Matters of Life & Death
I took a few hours away from an annual deer and antelope hunt in far-eastern Montana last week to visit the local grocery store and stop at the local public library to check the news on the Internet. Even though it was late October, the fire season still wasn't over for the western United States, and as an old firedog, I'm always checking on the latest word from the wildfire world.
The Internet report that afternoon spelled out the details of a burnover in Southern California that had killed four Forest Service firefighters and critically burned a fifth while they were trying to protect a vacant structure in the wildland-urban interface. My mind flashed back to the wildfire fatalities that I have investigated over the past 16 years and I thought, “not again!” Within minutes, both a radio station and the Los Angeles Times called my cell phone looking for comments about wildland fire's latest tragedy. After offering a few statements about escape routes and safety zones, I retreated back to the field where the cell phones didn't work. But the thoughts of this most recent tragedy remained in the front of my mind.
Returning home a few days later, I was looking all over the Web at reports, photos and diagrams of the Esperanza Fire. It all felt very familiar, and I thought back to the Cedar Fire entrapment in 2003 and the Calabassas Fire burnover in 1996, both fires in Southern California where firefighters either were badly burned or killed while engaged in structure protection on interface fires.
Enough is enough!
We have got to affect a major shift in attitude among interface residents, local politicians and, yes, the fire community about the inherent risks of building and living in the interface. Too many firefighters have died trying to protect structures that obviously failed the interface “triage test.” So why where we there? Did we forget the basics of LCES in the heat of battle, or did the urgency of trying to save a structure override our training and experience? Is the political pressure by politicians and local residents to save buildings greater than the need to ensure the health and safety of our firefighters?
There is no one right answer that will ensure that firefighters are never again entrapped or burned over while attempting to save a structure in the interface; instead the answers lie with each of us, in our own local communities, as well as with groups like the IAWF that bring focus to this issue at the national and international levels. Let's begin by celebrating the heroic actions of those firefighters and fire leaders who are still living because they make good, sound decisions to retreat from unsafe structure protection situations regardless of the outcome to the buildings involved. Let's teach, over and over again, the circumstances that were present at fires like Esperanza, Cedar and Calabassas. And lastly, let us never forget our fellow firefighters who died while doing their jobs and learn from their ultimate sacrifices so that no others have to join them.
Note: This will be my last write-up as the president of the IAWF. At the end of December, I'll be stepping down after a three-year tour of duty. We've seen a lot of changes to IAWF over those years, and I believe that the rate of change will continue in the coming years and will make the IAWF an even stronger and more vibrant organization on the international wildland fire scene. Please, get actively involved in your organization and help move the IAWF forward. Thank you all for the privilege of being your president these past three years. See you on the fireline!
International Assn. of Wildland Fire
P.O. Box 261
Hot Springs, S.D.
57747-0261
ph: 605-890-2348
fax: 206-600-5113
iawf@iawfonline.org
To join the IAWF, visit www.iawfonline.org
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Wildfire Magazine
330 N. Wabash Ave.
Suite 2300
Chicago, Ill. 60611
Attn: Lisa Allegretti
lisa.allegretti@penton.com
