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Jim Tour

Jim is a Project Engineer at MTDCspecializing in explosives andincendiaries. Jim began working forthe Forest Service in 1970, spending8 years as a technician at the Tech-nology and Development Center inSan Dimas, CA. He received hisdegree in mechanical engineeringat California Polytechnic InstitutePomona, and came to MTDC shortlyafterward. He has helped developthe Premo MK III aerial ignitiondevice and has helped redesign thehelitorch.

Jim Tour tests flare launchers to determine their suitability for ground ignition.

ExplosivesTechnology

The Explosives Technology Projectprovides continuing technicalsupport to the wildland firefightingcommunity. MTDC participates innational and regional explosivesworkshops, and serves as technicalliaison with the Society of Explo-sives Engineers, the Institute ofMakers of Explosives, the Bureauof Mines, and other governmentagencies. The Explosives Technol-ogy Project oversees and updatesthe Forest Service’s Fireline Explo-sives Qualified Products list andhas helped implement the adoptionof a wireless blasting device.

Ground IgnitionSystems

The Ground Ignition SystemsProject evaluates devices such asflare pistols and fusee launchersto determine their potential foruse in prescribed burning and inbackfiring on wildfires. Eachdevice is judged on its suitability,safety, and cost effectiveness.MTDC has helped produce aGround Ignition Systems Guideaddressing the characteristics ofthe various approved devices.

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The Center is developing ways to use all-terrain vehicles more effectively in wildland fire applications.

All-Terrain VehicleUse in FirefightingThe use of all-terrain vehicles(ATV’s) on the fireline hasincreased dramatically, raisingmany questions regarding theirsafe, efficient use. The ATV project

is testing and evaluating ATV’sunder conditions common to wild-land fire: rough terrain, narrowtrails and firelines, limited visibilitydue to smoke and dust, and anyother factors that affect the safeoperation of ATV’s. In addition,ATV’s are being used with pre-

scribed fire, performing tasks liketransporting fuel or personnel, oras a mobile platform for ignitiondevices like the fusee launcher.Standards for safe operation ofATV’s for prescribed fire will bedeveloped with the help of infor-mation learned by this project.d

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Keith Windell

Keith is Project Leader for severalfire and residues projects. He has abachelor of science degree inmechanical engineering from Mon-tana State University, as well as anextensive firefighting background.He has worked for the CaliforniaDepartment of Forestry, Bureau ofLand Management, and the ForestService. Positions he has held in-clude engine crewperson, helitackcrewmember and foreman, hotshotcrewmember, and smokejumper.

Helicopter RappellingAccessories

As helicopter rappelling programsgrow throughout the wildfirecommunity, standards need to beset. The Interagency HelicopterScreening and Evaluation Board,still in its formative stage, will setthese standards. The HelicopterRappelling Accessories Projectwill provide engineering supportfor the Board’s activities. Tasks willinclude the design, fabrication,and evaluation of helicopterrappel attachment points andrelated accessories. In addition,all engineered attachment pointswill be approved by the FederalAviation Administration.

Understory BiomassReduction

Fire suppression efforts over thepast 80 years have significantlychanged the character of ponder-osa pine stands throughout theWest. A method must be foundto reduce the biomass withoutdramatically increasing groundfuels. This would allow fire to bereintroduced to the ecosystemunder more manageable condi-tions. This project is in its infancy,so initial actions will includedefining the problem in greaterdetail, viewing possible solutions,searching the literature and theopen market to determine if solu-tions already exist that can bemodified to fit our needs, andforming an action plan to addressthis project.

Testing rappel anchor plates for several models of helicopters.

Applying stress to the anchor plate for aBell 206-L3 helicopter.

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Ted Putnam’s work with fireshelters has led to many improve-ments in their design and intraining firefighters in their use.

Ted Putnam

Ted Putnam is a fire and safetyequipment specialist at MTDC. Tedbegan working for the Forest Servicein 1963, spending several years onDistrict fire crews and 11 years as aNorthern Region smokejumperbefore joining the Center in 1976.He holds a Ph.D. in experimentalpsychology from the University ofMontana and is a member of theNational Fire Protection Associationstandards-setting committees forprotective clothing and equipment.In addition to the projects he headsfor the Fire and Aviation Program,Ted is Project Leader for ForestService and National Park Serviceuniforms, ensuring that manufac-turers meet construction and sizingspecifications, and materials re-quirements.

Human interaction is critical to firefighter safety.

Protective Clothing

The protective clothing projectconsiders special needs for sizingor environmental factors likeclimate, and reviews feedbackfrom the field regarding theclothing’s general comfort andutility. A field questionnaire iscurrently being developed to eval-uate prototype Nomex fire pantspatterned after the military-styleBDU’s (Battle Dress, Utilities).These pants were field tested bysome crews during 1996. Whenthe survey is completed and fieldtest results are compiled, theNomex protective clothing withthe fit and features most desiredby firefighters will be establishedas a new contract specification.

Human FactorsWorkshopTed Putnam’s background inpsychology, coupled with hisextensive fire experience, giveshim a unique perspective (andmore than a passing interest) inthe human factors affectingdecisionmaking processes inrisky, stressful situations on thefireline. His interest in thissubject led him to organize aworkshop that brought togetherexperts in the fields ofpsychology, sociology,organizations, fire safety, andwildland firefighting. A paperwas written and published byMTDC outlining the workshop’sfindings and recommendations.

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Firefighting equipment found after an entrapment iscarefully examined.

MTDC developed fireproof boxes to protect video cameras used whenrecording the effects of fire during vehicle entrapments.

Bret Butler, Intermountain Fire Sciences Lab, helped prepare instrumentation fordata collection equipment during the simulated vehicle entrapments.

Fire Sheltersand EntrapmentInvestigations

The fire shelter is a proven life-saver. However, it is necessary tocontinually monitor the perform-ance of fire shelters in the field andkeep abreast of new technologiesand materials. Ted Putnam is partof a team that responds to fire shel-ter deployments and entrapmentsnationally, collecting physicalevidence for later analysis todetermine whether the personalprotective equipment in general—and the fire shelter in particular—perform as designed.d

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Mark Wiggins, Jim Kautz, and Bob Beckley produce the Center’s photography and videos.

The Audio/Visual Support Unitworks very closely with the ProjectLeaders and technicians who per-form experiments in the field anddevelop equipment at MTDC.Reports may explain results, butpictures, slides, and video enhancethe message. Whether the Audio/Visual Support Unit is shootingstill photographs in the studio orfield, or filming smokejumper exitson actual fire jumps with high-speed, state-of-the-art cameraequipment, the unit’s staff is up tothe challenge. When special taskspresent themselves, they use imag-ination to solve problems. Forinstance, the vehicle entrapmentstudy called for video cameras tobe set up in several locationsaround the site, which would thenbe burned over. Fireproof boxeswith special glass windows and acooling system were needed—something not found on the shelfat the local photo shop. Unableto purchase the boxes, the Audio/

Visual Support Unit worked withMTDC’s fabrication shop andconstructed the necessary items.Fire videos produced by MTDC’sAudio/Visual support unit include:Your Fire Shelter, WenatcheeHeights Entrapment, SmokejumperPilot, and Smokejumper Spotter.

Jim Kautz is a videographer andphotographer at MTDC. He beganhis career with the Forest Serviceas a firefighter on the Sula RangerDistrict, Bitterroot National Forest,and was a Northern Region smoke-jumper for 2 years. He holds adegree in film and television fromMontana State University, and isresponsible for photographic doc-umentation of MTDC’s wildlandfire entrapment investigation team.

Mark Wiggins is an audio/visualproduction specialist at MTDC.

He began his Forest Service careerby spending several summers onlookout towers in the NorthernRegion. Mark has been in the fore-front of the use of infrared imageryon fires in the Northern Region.His involvement with infraredsince the mid-1970’s includesstints as an instructor, interpreter,and regional and national coordi-nator. He has worked at MTDCfor the past 3 years.

Bob Beckley is a photographer atMTDC. He has worked on nearlyevery type of fire crew during hismore than 20 years working in oraround fire suppression. He hasworked on engine crews and heli-tack crews and spent several yearssmokejumping. He has workedwith fire information units andbeen dispatched to photographfires on numerous occasions.

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Audio/VisualSupport

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Publications

Sara Lustgraaf, Bert Lindler, and Ted Cote produce MTDC’s technical reports.

and videos. Each year the Publi-cations Unit prepares about 50reports and Tech Tips that arewidely distributed within theForest Service.

Bert Lindler has been the editorat MTDC for the past 2 years.After receiving a master’s degreein science writing from the Univer-sity of Missouri, Bert worked for ayear as a writer and editor at theForest Service’s Intermountain FireSciences Laboratory in Missoula,MT. That experience helped himduring the 15 years that he coverednatural resource issues—includingwildland fires and prescribedfires—for the Great Falls Tribunein Great Falls, MT. He rejoined theForest Service in 1992, workingas an editor for the IntermountainResearch Station in Ogden, UT.

Ted Cote is a visual informationspecialist at MTDC. He began hisForest Service career as an engi-

The Publication Unit’s experiencein designing and producing printeddocuments pays off in attractive,useful publications for firefightersand fire managers. The unit’sexperience extends from the dayswhen the publications were pastedup by hand to today’s computer-ized desktop publishing and elec-tronic publishing over computernetworks. Sophisticated computerswith the latest graphics softwareallow the unit to manipulatephotographs and drawings. Top-quality printers, a color plotter,scanners, and a film recorderallow the unit to prepare every-thing from book-length reports tobrochures, poster displays, andslides for presentations.

An editor and two visual informa-tion specialists work with theCenter’s Project Leaders to createdocuments for publication.Another Center employee overseesdistribution of Center publications

neering draftsman at MTDC in themid-1970’s. He went back tocollege in the early 1980’s andearned a bachelor’s degree in art(he also has an associate’s degreein applied science).

Ted has worked in desktop pub-lishing since the mid-1980’s andhas considerable experience inlayout and graphics programs suchas Pagemaker, Illustrator, andPhotoshop.

Sara Lustgraaf is a visual infor-mation specialist at MTDC. Shebegan her Forest Service careerin 1969 at the Northern Region’sCartography and Graphics Unit.

She came to work at MTDC in1994, where she has been design-ing Center reports using desktoppublishing software. She alsoproduces brochures, flipchartpresentations, graphs, and othermaterials.d

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Fabrication Shop

Windy Hayden, Mike Huey, and Neal Maier produce prototypes at MTDC’s Fabrication Shop.

Working with Project Engineers,the Fabrication Shop staff producesprototype items designed to meetthe special demands of the Fireand Aviation Management Pro-gram. The Shop recently builtprototypes of rappel anchor platesfor helicopters, and storage binsthat double as spotter seats insmokejumper aircraft. In addition,the Fabrication Shop housesseveral specialty vehicles that theFire Program uses on occasion,such as a semitruck and trailer,ATV, forklift, and 1-ton truck. TheShop’s facilities include comput-erized milling machines, metallathes, welding equipment, andother specialized equipment.

Neal Maier has been MTDC’sshop supervisor since 1997. Hebegan working at the FabricationShop in 1976 as a mechanicalengineering technician. His ForestService career started in 1966 incartography for the NorthernRegional Office at Fort Missoula.He later worked in the printingshop at Fort Missoula, and the

duplicating shop in the RegionalOffice, where he was supervisor.He was Office Services Supervisorin the Regional Office beforecoming to MTDC.

Mike Huey received an A.S.degree in ship construction fromLong Beach City College in 1975.He worked as a weapons machin-ist in the Long Beach Naval Ship-yard from 1971 until 1977. He hasserved as an engineering techni-cian at the MTDC machine shopsince 1980.

Windy Hayden has worked as amechanical engineering techni-cian in the Fabrication Shop since1979, when he left his ownmachine shop in Hamilton, MT,to join the Forest Service. He hasworked as a machinist, heavyequipment operator, and an elec-trical lineman during his careerwith firms such as Boeing inSeattle, the Cummings and RobertsMining Company in Darby, MT,and the Montana Power Companyin Hamilton, MT.d

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The Fire and Aviation Programdepends on the help it receivesfrom individuals detailed intoMTDC during the winter months.They come from Districts, smoke-jumper units, the Fire Sciences

DetailersLaboratory—wherever field exper-tise can be found. MTDC providesthe opportunity for the detailersto see another side of the businessof suppressing wildfire, and atthe same time the Center profitsfrom the experiences of folks withhands-on experience. This con-nection to the field is fundamentalto the Fire and Aviation Manage-ment Program. These detailershelp the Program remain current,and focused on real problems inthe firefighting community.

The people who come to MTDCon detail perform many technicaltasks for Project Leaders andaccomplish a great deal of thelegwork required to get a projectup and running. Detailers maywrite Tech Tips produced by theCenter, or use their familiarity with

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instruments such as computerizeddata loggers, or their experiencein rappelling or paracargo opera-tions during field tests. Sometechnicians construct prototypemodels of wildland fire equip-ment—like the fire shelter or fieldpack. They use industrial sewingmachines and the latest in fabricsand components when doing so.

One project that detailers areworking on will determine thesuitability of electronic psychrom-eters in wildland fire environments.A product search will be made,and several models will be testedfor accuracy, durability, and cost.

Another project involves designof a face and neck shroud forfirefighters.

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These documents and videos arecurrently available:

— Documents —

• Wildland Fire Entrapment/Fatality Initial Report Form

• 5-Gallon Backpack DrinkingWater Bag

• 5-Gallon Backpack SuppressionWater Bag

• Dangerous Techniques for FireShelter Training

• New Standards for WildlandFirefighting Protective Clothingand Equipment

• Flail Trencher Progress Report

• Water Bag System

• 55-Gallon Drinking Water Bag

• 55-Gallon Suppression WaterBag

• Ground Ignition Systems Guide:An Equipment Guide for Pre-scribed and Wild Fires

Fire and AviationDocuments andVideos

• Lessons Learned: The Use ofPersonal Protective Equipmenton Wildland Fire Entrapmentsin 1993

• GPS Use in Wildland FireManagement

• Face/Neck Shroud

• Carbohydrate/ElectrolyteReplacement Beverages

• Fusee Launcher

• Handling Bio-Hazard Material

• Static Bonding and GroundingWhen Handling Flammableand Combustible Fuels

• Maintaining and InspectingYour Hardhat

• Making a Crew—Part I: Puttinga Crew Together

• Making a Crew—Part II:Keeping a Crew Together

• Handtool Sharpening Gauge

• Surviving Fire Entrapments:Comparing Conditions InsideVehicles and Fire Shelters

• HR-1 Helicopter RappelHarness

• The FS-14—An ImprovedSmokejumper ParachuteCanopy

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Summer/Fall 1991

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Fall 1992

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Winter/Spring 1992

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Spring 1993

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Fall/Winter 1993

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Spring 1994

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Fall 1995

• Health Hazards of Smoke:Spring 1996

— Videos —

• Fire Entrapment

• Smokejumper Pilot

• Smokejumper Spotter

• Wenatchee Heights Entrapment

• Your Fire Shelter

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The Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, hasdeveloped this information for the guidance of its employees, itscontractors, and its cooperating Federal and State agencies, andis not responsible for the interpretation or use of this informationby anyone except its own employees. The use of trade, firm, orcorporation names in this publication is for the information andconvenience of the reader, and does not constitute an

endorsement by the Department of any product or service to theexclusion of others that may be suitable. The United StatesDepartment of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination inits programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex,religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital or familialstatus. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Personswith disabilities who require alternative means of communi-

cation of program information (braille, large print, audiotape,etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600(voice or TDD). To file a complaint, write the Secretary ofAgriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.20250, or call 1-800-245-6340 (voice) or (202) 720-1127(TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity employer.

Single copies of documents andvideos may be ordered from:

USDA Forest Service, MTDCBuilding 1, Fort MissoulaMissoula, MT 59804-7294

Phone: (406) 329-3900Fax: (406) 329-3719

End of Document