Pegasus Research Consortium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULBajCJ8qGA


WATCH: Colorado Fire Destroy Homes-FirstNewz101 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULBajCJ8qGA)


June 12, 2013
A series of wildfires flared up across three separate regions of Colorado on Tuesday, burning across thousands of acres and forcing evacuations as the fires stretched the limits of state and local fire agencies.

A red-flag warning was put into effect for southeastern Colorado through Tuesday night as 95-degree temperatures and strong winds contributed to "critical fire weather conditions," the National Weather Service reported.

The largest of the blazes, the Black Forest Fire in El Paso County, had grown to between 7,500 and 8,000 acres and damaged or destroyed 40 to 60 structures, authorities said.

"As you can tell, weather is not working with us, but our guys are giving it a heck of a shot," El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said.

"The challenge we're facing is a lack of manpower."


More than 150 firefighters and 130 law enforcement personnel were at work to quench the flames, which had caused no reported injuries or fatalities.

Official gives an updated on the wildfire near Fremont, Colorado and expresses concern for the Royal Gorge Bridge. Some residents who had resisted earlier evacuation orders later "changed their minds" as the fire grew, Maketa said. Local fire officials said they were engaged in search and rescue efforts to help those residents on Tuesday night.

"Law enforcement is scrambling to get folks out of there and do searches," Maketa said. One aircraft and dozens of firefighters worked to contain the Royal Gorge fire near Canon City, Colo., after the blaze was reported around 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday. U.S. Highway 50 and local roads were closed as mandatory evacuations were put into effect for the surrounding area.

The fire had burned through more than 3800 acres and consumed three structures as of Tuesday evening. Containment remained at zero percent as the day ended.

"It's certainly not out of the question that we'll be fighting this fire for another week," said Royal Gorge fire spokesman Gregg Goodland, who added that Canon City itself might still need to be evacuated.

"This fire is not going to go away any time soon, especially under the dry conditions."
   


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-EF29KQcoY


Fire victim risked himself to save dogs-CNN (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-EF29KQcoY)
   

June 13, 2013
CNN's Victor Blackwell talks with Kyle Kirkland and Danielle Byrne, whose home was destroyed by the Colorado wildfire.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUxipkdtFA
      

Colorado fire evacuees weep, worry over homes-CNN (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvUxipkdtFA)

June 13, 2013
Thousands of evacuees from wildfires in Colorado Springs helplessly watch and wait to see whether their homes survived.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfOUaARyim8
   

USAFA Firefighters battle the Black Forest fire-USAFAOfficial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfOUaARyim8)

June 13, 2013
USAFA firefighters, under a pre-exsisting mutual aid agreement, battle a wildfire raging east of the Air Force Academy in a region of Colorado Springs called Black Forest. USAFA Firefighter Brandon Eubanks is wearing the POV camera.

Hello Thorfourwinds,  I have a question, not sure it is the right place, so do what is necessary. Anyway, not far from me is the Evergreen SuperTanker , it is a highly modified and specialized Boeing 747. It has fought fires all over the world.  But, there it sits while the fire burns on.  A year or two ago it was used for the fires in southern Calif. I think it made maybe one or two passes, "poof" the fire was out.  Not been used since. I have heard every excuse for NOT using it. Quite frankly it makes no sense! Now I'm not a fan of Evergreen, but in this case they have something that would actually put out the fires. Why won't they use it?


http://www.evergreenaviation.com/supertanker/

Quote from: Phedre on June 16, 2013, 06:30:28 PM
Hello Thorfourwinds, I have a question, not sure it is the right place, so do what is necessary.

Anyway, not far from me is the Evergreen SuperTanker, it is a highly modified and specialized Boeing 747. It has fought fires all over the world.  But, there it sits while the fire burns on.  A year or two ago it was used for the fires in southern Calif. I think it made maybe one or two passes, "poof" the fire was out.  Not been used since.

I have heard every excuse for NOT using it.

Quite frankly it makes no sense! Now I'm not a fan of Evergreen, but in this case they have something that would actually put out the fires. Why won't they use it?


http://www.evergreenaviation.com/supertanker/

Greetings:

Great question!

Thank you for your time and participation.

QuoteI have heard every excuse for NOT using it.

Would you please care to elaborate?

This is something I will personally follow-up with the information you might provide.    :)


In the meantime, VLAT (Very Large Aerial Tankers) close-in support is somewhat hampered in mountainous terrain, as retardant delivery must be below 400 feet to be effective.

VLAT aircraft are probably compatible with the wildland fire suppression mission, provided that they are used to supplement other aerial retardant delivery platforms rather than replace them in all environments.

Steep or rugged terrain, reduced visibility due to smoke and ash, and situations where topography or other factors result in irregularly-shaped delivery zones will affect any aerial retardant delivery aircraft, but it is believed these scenario characteristics will affect VLATs to a larger degree, and may preclude their effective use for certain classes of fires, particularly those with small or irregularly shaped delivery zones.

Extremely rugged terrain will make setting up for stabilized deliveries challenging, particularly where the pilot must judge wingtip terrain clearance while maneuvering over irregular terrain for setup.

Usage in very steep or rugged terrain is not recommended unless deliveries can be performed with minimal maneuvering, a lead plane is available, and adequate terrain clearance is available at the wingtips as well as on centerline.

Until significant experience is gained on VLAT platforms, at least 400' terrain clearance should be maintained in this kind of scenario, and a climb must be initiated before any turns.

VLAT aircraft operate differently from typical commercial aircraft by spending a larger percentage of their flight time at low altitudes, where gust levels are higher and more frequent.





Delivery situations that require steeper than average descent angles for a successful delivery may preclude use of the VLAT class until suitable drag devices and usage procedures are proven.

The handbooks used by the firefighters to determine coverage levels based on fuel and the flame length that an aerial drop is effective against will need to be updated to include the capability of the VLAT class of aircraft to lay a very wide, as well as long, line.

The coverage level 8 setting at the nominal drop height of 300 or 400 ft would be reduced at higher drop heights, but would also be wider, with the ability to slow the advance of fires with longer flame length. By making multiple passes, the VLAT may actually be able to do this since it has a relatively quick turn around time and a high flight speed or could make partial drops in one sortie where current tankers would need to make many more flights, or require more aircraft in the circuit.

There simply could be insufficient time available to create that kind of line before the fire advanced.


U.S. Forest Service Approves Non-Toxic Fire Gel (http://www.firegel.com/news.aspx#3)

The U.S. Forest Service has announced that Barricade ® II Fire Blocking Gel has been tested and approved for use in a wide range of firefighting functions including application by large air tankers, smaller Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs), helicopters using buckets as well as firefighters on the ground using fire engines.

Barricade ® II is the first and only liquid fire gel concentrate that has been approved for use by the Forest Service that does not contain toxic chemical additives known as Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPEs) and petroleum distillate oils. Environmental organizations have called upon the U.S. Forest Service to ban the use of other firefighting chemicals that contain NPEs.

Barricade International President, John Bill Bartlett is the Florida firefighter who invented the first fire gel after observing that a disposable baby diaper did not burn during a routine trash fire. He praised the Forest Service for approving his new environmentally friendly fire gel saying

"Now firefighters can use Barricade Gel to save more homes from destruction and to bring wildfires under control more quickly and safely."


References

1. "Instructions For Continued Airworthiness, 10 Tanker STC, LLC DC-10, Chapter 2, Fire Fighting System Description", Report No. 2547, Aircraft Technical Service, Inc., 11/21/2005.

2. "Commercial Operations Manual, Chapter 7, Flight Maneuvers and Techniques," 10 Tanker LLC.

3. "DC-10 Maintenance Manual, Revision 80," McDonnell Douglas Corporation, 1/1/2004.

4. "FAA Approved Airplane Flight Manual Supplement to the Boeing 747-200C Airplane Flight Manual for Evergreen International Airlines, Inc. Air Tanker Modification," Evergreen International Airlines, Inc., 10/27/2006.

5. "B-747 Aircraft Operating Manual," American Airlines Flight Department, 1983.

6. E-mail correspondence with Rick Hatton, 10 Tanker LLC.

7. E-mail correspondence with Cliff Hale, Evergreen International Airlines, Inc.

8. "Airtanker Drop Test Report, Evergreen Supertanker Tanker 947," USDA Forest Service, 8/10/2006.

9. "Section III – Multi-Engine Airtanker Requirements (2006 and forward)," Procedures and Criteria for the Interagency Airtanker Board (IAB), July 2006.

Barricade Fire Blocking Gel

(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10005/firegel-1.jpg)

Barricade Fire Gel is a foam that you spray on your house before a wildfire. It stays wet for 48 hours and keeps burning embers from igniting the house. It easily washes off and, unlike most compressed air foam (CAF) systems, is EPA certified as nontoxic.

I tested it on cardboard held over a gas stove flame, and it didn't ignite in 10 minutes. Also, I applied it to the outside of my home, over a very dry Labor Day weekend, and it stayed put and wet for 48h. (A bear licked some of it off, so it doesn't taste like petrochemicals.) As the pictures from the vendor's site show, Fire Gel comes in 1 gallon containers, and you attach a garden hose and an eductor-jet pump to it.

What this means is that a small person can lift it and apply it. In other CAF systems, there's a huge amount of heavy equipment that depends on different power supplies, and it's heavy and complex. The foam is relatively cheap on those systems — the applicator is expensive. Barricade took a different tack, and put expensive engineering into the foam, which is very effective and tastes good to bears.

Here in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, Barricade Fire Gel is one part of my fire plan. This is only one part of a fire plan, and I'd urge anyone who buys FireGel to go to a workshop with your local fire department to maximize your chance of coming out unscathed.

Another motivation to become more involved in fire protection is that in recent fires here, folks found out that they were woefully underinsured, and can't rebuild their old house. Less than 10% were adequately insured to rebuild in the mountains, and we're talking an educated affluent population.

For $326, you get a kit that will cover a typical house.

-- Robert Hastings  

(http://www.thelivingmoon.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10005/firecoating280.jpg)

Marisa Rastetter's policy included fire-protection services
that she credits with saving her Rancho Santa Fe home in October.
(SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune)


Insurers adding fire-retardant gel as policy option (http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/metro/wildfires/20080325-9999-1n25spray.html)


March 25, 2008
Bill and Marisa Rastetter of Rancho Santa Fe are convinced that their 5,400-square-foot home would have been destroyed during the October wildfires if not for a homeowner's insurance policy that offers an extra level of protection in wealthier neighborhoods.

When a wall of flames approached the house and there were no regular firefighters on the scene, the couple called AIG, one of a growing number of insurance companies that include the spraying of fire-retardant chemicals as part of their coverage.

"They sprayed the front of the house and hit a lot of the hot spots that were flaming at that time," said Marisa Rastetter, whose husband was the CEO of San Diego's Idec Pharmaceuticals until it merged with the Massachusetts company Biogen in 2003.

Although such policies don't come cheap, it was worth "every penny and then some," she said. "Granted, it is all insured, but there are so many valuables and memorabilia and heirlooms. There is no price to save it."

Now other companies that provide homeowner's insurance are identifying supplemental fire-protection services as a business opportunity. The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies recently announced a program that includes the spraying of fire-blocking gel during wildfires, and Fireman's Fund also plans to enter the market.

The companies typically use Global Positioning Systems to track wildfires, then dispatch teams to spray fire-blocking gels or retardants in advance of the flames.

"We are seeing more of that kind of above-and-beyond service in high-end markets," said Candysse Miller, executive director of the Insurance Information Network of California.


But as a new wildfire season approaches, some public safety officials worry that private firefighting programs could interfere with their efforts to combat flames. Other observers worry that two tiers of fire protection may be emerging: one for the general population and one for the affluent.

"We are totally sensitive to homeowners wanting to ensure protection of their properties based on the last two major fires, the Cedar and the Witch Creek," said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. "Protection, in their minds, was somewhat lacking. But in the course of doing this, we don't want to see more problems created than are solved by private fire-protection services."

Under AIG's program, which began here in 2005, Oregon-based Firebreak Spray Systems sprays liquid fire retardant around endangered homes in some of the region's most expensive neighborhoods. Chubb said its new program is aimed at properties insured for $1 million or more.

Still another player on the scene is Pacific Fire Guard of Westlake Village, which plans to enter the market in time for this year's fire season. The company is in negotiations with Fireman's Fund, which soon will offer fire-prevention spraying service as part of its homeowner's policies.

"We will offer it to all policyholders," said Fireman's Fund spokeswoman Janet Ruiz. "Our target market is $1 million or more" in insured property per household.

Insurance companies need not be in conflict with public agencies, said Sam DiGiovanna, a veteran firefighter who serves as chief of the Firebreak response program.

"We adhere to proper procedures," he said. "We don't break rules. We are not just out there freelancing. We check in. If whoever is running the fire thinks it's too dangerous to go into a particular area, we don't go into that area."
Kevin O'Leary, a division chief for Cal Fire, sees pros and cons. Some homeowners who tend to remain during dangerous wildfires might be more willing to evacuate if they knew their homes were protected by private crews with fire retardants, he said.

"The key to it is communications with us so we know that the engines are out there (and) where they are," O'Leary said.


Firebreak owner Jim Aamondt said the expansion of housing into wildland areas has overburdened fire departments and created a niche for businesses like his throughout the West.

"The number of homes in the wildland-urban interface is growing," he said. "They are high-value homes in high-risk areas."

Companies that spray fire retardants and gels emphasize that their products are safe for the environment.
Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, said buying an insurance policy that offers supplemental fire protection is no different than hiring private security guards or sending your children to private schools.

But Samuel Kang, legal counsel to the Greenlining Institute, which advocates for low-income and minority communities, said insurance companies should offer the same services in all communities.

"It seems like insurance is increasingly becoming a tool for people who are at upper-income levels, which is unfortunate," Kang said.

Gabe del Rio, president of the Housing Opportunities Collaborative, a consortium of housing counseling agencies, said the new fire-prevention service makes sense for insurance companies, which have a lot to lose when expensive homes are destroyed.

The Chubb Group is making its service available in 13 states. An annual Chubb premium on a homeowner's policy for $1 million in coverage in the San Diego region could be $3,500, depending on location and other factors, said spokesman Mark Schussel. The program, which will be administered by Montana-based Wildfire Defense Systems, will use a gel compound that works best when applied hours before a fire approaches.

There are several thousand AIG homeowner's insurance customers in the county who now receive fire-prevention services through Firebreak Spray Systems' Private Client Group, Aamondt said.

Ventura County entrepreneur Bill Kneebusch said his company, Pacific Fire Guard, is preparing to spray a fire-blocking gel from specially designed trucks throughout Southern California.

"We are currently in the process of negotiating a deal with Fireman's Fund Insurance Company," he said. "We are starting the fire season with just four pieces of equipment . . . I am funded, and I am rolling forward whether I have an insurance company or not."

Kneebusch said he will begin signing up customers in San Diego County on May 1. If offered independently from a homeowner's insurance policy, he said, his service will cost about $1,800 per year for a standard-size home.

Don't build McMansions where large stands of lodgepole pines will be touching the roof.   Rein in the HOAs that are more worried about pretty than safe.   Remove beetle killed pine that's been feuling the fires.  I haven't been able to take my grandkids to Aurora Reservoir yet this summer, because of the smoke.

Shasta, Colorado resident