
(815KB pdf posted 5/9/2008)
The forest at Crater Lake NP are a kind of microcosm of the wide-ranging mixed conifer forest across the West. Early efforts to restore fire at Crater Lake showed that older ponderosa pine forests were at risk of mortality via increases in bark beetle attacks. In attempts to understand how fire affects tree vulnerability, researchers have gained a new understanding of how pine resin response to prescribed fire may begin to help fire managers with forest restoration management goals and decisions.
Tested by Fire: What Happens When Wildfires Meet Fuel Treatments?
(716KB pdf posted 5/9/2008)
Strong scientific evidence has long been needed on the effectiveness of fuel treatments when subsequent wildfires meet treated areas. This project studied what happened when wildfires met fuel treatments, using results from five large wildfires in mixed conifer forests in the western United States.
The Cone Fire: A Chance Reckoning for Fuel Treatments
(876KB pdf posted 5/9/2008)
The Cone Fire presented an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatments in the presence of wildfire. A long-term study was underway to test ecological responses to two different stand structures the scientists created using different treatments.
The Rothermel Fire-Spread Model: Still Running Like a Champ
(1MB pdf posted 5/9/2008)
In 1972 Richard Rothermel developed a method for modeling the spread of wildfire. The model became widely used, and although there have been many technological innovations, it is still the engine of predictive tools used by fire behavior officers today.
Pentimento: Fuels Reduction and Restoration in the Bosque of the Middle Rio Grande
(840KB pdf posted 5/9/2008)
The Middle Rio Grande of New Mexico is the most extensive remaining bosque, or cottwood forest, in the southwest. An array of fuel treatments applied in the bosque reduced invasive plant species.
Southern Arizona Fuels & Fire Behavior Advisory
(329KB pdf posted 5/8/2008)
Above-average rains during the summers of 2006 and 2007 have created heavier than normal fine fuel loads in southern Arizona, especially in desert areas infested with Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare).
Many grassland areas in southeastern Arizona (above 3,500’) have had above average precipitation the past two summers, creating a heavy crop of grass. Historically, this situation has been followed by a year with
large fires.
Why Did He Die? Lessons from the Devil's Den Fatality Fire 256Kbps
(20MB wmv posted 5/1/2008)
This short video briefly and succinctly tells the story of the 2006 Devil’s Den Incident fatality experience — focusing on the key lessons and effective practices to be learned from this fireline tragedy.
Why Did He Die? Lessons from the Devil's Den Fatality Fire 1Mbps
(30MB flv posted 5/1/2008)
This video briefly and succinctly tells the story of the 2006 Devil’s Den Incident fatality experience — focusing on the key lessons and effective practices to be learned from this fireline tragedy. Streaming .flv Flash Video file for a High Speed Connection (1Mb/s)Requires the Flash Player to be installed on your computer.
Briefing Paper - Firefighters concerned about fire shelter length
(162 bytes doc posted 4/28/2008)
"Background: An e-mail was widely circulated recently in the firefighter community warning firefighters that people taller than 5’8” should probably carry a large size, New Generation Fire Shelter. A firefighter had reportedly tried a regular size fire shelter and found it to be “nearly a foot shorter” than the regular size practice shelter he had used. This raised the concern that if practice shelters are longer than real shelters, it could lead people to carry the wrong size shelter. MTDC contacted the district and requested that both the New Generation Fire Shelter and the practice fire shelter be sent to MTDC for examination."
Work Capacity Test Serious Injury
(20KB pdf posted 4/28/2008)
"On April 17th, 2008, a fire crew captain was participating in the annual
work capacity test at the arduous level when he suffered an apparent heart attack. The cardiac emergency was witnessed by several co-workers, a test administrator, an on-scene emergency medical technician and proctor. The crew captain was carrying a 45 pound pack test vest and fell to the ground."
Document Depot Tutorial for MFC Neighborhood Coordinators
(3MB doc posted 4/25/2008)
The Document Depot filing system recently installed in MyFireCommunity.net now has a step-by-step tutorial for neighborhood coordinators to use in setting things up for their group. Download this 2 MB Word doc to your computer for best results because images may load slowly viewing them in your browser. Each coordinator must contact the authors on the LLC staff to create their n'hood specific private database first. They then are able to use the tutorial and may receive online live instruction by appointment also.
Texas Grass Fire Lessons
(47KB pdf posted 4/23/2008)
This is an excerpt from the 2007 Wildland Fire Safety Training Annual Refresher Training workboook.
2007 Fireline Safety Refresher Training
(5MB pdf posted 4/23/2008)
This year’s fireline safety refresher training, Fire Indicators – Chance Favors the Prepared Firefighter, is intended as an alternative delivery system for annual refresher training required
for all personnel participating in fire suppression or prescribed fire activities who may be subjected to assignments on the fireline. Check specific agency policy to determine if this training package meets all refresher training requirements.
"Our Pappies Burned the Woods"
(1MB pdf posted 4/23/2008)
This article appeared in "American Forests" magazine in 1940, written by Psychologist John P. Shea. It details fires in the south.
The Avian Flu Pandemic Response and Preparedness Plan For the Federal Wildland Fire Agencies
(724KB doc posted 4/23/2008)
This plan provides guidance to ensure the safety of all Department of the Interior (DOI) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service employees involved in: Routine fire assignments, and
Activities for emergency responses to: Avian influenza (AI), Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and Pandemic influenza (H5N1).
This plan is based on the currently known risks associated with the various levels and types of exposures to the viruses of avian influenza, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and pandemic influenza.
The Learning Curve, April 2008 - 12 Edition
( pdf posted 4/23/2008)
Lessons Learned and Effective Practices from the 2006 AAR Rollups featuring OPERATIONS (Water Conservation with Dust Palliative), PLANNING (Using Local Felling Groups and Contractors), and LOGISTICS (Using Spike Camps Decreases Safety Problems, Streamlining Spike Camp Deliveries, Coyote Camp Deliveries During Red Flag Conditions, Logistical Chanllenges in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness and Successful Approach to Recognizing a Potential MRSA Infection.
Ordway Fire Fatality
(22KB doc posted 4/22/2008)
"It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to you to inform you of the line-of-duty death of three firefighting personnel while serving and protecting the citizen's of Colorado."
Tarkio Shelter Deployment Video Trailer
(3MB wmv posted 4/16/2008)
Tarkio Shelter Deployment Video Trailer
Mike Friend Video Trailer
(2MB wmv posted 4/16/2008)
Mike Friend Video Trailer
Accident Prevention Analysis Implementation Guide
(465KB doc posted 4/15/2008)
"An Accident Prevention Analysis is a formal process appropriate for investigation and analysis of an accident, serious accident or serious near-miss that has potential to serve as a warning of an institutional or cultural fault latent within the organization. The APA process is a formal accident investigation, meeting the requirements of Executive Order 12196, FSM 6731, FSH 6709.12."
Fire, Family, and Decisions
( pdf posted 4/15/2008)
This paper explores how family dynamics inform critical decisions and suggests that there is significant value in listening to the narratives of families and couples who have experienced a major bushfire. A people-centred focus, not a pre-determined system or a theory, is needed.
In order to reduce, or eliminate, last minute decisions to evacuate at the height of a bushfire, there must be recognition and understanding of
how family dynamics and women’s role within the family influence behaviour during a crisis.
Wildland Fire Safety Awareness Study Phase 4 - Developing a Cooperative Approach
(143KB pdf posted 4/15/2008)
TriData Phase IV, "Developing a Cooperative Approach To Wildfire Protection" paper, presented to the Federal Fire and Aviation Leadership Council in Boise, ID, on January 6, 1998, by Charles Perrow, Sociologist, Ph.D., Yale University.
Pleasants Peak Brush Crushing Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project - 24 Hr Report
(55KB doc posted 4/15/2008)
"On the morning of April 7, 2008, a contract dozer operator (Barler Equipment, Inc.) was performing hazardous fuels reduction brush crushing activities work, as part of the Pleasants Peak brush crushing project, contracted with the USDA Forest Service. The dozer operator was performing work in steep terrain when his D-6 dozer rolled over and he appears to have been ejected."
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