At the end of March, Joe Duda, deputy state forester, Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS), issued a release describing the events surrounding the Lower North Fork Fire in Colorado. In his statement, Duda expressed that preliminary reports indicate that strong winds “appear to have reignited” the fire resulting from a prescribed burn. His statement gave the following account of the circumstances:
- Monday, March 19: The CSFS initiated a controlled burn on Denver Water Board property. The 50-acre prescribed burn was part of ongoing fuels management activities in the Lower North Fork area as part of a service agreement with Denver Water. Crews completed a containment line around the fire area. The prescribed burn was completed on Thursday, March 22; mop-up operations began on Friday, March 23.
- Monday, March 26, the fourth day after the burn: A patrol crew reported windy conditions but no smoke or fire activity along the fire perimeter; they circled the burn area several times. The crew reported a sudden, significant increase in wind and then saw blowing embers being carried across the containment line, over a road, and into unburned fuels. The crew immediately requested additional resources and began to aggressively fight the fire.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office will investigate the cause of the wildfire. Governor John Hickenlooper and the CSFS have asked for an independent panel to review the prescribed burn. An independent panel was being assembled at press time.
In the meantime, Hickenlooper has suspended the use of prescribed burns by state agencies on state land until the review has been completed.
On preliminary review, CSFS officials say, fire crews followed all procedures and safety protocols in conducting the prescribed burn.
Duda called the incident “heartbreaking” and apologized for the tragedy, which he said occurred “despite the best efforts of the CSFS to prevent this tragic wildfire.”
Line-of-Duty Deaths
March 20. Firefighter Edward Richard Bernosky, 79, Adena (OH) Volunteer Fire Company: cause to be reported.
April 3. Captain David Bailey, 50, Los Angeles County (CA) Fire Department: fatal medical emergency while engaged in physical fitness activities at the fire department camp 14 in Santa Clarita.
April 6. Captain John “Jack” Colbert, 60, Birchwood (WI) Fire Department: heart attack.
April 7. Chief Kenny Fox, 39, Decatur County (TN) Volunteer Fire Department Station 3: injuries sustained when the roof of a burning bar and grill collapsed on him.
April 9. Firefighter Daniel Sweeney, 25, Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department: wall collapse at a multialarm structure fire.
April 9. Lieutenant Robert Neary, 60, Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department: wall collapse at a multialarm structure fire.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
NFPA: Fire deaths from smoking materials at “30-year low”
“In 2010, smoking material fires claimed the lives of 610 civilians,” according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report, “The Smoking Material Fire Problem.” This number of fatalities, the NFPA says, “is at or near the all-time low and well down from 1980 levels.”
The report cites a decline in smoking, stricter fire resistant standards on mattresses and upholstered furniture, and the implementing of “fire-safe” cigarette legislation among the reasons for the decrease in this type of fire death and injury.
The report notes that 2012 is the first year all 50 U.S. state laws have been effective and that inventories of prestandard cigarettes should have been sold out. “The adoption of fire-safe cigarette legislation is proving to be a giant step forward in reducing the leading cause of home fire deaths,” notes Lorraine Carli, the NFPA’s vice president of communications.
The report also lists the following key findings:
- An estimated 90,800 fires related to smoking materials occurred in 2010, resulting in $663 million in direct property damage.
- Older adults are at the highest risk of death or injury from these fires even though they are less likely to smoke than younger adults.
- One of four fatalities from these fires was not the smoker whose cigarette started the fire.
- Almost one-third (32 percent) of home fires involving smoking materials were caused by the smoker’s falling asleep before snuffing out the smoking material.
USFA releases guide for wildland fire safety
Your Role in Fire-Adapted Communities, a project of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, promotes a holistic approach to reducing fire risk in the wildland urban interface and presents actions to improve individual and community safety.
The guide’s content is aligned with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “whole community” principles, fostering a community environment where individuals have access to critical information necessary to reduce the loss of life and property. “It is important that fire departments partner with other local emergency response departments, state fire and forestry agencies, and any regional federal organizations before a fire begins,” explains U.S. Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell.
The message of the publication is that proper communitywide preparation can enable populations and infrastructure to withstand the effects of wildland fire and reduce the loss of life and property, says the USFA. The guide further explains how “a community can coexist with the threat of wildland fire and ultimately reduce the need for costly fire suppression responses.”
Your Role in Fire-Adapted Communities can be downloaded under the Publications section of the USFA Web site at www.usfa.fema.gov.
Study: Dispatchers suffer from PTSD
Emergency dispatchers who answer 911 and 999 emergency calls suffer emotional distress, which can lead to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a research report published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.1 The research, conducted by Dr. Michelle Lilly of Northern Illinois University and researcher Heather Pierce, a former 911 dispatcher, shows that “direct exposure to traumatic events is not necessary to lead to post-trauma disorders.”
The responses of 171 currently employed emergency dispatchers from 24 U.S. states were analyzed. The majority of the respondents are female and Caucasian and have an average age of 38 and more than 11 years of service.
The study showed that distress experienced during or after an event reported by dispatchers was high and occurred in reaction to an average of 32 percent of potentially traumatic calls. An additional 3.5 percent of the respondents reported symptoms that qualify for a diagnosis of PTSD.
These findings, the study authors note, “are a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate on defining a traumatic event.” Official guidelines are set to be published in 2013.
“Our research is the first to reveal the extent of emotional distress experienced by emergency dispatchers while on duty,” concluded Pierce. “The results show the need to provide these workers with prevention and intervention support, as is currently provided for their frontline colleagues. This includes briefings and training in ways to handle emotional distress.”
1. Pierce, H, Lilly, M. “Duty-Related Trauma Exposure in 911 Telecommunicators: Considering the Risk for Posttraumatic Stress,” Journal of Traumatic Stress, Wiley-Blackwell, March 2012, DOI:10.1002/jts.21687; URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/jts.21687.
Best practices for emergency vehicle visibility
Enhancing the safety of emergency responders engaged in emergency vehicle and roadway operations is the objective of an initiative that will study emergency vehicle markings, lighting, and design for emergency vehicles not already covered by existing standards in this area. The objective is to determine best practices for increasing the visibility of approaching motorists.
This U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) project is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice and is in partnership with the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association’s Emergency Responder Safety Institute.
“USFA is committed to reducing emergency vehicle crashes and responders being struck on the roadway,” says U.S. Fire Administrator Ernest Mitchell.
Additional information on the USFA’s emergency vehicle and roadway safety research initiatives may be found on the USFA Web site www.usfa.fema.gov.
Fire Engineering Archives
