South Dakota State Fire Meteorologist, Darren Clabo, Ph.D., at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is helping create the Fire Risk Estimation tool (FiRE). The tool gives land managers and firefighting officials a more detailed look at fire potential across the Missouri River basin.

Smokey Bear signs that indicate overall fire danger are common along roadways in the western United States. The FiRE tool uses satellite and metrological data to create a much more detailed understanding of fire danger. The tool can give firefighters a critical edge. Fire managers say the “initial attack” phase during the first few hours of any of any wildfire is the most important time to gain control. When officials know the areas where fire danger is increasing ahead of time they can position resources and better prepare to quickly respond to any small fires before they grow into large incidences.  

“We can narrow this onto a 10-kiliometer grid scale, says Clabo. Previous tools only assessed fire danger on a wider scale, such as across national forest districts or across a county. “If the western two thirds of Pennington County, South Dakota, is wet because they’ve gotten a series of thunderstorms, but some of the eastern areas are dry, we will know where a fire is more likely to start and spread.” Clabo adds.

Clabo says the FiRE tool combines satellite data and meteorological data for an output not available in current fire danger assessments. The tool analyzes drought conditions, high-resolution fuel conditions, and precipitation conditions to produce a fire danger assessment map that land managers and firefighters can monitor daily.

“One of the current problems across the Great Plains is we don’t have very many weather stations. So, those estimated conditions can be inaccurate, and we might not know where the most critical fire weather conditions exist,” says Clabo.

The FiRE tool is being developed thanks to funding from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and NASA DEVELOP with collaboration from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Experts from these organizations are contributing to this research alongside Clabo at SD Mines.  The FiRE tool is set to be ready for use by fire managers in the late summer or fall of 2017.

Firefighters from multiple agencies battled a 3-alarm fire at a mobile home park in Skyway Tuesday night. The fire broke out just before 11 p.m. at the park on Beacon Coal Mine Road. Crews said at least five mobile homes were involved, and three of them were confirmed to have been lost. Fire authorities determined early Wednesday morning that the fire was accidental.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:03:44 PM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, C & S Supply, Inc. is giving away free, brand new, firefighting equipment to needy volunteer fire departments. This program, called Helping Hands, gives the winning department $900 of credit to purchase firefighting equipment from the C & S Supply Web site. The best part; the winner selects the equipment they need.

The Pateros (WA) Volunteer Fire Department received the most “Likes” on the C & S Supply Helping Hands Facebook page and won June’s giveaway. Their need came after they experienced several catastrophic wildland fires (one of which burned through the city of Pateros). According to Keith Zweigle, Chief of the Pateros VFD, “Recovery from these Complex fires and the burden of additional call volume has strained our budget to where we are seeking alternate sources of funding and assistance.” After winning June’s giveaway they chose the Blue Devil 12250 nozzle because it is NFPA 1964 compliant.

“The funds we had been saving to buy a 2.5-inch nozzle would be used to purchase a supply line to meet NFPA compliance on our structure truck,” Zweigle added.

Helping Hands, running through December 31, 2017, starts when a volunteer fire department in need shares their story on the C & S Supply Facebook page. The department with the most “Likes” wins that month’s giveaway. The winning department gets to “go shopping” on the C & S Supply Web site, selecting items that meet their individual need.

“With a $900 budget to work with a department can really help themselves out,” according to Chris Wills, Sales and Marketing Director for C & S Supply and a former volunteer firefighter. “Rather then just sending them a nozzle, we wanted to make sure they received exactly the right product to fit their specific need. Whether its our new High Viz® line of wildland products, our Class “A” foam guns which are really popular or any other product that we sell, the winner gets to chose what works best for them.”

C & S Supply’s founder, Sherman (Sherm) Stark was a volunteer firefighter and committed to helping other volunteers. Helping Hands fulfills on Sherm’s promise to support the volunteers in all of our communities.

If you know of a volunteer fire department that is in need, follow the Pateros Volunteer Fire Depart-ment’s example and nominate them for the Helping Hands program.

For more information go to: http://cssupplyinc.com/helping-hands/

Call 970-663-4966

Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said late Tuesday that a 4-year-old child has died at the hospital after being pulled from the Spokane River near the Downriver Golf Course. It happened just before 7:30 p.m. Witnesses say the boy's family was on the course and had stopped near the river when they turned their backs for a moment and the boy was gone.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 9:10:50 AM - SOURCE: KQNT-AM 590 Spokane

It’s been a busy month for crews battling fires all across the Yakima Valley. Today, members of the American Legion post 36, showing their appreciation by providing Fire Station 91 with a pallet of water. Volunteers donating money to help restock, given their recent workload. Members said it's a way to remind them that their hard work does not go unnoticed.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 6:17:31 AM - SOURCE: YakTriNews