Saw this on my local news feed, haven’t read it through yet. Interesting concept though. $262 Million
http://www.fusee.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Soberanes-Fire-Final-Report.pdf
The Most Expensive Wildfire Suppression Incident In
U.S. History Demonstrates the Need for Fiscal Restraint and Accountability in Forest Service Firefighting
My question is, who made this group the experts in fire management? What is their back ground and training? They might be right? They might be wrong? Maybe they just have an opinion like the rest of us. Were just not funded by Leonardo DiCaprio. I would like to hear from some of the folks that were managing the incident to hear their spin on the report?
This report appears to be extremely bias. If one looks at some of their charts, you will see they are showing the FS cut spending upon taking the fire from the state and never got up to the high expense under state management.
If it’s the same group that I’m thinking of, it’s just a guy that has only a couple of seasons as a FF who thinks he knows it all, and has a big chip on his shoulder. He’s a complete environazi, and nothing that USFS can do is right in his eyes.
SmokeyBehr I think your correct. We were the first Federal dozer don’t remember how long it was going on for as we came off the Sand ANF after. Think the 97th dozer. Damage was done. We were assigned to stage on HWY1 in Big Sur as we have a winch on the dozer and that lasted for about 2 minutes. Ended up on the break on North Coast Ridge Rd(Worked the big box). Indeed you are correct about the folks who are on the board(Fusee). The quals they mention are assigned to one of them. They are EFF/AD from various locations. By the way of that little Deere it was not cutting line. It was putting in a landing for a porta-tank or something. They are correct that dumb line was put in all over the place. I don’t think our HEQB’s now should be leading anyone anywhere. 0 skill. I know this because they put HEQB’s with an agency dozer. That is how I know. Entertaining though.
SmokeyBehr that was a pretty strong statement on our current HEQB’s. So let me reference why I said that. We did go back to the Sobranes a few weeks later for suppression. We heard many dumb ideas. They were dismissed. One of the crew boss trainee’s from a neighboring forest said at our breakout “we a not used to dozers not doing what we tell them to do”. They wanted us to put a “”"""“checkline”"""" into the wilderness. We all have the same map.
“Checklines” have become the new “tactic” when a firing operation doesn’t have a valid stopping point. As for the quality of HEQB/DZB I can state 1st hand the quality has not kept up with the burning conditions. There are several reasons why.
I personally, gave several poor evaluations this year to CWN contractors who couldn’t perform to an acceptable level. 2 of these resulted in resources being released.
More than a few of the fusee peeps are extremely experienced.
Very interesting issues. Regarding “check lines” like all tactics they have their time and place. Many retardent lines are in-fact check lines and are helpful in delaying the fires arrival at the containment line. A check line with out a specific objective is hard to justify. In the latter years of my career I noticed younger fire managers tended to not honor some of the time tested rules. Any firing operation must have an anchor at the beginning and the end of the operation.
Milehighbar is correct about experience. Mike Beasley had a long Federal career including serving as a District FMO on the Six Rivers NF. He works as an FBAN and Long Term Analyst on a lot of our large fires in NorCal, and knows fire behavior, tactics, and the politics as well as anyone. Even if you do not agree with everything he says, it behooves us to pay attention when one of our most experienced people speaks their mind about something they feel is important.
Indeed. I agree with him, we should be working adjacent to structures. We do that in every state we fight fire in with the exception of California(Fed dozer based in California). It is difficult to get all of the necessary folks on board to get a good indirect in with the fire activity we are seeing. Even if we get it in, then the folks that have to burn and hold may feel rushed in their prep and hold. We open the same line time and time again. Sometimes in the same year. The other folks involved in the article leave me suspect. I believe there is another article similar to this one making the rounds.
See my post to pyro below. Experienced in fire does not always help. Sometimes it just makes folks opinionated in a some regards(How many times have I heard that dozers make double xx’s on the briefing map). Have input in areas that may not be their forte(our initial recommendations often get put to work after we demob). I think the other article out is from the friends of fire ecology or something of that sort. The Region 5 Dozers(Fed) do not like to go out on the assignments that are referenced in the article. Many of my CALFIRE(as well some of our privates) counterparts would decline as well. When we deline you know what happens.