Not sure if this belongs in the incident Q&D so I will float this out here. I was kind of surprised no one has addressed the elephant in the room, so here goes … from my comfy critics chair in my air-conditioned abode, I followed the CalFire response (which seemed entirely appropriate) to the Middle incident on 22July to its …I guess, conclusion.
My question is how could any agency get so far into the response (up to and including the first CF engine crew having to hike in, while at the same time the CF air force was converging on the area) before discovering the fire was an attended Rx burn - with assets of the green army on scene? The heads-up from the Engine company/IC was that USFS was talking about the flare-up (apparently she must have been monitoring a USFS local net).
I know how busy the ECC can be and I am definitely not pointing fingers, but it seemed that at the very least a breakdown in Interagency communication occurred. I could go on with a rant, but I would like to hear others thoughts.
My sole reason for bringing this up is due to the safety risks that are involved in the heavy response and communication issues that were in play as well as those that could have been in-play had this been an actual out-of-control wildfire. Not to mention valuable assets are committed and thusly unavailable for other emerging incidents. Hopefully behind the scenes, some higher-up folks will address this at the appropriate levels. Anyone?