1st Firefighter Fatality of 2009

It seems to be inevitable each season. Although as a community of professionals we would like to think that the ability to see our way through a wildfire season without a single fatality is achievable, the reality remains that fighting fires is dangerous. It isn't always the fire that claims the life, but it seems that more often than not it is the fire which is a contributing factor to the loss of life. The first fatality of 2009 is not different. Our condolences go out to the survivors and family of the firefighter whom has lost his life in this horrific incident. It is our hope that we, as a community of firefighters, can take a moment to recognize the contributions of a fallen firefighter. May this fatality cause all of us to pause, if only for a moment, to consider our actions and the situations we are asked to engage in. It is our hope that we will continue to respect the dangerous nature of our jobs, and take the necessary precautions to ensure that we remain safe this 2009 fire season.

Name: John C. Myers
Rank: Firefighter/Mechanic
Age: 61
Gender: Male
Status: Volunteer
Years of Service: 6
Date of Incident: 01/03/2009
Time of Incident: 1533hrs
Date of Death: 01/03/2009
Fire Department: Union Chapel Volunteer Fire Department

Incident Description: Firefighter John C. Myers passed away from injuries received in a motor vehicle accident while working at the scene of an outdoor grass fire.

Myers was operating a fire department vehicle and traveling south on County Road Wesley, near the Pittsburg County line (OK), when his son, Firefighter Juston Myers, also working the fire and operating a privately owned vehicle heading north on CR Wesley, crossed left of center on the narrow gravel road in heavy smoke obstructed conditions and collided head on with the fire department vehicle his father was driving.

Personnel from several fire departments in the area worked for more than an hour and a half to free Firefighter John C. Myers from the wreckage. Firefighter Juston Myers and a passenger in the privately owned vehicle were both injured in the accident. Juston was treated at the scene and his passenger, Clayton Rice, was taken to a nearby hospital with head, leg and arm injuries.

Incident Location: On County Road Wesley, USNG: 15S TU 3497 3518 (6.67km due east of US Hwy 69), Atoka County, OK.

Map View:
http://floridadisaster.org/gis/kml/viewer.htm?zoom=15&usng=15STU34973518&disp=h

Seatbelts: Equipped and not in use both vehicles.

This is the first US wildland fire fatality for 2009.

News:

http://www.mcalesternews.com/homepage/local_story_005110945.html?keyword=leadpicturestory

Job Openings!

Well, it is that time of the year again. While it is still an unknown as to how many of our 2008 crewmembers might return for another season with Zion Helitack, we must press forward in recruiting the next generation of Zion Helitack crewmembers. Those that wish to apply for a seasonal position on Zion Helitack may do so by following the directions below:

Go to: www.usajobs.com

On this page there are two ways to find us... in the middle of the page next to large lettering that says "Search Jobs" there sits two boxes. One is for the job title (Ignore It). The second is for an address/agency - you can type in 84720 and hit search... you will then have to scroll through several pages until you find the following job announcment DOI-FIRE-2009-003 next to it will be the words National Park Service, Cedar City

you may also do this the simplified way...

Go to: www.usajobs.com

On this page there are several tabs at the top of the page... the first tab is "search jobs" next to it is "my usajobs", "info center" etc... click on the first tab that says "search jobs". The page that comes up next will have a box at the top that says "Keyword"- in this box type the following job announcement number DOI-FIRE-2009-003 and hit enter or search. This will take you to a page with a few similar looking announcements. Once in the announcement for Cedar City, Zion National Park... follow the directions. Be certain that you select Cedar City NPS as a choice when you voice where you want to apply.

Now - a couple of things to keep in mind. I believe the 1st cut off for applications is January 20th. You must have your application in by that time if you wish Zion Helitack to consider you. Second, take some time with your application... we are not the only people that look at the applications and rate them. Don't be mistaken that you can make a phone call and talk directly to myself or my assistant, and that this will take the place of a good application. It does not! I do encourage phone calls to learn about the program and ensure that we are the program for you, however... in the end it is the application and your references that will win you a position on the crew... so take some time in filling out the application, and put some thought into your references.

I will be posting later today, a detailed look into the crew and what you can expect. Or I suggest you look through our past posts to learn a little about us.

Good Luck... we look forward to seeing your applications.
Cheers, ML

Fallen Firefighters

Every year despite ongoing efforts, we lose lives to the fighting of wildfires. Some lives are lost to freak accidents that many say were unforeseeable, other lives are lost because of mistakes made... foreseeable and preventable if only we as a society could learn lessons from the past. We are supposed to be devoting our efforts as supervisors to ensuring the safety of those whom put their trust in us, both on and off the line. I think if you were to ask most any supervisor, he or she would tell you that they are doing their best. Doing their best to ensure that those young men and women that work for them are given the best training, the safest equipment, and the guidance that will keep them from becoming a fatality. My question is this... if we are doing our best, why do we continue to lose firefighters to mistakes made that could have been foreseen or prevented? Is our best good enough, and when do we know that we have reached our best? I don't know that I have the answers... I don't know if anyone has the answers. If the answers to those questions were obvious, then I'd like to think we would do something to change the future based on the past... I know that we are trying, but as the great Yoda once said,"Try not, do or do not. There is no try". Isn't that the truth? No such thing as trying... you either accomplish what you set out to do, or you fail... and don't get me wrong, failure isn't all that bad. As long as you learn from your failures, they can be looked upon as success. I should restate that... As long as we all learn from one another's failures, we can be successful.

Following any fatality, there is an investigation. Most investigations talk about the same old thing... here is what went wrong, and this is what was ignored from lessons previously learned. I agree that often in fatalities on the line it is easy to see causation... however, none of us have a crystal ball that will show us the results at the end of the path we choose to go down. However, we should not be making mistakes that someone else has already made... especially when such mistakes lead to lives being lost.

In 2006, on the Devils Den Fire, I lost a very good friend. Following the investigation, there were lessons to be learned... many of which were lessons that had been taught due to other fatality fires. I made the decision, following the summer of 2006, that I would no longer wait for someone else to do their part in teaching the next generation of firefighters how to be safe. I'm sure that some of you understand what I am talking about... If the district didn't organize a staff ride to visit a fatality fire, then my crew went without. I often times would take for granted that the course I just sent my crewmembers to, had all the essential information that they needed to learn about the subject and how to remain safe. This often went unchecked by me... I did not take the time to quiz my crewmembers about the things they should have gotten out of the course. If there is a lesson that I have gotten from the death of my friend, it is that I have the power and resources to teach the next generation of firefighters the lessons that they should learn. I don't presume to know it all... non of us really do! But what I do know will no longer be kept just in my minds vault, but will be shared with anyone who will take the time and interest to learn from me and those who have lost their lives.

Last season I took my crew to the site where my good friend lost his life... It was my first return to the location in nearly two years, and it was emotional. I know that both the new and seasoned crewmembers on my crew had some level of reservation about visiting the site... One thing about most firefighters is that we don't wish to be reminded of our mortality. However, I think that reminders of such mortality is important.

The climb to the fatality site overlook, at Devils Den, is no small feet. In this picture you can see that the crew is trekking their way up the steep and rocky slopes far above the valley floor. I think this difficult climb helped make visiting the site more impactful than it might have been. It also keeps the general public from making the trek. It is important to myself that those whom visit this site, really desire to do so... It is not a climb for the faint at heart, or those who are looking for a easy afternoon stroll... Only those looking to visit the site, with strong conviction to do so, will actually make it to the top.

Once at the top... you can still see the evidence of the raging fire and the destruction done. There is also a subtle evidence of the battle waged. In the picture below you can still see the faint red trace of slurry coating the rocks, as a crewmember reflects on what was happening the day my friend lost his life.

There was a lot of reflection going on that day. I was not the only one that had a connection to the friend that lost his life. It was a day for some to tell stories of the man he was, and the lessons he taught... still for others it was an introduction to a brave and seasoned firefighter that lost his life. It is my hope that lessons were learned by all on this day, by making the trip to the Devils Den fatality site and telling the story of the battle that took place on this ground.

Spencer lost his life on August 17th in 2006, on the Devils Den fire in Central Utah. I have learned many lessons from this fatality fire. Perhaps one may argue that the lessons were learned for me, due to my close ties to Spencer. I suppose that there is truth in that... I found myself reflecting back on the times that I had done what Spencer did that day. I am saddened to say that it took the loss of a good friend for me to realize that those stories of lost firefighters were not so distant... and the possibility of me making similar mistakes was real! I don't take that for granted any longer... and if there was a true lesson to be learned from me, it is that we are all a part of this family! I don't have to know the person on a level like I did Spencer, in order for the lesson to be validated. I am looking back on lessons learned from other fatality fires with a new understanding of just how close those people were to me... and just how easily those individuals could have been me!

In the end it was a great day... despite some somber moments, the crew enjoyed the day. Smiles still remained at the end of the day... and now the crew had something to bind them together, an experience that only they shared with one another. Just as I write about it now, there is a feeling that I can't put into words what any of us felt as we visited that site together.

I spent some time at the end of the season talking with each of my crewmembers. I asked them about the things that went well, and the things that needed improvement... as most supervisors do. I also wanted to know about what was memorable for them, and for most... it was the time spent at the beginning of the season on the hill at Devils Den. I expect that Zion Helitack will continue to start our seasons off with such trips to important battlegrounds where lessons were learned... are learned!

Never stop teaching... lives depend on it! There is a moment for teaching in everything we do... and though the crew may roll their eyes and say,"here he goes again", I know that they appreciate the lessons from the past and the time spent teaching them. So be a teacher... share what you know... and maybe someday, we'll stop repeating the mistakes made and avoid taking the paths that lead to undesirable endings.

Cheers,

Puma RX - Bryce Canyon N.P.

We had a fairly good season in light of it being a slow year for fire and aviation. One of the projects tackled this year by resource management was the Puma prescribed burn at Bryce Canyon National Park. The intent of the burn was to change the vegetation model to something that would not support a running crown fire... thus providing the visitors at Bryce Canyon a small (some day unseen) buffer, should a fire threaten the park from the West. It was a large undertaking, that took a lot of planning on the behalf of park fire management.


We became a large part of what was going to take place. Many days of preparation by ground crews led to a couple of good photo ops, as we burned both by ground and air. As time would permit I snapped these photographs of the events taking place...

Enjoy...


This picture captures a small glimpse of the vegetation model that needed to be modified, and the spectacular veiw from our staging area.

So following a day or two of black lining... in order to be able to hold the ignition that would take place from the air... we were off of Bryce Canyon airport, and the PSD operations were underway. This is a good picture of the PSD (Premo Mark III) in action... if you look closely between the step and the helicopter you'll notice a small white ping pong ball, full of its explosive combination of Potasium Premagnate and Ethylene Glycol (anti-freeze), making its way to the ground in anticipation of fire...

Jay Lusher (Grand Canyon) and Nicole Ludwig (Pilot), talked their way through the ignition paterns. It didn't take very long before we had several lines begining to form on the ground, as illistrated in the picture above... I believe Nicole was checking her work, as we waited to see if the fire would take.

... And the fire did take. With the assistance of ground lighters and the right conditions, we had fire! I love the contrast of this picture... the beautiful scenery of Bryce Canyon and equally beautiful scenery (at least in my eyes) of smoke rising from the ground fire we just started.

My dad used to tell me that there was a little bit of a "Pyro" in every firefighter... the fascination of watching fire and smelling the smoke runs in every career firefighters blood. So with that being said, it's no wonder that maybe we put a little too much fire down in some areas. This is evident by the intense heat pictured above... (Disclaimer - we accomplished what was expect and we did so without the fire escaping parameters or exceeding prescription)

I like this photo a lot... the picture of the helicopter leaving behind what it has started.

... There I am! Hanging out with the machine in the back of the helicopter. This is my favorite place to be... no presure to make good decisions as an Ignition Specialist in the front seat, and of course I couldn't fly the ship if I wanted to... I don't posses those types of skills! I am just the "On" and "Off" switch for the machine. Still a vital component to the whole operation, but in a way I am just hanging in my own little world back there...

At times it is good for the pilot to be able to achieve a veiw of where she is flying and what is going on down below... can't do that too well with a door on! She is of course belted into the front seat... we can't afford to have her fall out of the helicopter.

At the end of the day we arrive back at Bryce Canyon airport to admire the work of all involved, from afar... it was pretty impressive for a small prescribed burn.

It should be said that prescribed burning is an essential part of managing our public lands... I would much rather start a fire under controlled conditions with all the needed support in place, than to arrive on a wildfire with too little and be too late to catch it and keep it from destroying the land. We saw fires like this in Yellowstone many years back, and still today as I visit... the damage done by those fires is evident and long lasting. This is why prescribed fire and wildfire use is sooooo important. I know that there are many controversal cases where prescribed fire has gotten out of control and done damage that was not planned for or expected... but there are more success stories than there are disasters. I hope that our land managers will continue to use Fire Use and Prescribed Fire in order to allow mother nature to do what she has naturally done for thousands of years.

That beings said... it was a lot of fun to hang out of the helicopter and lighting up a few thousand acres doing PSD... a true highlight of my summer!

Always a pleasure, Cheers...

Cargo Let Down Training...

It's time to play catch up on the blog... currently the weather outside is cold and a slight drizzle has begun, signs of the impending end of the fire season for Zion Helitack. You may wonder if the ship is still here... the answer is yes! We are in a contract extension that looks like it will continue to the end of next week around the 12th of October. As I wait for word on a possible SAR in the park (lost party in the Subway), I though why not post some of what happened this season.

We started the year excited about the approval to gain Cargo Let Down as a tool for our program. It took a little bit of coordinating, but we finally got Jay Lusher (CLD Check Spotter from Grand Canyon) and Maria Mancano (AMD Check Pilot) to come spend a couple of days training the crew. Following are a couple of pictures of the training that took place.

Of course the first thing that must be done is the rigging of the helicopter... for the rookies, that we are, this takes a little bit of time... and as you can see the blades are turning which adds to the stress of doing things efficiently and yet proper and safe.

Following proper rigging there is a so called "song and dance" that occures over the intercom system, between the pilot and the spotter. During training both the Check Spotter and Check Pilot are also on board to help train the pilot and spotter in the proper verbage... following a short exchange the helicopter lifts... We elected to train in two methods of Cargo Let Down (CLD)... the 1st being shown here is an external CLD. This means that the cargo is rigged to the outside of the helicopter and flown in such manner until over the intended spot to receive the cargo.

Once above the location that has been chosen by both pilot and spotter, the pilot manuevers through small adjustments and the direction of the spotter to fine tune the placement of the cargo. In an external load... the spotter prepares the load to be released, however it is the pilot that releases the load by triggering the belly hook. Once the load has been released from the belly hook, it is up to the spotter to control the decent of the cargo to the ground. Following the cargo reaching the ground the let down line is also thrown to the ground and the helicopter can fly away having succesfully delivered the cargo.

Another method that we trained with is that of doing internal cargo let down. This is where the cargo to be delivered is internal in the helicopter.

You can see in the picture above that the spotter is directing the pilot into place above the end of the rainbow... and there is no visible cargo hanging from the bottom of the helicopter. They are preparing to do internal cargo let down.

Once the pilot is in place the spotter will move the cargo to the door and jettison it out of the helicopter. Then the spotter will move to the controled decent portion of the Cargo Let Down evolution.... hoping to place the cargo where intended.

It looks as though the spotter has nearly reached the ground where the end of the rainbow sits...

All in all... it was a lot of good training and we were given the thumbs up to use CLD as a tool for inserting cargo. It was a couple of years in the preparing and acquiring the go ahead to train for Cargo Let Down, so I am happy to say that Zion Helitack has successfully crossed another bridge in our journey...

Cheers,

Tanker 09 Crashes

I received a text last night from a very good friend of mine, she was very upset and the words on her text said it all..."Tanker 09 crashed tonight..." Several more texts and eventually phone calls followed. The news was confirmed that Tanker 09 had crashed outside of Reno NV. It has been a rough year... I don't know that the deaths which have occured this year are any more numerous than those of past years, however the impact of those involved has hit closer to home than it usually does.

I thought perhaps I would simply link another blog in order for you to get the story... they have said it more elequantly than I could and have many more of the facts...

http://wildfiretoday.blogspot.com/2008/09/air-tanker-crashes-at-reno.html

Tanker 09 had been here in Color Country just a day before... fighting the Toquerville Falls fire just north of St. George. I watched them make several drops on the fire, marvelling at the skill the pilots on board had... I remember seeing the crew when I got back to the Air Center that night. I didn't take the time to say much more than "Hi", as I rushed out the door... tired and ready for a meal. I wish that I would have stopped to tell them what a wonderful job they had done supporting our fire.

All too often the aviation resources that arrive on our fires, show up from seemingly knowhere just to return to that same place. I don't know that us firefighters spend enough time thinking about the risk that these pilots take on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong... it is a risky business that we are in and I am sure the pilots of these large aircraft are well aware of the risk they accept day after day... that doesn't mean that it is any less relevant that we should thank them!

I knew the pilot of Tanker 09... I had talked with him several times over the years, as we both sat eating a meal and watching a blurb or two on the news at the Air Center... These men were good men... with wives and families... looking back I wish that more time had been afforded me to know them and more about their lives. I wish that I had taken a moment longer to talk with them the night they came off the last fire we worked together... that is a moment I will not get back. My point is this, if you haven't thanked a fellow firefighter for the efforts they put in on the fireline lately... well, you should! Also, don't forget that those pilots flying the "heavy iron" above are part of the firefighting family... they too deserve a pat on the back once in a while and to hear the words, "job well done"!

My support goes out to the families of the crew for Tanker 09... today the crew will place our flag at half mast in their honor, and we will not soon forget the difference they made in our battles against wildfire. God bless them & may he now be with them and support those that these men have left behind...