~~nited StatesW;epartment of

AgricultureForest Service

Volume 46, No.11985

FireManagementNotes

I

----------~--------------------------...".-==

.,. "

",

: I

•

FireManagementNotesAn inrernorionol quorrerly periodical devared ra

forest fire monogement

Contents

3 Where There's Smoke, There's Aerial FirefightingRita Cipalla

6 Getting a Handle on the Pulaski Rehandling ProblemArnold Hartigan

7 Field Exercises For Ground Cover Fires: DisasterManagement in Action

Murry Fly and Bill Terry

10 Fire Safety Is a Fulltime JobThomas Fulk

United StatesDepartment ofAgricultureForest Service

'u~si,-..~J.

Volume 46, No.1985

Fire ManiJgement Notes is published bythe Forest Service at the uoneo StatesDepartment of Agriculture, W;:"shinglon,D.C. The Secretary or Agriculture nasdetermined Ihat lhe publication of thisperiodical is necessary in Ihe transac­tion of the public business required bylaw of this Oepanment. Use of funds forprinting this periodical has been ap­proved by tbe Director of the Office ofManagement and Budget throughSeptember 30.1984

SUL-scriplions may be oblained from theSuperintendent of Documents, U,S.Government Printing Office,Washington. D.C, 20402

NOTE- The use 01 trade, firm, or cor­poration names in this publication is forthe information and convenience of the_reader, Such use does not constitute aofficial endorsement ot any product or I

service by the U.S, Department ofAgriculture.

12

16

19

25

27

The California Mini-KitchenRoy Pike, Mike Minton, and Ben Beall

Incendiary WildfiresRobert Kraske

History-Making Parachute JumpClay Morgan and Dale Matlack

NIIMS and State Forestry OrganizationsH.N. Miller and Marvin E. Newell

Recent Fire Publications

Disclaimer: Individual authors are responsi­ble lor the tecnmcat accuracy 01 the materialpresented in Fire Management Notes

Send suggestions and articles to Chief,Forest Service (AUn: Fire ManagementNotes), P.O. Box 2417. U.S. Department01 Agriculture, wasnmqron. DC 2OG13.

John R. Block, SecretaryU.S. Department of Agriculture

R, Max Peterson, ChiefForest Service

L.A Amicarella, DirectorCooperative Fire Protection

Francis R, Russ.General Manager

29 Author Index 1984

30 Subject Index 1984

Cover: Lt, Ctifford Allen of Ctucagc. IL, one of the 'l11okcjul11ping offlccrv of the Fin.'

5551h Parachute lnf anuy Bnnalion. ready for lakcort-Augu'l 29. 1945. Sec 'lory onpage 19.

2 Fire Management Notes

~here There's Smoke, There's Aerial....irefighting 1

Rita Cipalla

Public Affairs Officer, Smithsonian Institution,National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC.

Aerial Firefighting Display

The National Air and SpaceMuseum in Washington, DC, willhave a display entitled "AerialFirefighting" through December1985. The display highlights theuse of tactics such as smokejump­ing and the dropping of retardantsto suppress wildfires.•

Few sights are more awesomeand terrifying than a raging forestfire. Majestic oaks, verdant pines,and fragrant cedars suddenly ex­plode into balls of flame. Strongwinds carry oppressive heat andchoking, acrid smoke. The roar ofthe fire, the crashing of trees, andthe snapping and crackling ofburning underbrush overwhelm thesenses.

Above the inferno, another

_und is heard, faintly at first,en growing louder. It is thesistent chopping of helicopter

blades cutting through the air.Slowly the hovering craft descendsonto a cleared area. The copterdoors swing open to reveal a teamof men and women dressed towage hattie. Their enemy: theforest fire.

This dramatic scene is repeatedmany times a year across the coun­try. As the fire season moves northand west -beginning with theSoutheastern States in April andending with southern California inDecember-most of the people andequipment needed to combat thefire move with it.

Although the real task of fire­fighting takes place on the ground,help from the sky is often crucial.

"Aircraft are used in numerousways to fight wildfires," saysDorothy Cochrane, a museumspecialist in the Aeronautics De-

_rtment at the Smithsonian's

I Reprinted from a Smithsonian NewsService press release.

Volume 46, Number 1

National Air and Space Museum inWashington, DC. Cochrane, cura­tor of an exhibit on aerial fire­fighting that opened in December1984, explains: "They can discoverthe fire, determine which way it isheaded and how quickly it is mov­ing. They can report the bestaccess routes to the fires and thenferry in people and equipment."

The Firefighting Team

Whether all land or in the air,the men and women who risk theirlives to put out wildfires are partof a team trained and employed bythe Forest Service to manage andpreserve the national forests. TheForest Service, an agency of theDepartment of Agriculture, man­ages nearly 200 million acres ofland nationwide, including 167national forests in 38 States andPuerto Rico. Forest fire preventionand control programs on non­Federal lands are organized andadministered by each State, withsome Federal funding.

Forest fires vary in intensity,from the more common surfacefires that burn leaves and debris onthe forest floor to roaring crownfires that spread from treetop totreetop.

Because oxygen, high tempera­tures, and fuel (such as leaves anddebris) must all be present for afire to burn, firefighting is aimedat breaking this triangle. A fireline-a strip of land of varyingwidth that has been cleared of

flammable debris, usually by bull­dozer or by hand-might be builtaround the edge of the blaze torob it of its fuel, or the fire mightbe controlled by dropping water orfire-retardant chemicals on it.

Once a fire has been sighted,often from a lookout tower orpatrol plane, a complex corps ofpeople and equipment is mobilizedwithin a matter of minutes.

An experienced forest official,known as the fire boss, coordinatesthe firefighting team and equip­ment via two-way radio. Crews areassembled, equipped, and trans­ported; topnotch leadership isprovided, and close cornmunica­tions are maintained. A breakdownin the system can mean the loss oflives and valuable timber, range,and homes.

When dense forest or impassableterrain make conventional meansof fire detection and transportationimpossible, the fire boss turns tothe air.

Use of Aircraft

Aircraft were first used by theForest Service in 1919, when ArmyAir Service Maj. Henry H. "Hap"Arnold and Regional ForesterCoert de Bois agreed to use ArmyAir Service pilots and aircraft tofly Forest Service observers on firedetection missions. The experimentbegan on June I, 1919, using sixCurtiss IN-4D aircraft flying twopatrols a day over the ClevelandNational Forest from March Field,

3

Rappellers descend from a hovering helicopter into mountainous terrain. one way ofdelivering personnel and equipment to fight fires in otherwise inaccessible areas.

CA. Information about the fire,designated for the ground crewsbelow, was dropped in tin cans ortied to the legs of carrier pigeons.

4

,,,----- )

!

1

Lack of funds forced the cancel­lation of the aerial fire patrols in1923. Eventually funding was re­stored, and in 1928 the Depart-

ment of Agriculture contractedwith private firms to provide flyingservices. That policy is still ineffect.

Today the Forest Service main­tains a fleet of about 35 aircraft,mostly Beechcraft Barons, light,twin-engine planes. More than100 air tankers, helicopters, andsrnokejumper aircraft are con­tracted seasonally. In addition,about 400 small aircraft, called theeMosquito Fleet, are used for re­connaissance and to transport personnel, equipment, and supplies.

Tankers drop water and fire­retardant chemicals from the aironto or ahead of forest fires. Theaircraft vary in size, ranging fromsmall planes that carry 400 gallonsof retardant to larger aircraft thatcan discharge 3,000 gallons ofchemicals, such as the DouglasDC-7 and Lockheed C-130. Leadplanes guide the heavy tankers tothe drop areas, where the chemi­cals, viscous diammonium phos­phate and ammonium sulfate orother retardants, are released.

In 1974, Mary Barr became thefirst woman hired by the ForestService to pilot a lead plane. Herterritory was the North Zone AirUnit in Redding, CA. Barr, a pilotwith more than 12,000 hours flyingtime, is currently the Forest Ser­vice's National Aviation SafetyOfficer. She vividly recalls those.adventuresome days when she fleas lead plane pilot.

Fire Management Notes

"I flew ahead of the air tankersto determine where the air turbu­lence was, where the fire was lo­cated, and where it was best todrop the load," she remembers."It was-and 1s-a hazardous job,for I was often flying throughheavy smoke over steep terrain.Under certain conditions, the firemoves at speeds up to 40 miles perhour-more quickly than theequipment and chemicals can be

Aransported.' ,• Helicopters are also a successful

though expensive firefighting tool.They are used to patrol the forestson the lookout for fires and todrop water and chemica! retardantsonce a fire has broken out.

Smokejumping

Perhaps the most dramaticmethod of firefighting is smoke­jumping-the delivery of fire­fighters and equipment to wilder­ness and backcountry areas byparachute. The main smokejumperaircraft is the deHavilland DHC-6Twin Otter. which can carry asmany as 10 jumpers. Smoke­jumpers receive 3 weeks of inten­sive training in firefighting tactics,physical fitness, and the use ofaerial delivery equipment. In addi­tion to fighting fires, they aresometimes called on for rescuemissions-if a plane crashes in a

'-emote area, for example. or if aw:ellow smokejurnper is injured in a

fall.

Volume 46, Number 1

"During a fire, smokejumpersare airlifted into areas that can'tbe reached with pickup trucks orhelicopters," Mary Barr says."The jumpers are dropped out onstatic lines, two at a time. Specialprotective gear is used, since thejumpers are dropping straightdown through timber, often land­ing in heavy brush or on therocks. "

"About 75 percent of the smoke­jumpers employed by the ForestService are summer employees,"according to Dorothy Cochrane."For the most part, they're youngand in extremely good shape. Theycome from all walks of life­writers, film producers. students,teachers." In 1981, the firstwoman to qualify as a smoke­jumper, Deanne Shulman, joinedthe prestigious ranks of smoke­jumpers. Shulman, a youngwoman based at McCall, Idaho,had 6 years of experience as a fire­fighter before trying out forsmokejumper duty.

Electronic Equipment

Today the Forest Service reliesincreasingly on technology to fightforest fires. "Electronic equipmentis playing a greater role in thedetection and suppression of forestfires," Cochrane says. "The ForestService feeds certain data into acomputer-such as the type of ter­rain, weather conditions. and for­mer fires in the area-in order to

project the rate of spread of afire ...

Some aircraft are fitted withinfrared cameras that scan andmap the behavior and pattern offires, looking for hot spots. Onesuch camera, the Forward LookingInfra-Red, can actually trace theline of fire. Viewing a fire throughsmoke or at night by use of aninfrared camera provides the ob­server with vital information on thefire's location and characteristics.

Because about half of the firesin the national forests are causedby lightning, an automatic light­ning detection system is also nowbeing used in Alaska and the West.This device can instantly pinpointlightning strikes and monitor stormpatterns within a range of 400 milesand from 70 reporting weatherstations.

Forty years ago, the Forest Ser­vice launched a public awarenessprogram using a stern but kindlybear called Smokey. Since thattime, Smokey has warned millionsof campers, "Only you can pre­vent forest fires." His warning haspaid off; the number of forest firescaused by human negligence hasbeen reduced substantially.

Although the threat of a largewildfire is always present, it's reas­suring to know that Smokey Bearand the millions of Americans whoenjoy the beauty of the nationalforests can depend on help fromabove.•

5

Getting a Handle on the PulaskiRehandling Problem

Arnold F. Hartigan

Public Affairs Officer, USDI Bureau of LandManagement, Boise Interagency Fire Center, Boise,/D.

The pulaski rehandling machine saves lime and money and also provides a more stablerepair.

The pulaski is a simple tool, buteven the simplest of tools needmaintenance and repairs. Whenthe handle of a pulaski becomescracked or broken. you don't dis­card the tool; you replace thehandle, resharpen the cutting edgeson the head, and repeat this pro­cess for the useful life of the tool.

Because it is the basic firefight­ing tool, the pulaski is used by thethousands. It follows that thou­sands regularly require rehandling.By use of the standard method, thehandle of the pulaski is cut off,and the remainder is pressed out.A new handle is driven in theunderside of the head, epoxy is

6

applied, and then a wedge is ham­mered in from the top of the toolhead. The entire process of rehan­dling by hand takes 13.5 minutes.

Bill Wothe and Carl Dorseywork for the Equipment Main­tenance Section of the SupplyBranch of The Bureau of LandManagement's Management Ser­vices Division at the Boise Inter­agency Fire Center. They and theircrew decided there had to be afaster, easier way to rehandle thethousands of pulaskis that comethrough their shop every year.

Their solution was to adapt a25-ton electric hydraulic press todo the job. The press has a fixture

at one end that holds the pulaskiwhile the broken handle is pushedout by a ram. The head is thenplaced in a fixture at the other endof the machine, and a new handleand wedge are simultaneouslypressed in by the press, using aworking pressure of 2 to 6 tons. Inthis system, no epoxy is requiredfor the handle. A bandsawattached to the end of the machineis used to trim excess handle andwedge. The tool is now ready for ..repairing, sharpening, and deliver~to the field.

Not only does the pulaski rehan­dling machine offer a more effi­cient means of repairing a basictool, it provides a better. morestable repair as well. But the bestpart of this new system is that itsaves time and money. The 13.5­minute rehandling job has been cutto 2.5 minutes by using the ma­chine. During its first year of use,the machine saved 52I hours oflabor at an average salary cost of$8.66 an hour. At that rate, morethan $4,500 was saved in the firstyear of use in salary costs alone.

The pulaski rehandling machinehas been adapted to dehandle andrehandle several other types ofaxes, including the double-bittedcruiser ax and the felling ax. Anadditional two fixtures are plannedfor the machine to permit therehandling of Boy's axes and Single-_bit axes as well, to achieve the (broadest use and greatest economypossible. II

Fire Management Notes

Field Exercises For Ground Cover_ Fires: Disaster Management in Action

Murry Fly and Bill Terry

Head, Operations Section, and Head, TrainingSection, Fire Control Department, Texas ForestService, College Station, TX,

Mobile Command Post set up to establish communications and coordinate movement ofsupplies and personnel.

Even with the complex equip­ment we have to simulate problemsand disasters, nothing can take theplace of a practical field exercise.Such an exercise was conducted bythe Texas Forest Service in August1984, in Fredericksburg, TX, forfirefighters of Gillespie, Kendall,Blanco, and Burnett Counties.

Purpose of Exercise

The purpose of the exercise was toAtrain both the Texas Forest Service_Overhead Fire Team and volunteer

firemen in the use of the new LargeFire Organization concept devel­oped by the Texas Forest Service.Although many management 100lshave been developed by State andFederal agencies to deal with largeground cover fires, it was believeda special program was needed inTexas. This program would haveto deal with fires burning in areasof ever-increasing development andat the same time be manageableenough for use even on small-scalefires on areas of 1,000 acres orless.

Texas, unlike California orMontana, is not noted for its largefires, but ground cover fires can bejust as destructive, as the cumula­tive effects of many smaller firestake their toll over time. In 1984,ground cover fires destroyed morethan 30 homes and killed 4 fire-

_fighters. Two firemen died on afire west of Fort Worth, TX, thefirst weekend of February. Windsof 50 to 60 miles per hour made

control impossible, and a lack ofcommunications put these men outof touch with their chiefs and inharm's way.

Through both Federal and Statelegislation, the Texas Forest Ser­vice was given specific responsi­bility to provide rural fire protec­tion plans, training, and equipmentto organized firefighting groups inthe State. Since 1973, programshave been underway, but it wasnot until 1981 that the Large FireOrganization, tailored for ruralcommunities in Texas, began totake shape. It provides for a teamthat is trained and equipped toorganize the personnel, materials,and communications and an opera-

"

tional method to be used whendisasters such as the February 1984fires arise.

Request and Sizeup

The Fredericksburg exercise wasexecuted by use of the three mainsteps in the Large Fire Plan.

The first step is to "request andsize up." For the purpose of theexercise, the IO-member OverheadFire Team was called to the Fred­ericksburg Fire Department by theGillespie County E.G.C. officer.This was done through a directrequest from the county judge.The Overhead Team was briefedon the fire: how much area was

Volume 46, Number 1 7

burned, expected changes in condi­tions, who was in command, andwhich departments were at the firesite.

Communications

With this information, the teammoved to the second step in theexercise, establishing communica­tions with all groups on the fireand setting up a command post.After setting up a command post,the team coordinated the move­ment of all supplies, personnel,and information in accordancewith a "plan for control" thatthey developed.

The communications step isfacilitated by the use of a mobilecommand post designed by theTexas Forest Service. The com­mand post is an air-conditionedtrailer equipped with program­mable high-band transmitters,high-band scanners, low-bandradios, and all Texas ForestService radio frequencies. Ofcourse, the command post isequipped with the statewide mutualaid frequency and has a supply ofhand talkies in the event that somedepartment or agency assigned tothe fire has no other means ofcommunicating.

This mobile command post is asort of "anchor booth," a placefrom which to coordinate conver­sations on different radio frequen­cies. The Texas Forest Service hasplans to put between five and eightof these command posts in service

8

between now and 1987. With cur­rent equipment on board and acollapsible 50-foot mast, the com­mand post can transmit as far as200 miles and can be used as abase of operation for any type ofdisaster.

Plan Coordination

Third and final step in the exer­cise was the coordination of planswith the volunteer fire chief incommand. The Overhead FireTeam worked closely with ChiefHoward Sibles of the Harper Vol­unteer Fire Department. Throughthis consultation, a "plan ofattack" was established andneeded equipment and personnelrequested.

The mock fire required I0 de­partments and more than 25 piecesof equipment, a National Guardunit to coordinate evacuation ofhomes in the vicinity, and severalpieces of heavy equipment withwhich to construct firebreaks. Theequipment was simulated in mostcases, but the people were actuallyassigned jobs and expected to carrythem out.

Along with the Overhead FireTeam, a plans officer collectedinformation from the commandingfire chief and assisted the fire bosschief member of the Overhead Fir~Team, in formulating a controlplan. Also, a service officer se­cured supplies as requested fromthe fireline crews.

When the exercise had endedboth the firemen and the OverheadFire Team felt new areas of under­standing had been gained.

"We feel like the Texas ForestService and the Large Fire Organi­zation are not just a name or aphone number," said DannySmith, chief of the Turtle CreekVolunteer Fire Department. "Nowwe have a place to turn to andsomeone to call when we reallyneed help."

The fire chief from the Harper -Volunteer Fire Department said .."Cooperation with local depart:ments and asking for input willIncrease cooperation and under-standing statewide. As long as thelocal people have input into theplan, they will cooperate. n

Unlike many plans that are drawnup on paper and never put intoaction, the Large Fire Organizationhas been actually used three timesthis year-in Comal County, KerrCounty, and Bastrop County.Field exercises similar to the one inGillespie County help to reinforceand strengthen the concept ofcoordination.

The Texas Forest Service beginsconducting advanced ground fireclasses for volunteer firemen inJanuary 1985. The purpose of thistraining will be not only to trainpeople in Large Fire Organizationbut also to select and train volun-teer firemen as Overhead Fire '•.Team members.

Fire Management Notes

"We feel that training the localfirefighters in the use of the LargeFire Organization will not onlymake our job easier, but it willplace overhead 'teams all over theState to move into action at amoment's notice," says Pat Ebarb.head of the Texas Forest ServiceFire Control Department inLufkin.

"Through exercises and mock'war games' like the one in

A'illespie County, we are working~ sharpen the ground fire control

skills of every volunteer depart­ment in the State. The result willbe quicker and safer control ofwildfires." •

Volume 46, Number 1

Introduction To WildfirePrevention

The Wildfire PreventionWorking Team of the NationalWildfire Coordinating Group hasannounced that the first preventioncourse (P-course) is now available."Introduction to Wildfire Preven­tion" is available through theNational Audiovisual Center.

. The course is designed to intro-:duce fire prevention personnel andI others to the area of fire preven­tion. In the training of fire preven­

I tion personnel it is used as anintroduction to future P-courses.In the training of non-fire preven­tion personnel, such as clerks andmechanics, it provides a good basicunderstanding of fire prevention.

The subjects-covered include the ~

wildfire problem, the three E's '(educating, engineering, enforce­ment), the difference betweenhazard and risk, and specificprevention actions. The instructionis conducted using tape programs,workbooks, and discussion.

"Introduction to WildfirePrevention" can be orderedthrough:

National Audiovisual CenterOrder SectionWashington, DC 20409Phone: (301) 763-1891 :There are two different packages'

available. The A-II-730 package icosts $160 and contains slides :audiotapes, overheads, and a~instructor's guide. The A-I 1-713package costs $55 and contains 10

,workb()oks and II certificates.•_ _ ._.. _.- _.,

9

Fire Safety Is A Full-Time Job

Thomas Fulk

Assistant Director, A via/ion and Fire Management,USDA Forest Service, San Francisco, CA.

Chain Saw Sales in the UnitedStates

include the following materials:• Postal meter slugs with afire prevention message.• Fire prevention messages indealer distribution literature.• Fire prevention ed ucationinformation in the accessorybrochure and/or a chain sawsafety manual.• A 6- to 8-minute chain sawfire safety film with ForestService assistance.• The development and pro­motion of chain saw firesafety features for variouspublications and the circula-tion of safety material to .chain saw users. ,f.• Fire safety features in adver-Wtising material.

On June 29, 1984, Donald V.Marchese, President, McCullochCorporation, and R. Max Peter­son, Chief, USDA Forest Service,signed an agreement for a 3-yearnational chain saw fire preventionprogram. McCulloch Corporationbecame the first outdoor powerequipment manufacturer to marketproducts with factory-installedspark arresters and to produceadvertising containing fire preven­tion messages. A Smokey Bearlicense has been issued to theMcCulloch Corporation for the useof Smokey Bear in support of thisprogram.

The Chain Saw Problem

In 1977-81 there were approxi­mately 94 wildfires on nationalforests each year caused by chainsaw exhaust systems. Data on fireoccurrence for other classes oflandownership is not available;however. extrapolation suggeststhere might have been about 470fires per year on all landowner­ships. (National forests account forapproximately one-fifth of thecommercial forest land in theUnited States.)

Suppression costs and resourcelosses for these fires suggest anaverage of about $3,000 per.acreand an average fire size of 17acres. Some creative extrapolationis necessary in the absence of harddata, but the total cost plus lossfigure for chain saw exhaust sys-

tern fires is close to $24 million peryear for all forest land.

Chain saw sales increased signifi­cantly in the 1970's, as shown inthe accompanying table. The num­ber of chain saws sold in 1980 wasmore than three times the numbersold in 1970. However, this sta­tistic alone does not adequatelydescribe the increase in exhaustsystem risk over time because:

I. Chain saws have anextended service life, and thetotal number of saws in ser­vice constitutes the riskpopulation.2. The risk is associated withall multiposition engines. Thegasoline-powered string trim­mer is a relatively new devel­opment that has a goodmarket, for example.

Resource losses, suppressioncosts, and the growing risk popu­lation suggest the multi positionengine fire problem is clearlyworth a fire prevention effort.

The Program

The McCulloch Corporation,under the 3-year agreement, willfinance program costs of approx­imately $677 ,000 and will includepromotion of the use of factory­installed spark arresters on aneight-point educational program.The Forest Service will providetechnical expertise in fire preven­tion education and the assistanceof Smokey Bear. The fire preven­tion education program will

Year197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981

TOTAL*Estimated

Number ofSaws Sold

632,600814,700

1,075,3001,379,9001,900,5002,000,000'2,100,000'2,425,3002,771,7002,811,2002,089,7001,379,700

21,380,600

10 Fire Management Notes

Donald V. Marchese. president of A1cCIII!och Corporation, and R. Max Peterson, Chief ofttte Forest Service, sign an agreement for a s-vear chain sail' pre prevention program, assistedbl' Smokey Bear.

The Forest Service-McCullochCorporation 3-year agreementmarks a unique partnership ofGovernment and industry to com­bat a serious fire problem. A newmarketing approach and fire pre­vention education program will beconducted that has the potentialfor making significant changes infire occurrence, in industry mar­keting practices, and in consumerattitudes.

The initiative for this programbuilds on McCulloch Corpora­tion's past experience and its com­mitment to product safety, reflect­ing its belief that "fire safety is afull-time job." •

-"

• The development and distri­bution to wildfire agencies ofposters in standard sizes thatare suitable for indoor use.• The development of mate­rials to train servicingdealers and product servicerepresentatives.

Expected Benefits

There is no objective methodol­ogy for determining the effect ofthis program in reducing fireoccurrence. If there is a 10 percentreduction in fire occurrence, it isestimated that this program will

A;ve $7.2 million in 3 years. Even.ore significant is the possibility

that the program will lead to basic

Volume 46, Number 1

changes in chain saw marketing,eventually leading to acceptance ofspark arresters as standard equip­ment by users and the outdoorpower tool industry.

Summary

The chain saw fire safety filmand posters will be available to fireagencies nationwide when they arecompleted. If you are interested inreceiving information about thesefree items, send your name andaddress to:

Fire PreventionUSDA Forest Service630 Sansome StreetSan Francisco, CA 94111

11

The California Mini·Kitchen

Roy Pike, Mike Minton, and Ben Beall

State Forest Ranger, California Department ofForestry, Parlin Fork Conservation Camp, FortBragg, CA; Materials Supervisor, CaliforniaDepartment of Forestry, Mendocino Ranger Unit,Mendocino, CA; and Staff Leader, USDA ForestService, Cooperative Fire Protection, San Francisco.CA.

Over the years, wildland fires inCalifornia have presented someunique logistical challenges for theCalifornia Department of Forestry.One of the biggest challenges isthe feeding of firefighters over aperiod of several days, three timesa day. The energy expended byfirefighters requires a high calorieintake that can be met by mealsthat are, ideally, appetizing as wellas filling.

The remoteness and distance tostations and food sources can addto the overall feeding problem overthe course of a few days. The chal­lenge for those assigned the task offeeding has always been to providea sufficient amount of nourishingand appealing foodstuffs to thefirefighters, so that the comfortlevel at a fire can be raised just alittle.

Need for New Design

Throughout the years themethods of feeding have requireddevelopment of several alterna­tives. The choices range from theissue of military rations to cookyour own to the use of contractcaterers on the fire. Each methodhas its merits and is acceptablewithin certain circumstances. Whatwe would like to offer is a flexibleand efficient alternative currentlyin use by the California Depart­ment of Forestry, called the Mini­Kitchen system. It is a system suit­able for up to lOa people anddisplaces the normal fire camp

12

kitchen designed for larger volumefeeding.

Many changes have been madefrom time to time to the basickitchen unit in an attempt toincrease its efficiency and versa­tility. Generally these changes havecaused an increase in weight andspace. It normally requires at leastone large stake-side truck to hauland tow the kitchen unit to theincident. This has resulted from anattempt to provide a large varietyin menus, maintain high healthstandards, and be able to respondto any cooking demands presentedat a wildland fire.

Recently, a few people realizedthat maybe they didn't need thewhole kitchen unit if they weregoing to feed only 100 people.Thus, the Mini-Kitchen conceptdeveloped. The designers recog­nized that most multishift wildlandfires were not very large and wereusually worked by lOa people orfewer for 2 or 3 days. The use ofthe regular fire camp kitchen wascumbersome, and at times thepersonnel required to operate itrepresented a large proportion ofthose assigned to the incident.When the choice was made tocook, the kitchen used was capableof preparing any menu an imagi­native gourmet cook could devise.

A Complete Unit

The Mini-Kitchen design isunique in that it is a whole mod-ule. A cook using the recom-mended menus does not have toexpand the kitchen capabilities.The equipment inventory is easilymaintained and utilized with aminimum of support personnel.When one looks at the inventory(table 1), he or she will note thatthe equipment provided canaccommodate the preparation, A,serving, and cleanup of the meal. ,.This is one of the major benefitsof the system. The personnel canquickly become familiar with theMini-Kitchen Module.

One of the key features of thiskitchen is the use of barbecue grillsfor cooking meat or other itemsand keeping food warm. TheWeber brand barbecue, which iscommercially available, is anexample of the kind of unit used.These units can be shut off whenheating or when cooking is com­plete to conserve briquets. Castiron griddles have been adapted tofit over the grills or used with thegas burner units. Most of theequipment can be obtained from ahardware Or houseware store.There are no elaborate componentsthat require exceptional skills.Variations are easily made bymodifying or using existing equip-ment. Experience has shown that e'h . I .. ,

t e Simp er It IS the better it is.

Fire Management Notes

Figure I-Mini-Kitchen ready for operation. Cooking units can be arrangedfor directserving, as shown.

Inventory

The items shown in table 1 arethe hardware components andconsumable items within the inven-

been directly from the grill (fig. 1).One table behind the grills andserving tables is usually reservedfor preparation and cleanup.Thetwo tables used as a front counterfor serving can help keep the hun­gry firefighters at bay. Placingitems such as coffee, drinks, andfruit away from the food servingline maintains a flow of peoplepast the grills and servers. Thecondiment and drink serving tableshould be no closer than 25 feetfrom the food serving area. Thiskeeps the foot traffic away fromthe kitchen and helps to increasethe line speed.

,,

--

. ::;,.., .::;;::; ..,....~---r'C'---', .,-.'--~-':r-"7~- ~J;1

" f' ,

Kitchen Setup

Putting the Mini-Kitchen towork is rather a simple task andcan be accomplished in less thanone-half hour by two people. Thefirst thing to consider is spacerequirements. Because the Mini­Kitchen is designed for a smallincident, the number of peoplestanding in line for food willnormally be no more than 50percent of those assigned to theincident. The cooking area, whichincludes preparation, cooking,serving, and cleanup, can beaccommodated in a space 50 feetby 50 feet. Normally one or twotables are used to serve the food.Because small numbers of peopleare being served, some specialorders can be accommodated from

-the grill. Entree serving has usually

Table I-Min i-Kitchen inventory

Item ouannty

a-burner LPG stove 2Regulator, low

pressure 210-ft. propane hose,

wlfitting 25-gal. propane bottles 21- to 5-rb fire

extinguisher, ABC 1Weber barbecues,

with lids 2Garbage containers,

_ galvanized 2nsulated jug, 5-gal,

with spigot 2Serving tray, 4 in

deep 4Bake pans (roasting),

with lid 4Butcher knives 2Long-handled serving

spoons 3Paring knife 1Long-handled

spatulas 3Ice pick 2Ice scoop 1Stock pot, 20 qt 1Sauce pot, 8 qt 2First aid kit,

to-person 1Dish towels, cloth 4Sponge 1Paper towels 6 rollsPaper napkins 8 pkgCharcoal briquets,

20 Ib bag 8 bagsCoffee cups, 8 oz 1 box (2,500)Briquet starter fluid 2 cansDinnerware sets (each

box serves 125people) 5 boxes

Garbage bags 125

.echests, 48 qt 44erving tables

Volume 46, Number 1 13

Table 2-Sampfe !/leI/liS for the Mini­Kitchen

Breakfast No.1Barbecued ham 40 IbsSweet rolls 10 dozEggs 30 dozBread 30 loavesMilk, 1/2 pt 6 casesCoffee 1 caseFruit juice, assort. 6 casesMelons 50

Breakfast NO.2Barbecued steak, 8 oz 130 .Eggs 30 dozHashed browns (frozen) 35 pkgCanned apricots 6 #10 cansFruit juice, assort. 6 casesCoffee 1 caseMilk, 1/2 pt 6 casesBread 30 loaves

tory. For example, the large bakepans can be used to scramble eggs,and the lids can be used to keepthe bacon and ham warm aftercooking. The 20-quart stock potand the bake pans can be used forheating water and washing dishes.A little imagination has created asmall amount of inventory that isversatile enough to handle manytasks.

An additional advantage of theMini-Kitchen system is the versatil­ity of its transportation require­ments. It is small enough to tow ina I-ton trailer and light enough forhelicopter transporting. It can bepacked in by mules if necessary.More elaborate systems have been

put together for transporting theunit, but a pickup truck would besufficient. The trailer unit pulledbehind the pickup carrying thefood has proven to be the bestmethod (fig. 2). Perishables needto be kept under refrigeration;plan on transporting a lot of ice.

The menus provided in table 2can be efficiently prepared andshould be palatable enough forthe average fireline gourmet.The menus are calculated inIOO-person increments. If variancesare made, the proportions can beadjusted for each item. However,don't forget to include a "fudgefactor" of about 10 percent tocover unexpected guests. Table 3

Item Quantity

Note: Lunch meals are generally catered sacr•lunches or military rations.

Fig,ure 2- View of smalt frailer unit used for transporting Mini-Kitchen. Note that sidenoardsdouhle as {abies.

Dinner No.Sirloin steak, 8 ozString beansMixed saladTomatoesOnionsCoffeeMilk, 1/2 pt.Fresh fruitJuice, assort.

Dinner NO.2Hamburger pattiesBeansLettuceTomatoesOnionsPickles, slicedCookiesFruit juice, assort.Hamburger buns

(8 per pkg)

1306 #10 cans1 case1 lug5 lb.1 case6 cases5 lugs10 cases

50lb6 #10 cans1 case1 lug20lb2 gal60 pkg10 cases

24 pkg

14 Fire Management Notes

Table 3-Mini-Kifchen complement 1

Item

SugarJelly-assorted,

individual packetsSalt and pepper packetsWooden kitchen

matchesButterCooking ouMustard, packetsCatsup, packetsPaper towels

_Barbecue lighter fluidWBarbecue briquets

Quantity

20 Ibs

500 each1000 each

1 box6 1-lb tubs1 gal500 each500 each6 rolls6 1-qt cans6 20-lb bags

shows the recommended list ofcomplementary items. The condi­ments can be adapted to local pref­erences as desired. Whenever possi­ble obtain individual packages ofitems such as syrup, salad dressing,sauces, sugar, and dairy creamers.Always keep in mind the 100­person increment.

In a world where improvementscan sometimes mean smaller, theefforts of many to provide effi­cient systems such as the Mini-

Kitchen need to be shared.California Department of Forestrypersonnel feel the Mini-Kitchen hasa future in effectively providinglow-cost satisfying meals to firelinepersonnel. Experience has shownthat this unit is sufficient to handlethe vast majority of wildland firesin remote locations. The key tomaintaining efficiency is to followcompletely the criteria of the Mini­Kitchen: in other words, keep itsmall.•

, order this complement each 24 hours.

Volume 46, Number 1 15

Incendiary Wildfires: Minnesota GetsTough on Arsonists 1

Robert Kraske

Editor, Minnesota Volunteer, Minnesota DepartmentofNatural Resources, St. Paul, MN.

Of the 1,022 wildfires in Minne­sota during the first 6 months of1984, 415, or 41 percent, wereincendiary. These deliberately setfires burned 32,644 acres, 6 out ofevery 10 acres consumed by allwildfires in the State for thisperiod. Incendiary fires 'He Min­nesota IS number one cause ofwildfires. According to JosephAlexander, Commissioner of theMinnesota Department of NaturalResources (DNR), "A major causeof forest and grass fires in Minne­sota is arson."

Now DNR forest and conserva­tion officers are getting tough onfire starters. Investigation of wild­fires has taken "a quantum leapforward in the past 3 years," saysDNR Forest Officer Brian Garveyfrom Moose Lake, MN.

Arson Investigation School

In 1982, Garvey was one of 20forest and conservation officersin the Nation to attend the firstsession of the Wildland ArsonInvestigation School at Glynco,GA. Sponsored by the USDAForest Service, the school treatedsubjects such as fire origins andbehavior, burn patterns, arsondevices, arsonist profiles, inter­views of suspects and gatheringevidence, search and seizure, andcourtroom procedures. The

I Reprinted with permission from theMinnesota Volunteer, Vol. 47 (276).

16

instructors were veteran wildlandarson investigators from across theUnited States.

One year later J ConservationOfficer Brad Burgraff from Brain­erd, MN, and Forest OfficerChuck Spoden, from Littlefork,attended classes at the sameschool.

These three-Garvey, Burgraff,and Spoden-trained 28 DNRforest and conservation officers ata I-week school at Camp Ripley.A special Forest Service agentfrom California assisted in thetraining.

Successful Teamwork

From this initial cadre, eightseparate arson investigation teamsof four to five officers each wereformed. The 1984 spring fire sea­son provided an opportunity totest the new teams. Initial resultswere encouraging. Citations forwildfire violations increased, andcollections of the costs of fightingfires improved. In Brainerd, onearsonist was found guilty in a jurytrial.

A major success involved a casein the Park Rapids area. Eachspring, 10 to 15 wildfires wouldoccur within a 5-square-mile area,sometimes 4 or 5 per day.

The local DNR forest officerhad an idea of the person who wassetting the fires, but he knew hecouldn't prove it. He discussed hissuspicions with the arson investiga­tion team. Using techniques taught

at the arson investigation school inGeorgia, the team devised a plan.

The first step was to go overrecords of past fires. Was there apattern in the fires-in locations,perhaps, or the devices used to setthe fires? Team members kept a24-hour stakeout on the suspect'shome and used aerial surveillancewhen he left home in his brownpickup truck.

Four days later, a wildfirestarted in a forest near Park .Rapids. What the arsonist didn'tknow was that a forest officer wasconcealed in the brush nearby andhad watched him set the blaze.

Using a hand radio, the officeralerted a plane circling overheadand another forest officer in a cara mile away. He also called hissupervisor, who contacted the localconservation officer.

The spotter plane kept the sus­pect's pickup in view as all groundunits converged. The pickup wasstopped, and the suspect appre­hended. While the conservationofficer interviewed the suspect, thefirst forest officer took picturesand gathered evidence at the spotwhere the fire started. After acourt hearing, the suspect wassentenced to jail.

Burn Patterns

Fire investigation is time coo- •suming. A fire investigator must (first locate the point at which afire started, then determine the

Fire Management Notes

cause of the fire, and finally iden­tify the responsible party.

The behavior of a fire is re­vealed in burn patterns on trees.bushes, fallen trunks, rocks, grass,and on debris or vegetation in thefire's path. Using the knowledgethat fires tend to burn in a coneshape in the direction of the wind,the investigator can follow theseburn patterns to the point wherethe fire originated.

•

Once the point of origin islocated, the investigator gets onhands and knees and searches forthe item that caused the fire. Afavorite device of arsonists consistsof kitchen matches fastened to thefilter end of a glowing cigarette.When the cigarette burns down,the matches ignite. Gadget-mindedarsonists use a timing mechanismto delay ignition of flammablesuntil they are far from the scene.

After the origin and cause havebeen determined, the arsonist mustbe located. Often there are peoplein the fire area who remember acar. Or perhaps someone will beable to identify the arsonist.

Acting as a team, Spoden,Garvey, and Burgraff investigatedfour fires near Wadena and sevennear Staples. Oddly enough, theyfound that, although they wereunable to identify the arsonists,no new fires near those townsoccurred after they left. The fact

A'that they were investigating the..fires apparently was sufficient to

discourage more incendiary fires.

Volume 46, Number 1

Property Loss

Property damage rather than theloss of human life is the conse­quence of most incendiary fires.Homes and outbuildings locatedon grassland are frequently dam­aged or destroyed. Christmas treeplantations and private tree farmsare also susceptible.

"All wildfires lead somewhere,"reflects George Meadows, DNRfire specialist. He once watched abrush fire head for a dilapidatedbarn; fortunately the flames wereextinguished before doing anydamage. Meadows found out after­wards that the ancient buildinghoused $400,000 worth of modernfarm equipment.

Crown fires-those fierce firestorms that race through thecrowns of trees-do more damagethan grass or brush fires and costmore to fight. But they happen farless frequently. Three or fourdevastating crown fires may occurin one year compared to 1,500grass or brush fires. Collectively,ground fires do far more damage.

Is It Arson?

Not all incendiary fires, thearson investigation teams dis­covered, are set by arsonists. Peo­ple sometimes start fires throughcarelessness, not criminal intent.Recently Burgraff investigateda wildfire near Duluth. "In thepast," he says, "the incidentwould have been considered acci-

dental, without human cause. Butbecause of our training, we wereable to go in, find the cause of thefire, and prove it came from acampfire that had burned out ofcontrol. We located the campers,took legal action, and the Statewas then able to collect the cost ofputting out the fire from thecampers who had caused it."

Because of their growing skill inidentifying the cause of a fire,investigators can assess if themotive was arson or not. Rubbishleft burning in a field, a carelesslydiscarded cigarette, a car parkedwith a hot muffler in tall grass canall cause wildfires.

Some people deliberately torchgrassland in an attempt to createbetter wildlife habitat, although inthe process they often destroy thenests of birds and young wildlife.Other fires are set to rid a field ofunwanted shrubs and weed trees.Still other fires are started, accord­ing to a Forest Service officer, "torid a woods of ticks and snakes."

Although these fires are delib­erately set, the people who startthem are neither arsonists norpyromaniacs. However, a fire­blackened field or a charred woodsstill look the same no matter whatthe motive, and the people whostart the fire, even though innocentof criminal intent, are still respon­sible for the costs of firefighting.

Unlike "innocent" fire starters,arsonists usually set fires repeat­edly in a particular pattern and in

17

e i

I:

one area. Wildfires in an areaoften stop when a suspected arson­ist moves. In one instance, thefires ended when a suspect went tojail on an unrelated charge.

Making Progress

Investigating wildfires in Min­nesota's wildlands entered anew phase when CommissionerAlexander officially created thearson investigation teams onMarch I, 1984. Since then, DNRforest officers have grown moreand more canny about wildfiresand how to catch those who startthem.

"We have more enforcementand investigation now that we havethe team concept of investigatingincendiary wildfires," saysMeadows. "Arrests will increase,and convictions will go up." •

18

Talking About theWeather, .. By Radio

Mark Twain has been creditedwith the quote "Everybody talksabout the weather but nobody doesanything about it." We still can'tdo much about the weather, butthe technicians at Boise Inter­agency Fire Center's (BIFC)Division of Information SystemsManagement have found a newway to talk about fire weather.

Fire behavior officers knowwhat the weather is like in the firecamp. They also know what theweather is like on the fireline fromthe reports received from firecrews. They know what theregional weather is like from theforecasts received daily from theNational Weather Service.

But what about the weather 20or 30 miles away, on the other sideof the fire? What about the frontthat is approaching the fire, halfan hour away? This informationcan be vital to firefighting strategyand crew safety, but up until nowit has been the hardest informationto keep up with.

The solution the BIFC techni­dans came up with was to placeseveral Handar 540 Remote Auto­matic Weather Stations (RAWS)around the fire. Information fromthe RAWS units is transmittedover standard kit radios from theNational Radio Support Cache(NRSC) back to the fire camp. Theinformation is received by anotherNRSC kit radio that interfaces

with a Tl-745 terminal. TheTl-745 provides an English Ian­guage printout of the weatherinformation for the fire behaviorofficer.

The units, programmable fromfire camp, can be installed by twotechnicians in about 45 minutesand can be carried in the back of apickup truck or on a helicopter.These items are available fromBIFC, Catalog No. 4281 andshould be fire ordered from •BIFC's Logistic Support Office.The LSO should be able to tell therepresentatives of the orderingorganization what equipment theyneed to order. Bureau of LandManagement personnel can design,set up, and operate a RAWS/Tl-745 interface system based on theneeds of the ordering office.

We still can't do anything aboutthe weather, but thanks to thetechnical expertise of a number ofpeople, now firefighters can atleast anticipate what the weather isgoing to do and plan a little betterfor it. •Arnold Hartigan

Public Affairs Officer., USDI Bureau ofLand Management, Boise Interagency FireCenter, Boise, ID.

Fire Management Notes

)'I'

\

!III

I\II

IIi

,,

J

I"

e History-Making Parachute Jump

Clay Morgan and Dale Matlack

Wriler-Edilor, USDA Foresl Service, Payette NationalForest, MeCall, ID; and Aerial Attack Specialist,USDA Forest Service. A viation and Fire ManagementStaff, Washington, DC.

On Friday, August 17, 1984,a srnokejumper from the WestYellowstone Interagency FireCenter, Northern Region, para­chuted to the Fly Hill Fire onKelly Creek Ranger District, Clear­water National Forest. In makingthis jump, John Purlee fromBurbank, CA, accomplished the100,000th fire jump in the historyof smokejumping ,

This milestone of parachute use

e took many years to accomplishand represents the largest civilianutilization of a personnel para­chute system for operational pur-poses. As a result, the parachute,which many people said couldn'tbe safely used, rightfully takes itsplace as a unique fire suppressiondelivery system. The Forest Service(USDA), followed by the Bureauof Land Management (USDI), hasbeen parachuting srnokejumpers toforest fires since July 12, 1940. Onthat date, the first jump to a firewas made by Rufus Robinson andEarl Cooley on the NezperceNational Forest in Idaho. Threedays later, the first successfulrescue jump was made to an air­plane crash on the BitterrootNational Forest.

Since 1940, more than 200,000parachute jumps have been madeby USDA and USDI smoke­jumpers in mountainous terrainwithout a single fatal accident duee\to parachute malfunction. Thissafety record is unequaled in eithermilitary or sport parachuting.

Volume 46, Number 1

Several smokejumpers have losttheir lives in forest fire suppressionwork, however, and one fatalityoccurred during jumping as aresult of a procedural error.

Much of the credit for theremarkable safety record can beattributed to rigorous standardizedsmokejumper training and to theequipment development workaccomplished by the MissoulaEquipment Development Center,Missoula, MT.

How Smokejumping Began

The idea of parachuting fire­fighters into forest and wildernesswas simple but revolutionary, andit took time to grow.

Shortly after World War I, theForest Service started working withthe Army Air Corps to detect firesin several Western States, startingwith California and spreading toOregon, Washington, Idaho, andMontana. Because the early planesflew just above the treetops todetect fires, the crews soon startedto drop supplies to firefighters onthe ground. The materials werewrapped in old burlap for a softerlanding. Within a few years para­chutes were used to cushionlandings.

A few individuals are alwaysahead of their time-and so it wasthat a few foresters consideredusing planes and parachutes toget firefighters where they wereneeded. However. the idea was still

generally considered impracticaland too dangerous.

In 1934, T. V. Pearson of theIntermountain Region experi­mented with parachute systems,but the program was abandoned asbeing "too risky." Some evenworried about what kind of peoplewould agree to become part ofsuch a hazardous undertaking;they felt that they must be just alittle bit unbalanced!

But the idea caught on, never­theless. In 1939, the Forest Ser­vice's parachute project, conductedon the Chelan National Forestnear Winthrop, WA, provedthat firefighters and equipmentcould be safely parachuted intoremote locations. In spite of skep­tics, the smokejumping ideabecame a reality. Personnel couldindeed be dropped in timber,meadows, side hills, and ridgessafely and effectively.

A Brief History

Fourteen srnokejumpers teamedup to make 99 fire jumps in 1940,establishing the srnokejumpingprogram. Winthrop, WA, andSeeley Lake, MT, became the firstsmokejumping centers. An analysisof the handful of fires jumped in1940 revealed a new savings ofapproximately $30,000, nearlythree times the cost of the project.

The worries over the psychologi­cal pressures of parachuting per­sisted for some time. When AI

19

Cramer's parachute malfunc­tioned during a practice jump, hedeployed his reserve parachute andlanded without injury. His trainersdid not want him to end the daywith a bad parachute experience,however, so they immediately tookhim back up in the plane andmade him jump again. That timeCramer sprained his ankle.

An interesting sidelight of thefirst year of operational jumpingwas the visit of four U.S. Armystaff officers to the parachuteproject at Seeley Lake. One ofthese officers, Major William C.Lee, employed Forest Service tech­niques and ideas in organizing thefirst military paratroop training atFort Benning, GA.

The needs of World War II cre­ated serious personnel shortages inthe smokejumping program. By1943, the Forest Service beganrecruiting conscientious objectorsthrough the Civilian PersonnelService. The cr s srnokejumpersled a strict life .• f they were absentwithout leave, they could becharged with desertion. "Opera­tion Firefly" was the name appliedto various Army Air Forces (AAF)experiments and training missionsundertaken in 1945. As part of thisoperation, black AAF personnel ofthe 555th ("Triple Nickel")Parachute Infantry Battalion weretrained as smokejurnpers at theMissoula, MT, Aerial Depot.These smokejumpers were then sta­tioned on the west coast, ready to

20

fight any fires that might resultfrom the incendiary balloon bombsbelieved to be on the way fromJapan (fig. I).

The 1940's ended on a sobernote with the Mann Gulch tragedy.On August 5, 1949, 12 smoke­jumpers and a district guard (aformer smokejumper) were killedwhen the fire they were fightingunderwent a sudden blowup.

Since 1940, 12 bases and severalspike bases have provided ForestService and Bureau of LandManagement smokejumper supportto the Western States and Alaska.Smokejurnping programs have alsobeen developed in Canada, China,and the Soviet Union. In the1970's, Region 6 Forest Servicejumpers participated in an experi­mental smokejumper program inthe Southern Region. The BLM ispresently evaluating smokejurnpersin the Great Basin Area. Since1940, srnokejumpers have attackedover 25,000 wildfires in 18 Statesand in Canada.

Parachutes and Equipment

The Forest Service pioneered thedevelopment of steerable para­chutes. The smokejumper's orig­inal "Eagle" parachute systemconsisted of a hand-deployed 30­foot canopy with steering lobesand a 27-foot steerable reserve. In1941, static line deployment wasdeveloped, and by 1945, FrankDerry had designed a canopy thathad open slots used for steering.

Both developments were firsts inthe parachute industry.

Parachutes continued to improvewith the FS-5, F5A, and FS-IOdesigns. The FS-12 parachuteemploys a 32-foot canopy that hasnylon of three different porositiesand anti-inversion netting. TheForest Service FS-12 providesbetter maneuverability, slowerdescent, and full braking capa­bilities. In Alaska, BLM isestablishing its Ram Air parachuteprogram, employing a square air­foil design.

The smokejumpcr 's jump gearhas seen a similar evolution. Jum­pers now use Ensulite-padded ,Nomex jump suits. Lighter weightsuits and harnesses are presentlybeing developed. A replacementreserve parachute will be purchasedfor each smokejumper in 1985.

Over the years, the srnokejumperprogram has been well served byseveral aircraft, including theNordyne Norseman, the Ford Tri­Motor, the Twin Beech, and theGrumman Goose. DC-3 's stillfly smokejurnpers in the Inter­mountain Region. Other aircraftcurrently dropping jumpers includethe Twin Oller, the Volpar, andthe Beech 99.

Present Organization

Although there have beenchanges in the srnokejumper pro­gram, many of the original basesare still in operation. However,some of the bases that were used

Fire Management Notes

{•

~

Figure I-Paratroopers of the Fire 555/11 Parachute Infantry Battalion climh info their parachute harnesses before hoarding a plane of the 1stTroop Carrier Command. The C-47 will drop the airborne firefighters near an area where forest fires are burning. Umatilla National Forest,OR-25 August 1945.

Volume 46, Number 1 21

",IIil?jII

for many years are no longer beingused. These include Idaho City andBoise, ID; LaGrande and CaveJunction, OR; and Nine Mile andSeeley Lake, MT. The followinglist shows the principal 1984 oper­ating bases (an asterisk indicates acore base).

Forest Service:Region 1

Missoula, MT-West Yellowstone, MTGrangeville, ID

Region 3Silver City, NM

Region 4McCall, !D-

Region 5Remand, OR­North Cascades, ORWinthrop, WA

Bureau of Land Management:Fairbanks, AK­Grand Junction, CO

The number of smokejumpershas fluctuated somewhat but hasnow stabilized at a number thatreflects the typical level of theearly 1960's. The following chartdepicts the number of ForestService smokejumpers through theyears:

1940 141945 2191950 2511955 2731960 3201965 3891970 4461975 4411984 330

22

In addition to the above, BLMhas a total of 95 smokejumpers inAlaska.

The 1980's Smokejumper

In 1940, the smokejumper wascertain to be white, male, single,and between the ages of 21 and 25.By the late 1940's the majority ofsmokejumpers were former service­men, many of whom were also col­lege students. Today the averagesmokejurnper is older than hiscounterpart in the 1940's and hasmuch more fire experience. He orshe is not necessarily a teacher or acollege student during the off­season. Smokejumpers may spendtheir winters as ski instructors,stockbrokers, writers, outfitters,guides, or Navy SEALs. Over theyears, the 10,000 jumpers whohave been trained by the ForestService or BLM have come fromand gone on to a number of differ­ent lifestyles, including those ofdoctors, lawyers, coaches, andeven an astronaut.

Around 1980, women began toshow an interest in smokejumping.Deanne Shulman became the firstwoman jumper in 1981 and wasstill active in 1984, jumping all 4years from McCall, !D (fig. 2).She was joined by three women inthe Northern Region in 1982 andby three more in the followingyear. By 1984 nine women smoke­jumpers were in the program, rep­resenting all regions of the ForestService.

In the early days, jumpers wereused for initial attack purposesonly. Today, although first attackremains their primary function,they also serve on interregional firecrews and in overhead positions onlarge fires. Interregional and inter­agency cooperation facilitates theready transport and diverse use ofsmokejumpers throughout thecountry. In the future, smoke­jumpers may be used more exten­sively to monitor prescribed fires,as wilderness fire managementplans are developed.

Some aspects of smokejumpingremain much the same. The shoveland pulaski are still the favoredfirefighting tools. The use of 150­foot "long-line" gear retrieval byhelicopter is becoming established,but smokejumpers must still bephysically fit and able to packloads of 100 pounds and more formiles through rugged country with­out trails.

The old jumper saying still holdstrue: "We're no different from theother firefighters. We just walkhalf as far and carry twice asmuch." However, significant prog­ress is being made to providelighter weight equipment.

Total Mobility

The "total mobility" concept ofthe early 1970's designated smoke­jumpers Category One fire crews,recognizing them as the best fire­fighters available. Now, smoke­jumpers are used frequently for

Fire Management Notes

I

_I

\•II,

I,

I'fII~

Ffgure 2-Firsl women in smokejummng, Deanne Schulman and Charlotte Larsen, pose beside the Intermountain Region's Beech 99.

Volume 46, Number 1 23

~,;

ground action on large-scale proj­ect fires as well as for parachutedelivery. Because of the increasedsophistication of dispatching,jumpers can respond to fire calls inalmost any location in close coor­dination with other suppressionforces.

Often, because of their speedand mobility, large numbers ofsmokejumpers parachute intoemerging troublesome fires to tryto contain them before they reachproject proportions. It is notuncommon to see 40 to 60 jumpers

24

from several bases parachutingearly in the morning or late in theburning period of fires on areaslarger than 10 acres.

Summary

Although technology has pro­duced many changes through theyears, fire suppression continues torequire hands-on pulaski andshovel work. Experience showsthat the sooner the attack is madethe less hands-on work is needed.Labor is expensive, and aerial

delivery of firefighters is still thebest way to achieve fast initialattack. The accomplishment of100,000 parachute fire jumps vivid­ly demonstrates how effectively theForest Service and BLM have fol­lowed this concept.

Max Peterson, Chief of theForest Service, recognized thevalue of smokejumpers in hisaddress at the 45th reunion inMissoula, MT, in July 1984:

"They're going to be around fora long time." •

Fire Management Notes

t\I

I

e i

I

f,,I

I'I

\

"

~IIMS and State Forestrywvrganizations

H.N. Miller and Marvin E. Newell

State Forester, Oregon Department of Forestry,Salem, OR; and Staff Assistant, USDA ForestService, Cooperative Fire Protection, BoiseInteragency Fire Center, Boise, ID.

:~~i!'! ..

Interagency fire operations are afact of life in almost all parts ofthe Nation. Fires involving two ormore agencies have created a diffi­cult challenge for fire protectionorganizations. The problems rangefrom the use of different fire ter­minology to incompatible com­munications to organizationaldifferences.

In addition, the number of fireservice organizations continues to

•

'nerease as citizens move to ruralnd wildland areas that were oncehe domain of State and Federal

wildland fire protection agencies.This movement requires a changein the way the wildland fire organ­izations traditionally conduct theirfire protection functions. Therehave been several examples of lessthan desirable fire operations as aresult of this transition.

A New System

A new emergency managementapproach called the National Inter­agency Incident Management Sys­tem (NIlMS) is being adopted bymany emergency service agen-cies across the country. NllMS isdesigned to encourage maximumcooperation at the Federal, State,and local agency level. Certainly,as with any change of this mag­nitude, there is some reluctanceto adopt a new system. There

~e several key reasons for this.-Iuctance:

Volume 46, Number 1

• Knowledge that the currentfire management organizationworks well enough.o Concern about homogenizedstandards.• Cost of the changeover.• Fear of loss of agency iden­tity in a national system.• Fear of change itself.

Obviously we can't speak to howwell an agency's current organiza­tion is functioning, but we can allrecognize that we are living in arapidly changing environment fullof a variety of issues, people, andorganizations that we have to dealwith as wildland fire protectionagencies.

This brings us to the first point.NllMS is designed as a wildlandfire suppression organization andsupport system; its adoption isstrictly voluntary on the part ofagencies. The National WildfireCoordinating Group (NWCG),which is the parent group respon­sible for overall development, hasstated that it will concentrate onwildland fire management. Otheremergency service agencies mayalso want to adopt the systembased on its merits, and local agen­cies will need to coordinate asnecessary.

The next question has to do withcontrol over the system. Each Fed­eral agency that has wildland fireprograms and each State has mem­bership on the National WildfireCoordinating Group. By NWCGcharter, there are two State Forest-

ers through whom individual Stateshave input and joint control of thesystem. Each proposal related toNllMS is evaluated to determineits effect upon the States involved.

The third area of concern has todo with adoption of a standardizednational system. The basic ques­tion seems to be whether or notthe individual can meet the stand­ardized job performance require­ments of the position. These jobperformance requirements are themeans to attain NllMS positionsas established under the IncidentCommand System (lCS).

Each State, Federal, or localagency and each geographic areahas a unique situation. Yet ICSwas designed with the flexibility tofit each individual situation. Theattributes of the system make itadaptable: it meets the needs ofsmall organizations as well as largeand applies to small incident man­agement as well as large. If fire­fighters can meet the basic func­tional requirements of their agency,it can be said that they meet thestandards of the lCS. State Forest­ers are the individuals who makethe performance determinationfor their organizations.

Certainly in today's world oftight budgets, we must be con­cerned with costs. The implementa­tion of NllMS is no exception.Costs of implementation can gen­erally be broken down into thesecategories:

25

1. General management ori­entation.

2. Interagency coordinationmeetings to plan imple­mentation and agree onsuch items as sharing in­structors and integratingcommunications,

3. Training.The only training necessary for

transition from the Large FireOrganization, or another similarfire management organization, toNilMS is completion of Basic lCS(1-220), which covers basic ICSorganization, functions, and opera­tions. Once fire personnel havecompleted this training (12 to 16

26

hours), the State Forester canbegin the changeover from an indi­vidual's currently qualified posi­tion to the comparable positionunder NilMS (for example, FireBoss to Incident Commander).

As mentioned above, agencyidentity is a vital factor. Anyagency "worth its salt" would notwant to give this up. Under theNilMS concept each agency retainsits identity and its responsibilities.NilMS actually strengthens andmaintains agency autonomy. Itsimply offers a viable method ofinteragency cooperation. There isno function in the system thatwould require loss of responsibility

unless an agency agrees to letanother agency perform some ofits functions. Local cooperativeagreements would set forth themethods currently in use, such asthe closest forces concept.

In summary, NlIMS is a volun­tary system. It allows for flexibilityto meet local conditions, and itis based on the bottom line ofperformance, that is, the endrather than the means. Standard-ization should not be consi~ered aeproblem; performance require-ments no doubt can currently bemet by the overwhelming majorityof States.•

Fire Management Notes

J',I

j

,I

~

e Recent Fire Publications

Barney, Richard J. Characteristicsof fireline blasted with linearexplosives: initial test results.Res. Note INT-345. Ogden,UT: U.S. Department ofAgriculture, Forest Service,Intermountain Forest andRange Experiment Station;1984. 8 p.

Barney, Richard J. Forest fire sup­pression techniques: A shorthistory. Western Wildlands.10(3): 26-29; 1984.

_Bradshaw, Larry S.; Deeming,., John E.; Burgan, Robert E.;

Cohen, Jack D. The 1978national fire danger rating sys­tem: technical documentation.Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-l3.Ogden, UT: U.S. Departmentof Agriculture, Forest Service,Intermountain Forest andRange Experiment Station;1983. 36 p.

Burgan, R. E.; Rothermel, R. C.BEHAVE: Fire behavior pre­diction and fuel modeling sys­tem, FUEL subsystem. Gen.Tech. Rep. [NT -167. Ogden,UT: U.S. Department ofAgriculture, Forest Service,Intermountain Forest andRange Experiment Station;1984. 135 p.

Fischer, William C. Wilderness firemanagement planning guide:Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-17 J.Ogden, UT: U.S. Department

e of Agriculture, Forest Service,Intermountain Forest andRange Experiment Station;1984. 56 p.

Volume 46, Number 1

Gavin, Thomas M. Prescribed firequalification system devel­oped. Park Science. Seattle,WA: U.S. Department of theInterior, USDI National ParkService; 1984; 5(1): 15.

Lyon, L. Jack. The sleeping childburn-21 years of postfirechange. Res. Pap. INT -330.Ogden, UT: U.S. Departmentof Agriculture, Forest Service,Intermountain Forest andRange Experiment Station;1984. 17 p.

Gruell, George E. To burn or notto burn: a wildlife manage­ment dilemma. Western Wild­lands. 10(3): 9-15; 1984.

Kilgore, Bruce M. Restoring fire'snatural role in America's wil­derness. Western Wildlands.10(3): 2-8; 1984.

Mathews, Edward E. Fire on Mon­tana's rangelands: a successfulpilot program. Western Wild­lands. 10(3): 16-19; 1984.

Patterson, W. A.; Saunders,K. E.; Horton, L. J. Fireregimes of the coastal Maineforests of Acadia NationalPark. Report ass 83-3. Bos­ton, MA: U.S. Department ofthe Interior, National ParkService, North AtlanticRegion, Office of ScientificStudies; 1984. 259 p.

Patterson, W. A.; Saunders,K. E.; Horton, L. J. Fireregimes of Cape Cod NationalSeashore. Report OSS 83-1.Boston, MA: U.S. Depart-

ment of the Interior, NationalPark Service, North AtlanticRegion, Office of ScientificStudies; 1984.236 p.

Phillips, C. B.; Barney, R. J.Updating bulldozer firelineproduction rates. Gen. Tech.Rep. INT-166. Ogden, UT:U.S. Department of Agricul­ture, Forest Service, Inter­mountain Forest and RangeExperiment Station; 1984.26 p.

Stankey, George H.; McCool,Stephen F.; Stokes, Gerald L.Limits of acceptable change: anew framework for managingthe Bob Marshall Wilderness.Western Wildlands. 10(3):33-37; 1984.

Susott, Ronald A. Heat of preigni­tion of three woody fuels usedin wildfire modeling research.Res. Note INT -342. Ogden,UT: U.S. Department ofAgriculture, Forest Service,Intermountain Forest andRange Experiment Station;1984.4 p.

Vines, Tom. The incident com­mand system. Response. 3(3):9-13; 1984.

Wakimoto, Ronald H. Current firemanagement research in Gla­cier National Park. WesternWildlands. 10(3): 20-25; 1984.

Warren, John R. Thermal infraredusers manual. Boise, 10: U.S.Department of Agriculture,Forest Service, Aviation andFire Management; 1984.51 p.

27

Wetherill, G. Richard. Forest fireprevention programs and theirevaluation in the USDA For­est Service, Region 8. Res.Note SO-282. New Orleans,LA: U.S. Department ofAgriculture, Forest Service,Southern Forest ExperimentStation; 1982. 26 p.

Weaver, John. Bear us in mind.Western Wildlands. 10(3):30-32; 1984.•

28

Federal Firefighters

The International Society of FireService Instructors (ISFSl) is anonprofit professional organizationof over 5,000 fire and emergencyservice personnel. The Society con­ducts the annual Fire DepartmentInstructors Conference held inCincinnati, OH, in March, andother specialized seminars duringthe year.

ISFSI is organized into I I spe­cial interest sections, one of whichis the Federal Section, representingemergency service personnel whowork for the Federal Governmentor protect a Federal installation. .Federal firefighters are members 01the largest and most diverse fireprotection force in the world, yetmost people think of them only as

the "forgotten fire service."Through the efforts of the

ISFSI, Federal firefighters andemergency service personnel havean opportunity to interact andshare ideas and information. Eachmember receives a monthly ISFSInewsletter, an ., Instruct-OsGram'lesson outline, and a quarterlyFederal Section newsletter. Mem­bers also receive discounts onmaterials published by ISFSI andon tickets to various Society efunctions.

For further information or tojoin contact the Federal SectionChairperson: Asst. Chief JamesRaekl, 321 CES/OEF, GrandForks Air Base, ND 58205. Orcontact the International Society ofFire Service Instructors at 20 MainStreet, Ashland, MA 01721. •

Fire Management Notes

I

!i',

~rII

I

"

J

II'/

II

•

{!

·Author Index 1984

Anderson, Hal E. Calculating firesize and perimeter growth.45(3): 25-30.

Bailey, Dan W.; Suenram, Bruce;Costamagna, Jim. A team­work approach to multiagencyfire management. 45(3): 9-11.

Billings, Samuel T. Smoke chasing-1925.45(2): 11-12.

Braddock, AI; Mathers, Jim;Melle, Ann. More women infire management on the Black

e Hill National Forest. 45(2):16.

Bunnell, David L. In-ear transceiv­ers improve communicationsin high-noise environments.45(2): 3c5.

Cain, Michael D. Height of stem­bark char underestimatesflame length in prescribedburns. 45(1): 17-21.

Cockrell, Patsy. Planting SmokeyBear's tree. 45(3): 21.

Daines, Gladys. CelebratingSmokey's 40th birthday.45(2): 6.

Daines, Gladys. Smokey's birthdaycelebrated across the nation.45(4): 20-22.

Daines, Gladys. The first 40 years.45(1): 22-24.

Davis, James B. Burning anotherempire. 45(4): 12-17.

Eichner, Ed. Building a fire pre­vention trailer. 45(4): 10-11.

Fields, Arlene. Staying informed:the FIREBASE system.45(4): 3-4.

Volume 46, Number 1

Johnson, Von J. How shapeaffects the burning of pileddebris. 45(3): 12-15.

Keleman. Bruce; Whitlock, Chuck.Training in water use increasesthe efficiency of fire suppres­sion in the Pacific Northwest.45(3): 7-8.

Levesque, David L. New fire campshower. 45(2): 9-10.

Monesmith, Jerry; Newell, Marvin;Whitson, Jim; Montague,Dick. Unified command: amanagement concept. 45(1):3-6.

Newell, Marvin; Whitson, Jim.Complementary systems­IEMS and NlIMS. 45(4): 19.

Noble, Depha M. The northernforest fire laboratory. 45(2):21-22.

Petersen, Gary J.; Mohr, FrancisR. Underburning on white firsite to induce natural regener­ation and sanitation. 45(2):17-20.

Pickford, Stewart G., Dr.; Brown.AI. Keeping faith with newtechnology: technical firemanagement course. 45(1):7-9.

Radloff, David L. Using decisionanalysis to evaluate fire haz­ard effects of timber harvest­ing. 45(1): 10-16.

Roberts. John E. Fire suppressionfor college credit. 45(4): 8-9.

Schmidt, Jerry. Today's change,tomorrow's success. 45(3):3-6.

Schultz. William. "Adopt a safeburning barrel" project. 45(3):22-24.

Webb, Jim; Brown, AI. Prescribedfire management training.45(3): 16-17.

Whitson, Jim. The National Wild­fire Coordinating Group'spublication management sys­tem unit. 45(4): 7.

Whitson, Jim; Newell, Marvin.Agency cooperation throughNlIMS. 45(2): 7-8.

Whitson, Jim; Newell, Marvin.Transition training. 45(3):18-20.

Whitson, Jim; Newell, Marvin;Monesmith, Jerry. NlIMStraining. 45(2): 23.

Whitson, Jim; Hanson, Dave.How NlIMS keeps qualifica­tion standards from becominga barrier to interagency coop­eration.45(4): 18.

Willmot, Robert, F. JEFFCOinteragency aviation and fireservice center. 45(4): 5-6.•

29

Subject Index 1984

Cooperation

A teamwork approach to multi­agency fire management.45(3): 9-11.

Planting Smokey Bear's tree.45(3): 21.

Celebrating Smokey's 40thbirthday. 45(2): 2.

Smokey's birthday celebratedacross the nation.45(4): 20-22.

The first 40 years. 45(1): 22-24.Unified command: A management

concept. 45(1): 3-6.Complementary systems-IEMS

and NllMS. 45(4): 19.Fire suppression for college credit.

45(4): 8-9.Today's change, tomorrow's sue­

cess. 45(3): 3-6.The National Wildfire

Coordinating Group's publica­tion management system unit.45(4): 7.

Agency cooperation throughNllMS. 45(2): 7-8.

JEFFCO interagency aviation andfire service center. 45(4): 5-6.

NllMS training. 45(2): 23.How NIIMS keeps qualification

standards from becoming abarrier to interagencycooperation. 45(4): 18.

Equipment and Computer Systems

In-ear transceivers improvecommunications in high-noiseenvironments. 45(2): 3-5.

Staying informed: the FIREBASEsystem. 45(4): 3-4.

30

New fire camp shower.45(2): 9-10.

Complementary systems-lEMSand NllMS. 45(4): 19.

"Adopt a safe burning barrel"project. 45(3): 16-17.

Agency cooperation throughNllMS. 45(2): 7-8.

Transition training. 45(3): 18-20.

Fire Behavior

Calculating fire size and perimetergrowth. 45(3): 25-30.

Height of stem-back char under­estimates flame length inprescribed burns.45(1): 17-21.

Underburning on white fir site toinduce natural regenerationand sanitation. 45(2): 17-20.

Using decision analysis to evaluatefire hazard effects of timberharvesting. 45(1): 10-16.

Fuels Management

Height of stem-bark char under­estimates flame length inprescribed burns.45(1): 17-21.

How shape affects the burning ofpiled debris. 45(3): 12-15.

Underburning on white fir site toinduce natural regenerationand sanitation. 45(2): 17-20.

Using decision analysis to evaluatefire hazard effects of timberharvesting. 45(1): 10-16.

General Fire Management

Calculating fire size and perimetergrowth. 45(3): 25-30.

A teamwork approach to multi­agency fire management.45(3): 9-11.

Smoke chasing-I925.45(2): 11-12.

More women in fire managementon the Black Hill NationalForest. 45(2): 16.

In-ear transceivers improvecommunications in high-noiseenvironments. 45(2): 3-5.

Burning another empire.45(4): 12-17.

Today's change, tomorrow'ssuccess. 45(3): 3-6.

Prevention

Planting Smokey Bear's tree.45(3): 21.

Celebrating Smokey's 40thbirthday. 45(2): 6.

Smokey's birthday celebratedacross the nation.45(4): 20-22.

The first 40 years. 45(1): 22-24.

Presuppression

Smoke chasing-I925.45(2): 11-12.

Burning another empire.45(4): 12-17.

Building a fire prevention trailer.45(4): 10-11.

How shape affects the burning ofpiled debris. 45(3): 12-15.

Training in water use increases theefficiency of fire suppressionin the Pacific Northwest.45(3): 7-8.

Fire Management Notes

i

h}•

•

Unified command: a managementconcept. 45(1): 3-6.

The northern forest fire labora­tory. 45(2): 21-22.

Keeping faith with new technol­ogy: technical fire manage­ment course. 45(1): 7-9.

"Adopt a safe burning barrel"project. 45(3): 22-24.

NIlMS training. 45(2): 23.How NIlMS keeps qualification

standards from becoming

•

a barrier to interagencycooperation. 45(4): 18.

EFFCO interagency aviation andfire service center. 45(4): 5-6.

...

Publications

The National WildfireCoordinating Group's publica­tion management system unit.45(4): 7.

Author Index 1983.45(1): 28.Recent Fire Publications.

45(1): 26; 45(2): 25-26;45(3): 31; 45(4): 23.

Subject Index 1983. 45(1): 29-30.

Training

More women in fire managementon the Black Hills NationalForest. 45(2): 16.

Training in water use increases theefficiency of fire suppressionin the Pacific Northwest.45(3): 7-8.

Keeping faith with new techno­logy: technical fire manage­ment course. 45(1): 7-9.

Fire suppression for college credit.45(4): 8-9.

Prescribed fire managementtraining. 45(3): 16-17.

Transition training.45(3): 18-20.•

The Ten Standard FirefightingOrders

l , Keep informed on fireweather conditions and forecasts.

2. Know what your fire is doingat all times-observe personally,use scouts.

3. Base all actions on currentand expected behavior of fire.

4. Have escape routes for every­One and make them known.

5. Post a lookout when there ispossible danger.

6. Be alert, keep calm, thinkclearly, act decisively.

7. Maintain prompt communica­tions with your crew, your boss,and adjoining forces.

8. Give clear instructions and beSure they are understood.

9. Maintain control of yourcrew at all times.

10. Fight fire aggressively butprovide for safety first. •

•.5. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1985- 460_942,20001

Volume 46, Number 1 31

United StatesDepartment of Agriculture

Washington, D.C.20250

OFFICIAL BUSINESSPenalty for Private Use, $300

111111

U.S-MAIL(0,',

Postage and Fees Paid

United States

Department of Agriculture

AGR·101

'I

I

\

I

"

I'I\IIj

ORDER FORM To:

Order No.Expiration Date rTII'IMonth/Year L..l......l.-L.

j

I),.,

Please enter my subscription to Fire Management Notes at $13.00 domestic, $16.25 foreign.(Prices are subject to change without nouce.IMake checks payable to Superintendent of Documents.

Company orpersonal name

PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE

32

For Office Use Only.

Quantity Charges

Enclosed

To be mailed

Subscnptions

Postage

Foreign handling

MMOBOPNR

UPNS

Discount

Refund

Fire Management Notes

Il

(t'I

I

I

J\

JJ