Posted on 07/01/2013 8:19:51 AM PDT by Timber Rattler
Nineteen members of an elite firefighting crew who were killed Sunday in an Arizona wildfire tried to protect themselves by deploying tent-like structures before they were overtaken, a state forestry spokesman says.
(snip)
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said the firefighters, whose names had not been released, were part of the city’s fire department. A helicopter pilot discovered the bodies and authorities are working to remove them, a Department of Public Safety spokesperson said, according to Fox 10.
Nineteen fire shelters were deployed on Sunday, and some of the firefighters were found inside them, while others were outside the shelters, Mike Reichling, Arizona State Forestry Division spokesman, told the Arizona Republic.
The fire killed all but one member of the Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots crew, which were known for battling the region’s worst fires, including two earlier this season. The average age of the men in the crew was 22-years-old, Fox 10 reports.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The shelters protect from fire and heat, but not from lack of oxygen or smoke inhalation. I don't think the Hotshots carry oxygen tanks and masks, but I could be wrong.
The feds need to back off and let the forests be maintained. That is the main thing that needs to be changed. These guys fight a losing battle against heavy fuel loads and federal regulations. And although these guys were locals, a lot of the time they bring in crews from across the country that are unfamiliar with the terrain and weather conditions of the area. The Monument Fire a couple of years ago was a prime example of this. The locals did their best but the feds impeded things at every turn.
You are correct.
Hubby was IC (incident. commander) of a 550 person team of marines in Montana many years ago. He was a county watershed expert that the BLM had requested to fight a fire there. They went to work at 8 every morning and at 5 pm they all packed up and went to fire camp. He laughed so hard. He had always fought fires in teams round the clock. They had commissioned him for 3 mnths. Lol
With Monument, by the time they would let the planes get in the air the wind had picked up and there wasn’t much they could do. If they had been allowed to take off in the morning before our winds picked up, they could have had it out several times. If they had bothered to listen to the locals it would have saved homes and money and the forest. Luckily there was no loss of life in that instance but the locals were pissed. Praying for these brave men and their families. They fight a hard battle.
When you get your Red Card from the Forest Service to work the fires, these survival shelters are called “Shake and Bake” - it is widely accepted that your chances of survival with them are small indeed.
Prayers to the fallen.
Listen to the locals? What do those hayseed hicks know?
Due to environmentalists not allowing us to manage our forests these fires become white hot deathtraps. The good news is no loggers are going to cut those trees.
Pray for America to Wake Up
Shake and bakes are a last ditch effort. They do not always work, but most times they do. But with Az scrubby tree brush and a sudden wind shift they can cause a whole lot more heat for a whole lot longer than you can possible build for. If you are downwind of a fire that is starved for fuel, the incomplete combustion causes a massive spike in Carbon Monoxide.
A shake and bake is an insulated heat reflector, not and air supply system. With a grass fire it is possible to scrape all fuel away from a spot, deploy the tent and see if your will is strong enough to stay in the tent as the heat rises. If it is a flash fire, you will make it. But a wind shift with high winds can cause a fire storm that nothing can survive.
Arsonists need to be burned at the stake, not sent to a low security prison.
>>The feds need to back off and let the forests be maintained. <<
Can’t do that and have Agenda 21 at the same time. Sorry but the forest gotta go.
The use of the word “elite’ in this article.
The news media has to put a spin on everything.
Agreed, the punishment should fit the crime.
But this was a lighting fire.
In the Feds opinion nothing. We get the same reaction from the Tucson and Pheonix folks when we go up for the state Republican Meetings. get the feeling they think we all are a bunch of idiots.
Monument is a prime example of federal overreach and failure. Not to mention it started about 20 feet from the border fence on the Mexico side. It was set on purpose but you didn’t hear it in the media. Our guys weren’t allowed to do anything until it crossed the line. It could have been out the first day.
LOL. Funny you should mention Agenda 21. According to their maps, our little corner of SE Arizona isn’t supposed to be inhabited when they get done.
I have no idea.
Me neither, but there have been a few good suggestions so far.
Yep. When I was 15 I worked on a YCC corp group. We had a one week “vacation” from working in the North Scottsdale Desert during the summer, and got to work up on the Rim, stacking “slash”. I don’t even know if they clear out the brush like that anymore in the forest.
Exactly my point, Sir.
I don’t think there is much false sense of security with something that is explicitly a last-ditch device. Even if there is, so what? Personally, I’d rather die with a false sense of hope than no hope.
They do the same thing on airlines, telling people “in case of a water landing, your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device”. Nobody has ever landed a jumbo jet on the water without it disintegrating, so nobody will ever get the chance to drown, much less use a floatation device. But if it gives people some hope, and keeps them from panicking, what is the harm?
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