Comments on: Let’s Talk Fire

By: 5 mistakes

5 mistakes — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:59:48 +0000

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By: Rick Floch - Fire Mgmt Officer

Rick Floch - Fire Mgmt Officer — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:46:37 +0000

Ray-thanks for the comment. You are pretty much right – we have protection responsibility for all Bitterroot National Forest lands – but we also have (through a cooperative agreement with the State) protection responsibility for all State lands in the valley and some private lands. We will also respond to fires on private lands outside our protection area that we think might threaten our protection area and likewise, the volunteer fire districts will do the same thing on fires in our protection area that may threaten their area – that’s just being good neighbors!. We only have 6 engines staffed each summer and none of our firefighters are trained to do structure suppression – we mainly focus on keeping the fire from getting to the house or property. The RFD’s are trained, equipped, and very skilled in structure suppression – but they also have only a finite number of engines available at any one time. We both will do alla that we can but the reality is that folks need to always plan as if noone will be there because, depending on the size of the fire or the number of fires and homes threatened, there just might not be anyone available.

By: Ray

Ray — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:17:47 +0000

Focusing specifically on USFS response during the next WUI incident, many variables have to be considered by all elements of the equation:
1. What is the projected response time to the incident and with what resources?
2. At what level is the USFS resource depletion at the time of this latest incident (staffing/engines) and their availability for a timely response or be able to disengage from an in-progress incident and respond to this new incident?
3. Depending on weather and fuel conditions, size and rate of spread of the fire, available water, possible air support and threatened high value structures, has a fire-loss triage been established to save what is savable?
4. Has concise communications been established between the Initial Attack responders and those in the USFS chain of command who will be allocating additional resources to the incident and establishing an ICS protocol?
5. Depending on geographical location of the incident and severity, how far into the evolution will command request local rural fire support?
6. Are those in the initial phases of command & control truly capable of handling a rapidly evolving
incident that is eroding into a multi-divisional quagmire?

These are just some of the open-ended questions that can be debated endlessly by the fire service and most WUI property owners who are in a state of denial relative to their fire-exposure liability. Those property owners who have invested the time, effort and money to mitigate and eliminate the potential for a catastrophic fire loss will probably survive unscathed. Those who ignored the obvious, such as drought conditions, beetle killed dead and standing conifers, combustible roof, fuel accumulations around the residence, will have the indignation of standing by while their home burns to the ground. And then they will blame the appropriate fire agency for malfeasance and cowardace.

As this whole conundrum reaches a burning pinacle, let us not overlook the reality that the USFS is only responsible for those areas within USDA public lands. So if you have a burning issue in your WUI neighborhood and a USFS fire crew shows up, consider it a bonus. In the mean time, when this fire season gets really ugly and there are multiple/expanding incidents in your part of the county, don’t expect an engine crew in your driveway when you dial 9-1-1. Suppression resources may have been exhausted and dispatch will put on a waiting list.

By: John Doe

John Doe — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:08:41 +0000

Rick, thank you for your response to my questions. I, as well as other residents, am looking forward to benefiting from the completion and implementation of your guide. A planned response is always better then an unplanned reaction.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 22:37:28 +0000

Alan,
There is a wide variety of assessments available for use. We choose to use this assessment for this project because it not only addressed the structures but also the fuels aspect surrounding a home. Jack Cohen of the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory has done a lot of research on structure ignitions. Some of the results of his work can be viewed at http://www.firewise.org/resources/wui_hir.htm.

By: Rick Floch - Fire Mgmt Officer

Rick Floch - Fire Mgmt Officer — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:05:42 +0000

John Doe – Completing and implementing the Guide should help the fire protection districts as well as the Forest Service and the public in preparing for and then responding more effectively to the next wildfire in this area. It will prioritize areas in need of future fuels reduction, and during a wildfire, will facilitate better coordination and cooperation between the fire districts, Forest Service and the public

By: Rick Floch - Fire Mgmt Officer

Rick Floch - Fire Mgmt Officer — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:20:35 +0000

John Doe – The guide will describe in greater detail the coordinated response of all cooperating agencies. Briefly, the RFDs provide structure suppression/wildland fire suppression as volunteers in short term fire situations. The DNRC does not have any direct wildland fire suppression responsibility in this area (the FS protects their lands through agreement). The RC&D has no suppression responsibilities, but works with private landowners to provide forestry expertise and assistance through federal and state grant funding opportunities.

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:27:33 +0000

The definition of WUI varies depending on the agency. Each county uses a different definition, as do state and Federal agencies. You cannot compare the areas with each other: apples and oranges. The Ravalli County CWPP suggests using a specific definition that may or may not have anything to do with the likelihood of a house igniting. The only way to make that determination is to evaluate the specific house at a specific time.

By: Max

Max — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:29:07 +0000

so is the (WUI) the same as the (CWPP) or is it one and the same

By: john doe

john doe — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:53:53 +0000

What are the responsibilities of the other “cooperating agencies” ie VFD’s, RC&D, Montana DNR etc? How will this affect our protection districts? Does this increase the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) response form the FS or will it stay the same? Does it change the WUI boundary in the Valley?