10/9/2009 10:02:00 PM Editorial: Despite risk, we need the burns
Opponents of prescribed forest burns are rejoicing today. Vindication came in the form of an apology from Kaibab National Forest officials who assumed "full responsibility" for the controlled burn that evolved into an out-of-control wildfire in Williams this week.
The planned 900-acre fire ignited this past Thursday about 3 miles southwest of the town of 3,000 residents. A wind shift sent the flames across containment lines and back toward the town, prompting the evacuation of more than 60 homes, and eventually doubling in charred acreage.
"We sincerely apologize for what happened and for the stress and inconvenience it caused the community," Williams District Ranger Martie Schramm said to an audience of more than 120 residents Thursday night, according to the Arizona Daily Sun. "We take full responsibility."
It's the kind of mea culpa that forest officials dread facing, although it holds nothing to apologizing for lost lives, homes or confidence - none of which occurred in Williams, where the fire was calm and 90 percent contained as of Friday.
We have used this space previously to advocate prescribed burns and to demonstrate the burns' purpose, planning and undeniable results. Nowhere in the equation is perfection a measured standard. Risk is very real in any inexact science, but risk increases exponentially on an untreated national forest snarled with jammed fuel, drought conditions and irresponsible visitors. Doing nothing, to paraphrase an old saying, is the biggest risk of all.
Still, Kaibab forest officials - including fire boss Joe Reinarz who has a home in the area himself - admitted that hopes of keeping the Williams burn controlled quickly spiraled out of control. The crowd Thursday peppered officials with concerns about the decision to ignite despite windy conditions. "Fighting fire with fire is extremely dangerous," one resident said.
Kaibab officials told the residents that they will bring in outside investigators to review the incident and release their findings to the public.
We accept their apology and responsibility. We encourage their outside investigation and hold any potential errors in judgment to accountability.
We also commend them for their quick action in reclaiming control of the fire without any loss of life or structures.
"Even though this happened," James Perkins, a resident logger for 42 years, told officials at the meeting, "it's still really important. It still needs to be done."
Doing nothing is the worst prescription of all.
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Article comment by:
Another Smooth Move
Bare in mind, when they say any "Alernative Methods" are "Too Expensive" The U.S. Forest Service Service is the very same entity that "Sells" $300,000.00 lumber contracts to Lumber Companies, and then spends over a Million dollars JUST to "Watch Them" do it. Like they say; It's difficult to change someone's mind, if they don't have one.
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
boo hoo would you all rather put up with a little bit of smoke for a few days or at some point have a raging fire burn down all your houses and all your prized possessions? and as far as the thinning crews go they are not trying to burn all the trees during RX burns it is the timber understory and all the litter on the ground, which is the main carrier of fire that they are after. So that being said if you all are going to complain and whine take that into consideration
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Article comment by:
Men in Black is real
Yep they do nothing because they are really aliens from planets that want us ALL secretly to burn. Haven't you ever seen Men in Black? Those aliens are all over the place. Just keep looking. You are onto something? Come to think about it if you look real hard I bet you will see horns on those Fire Fighters. If they weren't doing such a good job it would be a no brainer to start a rumor that all those Fire Service types were really from H, E double hockey stick. You know... LL. These hard working men and women ruin your computer hard drives, kill babies and cause asthma just to get people to move out of AZ. You must have noticed that the whole state is burning. THEY ARE KILLING EVERYONE! My God how do we stay here? Men in Black is back!!!!
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
RESPONSE TO NO FIRES
Response to No Fires: I like your comment & you hit the nail on the head. The Forest Service has been making us breathe smoke whether we like it or not, but it is illegal. Federal law gives us the right to breath clean air & that law overrides the Forest Service burns, but no one enforces it. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issues the burn permits to the Forest Service and are supposed to protect our rights. However, when you file a complaint, it goes to a Forest Service employee who secretly works at the ADEQ office pretending to be a citizen advocate while issuing burn permits to his employer using state resources. That is why citizen complaints filed at ADEQ go nowhere & we are still suffering from the smoke. There is some good info at www.prescribedburns.com
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
No Fires
When I called USFS about the Groom Creek fire earlier this week, I asked about the goats doing their job and couldn't they use other ways other then burning all the time. I was told this was too expensive to do and the goats would have to have water carted to them. I got 'the talk' about how the forest needed to be thinned, pine beatles, dead trees,etc. What is it costing them for fuel, manpower and all the equipment that is needed? I also asked when they would stop burning this year, dumb me I thought there was a cut off date, and the lady said to me, "when there is no forest." I just can't help but think there is some jobs out there for people to help the forests without burning all the time. NO, I don't want a major fire here but I think there are some smart people in this town that could come up with ideas and solutions. USFS needs to listen to some of the ideas because they aren't always right in what they do. I would like to see their budget and where, why and how they spend the money. I just hope we don't have a major fire here because of an 'oops I'm sorry.'
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Will an apology rebuild a lost home? The forest service won't be happy until they burn another town to the ground like they did Los Alamos, NM.
Most of us understand that prescribed burns are necessary. However, the margin for error is slim, and when one of these fires becomes a serious threat, we MUST question the processes and procedures that are used. Is the risk inherent in these operations being properly managed? It would be foolish not to keep asking.
What if the individual airlines were responsible for investigating their own crashes and preventing future accidents? They have built-in incentives for operating safely, but would it be as safe as it is today with independent agencies responsible for investigating accidents, preventing future occurrences and enforcing regulations?
It concerns me that the USFS apparently performs all of these functions in-house.
The stakes are high and nobody knows that better than the forest managers. We must never, ever get to a point where a “runaway” prescribed burn is considered acceptable.
With regard to this specific occurrence: perhaps the fire managers need to place more importance on the forecast conditions for the days following the normal window of the planned prescribed burn. These are the conditions in which the firefighters will be battling the fire IF it runs away. Finally, and most importantly, it seems to me that an air tanker should be on standby within a 30 to 60 minute range during most prescribed burn operations. There were no tankers at the Prescott base (there usually aren’t during October). It was the the next day before the tankers were assembled, presumably arriving from out of state. To the Forest Service’s credit, the tankers hit the fire hard, at one point launching from Prescott about every 15 minutes. But I have to believe it would have made a big difference if the fire managers could have called in a few slurry drops as soon as they knew they were in trouble. Only the USFS knows for sure.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
USE THINING CREWS & MULCHING MACHINES
They do not need to use fire to clear the forest. Tree thinning crews and two man mulching machines can clear 1,000 acres in a short time without endangering people from fire and smoke. Why not use those methods insted of prescribe fire? The use lees manpower, achieve the same results and are safer.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
APOLOGY OVERDUE
I agree. The apology is overdue. The Forest Service has been burning every week smoking up everything. They ignore the harmful effects of the smoke and call sick people whiners. They should have to pay for disrupting people's lives in Williams and their apology is long overdue.
They are just trying to save face. What about all those people hurting from the daily burn smoke. Who will help them. I see people crying because they cannot get any relief from prescribed burn smoke. Yet the Forest Service just tells them to move if they don't like it. I've seen too many cruel things come from The Forest service lately to believe any so called apology.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Another Smooth Move
Since When does Burning a Precious, Finite Resource like our National Forests, turning it into Dense Choking Air Pollution, Really make sense to any Thinking American?
Even reducing the National Forest to Wood Chips and selling the raw material as Feed-stock to make Wood Ethanol, additives for Cleaner Burning Gasoline makes better sense.
But Burning? It shows a genuine lack of imagination, failed Stewardship of the Nation's Forests.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Just a matter of time
Funny, just the other day when they were real lucky they didn't burn Williams to the ground they were throwing ADEQ under the bus.Just think how much manual and machine thinning they could have done for the same cost of fighting this fire.One of these days they won't be so fortunate. I won't question the need but I'll always question any decision the morons who manage our forest make.How can you not when 2 days after this occured we have winds from the southwest and they are burning south of town again.Zero common sense and before noon the visability in Prescott is less than a half mile.Stupid.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
MIKE B.
AH DID THE LITTLE NO NAME PERSON GET SMOKE IN HIS EYES.
AND FIRED FOR WHAT? WEATHER IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE YET.
Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
"We take full responsibility." Yea right!!! Is the one who permitted this to happen going to be fired or penalized in anyway?
I doubt it.
