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Post by 911wacker on Jan 12, 2004 15:25:29 GMT -5
Brian or anybody,
Any suggestions in preparation for the spring fire season, hopefully it will be another mild year for us. I'm already dreaming of warmer weather!! ;D
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Post by SIERRA 14 on Jan 12, 2004 18:05:47 GMT -5
The best preparation for the upcoming Spring Fire season is preparation throughout the year. Particularly inspection of fireline tools (including Indian tanks) after every incident. A brief overview of what to do: 1) Inspect handles - make sure there are no cracks, warped or splinters. 2) Ensure the tool is sharp - if the tool is sharp it will require less exertion to accomplish the goal. 3) Inspect Indian tanks - drain water, lubricate and clean dirt / grime from the trombone. Often times I will get a call to repair Indian tanks and it is usually one of two reasons. Either a check valve malfunctions or water was left in them during cold weather and froze. Both of these are very preventable. The water left in the trombone especially over long periods of time will weaken the springs and corrode the ball in the check valve. A check valve alone costs in about $20.00 and a new tank costs about $200.00. This may not seem like a lot but multiply that by approx. 50 Fire Depts. plus our own staff. Unfortunately I do not have the budget to replace tanks very often. Please perform preventive maintenance on a routine basis. I go into maintenance in much more detail in the PA -130 (Basic Wildfire Fighting). The following web sites will offer a lot of information (including predictive services) www.fs.fed.us/eacc/ ; fire.boi.noaa.gov/ ; www.erh.noaa.gov/bgm/firewx/fire_bgm.html. Weather data is recorded daily to determine the predicted fire danger for this District. A predicted and observed danger will be determined daily by the District. We determine a danger for Tioga and Bradford Counties separately. Whichever one is higher (or worse) is the one we post for the entire District. So if the posted danger is higher than you think it should be that's why. I have it set up for each 911 center to announce it and to be posted on the news ticker on this forum or it can be obtained through the District Office during business hours. We use a Danger Rating System that Virginia came up with. It is much easier to use than the National Fire Danger Rating System. Danger Adjectives: LOW: Cured grass may burn freely in the open a few hours after rain, but there is little danger of accidental forest fires. MODERATE: Fires in open grassland burn briskly and spread rapidly with the wind. Woods fires start easily and spread slowly to moderately fast. HIGH: All fine forest fuels ignite readily. Control of fires may be of more than average difficulty unless hit hard and fast. Unattended brush and campfires are likely to escape. VERY HIGH: Fires spread rapidly and increase quickly in intensity. Spot fires are a constant danger. EXTREME: Fires in all fuels burn intensely and spread furiously. Spot fires are common. Fire may quickly develop a high intensity head, or heads. Fires that develop headway in heavy slash or dense conifer stands may be unmanageable.
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