I remember fallen firefighters

Today I am pausing to remember all wildland firefighters, on the ground and in the air, who have died in the line of duty. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. You died leaving family, friends, and colleagues who loved you. You died working to keep us safe from wildfires. I remember you and those you left behind -- your family, friends, and colleagues.

Among those wildland firefighters who died the week of July 1 to July 7 since 2000 are:

• Alan Wyatt July 2, 2002, age 51, Missionary Ridge Fire (OR)
• Raymond Peterman age 62, Incident date- July 4, 2003 (heart attack), died on Jan 17, 2004 from complications following triple bypass surgery
• Dennise Leslie on July 2, 2007, Age 37, Coal City Community Volunteer FD, IN
• John Hermo on July 7, 2008, age 33, drowning while assigned to the Hells Half Complex (CA)
• Robert Roland on July 2, 2008, age 63, Oso Fire (CA).
• Caleb Hamm, on July 7, 2011, age 23, CR 337 Fire, TX. 

And those incidents over the last twenty years where multiple wildland firefighters lost their lives this week (June 30 to July 6)

AZ Yarnell Hill 19 on June 30, 2013

• Andrew Ashcraft, age 29
• Robert Caldwell, age 23
• Travis Carter, age 31
• Dustin Deford, age 24
• Christopher MacKenzie, age 30
• Eric Marsh, age 43
• Grant McKee, age 21
• Sean Misner, age 26
• Scott Norris, age 28
• Wade Parker, age 22
• John Percin, age 24
• Anthony Rose, age 23
• Jesse Steed, age 36
• Joe Thurston, age 32
• Travis Turbyfill, age 27
• William Warneke,age 25
• Clayton Whitted, age 28
• Kevin Woyjeck, age 21
• Garret Zuppiger, age 27

SD MAFFS 7 (4 lives lost, 2 survivors) on July 1, 2012. The four who lost their lives are:

• Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal, age 42
• Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, age 36
• Maj. Ryan S. David, age 35
• Senior Master Sgt. Robert Cannon, age 50

South Canyon / Storm King CO (14 lives lost) on July 6, 1994

• Kathi Julie Beck, age 24
• Tamera "Tami" Jean Bickett, age 25 
• Scott A. Blecha, age 27
• Robert E. Browning Jr., age 28
• Levi Brinkley, age 22  
• Douglas Michael Dunbar, age 22 
• Terri Ann Hagen, age 28 
• Bonnie Jean Holtby, age 21

• Robert Alan Johnson, age 26 
• Jon Roy Kelso, age 27
• Donald K. Mackey, age 34 
• Roger W. Roth, age 31 
• James R. Thrash, age 44
• Richard Tyler, age 33

Note: I referenced Always Remembered in compiling the list of the fallen that I mention here.

Why are METARs and TAFs coded?

It took a little doing but I finally found an answer to the question posed by an anonymous reader after reading this article on TAFs that I wrote on March 2, March 2012.

Why are TAFs and METARs coded in the first place? (see my article of June 16, 2014)

I literally stumbled upon the following website from the National Climatic Data Center a couple of days ago: METAR/TAF Information Page, probably written some time before July 1, 1996. This webpage provided me with a link to their Program Overview Page that I hope is at least a partial answer, based on conditions in 1996, to the question on why coding is still used: (1) METARs and TAFs are in standard use globally, at least by the majority of countries meaning a standard set of inputs for global weather models and also benefiting pilots, and (2) using plain english even in todays era of high speed computers and communications would overwhelm weather related communications infrastructure.

I am basing my response to the question on why are TAFs/METARs coded in the first place on the METAR/TAF Information-Aviation Routine Weather Report and Aerodrome Forecast Information: Program Overview Page  from the National Climatic Data Center (obtained on June 25, 2014). I hope that those of you are interested will read the entire METAR/TAF Information Program Overview. I'll be summarizing and quoting salient sections here.

On July 1, 1996 the United States adopted METAR and TAF coding, the final step in the transition to this coding. METAR and TAF coding represented a major change, replacing older coding for airport surface weather observations and terminal forecasts that dated back to the early 1950s.

The following explanation explains why the change to the standardize METAR and TAF coding was important:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which determines aviation requirements in the United States, has determined that the domestic transition to the METAR/TAF code is vital to the standardization of these reports worldwide. The National Weather Service (NWS) and Department of Defense (DOD) are complying with this requirement. The benefits of having the U.S. standardize to these new code formats are as follows. Hourly and special observations are used both as stand alone data for the sites and as inputs to global weather models for both analysis and forecasting. It is this global use of each small bit of information which drives the need for standardization. Additionally, the increase in international flights between the U.S. and other nations from more U.S. locations than ever before lends itself to developing a more "seamless" international standard for aviation. Moreover, standardization becomes vital for the general aviation community for flights from the U.S. to Canada, the Caribbean Area, and Mexico (METAR/TAF Information -- Aviation Routine Weather Report and Aerodrome Forecast Information: Program Overview accessed on June 25, 2014 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/wdc/metar/index.php?name=overview).

As for why plain english is not used, the METAR/TAF Information -- Aviation Routine Weather Report and Aerodrome Forecast Information Program Overview page from the National Climatic Data Center (probably written a few months prior to July 1, 1996 when the older coding was still in use) has this to say:

Despite all the high speed computers and communications that we have today a weather code is still required but is nothing new. The current SA code has been in place for over 40 years, and the conversion to METAR is a follow-on which is not very different. As for having these products reported in a plain language format, this is not feasible. Despite the advances in today's technology, the communication circuits used for transmitting the large and diverse suite of meteorological products (radar, upper air, climatological data, forecasts, watches, warnings, outlooks, etc.) have a finite capacity. The conversion to a plain language format for thousands of domestic and international observations that are generated each hour of the day is impractical and would easily overwhelm our meteorological communication circuits. However, having now standardized to a considerable extent does allow computer programs to expand the "code" into plain language. (METAR/TAF Information -- Aviation Routine Weather Report and Aerodrome Forecast Information: Program Overview accessed on June 25, 2014 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/wdc/metar/index.php?name=overview).

I suspect, but am not certain that the need for a standard international format for TAFs and METARs still exist today. As I understand it, global weather models continue to be used so I would think that the need for standardized inputs remain. And international air travels continues.

On the matter of overwhelming 1996 communications infrastructure, I am not exactly in a position to speak to whether or not the same applies in 2014.

Are there other answers to the question on why METARs and TAFs are coded that I don't know about? Perhaps. Answers that I am unaware of speaking to conditions in 2014? Perhaps. Nor am I in a position to speculate here about the rational for coding that predated the adoption of METARs and TAFs in 1996. But for now, after spending two more days earlier this week reading a variety of information on the history of aviation weather forecasting and weather forecasting, I am glad to have even a partial answer for you.

© 2014 randomramblingsnj

Watching Eagles

About three years ago I posted an article where I shared a couple of nice videos about birds in flight, including a video of the flight of two young eagles. The videos aren't long and I hope that you go and take a look at them. Here is another video, which I may have posted some time back on my videos of the week page, however it is worth repeating. I love watching raptors in flight, every so often I see a Red Tail Hawk, usually sitting on a pole. But every so often I see them while they are hunting. And I've seen eagles on some of my scenic flights, always awesome.

Birds just fly.



direct link to video

Braynt Fire (OR) - Tanker activity

Some of you will recall that from the end of 2009 into the first 2010, I wrote several articles on DC-7 tanker 62 thanks to the help of her Captain, Larry Kraus (Thanks Larry!) and several more articles with photos or videos on DC-7 tankers in action may be found here. You could say that I have a special fondness of the DC-7 tankers so I am always on the look out for any news about the sevens, especially T-62.

Over the weekend I first heard about the Bryant Fire (inch web), started on Thursday, June 19 that has burned 1,361 acres and is at 45 percent containment as I write this. You might also want to read updates on the Bryant Fire from the Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF), where the latest ODF update was posted at 8AM PDT on June 23.

Around the same time, I heard from a couple of reliable sources that T-62 had flown the Bryant Fire. I have no specific information to link to regarding tanker 62's activities on the fire. But I do know from reading the ODF June 22 blog entry about tanker and helo activity over the Bryant Fire on Saturday, June 21st:

sixteen loads of retardant were dropped from large air tankers and eight loads were dropped from small Single Engine Airtankers known as SEATs. Helicopters were extremely busy all day long responding to fire fighters requests for drops on the hottest spots.

The inciweb photo page for the Bryant Fire has a couple of photos of Neptune's BAe-146 T-10 dropping on the fire.

Here are a couple of articles on the Bryant Fire from local media outlets:

• OregonLive (June21st)
• Statesman Journal (June 23rd)
• Oregon Live (June 23rd)

Other Links

• Wildfire Today on Bryant Fire
• Wildland Fire Hotlist QandA on Bryant Fire
• Wildland Fire Hotlist Initial Attack Thread on Bryant Fire

Coulson Aviation USA- C-130Q

direct link to video (end of 2013 season highlights)

Coulson's C-130Q next generation tanker, T-131 (tank capacity of 3,500 gallons), began flying fires in September 2013, see this article from the Times Alberni Valley (9/18/13). 

In preparing this article, I found a couple of sources of information about Coulson's C-130Q tanker. The first is an interview with Wayne Coulson (of Coulson Aviation USA) by Tony Morris on Associated Aerial Firefighters (8/21/13) including a discussion of the tank system and specifications of the C-130Q (Tanker 131). According to Coulson, 

the desired drop speed is 124 to 130 kts. … The desired drop height is approximately 200 ft.

The second document is a presentation Wayne Coulson made on October 22, 2013 at the 2013 Hercules Operators Council, the presentation is chock full of all kinds of information about the C-130Q tanker and is found here (pdf file for download).

Finally, here are a couple of more links on the C-130Q tanker that I referenced in my Airtankers 101 page that you might want to check out:

• Photos of Coulson's C-130Q support truck on Fire Aviation (7/15/13)
• Canadian Skies on Coulsons C-130Q (September 2013).

Minden T-48 emergency landing (6/15/14)

Minden's Tanker 48, a Lockheed P-2V, made an emergency landing on Sunday night (June 15) in Fresno, CA after working the Shirley Fire. I am happy that both pilots survived and are uninjured. Kudos to the pilots! I don't know how long T-48 will be out of service. For more information see this report and video from Mynews4 in Reno NV.

DC-10 Tankers -- Two on contract and a third coming later in 2014

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In case you are wondering about the status of  10 Tanker Air Carrier's third DC-10 that the will have on contract later this year, 10 Tanker Air Carrier has an update on their homepage (as of June 18, 2014) where they report that their third DC-10 is currently under construction and is 75% complete. 10 Tanker has an information page on the DC-10 tanker (capable of carrying up to 11,600 gallons of retardant.

According to 10 Tanker's Facebook Page the Shirley Fire is but one of the many 2014 wildfires that one or both of the two DC-10 Tankers on contract (T-910 and T-911) have worked this year. The DC-10 Tankers with their range and their ability to carry up to 11,600 gallons of retardant are an important part of the airtanker fleet. I look forward to having a third DC-10 on contract later this year.

Aviation Weather Forecasts: Revisiting METAR/TAF coding

Over two years ago I wrote a couple of articles on the coding used in certain aviation weather forecast products -- METARS and TAFs. My intention being to share a little about what I had learned about the aviation weather products that I sometimes use. Some of you know that I am not a pilot, so I engage pilots to take me on scenic flights. Nonetheless, I do want to take a look at weather forecasts and current weather conditions before going on scenic flights. It is sort of fun for me.

As I hope that I wrote about in those articles, the coding used in METARS and TAFs is not intuitive and takes some getting used to. Student pilots studying to be private pilots have to learn the coding used in these two aviation weather products along with other aviation weather products as a part of their preparation to take the required FAA exams before obtaining their private pilot's license.

What I failed to consider when writing the two articles that I am referring to in this article is whyTAFs and METARs are coded in the first place. Someone asked me this very question (which I have rewritten here) a few days ago:

Why are the TAFs and METARs coded in the first place?

I have spent several hours over the last few days trying to find an answer to this very good question. So far, I have some ideas, but I have been unsuccessful.  I have real answer to why the TAFs and METARs are coded in the first place nor do I know for certain the origins of this coding. I am going to keep looking for an answer.

June 27, 2014: I posted a response to the question of why TAF and METAR weather products are coded in an article that I posted on June 27, 2014 called "Why are METARs and TAFs coded?".

Aero Flite's CL-415 T-260

For reasons that I'll share momentarily, I have found myself thinking about Aero Flite's CL-415, T-260 (N389AC) that is on contract with the US Forest Service. As you may recall, the US Forest Service awarded a five year contract to Aero-Flite for one CL-415 scooper. The CL-415's tank capacity is 1,600 gallons, see Fire Aviation's 10/29/13 article on the Aero-Flite Contract. 

I know, from Fire Aviation on May 8th, that T-260 worked the wildfires in Oklahoma in early May. Anther media reports on T-260 at the Oklahoma Fires (with pictures) may be found on NewsOk (5/10/14).

I have at least briefly mentioned most (if not all) of what I have written in about T-260 in this article on my Airtankers101 Page. What got me thinking about the CL-415 is a short article that came across my desk a couple of weeks ago from WZZM13 ABC on May 30, 3014 who reported that on May 30th, the CL-415 tanker was stationed in or near the Huron-Manistee National Forests (northern lower peninsula of Michigan). I have been trying, without much success so far, to find out if she is still in the lower peninsula of Michigan. 

I liked thinking about her being here in the east, at least for a short of time. So I felt moved to write this article about her because she was in Michigan ready to work fires. And where ever she is today as I write this, she and her crew are ready to work fires in support of the crews on the ground. To her crew: thank-you and stay safe.

Two Bulls Fire, Bend Oregon

direct link to video

In the video that I have embedded above, you will see tankers departing the tanker base at Redmond, OR on June 8 to fight the Two Bulls Fire. You will see one or two of Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87 tankers, a BAe-146, and one of Neptune Aviation's Lockheed P-2Vs. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation shared the video on June 9th and has provided additional coverage of the Two Bulls Fire here and here (Wedding relocated due to Two Bulls Fire).

According to the latest information available from inciweb on the Two Bulls Fire, the fire which started on June 7, has burned 6,906 acres and is at 40 percent containment as I write this. Helos and air tankers have worked the fire

Time Lapse Video of Two Bulls Fire from Eyeonbend



Other articles on Two Bulls Fire
photo of MD-87 T-101 on Fire Aviation
Oregon Live (06/10/14) with photo gallery
KGW (06/09/14) Human caused, reward (with video)
KGW on Erickson Aero Tankers working Two Bulls Fire
Oregon Live (06/09/14, time-lapse video that I embedded above)

Note: I've been have intermittent trouble with watching some videos on youtube, it seems to be a problem between my ISP and Google/You Tube. I have been able to watch the videos that I embedded here. If they don't work for you, I'm sorry. Sometimes if I try back later in the day I can watch a You Tube video that I was unable to watch earlier.

Tanker (Type 1 and 2) Update (US)

It has been quite awhile since I wrote an article with an update on the number of Tankers on Federal Contract here in America. I am referring to what some call large or heavy tankers. Specifically I am talking about Type 1 Tankers (minimum retardant capacity of 3,000 gallons) and Type 2 Tankers retardant capacity of 1,800 gallons to 2,999 gallons). Please bear with me as I'm going to take you through the process I went through in learning about the number of Type 1 and 2 Tankers that will be or expected to be on contract here in the U.S. in 2014.

Some of you know that in prior years I have shared, when available, that year's Federal Contract Airtanker List available from the National Interagency Coordination Center's Logistics-Aviation Page. While useful information for me to have, I'm not posting the 2014 Federal Contractor Airtanker List (as of May 12, 2014) because the latest information that I found on the number of Airtankers currently or expected to be on contract this year supersedes the May 12th list.

Ok, moving on. I first learned from Fire Avaition on May 20th that the US Forest Service was adding more BAe-146 Airtankers and a DC-10 on Federal Contract this year. The US Forest Service issued a news release to that effect on May 20, 2014, also including a link to an infographic on the 2014 aerial firefighting fleet. Simply, the USFS is saying that there will be 21 large tankers on federal contract this year. Unfortunately, I could not find the infographic on the USFS site, but Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation shared a portion the infographic on Fire Aviation in another May 20th article.

In the third week of May, I knew about Neptune Aviations (6) and Minden's (1) P2-V tankers, Neptune's BAe-146 tankers (4 including one on legacy contract), Coulson's C-130Q, and the three DC-10 tankers (two on contract, one expected to be on contract later this summer). I found a nice article from the Missoulian on May 20th summarizing the USFS News Release (cited earlier) with a focus on Neptune Aviation. So, I knew that we will have 21 large Tankers (type 1 and 2 Tankers) on contract this year, that would include additional Next Generation Tankers -- Erickson Aero Tanker, Minden, and Aero Flite -- but I knew no details about the Tankers from Erickson Aero, Minden, and Aero Flite.

Fortunately I did not have to try to figure out the answers to my questions on my own as Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation posted a wonderful article on June 3rd detailing the number of tankers that are expected to be on federal contract this year along with a nice graphic where he summarizes large tankers (by vendor, type tanker number and remarks) that are or are expected to be on federal contract in 2014. If you haven't already done so, you will want to go and read Bill's article. According to Bill,

The U.S. Forest Service could have, with the stroke of a pen, a total of 23 large air tankers flying this summer. ( Number of air tankers increase for the first time since 2007 )

That would be great news to have 21 large Tankers on contracts and 2 more that could be on contract if everything works out for a total of 23 large Tankers.

Erickson Aero Tanker's T-101 went on contract on June 4 with T-105 going on contract on June 8 (See Fire Aviation's June 5th article. Bill Gabbert has provided additional coverage of Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87 working the Two Bull's Fire in Oregon on June 8th.

Update on June 19, 2014: on Sunday night, June 15, Minden's Tanker-48 made an emergency landing in Fresno CA. The crew survived, but it is unknown how long T-48 will be out of commission. While she is out of commission, this decreases the number of available tankers by one to 20 large tankers or possibly 22 large tankers.

Reflections on willdland firefighting following the Slide Fire (AZ)

I realize that I'm a little late in this, but I have spent some time thinking about the Slide Fire, which burned over 21,000 acres in and around Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona. The fire is now 100 percent contained. Perhaps you have read Bill Gabbert's coverage of the Slide Creek Fire on Wildfire Today and/or followed the Wildland Fire Hotlist thread on the fire or perhaps you followed the fire on the media outlets local to the area. Examples of local and national media coverage of the Slide Fire include:

Yahoo News (AP) on May 22
CNN on May 24, with pictures
MYFoxPhoenix (May 22, with video of damage)
WAFB (posted May 20, updated June 4, pictures and raw video)

Finally, you might also want to check out Bill Gabbert's coverage of the discovery of an historic site by wildland firefighters working the Slide Fire.

Perhaps this particular fire touched home to me because I visited Oak Creek Canyon twenty years ago now, spending half a day there with one of my buddies while we attended a conference in Tempe, Arizona. Now spending what may only amount to a couple of hours in Oak Creek Canyon and another couple of hours in Sedona hardly makes me an expert in the geography of the region. However, my visit left an impression on me. So when I first heard about the Slide Fire, I found myself remembering the Canyon that I visited, albeit briefly, twenty years ago.

To tie this into wildland firefighting, I thought about the wildland firefighting crews, both in the air and on the ground who worked the Slide Fire. I had a picture in my mind, which may or may not have been correct, of ground crews working the fire in the Canyon I had visited all those years ago. My buddy and I may even have driven the local road mentioned in the reports. Various engine crews, and ground crews. Over four hundred firefighters on the ground working the fire in steep terrain doing what you do best, fighting wildfires. I don't have to seen videos or to be on scene to know of the hard work that you did.

I know that there were various aerial resources working the fire, helicopters and tankers. But I have no details. Doesn't matter. You were there working to support the crews on the ground. A team effort, crews on the ground and in the air.

I appreciate all that you did on the Slide Fire. You won't be forgotten. I appreciate all the work that wildland firefighters do in America and globally. Thank-you.

About chainsaws in wildland firefighting and safety factors

I've been sharing videos from the National Interagency Fire Center. Today's video is called Chainsaws and Human Factors - 2013 Refresher. In some ways this training video is more about human factors that wildland firefighters using chain saws and less about how to use a chain saw. I post it here because it interested me and because I thought the discussion on human factors was something that I can relate to. I may not do anything as risky as using a chainsaw, however I am am reminded about considering human factors such as various distractions in some of my day to day activities to stay safe (driving, or using tools). Allow about fourteen minutes for the video.


direct link to video

Wildland Fire Engines -- Up Close

I've been sharing videos from the National Interagency Fire Center. Today's video is called The Mighty Engine, you will learn about engines used for wildland firefighting. Allow about 12 minutes for the video.


direct link to video