Mountain Travis: Rt-130 Fire Refresher

OK Here it is. I was finally able to get the pictures off of my phone. Sorry it took so long.

Fire Class

Reviewing the drought forecasts

We discussed what is currently going on and also what the national forecast is for the next six months or so. It looks like it could be a five month fire season. But then again it is the weather. It could change. However be prepared for the worst.

We spent a lot of time reviewing what we can learn from this tragedy. As with all fatalities there are mistakes made. This disaster was no exception.

We study these for a reason. It is good to learn from others mistakes. It teaches us how to avoid making the same mistakes, as well as avoiding new ones.

Some of the mistakes that led to the 19 who died shouldn't have happened. That being said there were a lot of unanswered questions. The only one who may have the answers was the only survivor of the hot shot crew.

He was a lookout for the rest of the crew. He did his job and when it was time for him to leave his post he did. He did not abandon his mates but for safety reasons he left.

To explain this we all go out to our fire with what we call "Trigger Points". What these are is a predetermined point when we leave our assignment. As an example we would have a trigger point of "when we cant keep up with the spot fires", then it is time to pull out. There are many more according to the circumstances dictated by the fire vs what we expect to happen, or what is predicted to happen.

This is why the lookout left his post. His trigger point was reached and he had to go. It saved his life. the fire went over the spot he was stationed at.

But as we learned there was private communication between him and his crew. This is normal. However they are now frowning on that because of what happened. At any rate this lone survivor is now suffering with PTSD. He also pleaded the fifth amendment when asked to tell what he knew about what happened.

We have what are called "Fire Orders" and "Watch Out Situations". The Fire Orders you don't break those rules. Not negotiable. The Watch Out Situations have some flexibility. They are what they say they are, a watch out situation. Kind of like a red flag. Some of these are: weather getting hotter and dryer, in country not seen in daylight, no communication with crew or supervisors. There are 18 of these. There are 10 fire orders. Some of these are: Know what the fire is doing at all times, Post Lookouts, Give clear instruction, etc.

Upon our review of this case we saw numerous Orders violated. We discussed this at length and bounced ideas off each other. It is sobering to look back at what happened and wonder what we would have done in the same situation. Would we do the same thing?

That is why we review and have our refresher each year. It keeps us in tune with what we need to be aware of out there on the fire lines.

Lunch Line

Getting Photos for red cards

After lunch we finished our discussion of the Yarnel fire. Then we watch a video on how and where to deploy our shelter if we are caught in a burnover. One of the last things we do in class is practice our shelter deployment. Below is us practicing.

We are timed at this as in the event we have to deploy time is of essence. We need to do it quickly.

Ready, Set, Go!

After we get in the shelters our instructor checks to see if we have properly sealed ourselves in. It is important to have a good seal so we don't let any of the gasses in.We also don't want any embers blowing in.

Then we fold up the shelters and get them ready for the next participants. Its not as easy as it looks. It has to be folded up a certain way for it to work. The yellow handle you see in the pictures have to be out. You place your hand on each. there are two of them one says left hand and the other says right hand.

Then to finish the day we have the pack test. It is an ardous test. Wee have to go three miles in 45 minutes or less.....With 45 pounds on our backs. Sound easy? The catch you can't run. And on this day the wind was brutal. A mile an a half of our walk was into the wind.