Morn’n Hoss
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Couple good HEQBs, some CWN skidders and some dozers, LACOFD size… those crews and saws will be happy to see after about one shift in that area
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CA-RNP, Mt Vision Fire 1996 Pt Reyes National Park 12K acres and 30 larges homs destroyed another 100 damaged, hundreds threatened along HWY 1 Inverness down to Bolinas. Dozer Lines stopped the southward, northward spread and also the west spred down into Inverness (SRA). Would have been a disaster without the dozer line. As always in the fall fires the great Pacific fuel break was able to handle westward spread. The BAER Team had all signs of the dozer lines gone by the following fall.
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Oh for sure
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Haven’t heard that one before, thanks for the info
All good info but this is not wilderness, this is NPS DOI, Different agency different rules
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We were the first team on the North Fork fire that started on the Targhee forest in 88’. It burned about 500 acres on the forest and they picked that up with dozers in that flat lodgepole fuels. When the dozers hit the park boundary they shut them down, next day it went 5000 and when all was said and done it was over 400,000. Who knows whether the dozers could have picked up the rest of it, but.
Sholly (Chief Ranger at the time) showed up to one of our planning meetings wearing a t-shirt depicting Rangers rolling with laughter and saying “The Forest Service wants to do what with our fires”. I’m glad I was Dep. LSC and didn’t have to deal too much with the politics. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the IC Larry Caplinger’s shoes
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The park can do what they want for sure, just takes a lot of phone calls and running up and down the hallways
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On the A-Rock took a lot of “running up and down the halls” in Washington
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Dozers in parks or not, we’ve still got to use them where they’re going to be effective. With this fire being spread by spotting from the get-go, and a ton of snags that’ll keep giving us more firebrands, they’re probably not going to help us pick it up direct.
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Simple question: How can a non-firefighter or person (agency administrator) with little fire experience have a “comfort level” with an emerging fire or make critical, time sensitive decisions with lack of understanding or appreciation for the potential or life and community risks?
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Have to hope the person on the phone can convey how much of an OH SHIT situation it is or individuals are threatened with reassignment to Bum f… Idaho.
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A take from my State Parks experience if administration sees you getting the job done with a broken pick, a bent shovel, and visegrips for a hammer nothing will change. But if it affects the AC in the office, they have to use a porta potty, or it affects their pay then you will start to see urgency to get what you need.
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As stated in a different post, Lassen National Park approved dozers on the Dixie last year. It can be done.
I think when they saw how slow it was for hand line (they wanted 8’ scrape) in heavy material like numerous downed and standing trees, 1 foot deep of fire receptive duff, no fire history and lack of available crews, it influenced their decision.
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And as for green or black on both sides of the line. It doesn’t matter 1 or 100 blades wide. You gotta have the crews to burn it. I’m sick of hearing “get it in and see if it holds” guess what? It won’t.
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Exactly my thoughts!
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I was thinking about using a drone to fire out the dozer line in a manner where there is little room for error, the right “pilot” to keep intensities low and also thought the drones use in firing out the groves to minimize damage……! Minimal effort, maximum output….! just a thought