Good Practices During Wildfire Response

The rain has reduced the fire behavior but with the storms BC received a ton of lightning. Time to wait and and see if things dry out again and fire activity picks up or if it is time to get the fall work rolling. As I wait here are some good practices and opportunities for improvement I experienced on fires this summer.

The Local Zone Managed the Fire

As the number and size of fires increased the local Zone maintained control of fires in their area. The Zone had worked hard in recent years to improve relationships with local contractors and other stakeholders. This included having BCWS staff participate in spring training. Because of this improved relationship both parties knew each others capabilities and limits. There was an obvious high level of trust that streamlined operations.

Local BCWS crews participating in spring wildfire training for Forestry Contractors. Mutually beneficial relationships were an unanticipated result.

While still effective, later response activities were not as smooth when an out-of-country team took over.

Equipment Started Early

Because of the trust with the local zone we were allowed early starts with the heavy equipment. The daily Incident Action Plans were waiting in our inboxes for our 0330 starts. We demonstrated that we could exceed all the standards for Briefings, Communications, Hazard id/mitigation, Fire Assessment, Check-ins and First Aid. We had lines in by the time the first crews arrived so conflicts were minimized. Having eyes on the fire early allowed the crews to revise plans if necessary due to overnight fire activity.

MacLeod Forest Services Wildfire Safety Decals. Mounted in prominent location in every pickup and on every machine.

Access Was Improved

Our heavy equipment teams arrived on a fire a few days before it was fully staffed up with BC Wildfire Service crews. We were given general directions on establishing a contingency guard. The fire was occurring in an area where there had been no harvesting activities for ten years or more. Roads were deactivated to various degrees from seasonal to fully re-contoured. All the roads were brushed in with alder. Two proposed control lines were very isolated with no road access for 5 kilometers. This isolation could have turned minor issues into major losses. As well, the lack of access for low beds would have resulted in walking machines 10 or more kilometers to and from work.

Hoe and grader re-establishing access

We took the opportunity before response ramped up to improve access. A grader filled water bars, brushed the alder back and improved road conditions. We dedicated a water truck to the grading operations and the finished product lasted considerably longer than grading dry.

We put a team of road builders on the recontoured roads and isolated control lines. They re-established a suitable running surface for pickups and water trucks, established ditches and installed culverts and made them drivable as far as possible. The local Licensee helped by providing maps with current road locations and status plus proposed road locations. They also installed km and road name signs.

The value of the work was immediately evident. Tactical withdrawals were faster and easier, first aid response was quicker, water trucks and low beds cut their cycle time in at least half, crew transport was faster and damage to vehicles was reduced. We staggered the stop/start times for the water trucks so the main access/egress roads were watered for the crew arrival/departure times reducing dust and improving safe travel. The water trucks wet steep grades and switchbacks whenever possible to try and maintain the road quality.

I have heard an anecdotal report of BCWS getting help from the District by installing a bridge to improve access to a fire this summer.

There are still some old school us/them attitudes out there that thought we were doing industries’ work, but in the zone I worked in everyone seems to be on the same team. The local District, major Licensee and BCWS all cooperated to make the response safer and more efficient.

Staging Area Manager Tracked Resources

As operations spread out communications became difficult. We positioned a crewmember in a central location to relay messages and to track all equipment resources. Using the T-card system he documented all arrivals, departures and internal moves. The value of this became evident when we were required to rapidly withdraw from the fire due to increased fire behavior. The Staging Area manager could confirm when all equipment and operators were in the safe zone allowing the Crew Leader to focus on operational decisions.

T-card system for tracking resources – different cards for different machines. Organized in columns based on location. Operators company, name and contact info on each card.

The Operators Stopped Work and Asked for Clarification

I have often encountered machine operators doing things on a fire they would never consider as part of their regular work. They may not realize that they have inexperienced supervisors making the plans or just think that anything goes on a fire.

The equipment operators working on this fire were very experienced and well trained. They have a very comprehensive Environmental Management System and have all taken the MacLeod Enhanced S100 Wildfire Training that includes substantial information on line construction and rehabilitation. Most have seen how much damage uncontrolled control line construction can create.

In one case the equipment team was instructed to daylight an old road for use as a third line of defense. They recognized that the road entered private property, that the anticipated fire behavior had reduced due to wet weather, and that they would do substantial damage to a beautiful rural recreational property. They stopped work and asked for clarification. The plan was changed and the property was protected.

Buncher operator stopped work and asked for clarification on the plan before entering private property. Major damage averted.

In the second case the local Licensee provided maps of current and planned roads in the area. The objective was to tie a machine line into the river. On the map was a riparian area identified as sensitive habitat for amphibians. The line locators utilized a dry ridge to get the control line as close to the river as possible thus avoiding most of the critical habitat. As the machine operators entered the final 30 meters of the riparian zone they narrowed the cut to a single buncher pass, kept the bulldozer out of the area and used an excavator to scratch a single bucket width wide guard. Disturbance was minimized.

As the control line enters sensitive riparian area we narrowed the cut, kept the dozer out and did single bucket width line with excavator to mineral soil. We stopped the line 10 m. from river bank.

Houses were at risk and the fire was challenging our primary guard, otherwise this would have been a no work zone.

All Timber from Control Lines was Skidded and Decked

A few years ago it became standard practice to put the timber on the fire side during guard construction. While solving one problem it created many others.

We had numerous places to deck wood where it would be safe from ignition or at least easily protected. We were allowed to skid all wood which left the guards clean and made mop up easier for the crews. We used a stacker to build the decks to keep the foot print small and more easily protected. 

Clean line. No bunches on green side to hinder controlling escapes. reduced fuel load on fire side, easier mop up, value of timber protected.

Critical Repairs Were Conducted Where Possible

Water Management re-established where possible before the equipment left the site.

Opportunities

1. Dealing with Local Contractors: Most people working full time in wildfire response forget that not everyone gets all jacked up when there is smoke in the air, drop everything and respond at the drop of a hat. Many normal people have regular summers with weekends off. Logging shutdowns due to wildfire risk are when most families in the industry take their holidays. Everyone realizes that early in a fire things are going to be hectic. Once the fire enters an extended response, wildfire supervisors should realize that contractors need time to organize adequately trained and experienced people to be available when needed. If there is a chance equipment may be needed on a weekend it should be put on standby Thursday morning and kept on until Monday night. Many areas have limited low bed capacity so moves need to be arranged as much in advance as possible. Low bed drivers have limited hours they can work. Supervisors should give contractors adequate time to plan.
2. Line locators – we need to improve: I will make this a separate topic for the fall so we can hopefully improve by next spring.
3. Use of local crews: I had some positives and heard of some negative’s. The folks I dealt with were keen and recognized their limitations. I heard of some locals impeding response and of some expensive infrastructure being damaged unnecessarily by well meaning local responders. It will be good to review this over the winter.

All in all I saw a lot of good work by keen and talented people. Any shortcomings weren’t from lack of caring or trying. It was a pleasure working with them all and it was great to see many positive changes being implemented.

Doug