Nuttall Fire Episode Five

This video is part of a six part series regarding the Nuttall Fire in 2004. Be sure to watch all the videos and think about how the lessons from that fire relate to your next fire assignment.

[@devinbartley5768]

Good video. I found this through your podcast and wanted to visualize it. Keep it up.

[@alanhelton]

So the guy worked himself so hard his muscles failed, dumping CPK in mass… that’s saying something in and of itself

[@alan6832]

I don't quite get why the medic with the pack would have died if he had been alone. Was he racing fire? what kept him from stopping and resting? My general suggestion is don't try to fight fires where you can't bring trucks, at least skidgines and bulldozers, but preferably heavy, AWD pumper-tankers capable of defending their positions with water cannons. If the ground is too steep or too dense with big trees to bring in AWD trucks, then let it burn. Thus funding and priority should go to interface/structure protection at the expense of wilderness firefighting by foot and air. Since firefighting in general will have to be beefed up at the expense of the military, perhaps all the increase should be in converted army trucks and tanks for structure protection, while wilderness foot and air assets are merely maintained and not increased.

[@thomasthrasher6331]

If you watch the preceding videos in the series, they talk about fitness qualifications for contracted medical personnel. They had two "mystery people" lumbering down from where the last trucks were parked. Those two people ended up being overburdened medics not fit enough for that area, and they proved to be somewhat of a burden to those who had to support them. The quoted medic determined that he would have died if he had tried to go back up the hill to the true safety zone because he was not fit enough make it in time or at all. Everyone else further down were Hotshots and/or qualified to be in the terrain to fight the fire. If fire was only fought where trucks can go, we would have much more of our wild lands burn. It is good to keep in mind that these people are experts, making decisions under extreme pressure and unpredictable circumstances. The fact that everyone lived in spite of everything that went wrong is a testament to that. They have an accompanying podcast series that is great. I think this was for the "Week of Remembrance" for that year.

[@alan6832]

@@thomasthrasher6331 "Much more of our wild lands" is supposed to burn because most of it is fire dependent ecology where fire suppression only builds up more fuel. So a handy way to divide where to suppress fire and where to allow natural burning is by suppressing fire only where AWD trucks can go, which includes nearly all structures, and which greatly reduces the need to foot and air suppression.

[@thomasthrasher6331]

@@alan6832 I agree that we should be moving more toward allowing fire to play its natural role in our ecosystems, and I think the agencies responsible are shifting toward that. Unfortunately, the fact that fire was suppressed for so long and fuels have built up has to be accounted for. Fires that you let just burn now do not necessarily burn how the ecosystem is prepared for and can end up being more destructive. The path back to healthy wild lands seems to be managed thinning followed by prescribed burning, which costs a lot of money but a lot less than fighting unplanned fires. Most of that work would occur in AWD situations. In this fire, there were high-value structures in remote areas (observatories) and urban interfaces off of the mountains to both sides, so hotshots and air assets were required to fight the fire as it was. Even still, it surprised them with that downhill crown fire run. I lived in Colorado Springs for the Waldo Canyon fire and the Black Forest fire, and one of the things that became obvious from Waldo Canyon was that there are many situations in which you have to engage the fire on its terms in order stave off future loss of life and property. Even still, the edge of the Front Range was unwalkable and the structures just to the east were lost really quickly once the wind shifted and brought the fire over the rim. That area was a neighborhood with roads and plumbed water (to your point), and if it hadn't been, much more of the city would have been lost. It is hard to wrap your head around how flexible the different groups have to be and how rapidly the situation can change until you watch them do their best to save your city. Seems like they could use a lot more funding for preparatory work rather than less.

[@gordstart1773]

I agree with you. I am in Ontario Canada where we have hundreds of fires any given season and a large percentage of the fires are observe only and just let nature take its course. Fire fighting is focused on structure prevention or other significant resources. Crews here don’t even carry shelters as they are not put in these situations. If you are at risk of being overrun then you shouldn’t be there is the mind set.