Regional
Reality and Public Briefings Differ on American River Complex Wildfires
Author: YubaNet
Published on Jul 7, 2008 - 12:06:35 PM

NEVADA CITY Calif. July 7, 2008 - While many Californians enjoyed their July 4th weekend, firefighters on the American River Complex near Foresthill continued their struggle against two wildfires. The daily progress updates released by the incident management team speak of lines completed, containment percentages and resources available. But it appears a few important details are missing.

The 8,438-acre American River Complex ignited as a result of the lightning strikes on June 21 and two major fires are still burning: the Government Springs fire (5,938 acres and 10% contained) located in the Government Springs area approximately 17 miles north-northeast from Foresthill, and the Westville fire (1,948 acres and 15 percent contained) approximately 16 miles north-northeast from Foresthill, on the North Fork of the American River. Several other fires are contained.

In a public briefing on Saturday July 5, Incident Commander Paul Summerfelt stated he couldn't say when the fires would be fully contained. "I can't tell where and when, it'll be a while," said Summerfelt. With the incident command post located at Yuba Gap, 180 to 200 firefighters were stationed in Foresthill to attack the Westville fire, according to Summerfelt. He reassured Foresthill residents, saying, "There are no real issues, we have all the resources we need." His team, the Rocky Mountain Area Incident Management Type I Team, is in charge of the American River Complex.

This might qualify as an overly optimistic assessment of the situation, given the information posted on the Northern California Geographic Area Coordination Center. The fire info summary is derived from the twice-daily situation report issued for each fire by the team on the ground. The morning update for July 5 listed a critical need, among other resources, for drivers. "Lack of drivers poses significant challenges to effectively provide food and supplies to spike camps."

The situation has not improved since then. YubaNet has received written and verbal reports pointing to discrepancies between official updates and the situation on the ground. "Firefighters are getting sick and not getting any food, apparently because they've got no one to drive the chow truck!" one email reads.

One-third of the 733 personnel currently assigned to the incident are "timing out," further decreasing suppression options. Firefighters on major incidents can be deployed up to 21 consecutive days. After only two days of rest, they can be redeployed.

Public vs. Internal Updates

Yesterday, the incident team decided on a change in strategy.

The public update reads as follows: "Yesterday, fire officials met to reevaluate priorities for the American River Complex given the dynamic fire behavior, changing weather, and available resources. Three areas are of particular concern based on the values at risk: the northwest area of the Government Springs Fire southeast of Blue Canyon, and the southeast corner and southwest side of the Westville Fire adjacent to the Foresthill Divide Road. Fire personnel will focus their efforts and resources on these areas today."

The sitreport reads, in part: "Active fire on three flanks with insufficient suppression and support forces to meet control objectives. Revising staffing strategies to focus on areas with highest consequences of failure. Will staff highest priority areas fully, and may remove firefighters from low priority areas, allowing fire on those flanks to spread unimpeded. Lack of drivers makes food and supply deliveries so difficult that we may dismount some engine crews to provide drivers. Engine crews may also be dismounted to staff critical road closures to ensure safety of firefighters holding fire or firing from roadways. Up to 1/3 of suppression resources time out over the next 2-3 days, further constraining suppression options. Mop-up efforts have been abandoned to move scarce suppression resources to active divisions..."

Firefighters deserve decent food, public deserves updates closer to reality

The change in strategy indicates the team's recognition of the "fluid" situation and their desire to accomplish the containment objectives. Public and firefighter safety always come first as evidenced by one of the key messages released by Region 5 (Forest Service): "The Forest Service's priority for all fires is to protect local communities (for threat to life and property and infrastructure and Firefighter safety)."

Dismantling engine crews in order to staff road closures could be viewed as counterproductive. As for the lack of drivers, it appears to be a critical need. With temperatures in the triple digits and a red flag warning issued for the complex, firefighters need to eat well and hydrate even more. "Dehydration is a major risk in these conditions, so it's a common topic in our daily safety briefings to firefighters," said Tom Johnston, safety officer with the National Incident Management Organization currently supporting the Northern Operations Center in Redding in a news release today. Anybody with a valid driver's license and the required federal driving course (for official vehicles) can handle the job.

Residents in the affected area want an unvarnished update on the current situation. Basic information like acreage, containment and direction of the fire are readily available, thanks to the fire information officers, bulletin boards and sites like YubaNet.

Public updates and meetings need to address concerns and issues encountered by the team. Local knowledge and resources are not in short supply in the area and residents have more than once stepped up to provide both.

Related articles

July 9, 2008: Additional Resources Assigned to American River Complex Fires

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