NFPA released wildfire policy report

by Featured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released a new report, “Policy Recommendations to Reduce Home and Community Loss from Wildfire: Report on Outthink Wildfire™ Summit,” which summarises the next steps that dozens, agreed upon by dozens of experts, that will help overcome the challenges the nation faces in ending wildfire disasters.

The report notes outcomes from a recent policy summit hosted by NFPA in Sacramento, CA, which brought together more than 50 representatives (see full list below) who collaboratively worked to identify the most critically important areas needing national focus in light of ever-increasing wildfire losses. 

The summit was identified as a need within Outthink Wildfire, a comprehensive NFPA strategy for supporting policy-based initiatives that, over time, significantly reduce wildfire risk to communities.

The key areas identified by summit participants included education; social and cultural challenges; funding gaps; skilled workforce needs; silos in planning, codes, and standards; and additional research and data to inform risk understanding and codes.

The report provides a set of recommended goals and strategies for each of these areas. In addition, it outlines efforts NFPA will pursue in the short term, along with plans for working collaboratively with fellow stakeholders and audiences.

Michele Steinberg, wildfire division director at NFPA, said: “While the measures needed to substantively lower the risk of structure ignition in wildfire-prone areas are well established, the challenge is to apply those proven methods in communities more widely and consistently.

“By bringing together leaders in the field at the Outthink Wildfire summit, we were able to create a roadmap for achieving our overarching goal of more systematically reaching and impacting regions at risk to wildfire.”

Summit outcomes included agreement on starting points to improve alignment of policies and programs and to implement new initiatives to help increase the pace and scale of home retrofits and other mitigation measures, ultimately improving community-wide resiliency to wildfire.

The report states: “With a growing body of research now demonstrating successful wildfire mitigation strategies for homes, it is imperative that this knowledge be put into practice. To generate a community-wide reduction in the vulnerability of the built environment to wildfires, mitigation must be applied at the individual structure and parcel level, and to adjacent properties as well.”

To review the full report, visit www.nfpa.org/outthinkwildfire

Cedar Creek Fire in Oregon triples in size

by ActiveFeatured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

The Cedar Creek Fire, which started on 1 August in west-central Oregon has more than tripled in size from 27,512 acres on the morning of Thursday September 8 to 85,900 acres by Saturday night.

The majority of growth was to the west driven by strong easterly winds and dry fuels. The incident management team says 2,230 homes and 443 commercial structures remain threatened, but there have been no reports that any structures have been destroyed. 

The most recent statement from Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal said that due to strong east winds and triple-digit temperatures, work has primarily focused on the west side of the fire and that As conditions change and winds shift, firefighters with the OSFM will continue to evaluate threat to lives and properties.

Fire crews continue working day and night shifts to access structures and patrol critical areas where the fire is nearing. The fire remained north of Highway 58, south of Forest Road 19, and east of Eagle Butte.

In the east zone, direct checking actions continued on the southeast edge in the Waldo Lake area and efforts were being focused on creating fire breaks along existing roads and other barriers and burn-out operations to reduce fuels. 

Crews are reportedly working in the Brown Mountain area to reinforce a barrier east of the highway between the Crane Prairie and Wickiup reservoirs. The State Fire Marshal statement said these fire breaks are a high priority and will likely take most of a week to complete.

State of emergency declared over California wildfires

by Featured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Placer and El Dorado counties due to the Mosquito Fire and in Riverside County due to the Fairview Fire on Thursday afternoon.

Both wildfires are threatening multiple communities and have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. The declaration has frees up state resources to help residents affected by the fire and to help firefighters battle the fires.

The Fairview fire, which over the weekend had grown to 4,500 acres has since spread rapidly with the latest update from Cal Fire on Thursday night stating that the blaze had grown to over 27,000 acres and remained only 5% contained.

Meanwhile, the Mosquito fire has grown according to the latest update also on Thursday night from Cal Fire to 13,705 acres with zero per cent containment.

The statement from Governor Newsom’s office noted that earlier this week, California secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the Fairview Fire.

Additionally, last week Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Siskiyou County due to the Mill Fire, and announced that the state secured an FMAG to support the response to the fire.

European Commission discusses future Wildfire Preparedness plans

by Breaking NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

In the wake of forest fires in Southern and Central Europe, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, in close cooperation with the Czech Presidency of the Council, held an Informal Ministerial Meeting on Reinforcing Wildfire Preparedness and Response in Brussels on 5 September 2022.

Ministers, State Secretaries and Directors-General for Civil Protection of the EU Member States and Participating States to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) discussed rapid coordinated European action, within the framework of the UCPM, to better protect the Union and its citizens from fires in 2023 and beyond.

The participants gave their tributes to the work of the many firefighters who engaged in responding to fires across the Union and welcomed the European solidarity shown through the UCPM throughout the summer and the effective coordination ensured by the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).

The meeting confirmed the shared understanding of all EU Member States and Participating States that climate change is rapidly altering the wildfire risk in Europe. The scientific projections for the next years and the operational experience of the EU’s fire services depict a dire situation for the future of European forests and the livelihoods of citizens across the EU.

The occurrence of large forest fires in Central and Northern Europe, witnessed this year in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany and complementing a trend of previous years that saw fire emergencies also in Austria and Sweden, has raised particular concern among the leaders. T

he absence of sufficient firefighting planes and helicopters in these countries puts additional strain on the already established seasonal European safety net of firefighting aircraft, co-financed by the European Commission and meant to temporarily bridge gaps until the permanent new European fleet of firefighting aircraft (called rescEU and composed of 14 medium and light amphibious planes and 9 medium helicopters to complement national fleets) will have been produced between 2026 and 2030.

It was agreed that the intensification of wildfires in Southern Europe exhausts all existing firefighting capacities at national and European level, making European solidarity in a situation of simultaneous large-scale fires in several countries a particular challenge.

The pre-positioning of firefighters, for the first time operationalised this summer in a European pilot project in Greece, was identified as a good practice to not only share aerial capacities in the EU, but to also to exchange expertise, share knowledge and pre-plan the mobilisation of ground teams from countries less affected by fires to those in need of assistance.

The EU Member States and the Commission reached broad consensus on four concrete actions points:

  1. Accelerate the establishment of the new permanent rescEU fleet of aerial firefighting capacities by exploring an advanced procurement of helicopters;
  2. Expand the existing seasonal European safety net of firefighting airplanes by financing the inclusion of additional helicopters and light aircraft in particular in Central and Northern Europe, as of summer 2023;
  3. Reinforce the seasonal pre-positioning of ground teams to wildfires hot spots;
  4. Operationalise a plan of action for fire prevention and preparedness.

These actions are subject to additional EU budgetary resources being made available. The European Commission invited countries interested in hosting additional rescEU capacities or prepositioning ground teams to inform the European Commission of their intentions before the end of September 2022.

Firefighters reign in Route Fire in Los Angeles

by Featured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

Firefighters in Los Angeles have successfully tackled the remainder of the Route fire near Castaic on Saturday, which over the past few days charred more than 5,200 acres.

The fire, which was first reported on Wednesday afternoon along the 5 Freeway near Lake Hughes Road, grew quickly by Thursday, prompting mandatory evacuations and destroying two structures.

About 250 county firefighters were assigned to the blaze along with 115 US Forest Service firefighters, eight air tankers and seven helicopters, said L.A. County Fire Inspector Craig Little.

According to Tom Fisher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, temperatures in the area was 111 degrees Fahrenheit (43.8 C) and the heat was severely affecting the fire crews battling the fire. After seven firefighters had to be treated for heat stroke, officials took an unusual step in pulling back some of the firefighters on the front lines. 

The order to pull back, a fire official said, was to reduce the risk to firefighters tackling the most grueling tasks as temperatures soared. Instead, crews would focus on an aerial assault.

“It’s a tactical pause for the crews that are experiencing the greatest heat impact,” Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Thomas C. Ewald said. “We’re just trying to reduce the strain being placed on line firefighters.”

It is rare for fire officials to pull back resources. Ewald said, however: “The No. 1 threat right now is to our firefighters. We want to back off the intensity a little bit.

“For our folks that are out there, they don’t have the opportunity to go into an air-conditioned environment. They’re on the line, they’re not in the shade. Their No. 1 tool is hydration and preparation.”

EU mobilises to join fight against Portugal forest fires

by Featured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

The European Commission has deployed two firefighting airplanes to support Portugal with the country’s ongoing wildfire emergency.

Following a request for assistance, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism facilitated the immediate pre-positioning and then deployment of two Canadairs from Greece, which are currently operating in the most affected districts in northern Portugal.

On this occasion, Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said: “As wildfires continue to threaten people and resources across our continent, we need to stay alert and ready to deploy assistance as rapidly as possible from fire breakouts. We stand in solidarity with Portugal facing this emergency and have mobilised planes from Greece who are putting European solidarity into action.” 

The EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre is in close contact with Portuguese authorities to support the coordination of firefighting operations in the area and mobilise further assistance in case of need.

In addition, the EU’s Copernicus satellite service has been activated to collect data vital to first responders on the areas burned. 

Operation Willow Beck supports fire service during extreme weather period

by Featured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

Following extended periods of extreme weather in the UK in recent weeks, the National Fire Chiefs Council NFCC supported process Operation Willow Beck has reportedly seen extensive use. 

The process designed in collaboration between the Home Office, the NFCC Mobilising Officers Group, the NFCC Fire Control Room Project and British Telecom is designed to mitigate increased emergency call volumes during spike conditions, such as flooding or wildfires. 

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, one of the services that implemented Operation Willow Beck in their Joint Fire Control Room, reported to National Operational Learning about the experiences on the day allowed a 65% reduction in calls being handled by Surrey, ensuring that risk critical calls could be handled in a timely manner and all callers received a response without over burdening a single buddy control room.

BT also indicated the benefits to call management were clear allowing them to pass more calls and reducing manual processes saving time and getting the caller a response faster. 

The NFCC said this demonstrated the importance of the process as while events such as these are rare they are becoming more common and more severe, meaning services will be under extreme pressure and capacity stretched

NFCC said: “We will be using all National Operational Learning cases submitted regarding these periods, to improve the existing processes, and we encourage all fire and rescue services to share vital feedback with National Operational Learning to allow us to continue to learn and improve. 

“We also urge you to consider doing more to embed Operation Willow Beck, National Talk Group 20, supporting National Operational Guidance for Fire Control and other processes designed to reduce stress on service capacity, so when they are needed, they work as well as they did for Surrey.”

US aviation soldiers assist with Kosovo wildfires

by Featured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

Aviation Soldiers assigned to Kosovo Force’s Regional Command-East have been working together since their arrival in the region to enhance their aerial firefighting capabilities.

They have assisted in combatting wildfires utilising the force’s crew chiefs, pilots, command staff and the Soldiers who perform maintenance on the Bambi buckets used to drop massive amounts of water to extinguish large fires.

2nd Battalion, 224th Aviation Regiment of the Virginia National Guard, implemented training to bring their aviation crews up to standard and certify anyone who has never used the Bambi bucket. Crews use local lakes for training, and even after Soldiers are certified, the aviation teams continue to train because a call to fight a fire can come in at any second.

Kosovo is prone to wildfires due to farmers participating in agricultural burning to cultivate fields and clear stubble, weeds, and waste, for the continued production of crops. If these fires are not kept under control, they have the potential to turn into larger fires that threaten Kosovo villages and forest habitats.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Darrell Busquets, the battalion standardisations instructor pilot assigned to Bravo Company, said: “Before our pre-mobilization, we got word that there were Bambi buckets here in Kosovo and that KFOR 29 fought fires up in the western side of Kosovo during their rotation.”

He added: “That prompted us to put our aviators through Bambi bucket qualifications. Once we got into Kosovo, we continued to keep current on the Bambi bucket operations. The training makes our crews more cohesive when we get called to do real life operations.”

Equivalent of 16 football pitches lost to forest fires every minute

by Featured NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

Forest fires are burning twice as much global tree cover as 20 years ago according to new data published on Wednesday (17 August) which shows the equivalent of 16 football pitches are now lost every minute.

Researchers from the University of Maryland used satellite imagery to map areas of tree cover lost, including that burned by what are known as stand-replacing forest fires – fires that kill all or most of the forest’s canopy and which cause long-term changes to forest structure and soil chemistry.

The research revealed in great detail how wildfires have progressed over the past two decades with the blazes claiming an estimated three more million hectares each year – an area approximately the size of Belgium – compared with 2001.

The study also showed that the majority of tree cover loss is occurring in the boreal forests that blanket much of Russia, Canada and Alaska.

Around 70% of fire-related tree cover loss over the last two decades occurred in boreal regions, likely because high-latitude regions are warming at a faster rate than the rest of the planet.

Last year, Russia lost 5.4 million hectares of tree cover due to fires, the highest on record at an increase of 31% over 2020.

The study said: “This record-breaking loss was due in part to prolonged heatwaves that would have been practically impossible without human-induced climate change.”

“Forest fires are getting worse worldwide,” James McCarthy, research analyst at Global Forest Watch, told AFP.

“In these boreal regions carbon has accumulated in the soil over hundreds of years and has been protected by a moist layer on top.”

Forest fire devastates Northern Algeria

by Breaking NewsIndustry SectorsWildland Fire

At least 26 people have been killed and dozens more injured on Wednesday in forest fires that decimated parts of northern Algeria, the country’s interior minister Kamel Beldjoud said.

In El Tarf, near the border with Tunisia, 24 people were killed as well as a mother and daughter in Setif. Firefighters, supported by helicopters, were still trying to contain several blazes on Wednesday evening and around 350 residents have been evacuated across various provinces.

Wednesday’s toll brings the total number of Algerians killed in wildfires this summer up to 30.

The civil protection agency said that El Tarf was the worst hit area with 16 fires in progress.

Northern Algeria sees forest fire activity every year with 90 people thought to have died as a result last year and more than 100,000 hectares of woodland burnt.

Last August, Beldjoud blamed a spate of fires in Algeria’s Kabyle region on arson. He claimed “only criminal hands” could explain “the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities”.