Colorado Wildfire Case Study

In the last 26 years we have nationally lost 440 firefighter lives to entrapments, accidents, heart attacks, and heat related injuries. The Yarnell Hill fire represented the largest single loss of life in the wildfire history of Arizona at 19 deaths, preceded by the Dude fire in 1990 with 6 deaths. Fire commanders do their best to try and predict the path and behavior of a wildfire, but as stated earlier, they are dangerous. Areas are frequently evacuated in advance of the fire to reduce the danger to human life with little or no prior notice. Residents flee their homes leaving behind all their possessions and unfortunately their pets and livestock. I have spent many days burying pets that were left behind to fend for themselves in the hope that their owners would not be faced with the task on their return. An Arizona strike team was deployed to the Rice Fire in Fallbrook, California to provided structure protection following a mandatory evacuation. It was a surreal sight to see streetlights changing, newspapers blowing across the street, and playground equipment moving in the wind without a soul in town. When we traveled outside the evacuation perimeter, people that had camped out in parking lots came forward to heard of any news of their homes. I could not help but think that this might have been

First off I am going to talk about the B.C Wildfires. The wildfires aren’t a good matter for B.C. In 2012 they made a deal with the government giving registration services for the people in the fires. The Province of B.C strongly encourages all evacuees to register with the Canadian Red Cross, even if aid is not required. Given the current wildfire situation. Red Cross is bringing in additional resources when and as needed to ensure pub

“Wildfires Devastate California,” a nonfiction article from Scholastic News by Sean Price, describes the dozens of wildfires in California that are affecting lots of Californians by forcing them to evacuate. The main cause of all this is the four-year drought making a lot of the forests and fields very dry and easier to burn. The current wildfires started when lightning struck the dry fields and forests. There are about 1,200 more fires now in 2015 than in the same period in 2014 -- that is a huge difference for just one year! Currently, California has 23 wildfires with 10,000 firefighters risking their lives to protect us and to put the fires out. The worst of all fires is the Rocky Fire which has destroyed 28 structures and caused 6,000

It was around 7 miles away from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and could be seen from Interstate 70. The fire initially was one of many small fires that had been started by the storm. It was in a remote area and wasn’t a concern. With several other fires burning, the BLM District started setting priorities for initial attack. Highest priority assigned to fires threatening lives, residences, structures,

June 4, 2012 a fire broke out in the Lincoln National Forest just north of Ruidoso, NM. The fire was to be called the Little Bear Fire and in the end engulfed about 44,000 acres and destroyed 254 structures. Of the structures burnt, 242 of those were homes. The fire was caused by lightening and was initially a very small fire. A team of Mescalero firefighters was dropped into the scene by helicopter

A natural disaster is an event that causes great damage. Such as floods, hurricanes, or a loss of life. Speaking this there was a Wildfire in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In fact, there was a wild fire that occurred on June 23, 2012. Only four miles Southwest of Colorado Springs. Therefore, there were several locations that needed to be evacuated. Even though there was 18,247 acres burnt, the fire was 100 percent contained on July 10, 2012. All in all, 346 homes were burnt. Due to that fact, two families lost a loved one. Eventually the mystery of this wildfire, is still unknown.

The Mentor Fire Department has not been able to meet the goals of annual pre-fire planning. By not meeting these goals we could be placing firefighters at risk because they may not have the information necessary to safely, efficiently and effectively handle the fire emergency presented. The issues seem to affect each emergency incident differently. If the incident commander had knowledge of the building and how to use the preplan information that might be available, the situation was handled safely, efficiently and effectively. If the incident commander lacked knowledge of the building, and did not know how to acquire any preplan information, the incident was handled, but might not have been handled as safely, efficiently and effectively as possible.

This issue needs to be addressed to homeowners and renter across Colorado. As action must be taken before this wildfire gets out of control. As houses begin to feel more like a construction site rather home, walking in every night seeing another problem

During a thirteen-day time span, Southern California had 16 deaths, 700+ destroyed structures, more than 500,000 acres burned, and over $234 million in damage. ("All-Hazards, Full-Service, Multi-Discipline Incident Management") The U.S. Forest Service and response agencies did a review of the incident and found that there was a lot of confusion between all the agencies that responded to the fires. The agencies didn’t work per plan because they all had different terminology, organizational structure, and operating procedures. Congress notice the devastating hit Southern California took and decided to give funding to the U.S. Forest Service, so they could derive a system that would allow multiple agencies to merge and defeat a common task. The Congressional funding was administered towards the purposed plan and an interagency group called, Firefighting Resources of Southern California Organized for Potential Emergencies or (FIRESCOPE), was

Fire Investigators have been around for many years dedicated to discovering the origin of fires and explosions. Back in the days, fires were easily fueled by many flammable decorations and building materials used in the common household or building. Most of these fires were caused by the carelessness of people, flammable objects, broken rules, poor installment of wiring, and most importantly, arson. Today, many fire investigation teams have been formed, determined to discover the causes of a fire; with an extension of law enforcement, who help track down suspected arsonists who first began these devastating fires.

The problems that became evident during the response effort to these wildfires, leading to the eventual development of the ICS, were duplication of efforts and lack of coordination between the agencies involved, as well as communication issues which hindered the response. (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2017)

Multiple wildfires hit northern California inflicting serious damage to homes and the land. The first blaze started in 9/15 and then on, more fires have started. Despite massive firefighting effort, the wildfires continued to spread on. Anderson Springs, rural Lake County, Middle Town, Monterey County, Sierra Nevada Foothills, and Highway 68 East all have been hit and evacuation orders have been issued to nearby cities. This event was not very surprising due to the fact that California has been in a serious drought for a long time. The hot weather aided the fire throughout is course of destruction. Damage Assessment teams and fire chiefs have given reports. But finally, cooler weather helped crews to contain the

As fall began in 1970, California had experienced practically no rainfall for many months, humidity levels dropped to being practically non existent, and the earth was scored from the raging summer heat (Rowley, n.d.). These conditions provided ample fuel for a wildfire that would burn for 13 days before being beaten back and extinguished by firefighters. Initially, it appeared controlling the fire spread would be done easily and quickly. However, multiple fires spawned rapidly into large fires that overwhelmed the local resources. Lack of communication, communication and application of skill became quickly evident as a major flaw in the control and command of such a large event. Prior to 1970 the Incident Command Systems did not exist, but

Thousands of fires occur on a yearly basis throughout the United States. Whether it is forest fires, house fires, or any other event that involves uncontrollable flames, the outcome will always be the same; high amounts of destruction and physical damage. When fire emergencies occur, responding to the incident may not be much of a complication as apposed to determining the source from where the fire started or what triggered its behavior, which is truly the challenge. In order to do so, a fire investigator has to be present at the scene of the fire after it has been eliminated. The investigator, after reviewing any possible marks or behavior trails, will conclude if the incident was indeed an accident or intentional, thus making it an act

An unusually devastating series of Colorado wildfires, including several separate fires that occurred throughout June, July, and August 2012. At least 34,500 residents were evacuated in June. With record insured losses, and the evacuation of 32,000 residents in the northwestern quadrant of Colorado Springs where 347 homes were destroyed in the Waldo Canyon Fire, the largest number in state history.These fires destroyed more than 648 structures, killed six civilians, burned more than 384,803 acres and have caused at least $538 million in property losses,” according to a preliminary report on the season by the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.