LESSONS LEARNED: Great reminder for everyone driving an emergency vehicle, Utah EMT to be tried for fatal code 3 ambulance wreck

Six people were injured and one was killed in the July 2012 accident

OGDEN, Utah — The ambulance driver police say caused a fatal multicar crash last summer has been ordered advanced to trial on a charge of negligent homicide.

Sean Reed Stephens-Applonie, 28, pleaded not guilty to the class A misdemeanor charge after a preliminary hearing Monday in 2nd District Court, where a judge ruled enough evidence existed to advance the case. A pretrial conference was set for July 17.

Applonie was driving a North Davis Fire District ambulance west on U.S. 89 with its lights and siren operating when a white Buick heading south on Sunset Drive entered the intersection on a green light and was struck by the ambulance, South Ogden police said. After hitting the Buick, the ambulance then struck both a Toyota Corolla and a Toyota Camry.

Six people were injured, and Arline H. Logan, 88, a passenger in the Buick, was killed in the July 6, 2012, crash at the intersection just east of Ogden Regional Medical Center.

Two of Stephens’ fellow emergency responders and his passenger were among the injured, police said.

North Davis Fire District Chief Mark Becraft said Stephens-Applonie remains employed at his agency as well as the West Jordan Fire Department, where he also works as a firefighter-paramedic. He is not allowed to drive an ambulance, he said, pending the outcome of his criminal case.

Becraft said a number of Stephens-Applonie’s fellow firefighters attended his preliminary hearing Monday morning in court.

"They asked, and I told my guys they could go support their brother," he said. "It’s not a statement of wrong or right, just supporting a fellow firefighter at a difficult time."

Because of the complexity of the case, the formal charge was not filed against Stephens-Applonie until Jan. 23 of this year.

Copyright 2013 Standard-Examiner

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CFN - California Fire News 2013 

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Utah Double LODD: Contract Air Tanker Crash Kills Two Pilots

Two Pilots Killed as Air Tanker Crashes Over Utah, Nevada Wildfire

BLM crews worked to keep the fire from the crash site.

Undated photo provided on Sunday June 3, 2012 by the Iron County, Utah, Sheriff’s Office shows Todd Tompkins (left), and Ronnie Chambless (right), two pilots killed in the Utah firefighting plane crash on Sunday. (AP Photo/Iron County Sheriff’s Office)

Update: NTSB will hold a media briefing today on its investigation into Lockheed P2V-7 Air Tanker crash during a fire retardant drop in Utah Sunday


RENO, Nev. (AP) — A firefighting aircraft crashed into rugged terrain near the Utah-Nevada border as it dropped retardant on a 5,000-acre wildfire, killing the two Idaho men on board.

The air tanker went down Sunday afternoon in the Hamblin Valley area of western Utah, Bureau of Land Management officials said. A helicopter crew saw the crash and told ground crews that "it didn't look good," Iron County sheriff's Detective Sgt. Jody Edwards in Utah told The Salt Lake Tribune.

The two pilots were fighting the fire, which was sparked Friday by lightning in eastern Nevada. It has spread into Utah, though most of the blaze remained in Nevada, about 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Ground and air crews held the fire back from the wreckage, giving sheriff's deputies enough time to drive and hike to the site and confirm that the pilots had died, Edwards said. The fire later overwhelmed the crash site, Edwards said. A medical examiner was helping authorities recover the bodies Sunday night.

The weather was windy and hot, creating "explosive fire conditions," said Tom Harbour, the fire and aviation operations director for the U.S. Forest Service. The terrain was rolling hills with pine, juniper and cheat grass, a thin wispy grass that carries fire quickly.

The plane was a public-use aircraft, meaning it was contracted with a government agency, and therefore was not subject to Federal Aviation Authority regulations, said FAA spokesman Mike Fergus.

There were no air traffic control services and the pilot was flying under visual flight rules at the time of the crash 50 miles west of Cedar City, Fergus said.

The FAA will conduct its own probe in addition to the lead investigation headed by the National Transportation Safety Board. The investigation will look at whether there was a mechanical issue with the plane, whether there was pilot error or whether weather contributed to the crash.

The sheriff's office identified the pilots as Todd Neal Tompkins and Ronnie Edwin Chambless, both of Boise, Idaho. They were flying a P-2V air tanker owned by Neptune Aviation Services of Missoula, Mont.

There was no immediate word on what caused the crash.

A second air tanker, also a P-2V, malfunctioned Sunday afternoon and was unable to lower all of its landing gear. That crew was helping at a wildfire near the Minden-Tahoe Airport, which is about 50 miles south of Reno.

That plane remained in the air for another 90 minutes to burn off fuel before making an emergency landing on a runway, Douglas County sheriff's spokesman Jim Halsey said. The aircraft sustained significant damage after it slid off the runway, but both crew members escaped injury, he said.

The incidents come several months after a group of Western senators questioned whether the U.S. Forest Service was moving quickly enough to build up and replace the fleet of aging planes that drop fire retardant on wildfires.

The federal agency hires a mix of large and small airplanes and helicopters each year to fight wildfires. They are generally privately owned and work under contract.

Retardant dropped from planes is typically used to bolster a line cut by firefighters on the edge of a fire, and water dropped from helicopters is usually used to cool hotspots within a fire.

The current fleet is made up of Lockheed P-2Vs, anti-submarine patrol planes dating to the 1950s that have been modified with jets to supplement the piston engines. More than half are due to retire in 10 years.

The number of large aircraft has steadily dwindled since 2004, when the forest service grounded 33 air tankers after a number of high-profile crashes. In March, senators from Oregon, New Mexico, Alaska and California asked the Government Accountability Office to evaluate whether the service had done a good job of analyzing the types and numbers of aircraft needed, the cheapest way to get them, new technologies and where the planes will be based.

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Associated Press writer Matt Volz in Helena, Mont., and Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., contributed to this report.

California Fire News 2012 

Tweet - Follow @CalFireNews

2012 Fire Season Outlook Western States

A state-by-state look at 2012 fire season prospects for the West:

ALASKA — Ample snowpack and anticipated cooler temperatures in the south means fire season likely will not start until the end of May, later than normal, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Snowpack is near to above normal in northern Alaska — and well above normal in south central Alaska. Longer-range forecasts suggest that colder than normal conditions will prevail across southern Alaska, while the Gulf of Alaska coast will be drier than normal, the center says.

ARIZONA — Arizona had its worst fire in history in 2011, the Wallow Fire that charred more than 840 square miles in the state and parts of New Mexico. State officials say the strong winds that fanned the fire will be less of a factor this year. But an abundance of grass in southern Arizona and drought, some of it severe, means an active season. "I'm anticipating a more normal fire season with the caveat that there's still residual fuel from years past and, of course, there is still drought," said Cliff Pearberg of the Arizona State Forestry Division.

CALIFORNIA — Another active wildfire season for a state that has received little moisture this year and that in recent years has seen huge fires which destroyed hundreds of homes, especially in Southern California. Above-normal fire threats for June and July in mountain areas, the central coast and inland Southern California, according to Daniel Berlant of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. While typical fire season runs from May through October, Southern California always is at risk. "Fire season is just about year-round now because we always have those Santa Ana winds that are always threatening," said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Quvondo Johnson.

COLORADO — Significant fire potential across eastern Colorado's plains, dry Rockies forests and the Western slope due to drought, low humidity and lack of precipitation. Snowpack is below normal and evaporating faster than usual. The National Weather Service has issued red flag fire warnings in many parts of the state on an almost routine basis since March 6. Multiple counties have enacted open-air fire bans.

IDAHO — Idaho expects a normal fire season — for now. The state's mountain ranges have normal snowpack, reservoirs are dumping water for snowmelt and early spring has brought more rain and snow, even in the desert-like south. Federal wildfire analyst Jeremy Sullens cautions early predictions can change with spring precipitation and the growth of grasses and plants that provide initial fuel for forest and rangeland fires.

HAWAII — Drought has produced an above-normal wildfire potential this season along the leeward, or western, sides of the Hawaiian islands, including the western third of the Big Island. Most of the Hawaii islands have received above normal precipitation this year, including the northern and western islands, the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center says.

MONTANA — State officials expect a normal 2012 after cool weather and spring floods all but eliminated the fire season last year. Mountain snowpack is at average levels and, barring a rapid warm-up, fire season is expected to run from July to September, said Bryan Henry, a meteorologist with the Northern Rockies Coordination Center. The state's plains are an exception. "A couple of dry, windy days, it will be ready to burn," Henry said.

NEW MEXICO — Fire officials are preparing for another rough year. Forecasters have been issuing fire weather watches as spring storms bring dry lightning and gusty winds to the state. More than 80 percent of the state is mired in drought, and Gov. Susana Martinez has warned 2012 could be a repeat of a destructive 2011. "What it boils right down to is the potential is still there," says Dan Ware of the State Forestry Division.

NEVADA — An early fire season expected after a late season in 2011 that blackened 665 square miles in 815 fires. A 93-year-old woman died in a January blaze that destroyed 29 homes and forced 10,000 people to evacuate their residences outside Reno. Drought affects virtually all of the state. "We're going to see an early fire season," state Forester Pete Anderson says. "It pretty much hasn't ended, frankly."

OREGON — The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center predicts a normal fire season for Oregon. A wet spring will delay the onset of fire season but not affect its severity. Temperatures are expected to be higher and humidity lower than in 2011, which saw a below average number of fires and acres burning. Large fires typically come from lightning strikes in remote locations. "We anticipate higher temperatures, meaning lower humidity, gradually increasing fire danger up to normal levels, maybe bit above normal, through the summer of 2012," said fire meteorologist John Saltenberger.

UTAH — Fire officials worry about large swaths of fuel, including waist-high grasses, left over from bountiful rains and snow in 2011. Already, farmers clearing land and fence lines have sparked numerous small fires. "We're hoping to get more moisture to green things up, but we have nowhere near the rain and snow we had last spring. Things are dry and it doesn't take much to get a fire going," says Jason Curry of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

WASHINGTON — The Northwest Interagency Fire Coordination Center expects a normal fire season this year in Washington, after four straight years with below-average acres burned. The 31 square miles burned in 2011 was far below the 10-year-average of 200 square miles, in part because major lightning bursts missed the state and ran to the south through Oregon.

WYOMING — Wildfire activity higher than normal with low snowpack in mountains. National Weather Service anticipates warm, dry summer; increased lightning storms can ignite dry grasses and forests, says State Forester Bill Crapser. "It really depends on what the weather does the next couple of months here," Crapser said.

Sources: http://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/04/12/state/n130743D02.DTL
California Fire News 2012 Tweet - Follow @CalFireNews

InciWeb: OUT OF STATE - Neola North Fire Wildland Fire

Neola Fire

View of Neola North Fire from ICP

Credit: Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team

InciWeb: Neola North Fire Wildland Fire ICP briefing map:
Credit: Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team

Editors comment: Firestorm - This fire has really taken off - To quote InciWeb
"Extreme fire behavior with crowning and spotting throughout the burning period. Fire became plume dominated yesterday afternoon. Complete consumption of 1000 hour fuels has been observed."

INCIDENT UPDATED 1:09 HOURS AGO

Summary

The Neola North Fire was reported at 9 a.m. on June 29th about four miles north of Neola, Utah on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. For the first two days, suppression of the fire was managed by a local Type III incident management organization. Rapid fire growth resulted in the need to call in a Type I National Incident Management Team from the Rocky Mountain Region, with Kim Martin serving as Incident Commander. The Type I team assumed management responsibility for the fire at 6 a.m. July 1st.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildland Fire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	06/29/2007 at 0900 hrs.
Location	3 miles north of Neola, Utah
Incident Commander	Kim Martin

Current Situation

Total Personnel	710
Size	34,951 acres
Percent Contained	10%
Fuels Involved	The fire is burning in dormant brush, hardwood slash, pinyon juniper, grass, sage, lodgepole pine, and ponderosa pine. Fuel models in the fire area include models 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10.
Fire Behavior	Extreme fire behavior with crowning and spotting throughout the burning period. Fire became plume dominated yesterday afternoon. Complete consumption of 1000 hour fuels has been observed.
Significant Events	Planning emphasis is aimed at the south and east flanks to preclude spread back into rural and urban interface.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Not available
Growth Potential	Extreme
Terrain Difficulty	Extreme
Remarks	The Neola North fire has significant potential for continued growth.

Weather

Current Wind Conditions	4 - 8 mph SW
Current Temperature	85 - 95 degrees
Current Humidity	5-10 %

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Incident: Neola North Fire
Released: 2007-07-01 14:25:00 ET

News Release -

• Governor Huntsman Activates Utah National Guard to Neola Fire
• 100 Guardsmen to Support Law Enforcement

July 1, 2007

Contact: Lisa Roskelley

Governor's Spokeswoman

Office (801) 538-1503 Cell (801) 560-0137

Governor Huntsman Activates Utah National Guard to Neola Fire

100 Guardsmen to Support Law Enforcement

Salt Lake City - Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has tasked the Utah National Guard to provide limited support to state and federal authorities in response to the Neola Fire in Duchesne and Uintah counties.

Approximately 100 soldiers from Utah Army National Guard Engineer units will provide support to law enforcement at selected road-closure checkpoints and campground evacuation sites in threatened areas. Soldiers are expected to arrive at their posts Monday.

This call-up is the first significant official activation of Utah Guard troops to support a state emergency since January 2005 when Soldiers were dispatched to Stockton and St. George, Utah, to assist with flood response in those areas.

The Utah National Guard works regularly with State agencies to prepare for this and many other types of emergencies. Because of its dedicated members, leaders and versatile capabilities, it provides a responsive, well-trained and well-equipped force to assist civil authorities in helping keep our citizens safe.

Media Notes: For more information on Guard support to the Neola Fire effort, please contact Maj. Hank McIntire at (801) 716-9052.

OUT OF STATE NEWS - Hot shot crews arriving as Uinta Basin firefighting army tops 700

Headlines -Hot shot crews arriving as Uinta Basin firefighting army tops 700

Article Last Updated: 07/03/2007 02:04:21 PM MDT

"It's a frightening sight. It really is an example of the vagaries and the dangers of mother nature," said the governor, who took an aerial tour of the wildfire
The blaze is about 10 percent contained but continues to spread into the tinder-dry Ashley National Forest, where there is abundant fuel made up of dead and diseased trees. Sweltering
temperatures and gusty winds also heighten the difficulty for crews trying to bring the fire to heel.
Forest Service spokesman Mike Schmidt said today that four more "hot shot" crews have been ordered to the northwest end of the fire, and more water- and fire retardant-bearing helicopters are expected to arrive on the scene soon.
"We are actually doing a good job," Dave Carter, an operations field chief for the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, said Monday as a plume of smoke poured into the atmosphere in the distance. Ten miles away, red and orange tongues of flame were visible, leaping hundreds of feet.
"This is a fuels-driven fire, and everything is really
burning well and completely," he said, explaining an inferno that hot will burn even the greenest timber.
The major challenge the firefighters face is the hot, dry weather and gusty winds. It's a situation expected to continue through the week.
"Buckets of water don't do much when your humidity is in the single digits,"Marc Mullenix, an incident commander-in-training, said Monday. "This is some pretty tough weather to fight fires in."Still, crews successfully have thrown back the fire -- which grew Monday to about 35,000 acres -- on its east, south and west fronts. They have protected homes, power lines, water and hydropower plants and other structures.
But because the wind and dry fuel have created countless hot spots, crews must remain on the line to "mop" them up.
"We aren't releasing as many resources from the southern part of the fire to the north as quickly as I thought we would," Carter said.
The cause of the fire Monday remained under investigation. Officials also dispelled talk that the fire could have been knocked down in its early stages.
Dale Jablonski, area manager for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, called such speculation "absolute horse crap," labeling the Neola Fire Department's 15-minute response "awful doggoned good."
Some locals were restricted from responding, following forestry rules that ban anyone who is not trained in firefighting to get involved, Jablonski said.
"Years ago, they would pull people out of the bar and hand them a shovel and say, 'Let's go fight the fire,' and they buried their fair share of people doing that," Jablonski said. "If we're going to do it, we're going to do it safely."
That's no comfort to Blane Warren, who said his cousin, Jeremiah, was restricted from bringing a bulldozer to the scene to fight the fire. Blane Warren said he watched as trucks with water hoses sat ready but unable to enter tribal land as the blaze burned Friday.
During a public meeting Monday night in Whiterocks, on the Ute Reservation, other residents continued to question whether the fire could have been doused early on.
"I'm mad because my house was in jeopardy," said Ruby Atwine, a tribal elder who was evacuated from her home over the weekend.
Atwine also questioned officials why there were no firefighters on the reservation who were trained to handle this sort of blaze. Jablonski said training of local departments, including the one in Neola, paid off with a fast response time.
Firefighters from the Bureau of Indian Affairs soon took over, eventually handing over the effort to a Type 1 Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
"I can say with an extreme amount of pride that everyone worked really good on this fire," Jablonski said. "I could not be prouder."
Because the fire still is spreading northward up mountain canyons, the level of containment reached only 10 percent by late Monday.
The ferocity of the fire has made it difficult to make an accounting of destroyed buildings.
"The fire was so intense, it mangled structures so bad. It's not easy to tell if it was a residence, a barn or an outbuilding." said Mullenix, who observed about a dozen charred structures.
About 100 Utah National Guard troops were dispatched to the Uinta Mountains to enforce road closures to the public in Ashley National Forest.
Fire teams and equipment still are flowing into the area from across the West.
"We are looking really good," Mullenix said. "Because we are the only large fire in the nation, we got a lot of the resources we requested."
Everything except rain.
"We are not seeing much out there in the way of a [weather] break," Mullenix said. "Wednesday, Thursday we may receive some moisture, but that is going to bring some dry lightning. We aren't out of the woods yet."

Government blames Boy Scouts for wildfire

National News -

Story Highlights
• Youths were camping where 2002 fire started, U.S. attorney says
• Boys were supervised by two 15-year-old counselors
• Attorney for Scouts says someone else could have started blaze

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- The federal government argued that Boy Scouts playing with fire caused a 14,200-acre wildfire and wants a judge to hold them responsible, allowing officials to seek damages.

In court documents, the government said it would decide whether to seek damages after a ruling is made. It says the June 2002 wildfire in northeastern Utah cost more than $12 million to control.

A Forest Service investigator pinpointed the fire's origin to an area where Scouts had stayed overnight, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Overby said in federal court Thursday.

At the time of the blaze, a fire ban was in effect because of dry conditions. In court documents, the Scouts maintain they were not aware of a formal fire ban and thought small pit fires were allowed.

In depositions, Scouts testified they were playing with fire, even offering a teenage counselor candy in return for setting one, Overby said.

The council's attorney, Robert Wallace, said the Forest Service investigator could be wrong about the cause. He said that the Scouts extinguished their fires and that someone else may have caused the wildfire. He also said Scouts slept at the site and neither felt heat nor smelled smoke.

The government claims the Great Salt Lake Council was negligent in allowing the Scouts to camp without adult supervision. There were 17 Scouts, ages 12 to 14, being supervised by two 15-year-olds, Overby said.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell did not rule Thursday on the government's request for summary judgment. The Scouts are seeking a jury trial.