Ask the Staff: Spring Wildfires

 Why is Spring the most dangerous time for wildfires in Pennsylvania?

If you look outside during Spring here in Pennsylvania, you’re sure to notice that our trees are quite bare, allowing sunlight to more readily hit those forest floors. That sunlight warms the forest floor and dries out the fuels – primarily leaf litter from the previous fall, as well as small diameter branches and twigs. Consider our past few winters - they’ve been fairly mild, and that works against us. The lack of snowpack that typically would compact the leaf litter into a layer that’s more difficult to burn, is already fluffed up and more receptive to ignition. Something else we all look forward to in the Spring is the days getting longer, and warmer – this provides more time for sunlight to warm up and dry the fuels. Combine this drying with the windy Spring days and you have a much larger number of combustible fuels. These two things – dry fuels and windy conditions – are part of the three conditions necessary for a wildfire to occur, the only thing missing is an ignition source.

In Pennsylvania, 99% of wildfires are caused by people. Springtime is typically seen as a perfect time to burn leaf litter, especially after cleaning up flower beds, gardens, and yards. A careless person burning trash or yard waste can be responsible for causing wildfires that threaten homes, property, and lives. These debris fires typically start in a backyard and use the dead grass and leaves to get into the bordering woodlands.

However, wildfires can occur during any month and any time of day. Please be careful when burning, check with your township for burn bans, and local ordinances on burning, and consult the Smokey Bear website for valuable tips on home protection, proper backyard debris burning, and campfire safety among others.

 

Katalynn Dildine

Wildland Fire Operations Technician

2022 Wildland Fire Program Annual Report

What is our mission?

The wildland fire program safely and effectively manages wildland fire to enhance and protect life, property, and natural resources for the public benefit within Pennsylvania.

Our program at a glance:

·         17 million acres of lands protected from wildfire

·         10 million acres of Wildland-Urban Interface and Intermix

·         952 volunteer Forest Fire Wardens

·         329 fire-qualified employees

2022 Wildfire Season

Pennsylvania’s 2022 wildfire season was slightly above average. 1,034 wildfires were reported during the calendar year. This marks the third year in a row where the state has reported over 1,000 wildfires, a streak that has not been occurred since the 1980’s. The largest wildfire of the year occurred in early November in Centre County.

The Big Fill wildfire was the largest wildfire of the year, burning almost 700 acres in southwestern Centre County during early November. DCNR staff photo.

·         1,034 Wildfires

·         2,685 Acres Burned

·         99 % of Wildfires were Human Caused  

·         4 Residences Destroyed

·         26 Other Structures Destroyed

·         11 Injuries

Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation

Employees and volunteers conducted 450 wildfire prevention activities and events over the course of 2022. Volunteers donated 2,550 hours during these events.

Incident Management Teams

Despite several requests, the DCNR IMTs did not deploy over the past year. There were two instances where the teams were requested for searches that were cancelled while the team members were responding.

·         14 searches reported in 2022

·         3 individuals self-extracted

·         Two searches unfortunately concluded with fatalities

·         22 personnel completed the first Search Manager course held since 2019

During 2022, a new command trailer was procured for incident management teams with funding from the USDA Forest Service. DCNR Staff photo.

Volunteer Fire Assistance

122 Volunteer fire organizations were awarded grants totaling $744,918 to purchase wildland firefighting PPE and firefighting equipment during the past year. These cost share grants are made possible by funding through the USDA.

Fire Cache

·         170,000 items received

·         118,000 items issued

·         21,200 delivery miles

·         Cache supported mobilization of crews, engines, overhead, and training

Federal Excess (FFP/FEPP)

Over 1000 items valued at $1.5 million were obtained through the federal excess programs for distribution to local fire departments.

Air Operations

·         18 wildfires supported

·         109,000 gallons dropped on wildfires

·         77 hours flight time on wildfires

·         81 hours flown for fire reconnaissance

Wildland Fire Crew

2022 was again an active year for wildfires throughout the nation. Assistance provided to our partners across the nation:

·         Four (4) Twenty-Person Type 2IA Hand Crews

·         Two (2) Wildfire Suppression Modules

·         Five (5) Type 6 Wildland Fire Engine Assignments

·         67 Single-Resource Overhead Assignments

·         185 Total Resources Assigned

Susquehanna Suppression Module on the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois, November 2022. This assignment was the first for the program to Illinois.

Wildland Fire Training and Qualifications

·         83 classroom training sessions

·         1,168 students completed classroom courses

·         469 students completed online training courses

·         532 students completed refresher training, RT-130

·         130 Position Task Books Issued

·         65 Position Task Books Completed

268 students received training at the annual Pennsylvania Wildland Fire Academy, Shippensburg University and Michaux State Forest. June 2022. DCNR staff photo.

Prescribed Fire

63 prescribed burns covering 1,749 acres of DCNR lands were completed. Statewide, 441 individual burns were conducted on 14,472 acres. This is a reduction in acreage burned, but wet conditions in the spring limited opportunities.

Prescribed fire conducted at the Milton Hershey School via cooperative agreement, Dauphin County, March 2022. DCNR staff photo.

DCNR would like to thank everyone who assisted the wildland fire program in 2022, especially our valuable network of volunteers. We could not succeed without your dedication and service!

For more information on our program click here.

Counterfeit Fire Shelters

We recently received notification from a US Forest Service Equipment Specialist that there were counterfeit fire shelters for sale on a company called CPR Savers. As of February 24, 2023 the shelters were removed from the website and are no longer available.

"This same company contacted me around July 2023 saying they had shelters available to help with the pre/post 2006 replacement efforts. They provided me with a spec sheet, it is also attached. I have emailed the initial contact from CPR Savers asking if they know who the manufacturer is, if there is a distributor, and who it is as well as any documents that verify it was built to 5100-606B. I will share the information as it comes available.

 

First off, 5100-606B was released in March 2005 and has been superseded twice. The current revision, 5100-606D came out in 2020 and it’s predecessor, 5100-606C came out in 2011. Other differences are as follows:

Carry Case

·  Lighter weight (denier) nylon

·  No NFES markings on flap

·  No USE INSTRUCTIONS on instruction pocket

·  Danger label (used only by Anchor Ind.) sewn on not heat pressed

·  Use instructions are different paper and printed single sided in English only, no Spanish on opposite side

·  No label sewn into main body/flap junction

 

HDPE Liner

·  Not present

 

PVC bag

·  Wrong PVC material

·  Red tear strip wrong material

·  Pull strap wrong sewn dimensions

·  No LARGE stenciled onto pull strap

·  Reinforcement tape incorrect

·  No paper insert label in bag

 

Shelter

·  Folded incorrectly

·  Wrong laminate materials

·  Shake handles not Kevlar

·  Shake handles not labeled “LEFT” and “RIGHT”

·  Stitch margins and gauge are incorrect

·  Wrong tape for binding and hold-down straps

·  No sewn in label

 

This is not an exhaustive list, just what is fairly easily identifiable."

See pictures below of the counterfeit shelters and a screenshot of the listing before it was pulled down.

These shelters have the potential to be lethal in a real emergency situation if they are used. This can serve as a reminder of why it is good to double-check your shelters before the season starts.

North Central Regional Support Crew Training 2022

Today we have some information about a joint training event that seems to be gathering steam enough to become an annual event. There are even some photos included in this lovely write-up submitted by Brian Plume, Forest Fire Specialist Supervisor with the Tioga State Forest.

A few years ago, pre-COVID, the Cedar Mountain Wildfire Crew had a few folks needing an S-130 Field Exercise. After a bit of discussion, we decided to make it a crew training as well. The idea was for folks to complete their S-130 training and build on crew cohesion. After the exercise crew members toured the Goodall Fire Tower Cabin, built a campfire, and had a cookout. It was a picture-perfect day.

 

Last year during a Cedar Mountain Crew meeting they asked about doing a similar exercise with COVID restrictions easing. Originally, we hoped to hold an exercise in mid to late spring. Well, time kind of slipped away and spring was coming to an end quickly. Once again there was a need for an S-130 Field Exercise. This time mostly for a handful of Volunteer Firefighters. Logistically it made sense to combine events once again. That’s when “ideas” began to fly.

 

The first idea was a voluntary camping trip for Cedar Mountain in conjunction with the exercise. Several crew members liked the idea, so we began to run with it. A couple of weeks before the event I had the idea to invite the Endless Mountains Wildfire Crew and Tiadaghton Forest Fire Fighters Association. Even though there wasn’t much notice Jim Mechling (Endless Mountains) thought it was a good idea. We held the exercise with positive feedback.

 

Fast forward to this year. I reached out to all three crews in late spring to develop a planning committee for what I have dubbed the North Central Support Crew Training. The committee selected September 10^th to hold the training this year. Members from all 3 crews participated. They completed Stop the Bleed training and worked through two scenarios (Initial Attack / Chainsaw Accident). Both scenarios were designed to focus on processes and actions while facilitators injected several challenges.

 

During the After Action Review folks overwhelmingly like the concept of the multi-crew training and would like to continue as an annual event. 

Fake blood for a training scenario.

I would like to thank everyone that participated directly or behind the scenes in planning the event. Without support from the Tioga State Forest, Loyalsock State Forest, Tiadaghton State Forest, the Division of Forest Fire Protection and most importantly each of the Wildfire Support Crews this event would not have been possible.

The morning focused on Stop the Bleed training. The afternoon focus was “hands-on”. Firefighters worked through two scenarios (Initial Attack / Chainsaw Accident). Both scenarios were designed to focus on processes and actions while facilitators injected several challenges. One of the injected challenges was a simulated fire shelter deployment requiring firefighters to locate a shelter deployment site, prep the site, and deploy practice fire shelters.

It was a good day of training!

It was a pleasure to hear from someone within the forest districts about notable events, and we welcome the idea of more like this! Just reach out to Katalynn Dildine, Forest Technician, Division of Forest Fire Protection!

Crew Photos

 This just in! Photos from the Independence Crew's assignment.

Wildland Fire Crew Update (9/7/2022)

Good morning! 

Time for a quick update regarding our crews:

Keystone and Independence are both home from their assignments.

Anthracite is on its last shift today (9/7/2022) and plans for its return are currently in the works as we wait to hear when they will be heading out.

Yesterday (9/6/2022) the Avery Forest District in Idaho requested a suppression module in their place, and thankfully we have enough people to help with that. The Nittany Suppression Module is currently on the way to Avery, ID (9/7/2022) to replace the Anthracite Crew. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a suppression module is simply a smaller crew, whose positions are generally negotiable between the sending and receiving units. This module has 10 personnel and is made up of pretty much all of our remaining available crew resources.

E-603 is still on the Six Rivers National Forest and is making a crew swap today. The returning engine crew will travel tomorrow, arriving in Harrisburg late, and making the last leg home Friday morning.

The Importance of PPE

How Important is Personal Protective Equipment?

By now you may have noticed the different equipment our crew members wear in the photos where they are in the field working. So, we would like to take some time to discuss the importance of this personal protective equipment they wear with some lessons drawn from wildland fire incidents from 2021. Every year the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center releases an Incident Review Summary of the previous year, and this is where we will draw some examples from.

“We have examined these incident reports and learning documents, compiled a few numbers, and extracted specific lessons. It is our aim to present this information in a way that empowers us all to improve future operations. We hope you turn these lessons into learning” (Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center).

The first incident that we would like to discuss happened during the Koffman Road Fire, where there was a burn injury where a firefighter was overrun by the fire while in the back of a moving vehicle. “Fire resistant clothing is designed to prevent ignition of the clothing itself. This lessens a burn injury in a situation where the designed performance standards are exceeded, as they were in this incident.”

Executive Summary (directly from Lessons Learned Review WA-SES-262):

“The Koffman Road Fire was reported east of Kittitas, Washington on June 27th around 1306 Hrs. and the cause was investigated by the authority having jurisdiction. At approximately 1330 hours, a DNR Type II IA hand crew arrived on scene and the Crew Superintendent (SUP1) and Foreman (FOR1) were scouting Division A of the fire near the south flank looking for a safe location to engage the fire with the crew. Their intent was to keep the fire north of an existing two-track road, as well as make contact with a civilian bulldozer working the fire in the same area. At approximately 13:45 hours, SUP1 and FOR1 determined the civilian bulldozer and operator were in a safe location and were planning on burning out fuel between the road and the south flank of the fire. During this time a wind shift proceeded to intensify fire behavior and threaten their position. In the process of egressing the area, SUP1 only had time to jump onto the rear of a vehicle and was exposed to flame and heat while the foreman drove their escape route to the west. Upon recognition of the injuries, on-scene personnel provided immediate medical care and transport for evaluation and treatment.” 

Most of the burn injuries were to the right side of his body.

Personal Protective Equipment Analysis (directly from Lessons Learned Review WA-SES-262):

Helmet – It is a Bullard Wildfire Series Fire Helmet model FH911C.The crew superintendent’s helmet was on during the entrapment and shows little sign of heat exposure. There is a small piece of dye sublimation, about the size of a pen head (occurs at 425°F) on the right-side chin strap. Most likely from contact with a hot ember.

 

Gloves – Gloves were in use at the time, though the right glove was removed to presumably manipulate a lighter and lost during the entrapment. DNR issued gloves are NFPA 1977 certified.

Clothing – The injured crew superintendent’s Fire Resistant (FR) clothing was exposed to heat that caused the dye on the shirt to sublimate, become brittle and begin to char. Dye sublimation begins at 425° F and charring begins at a temperature of 825°F. The area of the shirt most significantly affected was the back of the right arm and part of the right shoulder. The protective trousers experienced dye sublimation on the right hip, buttocks, leg, and calf area. The boots were not damaged.

FR clothing is designed to prevent ignition of the clothing itself. This lessens a burn injury in a situation where the designed performance standards are exceeded, as they were in this incident. The firefighter also wore a short-sleeved cotton blend shirt under the FR shirt, which likely lessened the burn injury to his upper body.

Line Pack – Pack is Nargear, made of ballistic nylon. All thermal damage to the pack is down the right-hand side, including canteen pouch, radio holder, fire shelter pouch, and waist strap.

 

To read more about the Koffman Road Fire Incident, click here.

 

Another incident of note was on the Deep Creek Canyon Fire, where a firefighter was struck by a rolling log, that cracked his helmet. The protection the helmet provided his head was very significant considering the load that rolled over him. He was directly downhill from the tree when the sawyer was bucking it, the tree snapped and rolled down the hill. He tripped while trying to avoid it, only to be directly rolled over.

“The log jammed his face and head into the ground. He could feel the sides of his helmet squeezing his head.”

To read more about the Deep Canyon Creek Fire Incident, click here.

 

During the yearly training we have, incidents like these are brought up and discussed to remind us just how important our PPE really is – even if it gets in the way or makes some tasks more difficult (like the glove being removed to manipulate a tool).

 

“The information in this report comes from wildland fire incidents—from various entities—submitted to and gathered by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) in 2021. The primary source of this data is incident reports (FLA, RLS, SAI, etc.). Most of these reports have been posted to the LLC’s Incident Reviews Database. SAFENETs and other data sources have been included when no full report was produced or could not be located. For 2021 we collected information on 171 operational incidents.”