Forestry: Are you ready? "Yes"

Frontiersman

Eleven days into May of this year, trees are beyond budding and now have individual leaves, temperatures are in the 60s, the first king salmon has been caught and summer seems to be here.

With the birth of the new spring season comes another season -- the fire season.

Since the beginning of the 2003 fire season 26 days ago, on April 15, firefighters from the Mat-Su Division of Forestry fire response have been in full gear. They have responded to 76 fires in the Mat-Su area alone, with about 100 acres consumed.

Residents traveling toward the airport off the Old Glenn highway have now noticed the arrival two weeks ago of two DC-6 Conair retardant tankers parked on the Palmer tarmac.

The Forestry building itself has been alive with activity since before the start of this year's fire season with maintenance, training of new volunteers and crews, firefighters from other agencies and the constant coming and going of helicopters.

The Mat-Su office as of last year established a full-time 20-person crew to be on standby each day of the fire season.

"We have the best type-2 crew in the state," said Lynn Wilcock, information officer at the Mat-Su division of Forestry.

For the 2003 season, Forestry was recently equipped with a second helicopter -- an "A-Star" type-three helicopter has been in Palmer since May 1st. Also a new Canadian contract has brought the new Conair tankers to the area, they arrived April 26 and are here under a 90-day contract with the option of extending that contract if needed.

During the past week, firefighters from Anchorage fire departments, along with new and previous volunteers, have been in Palmer training with Forestry on the operation of the new A-Star helicopter. "We're combining some resources with the Anchorage fire departments so that we can establish a working relationship between the two to help each other out," said Norm McDonald, foreman for Mat-Su helicopter units.

The Division of Forestry notes that Alaska is divided into three areas of fire protection responsibility: the Division of Forestry, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Each area fights fire on all ownerships within their area. Alaska annually has between 600 and 800 fires a year. Forestry handles the majority of that workload. Lightning is the major cause of fires outside the road system. Major lightning storms are more commonly found in the interior of the state where fires there are more rural and extensive.

In every area of the Palmer Forestry office there are people who have worked fires for many combined years. The unified number of personnel that make the facility work are in a state of readiness so at a given moment, if a fire call came it, firefighters from Mat-Su would routinely be in their positions.

The chain of events that follow the initial call can be routine, however, fire, in its unknown variables such as size and location, can be very different and require quick preparation and response.

The effectiveness and efficiency of a fire agency is critical. In Palmer, seasonal crews are now standing by, engines are fueled and full of water and slurry hoses are just yards away from air tankers ready to fly. The Palmer Forestry agency is ready for any challenge.

"They say we have to be in the air within five minutes; that's what they say, but here, after a pre-flight check we're in the air within two minutes," McDonald said. Observation is vital to crews on the ground, he said, and from the air he can get the first views of a fire and report conditions to ground crews.

"Everybody knows where they need to be," McDonald said.

Detection is also critical, the quicker a fire is located, the faster firefighters can be on scene. That's where the public can help. From bush pilots, to motorists and campers, area residents and visitors passing through, the Division of Forestry depends heavily on the public's involvement in detecting fires.

With detection comes planning, from the air McDonald can observe and plan the "initial attack," a process that, when successful, can save the state a lot of money. Between the detection and initial attack are variables of the most importance. Firefighters, as well as managers, need to know the weather, the fire danger rating, and where resources and personnel are positioned.

With the establishment of an incident command system, a national incident management system can be used on any kind or size of incident to set up a chain of command to ensure that food, tents and medical attention are provided for the fire teams. Weather information, communication radios and terrain data all must be managed if the fire itself is to be managed. The more complex the fire, the more important pre-planning is in the management process. Alaska, unlike the Lower 48, is unique by having developed the state's own Alaska Interagency Wildland Fire Management Plan. The fire plan prioritizes areas according to fire protection levels based upon natural terrain, vegetative changes or values at risk, rather than changes in ownership.

Fire prevention education is the most effective tool for decreasing the amount of out-of-control fires, according to McDonald. With the addition of a Web site, www.dnr.ak.us/forestry, Forestry has stepped up more in the form of public relations. According to the Web site, 83 percent of fires within the Forestry protection area are caused by humans.

"The online will help," McDonald said, "we also send firefighters to schools to teach kids the importance of fire safety."

"May, June and July are typically our busiest months," said Wilcock. "This weather were having in May is very unusual," Wilcock added.

"I think people need to realize that when they're burning and they lose control that what we do isn't free … there is a lot of cost involved with what we do," Wilcock said.

The cost for a load of retardant for the Conair DC-6 is $2,700, the rate to fly a tanker per hour is $1,500 with the cost of 500 gallons of fuel per hour. Just to have the tankers sitting ready on the Palmer tarmac is just under $5,000, according to Forestry. Each tanker is capable of delivering 3,000 gallons of fire retardant.

Well equipped and stocked for what could be another hot fire season, Mat-Su firefighters seem to be on top of things. With a good number of fires already handled this year, the Palmer-based fire response teams are standing by.