EDIS: Red Flags in Southern California Deserts

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM MST /NOON PST/ THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM MST /8 PM PST/ THIS EVENING.
THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. A STRONG WEATHER DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STRONG NORTHERLY WIND AND A VERY DRY AIRMASS WILL OCCUR IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS FROM 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA DESERTS. IN ADDITION... RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL DROP WELL BELOW 15 PERCENT. STRONG NORTHERLY WIND... COMBINED WITH LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND HIGH FIRE DANGER WILL RESULT IN WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS.

Instruction:
PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS AND FIRE CREWS IN THE FIELD OF THIS RED FLAG WARNING.

Area: ARIZONA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 131YUMA/MARTINEZ LAKE AND VICINITY/LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AZ-CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 231LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY CA-CALIFORNIA FIRE WEATHER ZONE 232IMPERIAL COUNTY AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTY-

Affected Counties or parts of: Riverside, Imperial

News: Mark Rey called “shameful” by Federal Judge

Update: Judge Molloy clears Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey of contempt in fire retardant case.

By JOHN CRAMER

A federal judge in Missoula cleared Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey and the U.S. Forest Service of a contempt threat Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy also ruled that the agency has finally completed his order to review the environmental impact of aerial fire retardant.

But a watchdog group whose lawsuit prompted the showdown said it planned to take new legal action to challenge the Forest Service’s finding that fire retardant causes little harm to fish, plants and other aquatic creatures.

Rey and other Forest Service officials apologized to Molloy for the agency’s tardiness in completing its environmental review, but they maintained they had acted in good faith.

Molloy accepted the apology but said it was “shameful” that it took a threat of contempt to make the Forest Service follow the law.

Source: Wildfires Today - United States Wildland WildFire News today:
Labels: fire retardant, Mark Rey, U.S. Forest Service, wildfire

News: CalFire awarded a $268,000 federal grant

Updated: CalFire, which contracts with San Luis Obispo County for fire protection, has been awarded a $268,000 federal grant to purchase radio equipment, according to a statement released today by Congresswoman Lois Capps’ office.

The funding is part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The money is expected to be used to buy radio repeaters and related equipment which will improve radio communications in the county.

“Receipt of this grant will allow us to significantly increase our communications capabilities,” Fire Chief Matt Jenkins said in a written statement. “The expanded command nets will be operational within 12 months, and will be available for use by all emergency responders in the county. This is a great example of federal, state and local emergency managers working together to solve problems, share resources, and reduce costs.”

Source: Congresswoman Lois Capps press release (1)

Capps Announces Important Public Safety Grants for San Luis Obispo County Fire Department
Funding Will be Used to Improve Countywide Communications for Fire Fighters and Other First Responders

Congresswoman Lois Capps announced a one-year, $268,000 federal grant for the San Luis Obispo County Fire Department through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. This grant program is administered by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Grants and Training in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration.

Congresswoman Capps has been a long time supporter of the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants programs. This grant program is an important part of the federal government’s coordinated effort to improve the nation’s level of preparedness and ability to respond to fire and fire related hazards. This program has been providing funding to fire departments and other first responders since 2001. These grants can be used for a variety of purposes, including the purchase of equipment, firefighter health and safety programs, enhancing emergency medical services programs, and conducting fire education and prevention programs.

“I am pleased to announce this important public safety grant for the San Luis Obispo County Fire Department,” said Capps. “Our community is blessed by the dedicated service of our professional firefighters who put their lives on the line every day to protect us from the threat of fire and other public safety risks. This funding will help our firefighters and other first responders better protect the public in the event of an emergency. I’m proud to support the federal government’s efforts to provide fire departments on the Central Coast and across the country with the resources to do their jobs in a safe and effective manner.”

The San Luis Obispo County Fire Department will use the funding from the federal grant to purchase radio repeaters and related equipment that will expand the coverage of three dedicated command radio nets for use by all emergency responders in San Luis Obispo County. San Luis Obispo County’s unique topography makes it difficult to receive radio coverage in many areas of the county. Improving the coverage and consistency of radio coverage in the county is an important priority for San Luis Obispo public safety officials. The new radio equipment will be able to handle communications on multiple incidents at the same time and aide other emergency responders in San Luis Obispo County with their respective emergency communications needs.

“Receipt of this grant will allow us to significantly increase our communications capabilities,” stated San Luis Obispo County Fire Chief Matt Jenkins. “The expanded command nets will be operational within 12 months, and will be available for use by all emergency responders in the County. This is a great example of federal, state and local emergency managers working together to solve problems, share resources, and reduce costs.”

Hazmat: Train derail - Fire - Evacuations - Salton Sea

Location: Grant Street and Hammond Road in Flowing Wells
Road closures: Highway 111 at the intersections of avenues 69 and 70 For about seven miles south of State Route 195
ICP: 68th ave X Grant street
Resources: 35 Firefighters,16 Engines, 1 Truck, 1 Helicopter, 2 Water tenders, 1 Breathing supp, 1 Hazmat
Incident Number: CARRU-20477

UPDATE 3/4/2008 0900 HOURS: It has been confirmed that none of the tank cars were on fire. The Incident Command Post is located at 68th Avenue X Grant Street. CAL FIRE/Riverside County PIO's are at scene: Captain Julie Hutchinson (951) 377-8380 and Captain Fernando Herrera (760) 250-9881. Union Pacific Railroad Director of Media Information James Barnes (402)616-1311. Precautionary evacuation orders are still in effect.

News update: 2

MECCA, Calif. (KSBY) - Homes have been evacuated for one mile around a Riverside County train derailment that is spewing toxic gas.

No injuries are reported.

Some 60 residents of Mecca remain unable to return to 40 homes, which were evacuated when part of a Union Pacific train went off the tracks shortly before 9 p.m.

The 65-car train was heading from West Colton to El Centro when 29 cars went off the track.

Six cars remain upright and 23 are in a pile.

Initial reports said two tanker cars caught fire but Union Pacific says only some wooden rail ties burned and the flames were put out. One car did leak phosphoric acid and another may have leaked hydrochloric acid.

About 2,000 feet of track has been damaged and 25 trains delayed. Some are being rerouted along a route through Salt Lake City, Utah.

The accident site is next to Highway 111, which has been shut down for a seven-mile stretch south of State Road 195.

News update: 1

Emergency crews are evacuating residents from a neighborhood where 12 rail cars — including three tankers — jumped the track near the Salton Sea last night.

The train derailed in the area of Grant Street and Hammond Road in Flowing Wells about 9 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the tankers contained or if they leaked, but the Riverside County Hazardous Materials Team responded to the scene.

The train was pulling about 55 cars and at least two of them caught fire.

Traffic has been blocked off on Highway 111 at the intersections of avenues 69 and 70.

No injuries were reported, according to Cal Fire.

News: Santa Cruz Fire Department - Fire Station evacuation

Santa Cruz County sheriff's and fire personnel have determined that a suspicious package left at the front door of a fire station in unincorporated Santa Cruz County this morning was nothing more than a cardboard box with newspaper, according to the sheriff's department.

Members of the Sheriff's Bomb Squad bring their robot (Sparky) back to their truck after determining that a suspicious package found outside the Thurber Lane Fire Station posed no risk. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)

The package was reported at the station at 3445 Thurber Lane at about 7:50 a.m., a sheriff's dispatcher said.

The package forced the evacuation of a daycare center on Thurber Lane as well as a voluntary evacuation of approximately 400 homes in the area, according to the dispatcher.

By 11 a.m., the county's bomb squad had determined the package was a cardboard box wrapped with duct tape and filled with newspaper.

Children at the daycare center were taken on Santa Cruz Metropolitan District buses to the parking lot of Dominican Hospital, but were able to return to the center after the scene had been cleared, the dispatcher said.

The sheriff's department is notifying area residents that they can return to their homes.

Firewise: Big Bear Lake - Firewise Community recognition

Due to its efforts in reducing the vulnerability of homes and landscapes to wildfire, Big Bear Lake has earned Firewise Communities/USA® recognition from the National Firewise Communities Program.

“Achieving Firewise recognition is not a quick or easy process. Big Bear Lake has done an outstanding job of creating a local Firewise team and implementing Firewise principles,”

Big Bear Lake is only the second incorporated City and the tenth community in the State of California to be recognized with the Firewise distinction. They join many other communities nationwide that have been recognized since the program’s inception in 2002. Big Bear Lake Fire Protection District Board Chairman Michael Karp stated, “We are ecstatic to be given this designation. Many organizations have partnered together on programs and projects that earned us this honor. We hope that our neighboring mountain communities will follow suit and implement similar programs.”

Whole story at: Bearvalleynews.com

Firewise recognition - “Achieving Firewise recognition is not a quick or easy process. Big Bear Lake has done an outstanding job of creating a local Firewise team and implementing Firewise principles,” said Jim Smalley, manager of the Firewise Communities program. “By preparing homes, structures, and landscapes before a wildfire occurs, Big Bear Lake has dramatically increased the chance that homes and structures will be protected when a wildfire occurs.”

Working through the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), state forestry agencies support the Firewise Communities/USA recognition effort. The program is a nationwide initiative that recognizes communities for taking action to protect people and properties from the risk of fire in the wildland/urban interface. This program is of special interest to small communities and neighborhood associations that are willing to mitigate against wildfire by adopting and implementing programs tailored to their needs. The communities create the programs themselves with cooperative assistance from state forestry agencies and local fire department staff and fire safe councils.

Fire-prone communities can work with local professionals to earn Firewise Communities/USA status by meeting the following criteria:

• Enlist a wildland/urban interface specialist to complete a community assessment and create a plan that identifies agreed-upon achievable solutions to be implemented by the community.

• Sponsor a local Firewise Task Force Committee, Commission or Department, which maintains the Firewise Communities/USA program and tracks its progress or status.

• Observe a Firewise Communities/USA Day annually, dedicated to a local Firewise project.

• Invest a minimum of $2.00 per capita annually in local Firewise projects. (Work by municipal employees or volunteers using municipal and other equipment can be included, as can state/federal grants dedicated to that purpose.)

• Submit an annual report to Firewise Communities/USA that documents continuing compliance with the program.

Communities interested in earning recognition may visit www.firewise.org/usa for more information.

News: Public Safety faces cuts - Vallejo bankruptcy

VALLEJO -- A tentative labor agreement designed to keep Vallejo out of bankruptcy court calls for police and fire employees taking a 6.5 percent pay cut, the closure of two fire engine companies and fewer on-duty staff members.

The tentative agreement, reached Thursday and released Friday evening, is designed to close a $6 million general fund shortfall. It also provides for a one-year contract extension to 2011, but only if the two sides can work out a long-range fiscal plan by April 22.

"Execution of the agreement will allow the parties a short period of time to develop and begin implementing a plan that aligns revenue and expenditures in FY 2008-09 and beyond," City Manager Joe Tanner's report to the council says.

Under the tentative agreement, police and fire unions and the city would hire a mediator to assist with talks through April 22 on service reductions, revenues enhancements and labor agreement modifications.

The agreement goes before the City Council in a special meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.

If approved, the tentative agreement would then go to the fire and police unions' rank and file for ratification or rejection.

Fire union members are expected to vote on the agreement Wednesday and Thursday, said Kurt Henke, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1186.

Police union members will cast write-in ballots next weekend, said public safety attorney Alan Davis.

Besides the 6.5 percent salary rollback, police and fire would also forego a 1.5 percent increase due them through the remainder of this fiscal year.

The closure of the two fire engine companies would reduce fire staffing levels to 1985 levels.

"These are major concessions which are arguably going to have major impacts on public safety," Davis said.

The agreement also puts some restrictions on union business leave, and dismisses a variety of public safety grievances.

By reducing police minimum staffing levels, the agreement could halt the department arbitration proceedings over minimum staffing in their tracks. Arbitrator Tom Angelo has not yet rendered a decision.

Mayor Osby Davis told an overflow crowd at City Hall on Thursday that the tentative agreement calls for significant concessions from public safety employees, but is only a temporary fix to Vallejo's fiscal crisis.

The 11th hour deal reached Thursday afternoon postponed the council's evening decision on whether to file for bankruptcy.

Source: MercNews

News: Angel Fire - Felony charges - Two Julian teenagers

JULIAN – Two Julian teenagers, accused of starting the 850-acre Angel fire that destroyed one house and a large part of an Episcopal church retreat, will appear in court later this month for a preliminary hearing on felony charges of recklessly starting a fire.

If convicted, Francisco Javier Abarca, 19, and Mario J.W. DeLuca, 18, both of Julian, could also be held liable for the $3 million cost of fighting the September fire, officials say.

The blaze, caused by an illegal campfire, forced the evacuation of hundreds in the mountain town on Sept. 15. Seventeen buildings were destroyed at Camp Stevens, which was purchased in 1952 jointly by the Episcopal Dioceses of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Abarca and DeLuca are charged with a form of arson that does not require prosecutors to prove they intended to burn forest or buildings. If convicted, the teens face a maximum of three years in prison.

The arrests of Abarca and DeLuca in January were not publicized by authorities.

Two weeks after the Angel fire, Cal Fire investigators said they had identified suspects and confirmed that an unattended campfire grew out of control and started the wildfire.

Details about what happened have not yet come out in court because a hearing was postponed recently to allow defense lawyers time to research the legal issue of what constitutes reckless as opposed to simple negligent behavior, Deputy District Attorney Gordon Paul Davis said yesterday.

, Battalion Chief Jim Garrett said yesterday that should someone be convicted of starting the Angel fire, “we will seek restitution.” He also said anyone found legally responsible could face lawsuits from property owners who lost buildings in the blaze.

DeLuca, who was arrested Jan. 8, also faces unrelated burglary and attempted-robbery charges for an incident in Julian after the fire. He remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility in Otay Mesa on $125,000 bail.

Abarca was arrested Jan. 18 and posted a $25,000 bond the same day.

The Angel fire began near the top of a hill, just west of Camp Stevens. A chapel and several lodges were lost.

Kathy Quinney, operations director at Camp Stevens, said that the retreat is planning on a full summer schedule and that rebuilding should begin soon.

Source: SoSD

Fire: Fresno - Explosion caused by propane leak

Fire investigators this morning made public more information on an explosion and fire Thursday night at a home south of Sanger that sent two people to the hospital.

Capt. Chris Christopherson, a spokesman for Cal Fire in Fresno, said an explosion caused by a propane leak rocked the house and started a small fire in the kitchen.

A man suffered first- and second-degree burns over about 15% of his upper body and he was taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. A woman was left dazed by the explosion and also suffered cuts from flying glass. She, too, was taken to CRMC.

The incident was reported at 7:09 p.m. in the 4500 block of South Greenwood Avenue near American Avenue.

An adjacent home sustained minor damage, including broken windows, Christopherson said.

Source: Fresnobee

Meeting: Wildfire panel to study using military chopper

Wildfire panel to study using military choppers

SAN DIEGO: At a meeting yesterday of the Regional Fire Protection Committee, San Diego's fire chief said she expects the next major wildfire to break out in five years.

“We can all see the hillsides – they're green and the grass is growing,” Chief Tracy Jarman said. “Eventually, it's going to be dry out and be an issue for us.”

The nine-member committee, formed in response to the October 2007 wildfires, is trying to figure out how to better prepare the region for the next firestorm.

Yesterday, the board formed a subcommittee to investigate a number of potential changes, including the use of military helicopters.

Only Cal Fire, the state fire agency, is authorized to dispatch military helicopters used to make water drops.

Subcommittee members – Jarman; Bill Metcalf, chief of the North County Fire Protection District; and Carlsbad Fire Chief Kevin Crawford – were asked to find out if it is possible to draft agreements that would allow local fire officials direct access to military helicopters.

Source: SoSD