Austin, TX-Massive Ongoing Wildfires w/ LODD

[x635 4,066]

Bastrop fire- still 0% contained.

Here's a video of some firefighter doing a controlled burn. Also some good apparatus footage.

[sympathomedic 383]

If anyone doubts the forces of a forest fire, there is a great book called The Great Hinckley Fire, about a fire over century ago that burned three towns off the map. Folks burst into flames running for their lives and it even overtook a fleeing train. It killed about 400 people. It is seldom discussed because it occurred the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, and everyone focused on that one.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/05/19/firestorm/

As for using prisoners to fight the fire, I thought Texas executes them all?

Seth, be safe.

[Txfirephoto 19]

Seth the Bastrop fire is now 30% contained. Also a DC 10 air tanker from California arrived last night and should be drops today.

Bastrop fire- still 0% contained.

Here's a video of some firefighter doing a controlled burn. Also some good apparatus footage.

http://youtu.be/6-NTnRYmqds

Edited September 7, 2011 by Txfirephoto

[x635 4,066]

Seth the Bastrop fire is now 30% contained. Also a DC 10 air tanker from California arrived last night and should be drops today.

Awesome, Billy. Someone told me the DC-10 is at ABIA and AFD is assisting in refilling it. (For those not familiar, our beautiful airport used to be an Army base and is capable of landing the largest of aircraft). Also, the wind is up this way, at least this morning. I had a meeting this morning in Round Rock, and it smelled liked a brush fire, the haze was sticking around, and there was a small layer of ash on my car. BTW, all Round Rock and surrounding communities brush trucks are currently being staffed with 2 FF's 24/7.

As for using prisoners to fight the fire, I thought Texas executes them all?

Yup. As far as prisoners to fight the fire and doing the labor work, I've been told it would be more expensive to use prisoners then regular firefighters. I think they should get out there and be raking brush!

But, in CA where this idea originated, you have to be a prisoner on good behavior. Texas really doesn't consider that-if they were on "good behavior", they wouldn't be in jail in the first place. I do, however, support the program and think its a good idea.

[dfdallen 13]

Bastrop fire- still 0% contained.

Here's a video of some firefighter doing a controlled burn. Also some good apparatus footage.

Seth thanks for posting that video it really shows how's dry it is out there and how fast a small fire will spread in those conditions. Stay safe

[x635 4,066]

You're welcome. Creating a firebreak is backbreaking manual labor, and these guys are working 12-16 hour shifts doing this.

And, the weather continues to love Austin:

"The National Weather Service has stated that the reason behind the current smoke problems is due to an inversion in the atmosphere that is keeping smoke low to the ground. Prevailing winds are blowing smoke into Travis County and the City of Austin."

[RescueKujo 130]

Out here in beautiful California, where its 100 degrees with 90 percent humidity (I thought I left this weather when I left the Air Force) "conservation crews" are run by the Dept of Corrections under Cal Fire...they are normally cutting line around areas where the fire has burned through or far ahead of the fire. This is the "containment" line. As Seth stated these prisoners are nonviolent and the slightest slip they are yanked from the crew.

Seth is also correct about wildland firefighting. The crews out here are certified each year with both classroom and practical training. The "red card" came about after numerous firefighter fatalities in the late 80s/early 90s. Cal Fire and the USFS are very anal about this. During the 2007 firestorms, strike teams from Nevada that didn't have them were sent back to a staging area from the base camp.

Watched some video today from Texas. Fire is moving like it did here in the 2003 firestorm. Good luck to the brothers and sisters in Texas.

[x635 4,066]

Thanks, Duane.

Bastrop is sort of like a more rural less developed version of Putnam or Dutchess County, It is similar in that Bastrop is home to a lot of employees of the City Of Austin.

I know numerous City employees, including Firefighters, Police Officers, Paramedics, and 911 Dispatchers who are currently, if not working, and their families who are at shelters and have lost everything.

I was worried about them and their families, and this afternoon, one of the bodies was identified as an Electrician for the City Of Austin, assigned to the Airport. He worked for the City and was engaged to be married. There are several more people who did not or could not be warned in enough time to get out. I just hope more people got out, and there are no more vicitms found deceased.

I don't mean to be gruesome, but anyone who's been in a structure fire knows how hard it is to look for a charred body in debris. In some neighborhoods where 400+ homes were lost, there are still firefighters trying to go through every house that they can't identify the residents. During the initial evacuations, every house got a full primary search (pre-burn) The Constable's office is trying to account for everyone, but it is still a daunting task.

[RescueKujo 130]

During the 2003 Cedar Fire 12 people lost their lives in an area called Muth Valley blew through about 3 a.m. As the fire had started about 9 the night before and the Santa Ana winds hit about 12:30 a.m., there was no warning. After that incident San Diego County came up with their reverse 9-1-1 and social media notifications...those worked well during the 2007 firestorms.

[mfc2257 464]

This is the tanker Seth mentioned in a previous post...

Tanker 910

There is another larger air tanker on a 747 airframe which I do not believe has been deployed to TX at this time

747 Supertanker

[newsbuff 286]

I'm surprised we haven't seen the Evergreen Supertanker down there. That thing gets work done.

[Task Force 7 65]

Seth, Billy, and all the rest of Central Texas, STAY SAFE!! I watched the video you posted Seth. I see Trophy Club is down there helping out.

[x635 4,066]

Seth, Billy, and all the rest of Central Texas, STAY SAFE!! I watched the video you posted Seth. I see Trophy Club is down there helping out.

Thanks, Pete.

Multiple units from the DFW area here working.

Just passed a convoy of 12 Federal Brush Trucks southbound on I-35 on my way home.

[x635 4,066]

Well, the DC-10 won't be operational for two days. Apparently, they have only one pilot who can fly it, and he's on a mandatory 2-day rest period. The pilot hold's a special certification, and getting another pilot is hard, especially when they are committed to other fires in California. It also needs to fly with a lead plane, which is ready to go.

Also, they need to assemble and test a part which will take two days.

They apparently knew it would take 2 days, apparently, and that was part of the plan.

More info:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2011/09/08/firefighting_dc10_remains_grou.html

Mostly all other fires are contained (contained DOES NOT mean extinguished). However, firefighters are responding to numerous brush fires each day, and most departments have manned a brush truck and tender on overtime. Also, they are still responding to everyday calls, which includes non-brush related structure fires, pin jobs, haz-mat, EMS priority 1, automatic fire alarms, etc. They are also still doing daily training, etc.

As for the largest fire in Bastrop:

The latest damage count in Bastrop....1,386 homes have been completly destroyed, 30% contained, and contained means just that....contained, NOT extinguished.

Texas Task Force 1, a elite USAR team, is also a team of 100 searchers with K-9's going from burned down house to house looking for victims remains.

And freelancing was addressed in the media:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2011/09/08/volunteers_turned_away_from_fi.html

[mfc2257 464]

There are several factors that make finding an extra pilot for this aircraft difficult. First, it is a tri-jet with one engine mounted in the tail which creates a different flying experience as there is an additional thrust axis. BUT even if you could find a UPS or FedEx pilot (who are essentially the only domestic operators of the DC10 and MD11 airframe left, they would need to have an aerial firefighting certification. On top of that, this aircraft carries it's load of suppressant in an external pod which significantly alters the control dynamics of the airframe both from a pre and post drop weight distribution standpoint and aerodynamically.

I've way oversimplified this but folks should get the point

When however, this asset begins making drops, it will make a significant difference

[Txfirephoto 19]

Update on the Bastrop fire. It's now 40% contained. Also the DC 10 that came to help was never used! It's now in Houston working on the brush fires there.

[Txfirephoto 19]

Thanks, Pete.

Seth, Billy, and all the rest of Central Texas, STAY SAFE!! I watched the video you posted Seth. I see Trophy Club is down there helping out.

[Txfirephoto 19]

The first LODD happen today in Austin. Travis County Constable Precinct 2 Corporal Kevin Aigner die today while working the Steiner Ranch brush fire.

[x635 4,066]

RIP, Corp. Kevin Aigner

Also, it was announced today that 22 people are officially unaccounted for in the Bastrop fire, and that number has the potential to increase. As for the fire, it is 50% contained.

For firefighters, losing houses was personal

By Kevin Robbins AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

BASTROP COUNTY — Fire prevailed in the stand for Charolais Drive. The men of Station 3 heard a voice on their radios: "Go!"

Alan Donaldson, a captain with the Bastrop Fire Department, hustled back to his truck, Tender 33. He stowed the hose and steered uneasily south.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/for-firefighters-losing-houses-was-personal-1838236.html

[abaduck 123]

If anyone doubts the forces of a forest fire, there is a great book called The Great Hinckley Fire, about a fire over century ago that burned three towns off the map. Folks burst into flames running for their lives and it even overtook a fleeing train. It killed about 400 people. It is seldom discussed because it occurred the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, and everyone focused on that one.

http://minnesota.pub...5/19/firestorm/

Just to correct, you're wrong about Great Hinckley. It took place on September 1, 1894. The Chicago fire was on October 8, 1871.

Interestingly, there were FOUR vast fires in the Illinois/Wisconsin area that occurred virtually simultaneously on that same day, and the Chicago fire, despite its fame, wasn't even the biggest; in terms of area burned and number of fatalities, the Peshtigo fire was much bigger. There's a theory, unproven but reasonably respectable - not lunatic fringe stuff - that all these fires had a common cause, the breakup and impact of a small comet. Abstract: http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/CDReadyMPDC04_865/PV2004_1419.pdf

Mike