California Fire News - Updates in your mail box

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• June: Home Safety Month - National Safety Month
• CA-KRN- Bitter - Vegetation Fire - 30 acres 100%
• El Dorado County: GVFPD - Attacks and Counterattacks
• Ramona: Cal Fire Air Attack equipped with new IF Cam
• Earthquake 3.0 M - Central California, Keeler, Cartago, CA
• CAL FIRE SCU: Fire season starts Monday

June: Home Safety Month - National Safety Month Posted: 01 Jun 2009 12:03 AM PDT National Safety Month (June 2009): Every year the National Safety Council, a National Citizen Corps Affiliate, promotes National Safety Month, an initiative that focuses on heightening awareness of important safety issues. The National Safety Council asks employers to help prevent work place injuries and individuals to protect their loved ones from injury. Visit the National Safety Month website to learn about opportunities for Citizen Corps Councils to become National Safety Month Sponsors or to become Safety Ambassadors. Additionally, the site offers resources, in both Spanish and English, to support each of their June 2009 weekly themes. Visit http://www.nsc.org/nsm to learn more. Home Safety Month (June 2009): Each year during June, the Home Safety Council, a National Citizen Corps Affiliate, works to educate and motivate families to take actions that will increase the safety of their homes. This year's Home Safety Month campaign theme – Hands on Home Safety – asks the public to take some simple steps to create a safer home environment from the five leading causes of home injury – falls, poisonings, fires and burns, choking/suffocation and drowning. Visit the following website to obtain information and resources that Citizen Corps Councils and partners can share with community members to encourage them to take a hands-on approach to making their homes safer: http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/homesafetymonth/homesafetymonth.aspx.

CA-KRN- Bitter - Vegetation Fire - 30 acres 100% Posted: 31 May 2009 05:11 PM PDT CA-KRN-Bitter - Kern County Vegetation Fire Final Update: 1630 hrs - Fire Contained Fire is now 30 acres, and backing into the wind, Slow ROS, per IC, 1-Structure in area threatened. Update: 1530 hrs - Fire is now reported at 35 acres with 2 active flanks. Still backing down towards the original threatened structure. 1 SEAT inbound to the fire at this time. IA: 1505 hrs -Vegetation Fire, Slow ROS, 1 threatened structure, AA-490 reports approx. 15 acres, light fuels Resources assigned: KRN: E26, E326, P24, P25, P31, AA490, Crew 81, Crew 82, Batt 2, Dozer 5, WT51 BLM: E3130, E3147, WT3191, Crew 1, B3114, B3115, Prev 3156 1 Type 3 AT AA-490, AT - T-90, Helicopter - C-406, C-408 Location: Section 25, Black Wells Corner Area, Hwy 33 X Hwy 46, access off Bitter Water Valley Rd, Comms: Local - 153.785 Command - 155.625-Kern 3 Air / Grnd - 151.220 Source: Wildlandfire.com - Link

El Dorado County: GVFPD - Attacks and Counterattacks Posted: 31 May 2009 12:51 PM PDT El Dorado County fire district in turmoil over personnel disputes Discrimination lawsuit filed GARDEN VALLEY – In a picturesque corner of El Dorado County, amid rolling green hills and white picket fences and grazing chestnut horses, an ugly dispute is festering. The grand jury has already poked around the Garden Valley Fire Protection District – twice since 2007 – but this time controversy is taking a decidedly personal turn. The attacks and counterattacks include allegations of pornography on fire station computers, document burning, workplace harassment and retaliation, questionable finances, secret board meetings and personal vendettas. Highlights: Newfound knowledge that Fire Chief Bill Dekker has a history of brushes with the law. Paul Bado, a 16-year veteran of the fire district, was placed on administrative leave in April 2008 and fired four months later for viewing Porn. In June, the 47-year-old gay firefighter will officially appeal his dismissal from the rural department north of Placerville."I'd like to remind you that I am gay. I have no need to look at porn female images," he said. In March, Bado filed a discrimination and harassment suit based on sexual orientation against the fire district – including Dekker and a previous chief – alleging that he was paid less than the department's other fire captain. The suit filed in El Dorado Superior Court also alleges that, once it became known in the department that Bado was gay, he was "subjected to ridicule, jokes, sexual innuendo, and given prejudicial names behind his back." The department is one of 13 districts that provide fire protection in the county, which is weighing the delicate issue of consolidation – a word elected officials here use at their peril. The fire district's former secretary has filed a wrongful termination claim and leveled her own charges against Dekker, alleging that the chief harassed her and that his conduct was outrageous. Last year, the county's auditor-controller questioned a $469 pair of fire pants purchased from a company owned by the fire district's then-board chairman, according to local newspaper accounts. The county's grand jury – which had reopened its investigation of fire district irregularities – concluded that two board members had received improper payments. Even more contentious were the recent revelations about Dekker, who has had at least nine brushes with the law in the past 13 years – including a drunken driving conviction in Nevada, where he was accused of driving a fire department truck while intoxicated and clipping a volunteer firefighter. "The whole thing is really sad," said Maria Capraun, the fire district's former secretary, who is seeking damages in her wrongful termination claim. See whole article at : Sacramento Bee Article - Link

Ramona: Cal Fire Air Attack equipped with new IF Cam Posted: 31 May 2009 11:47 AM PDT Firefighting plane's new eye in the sky to be much clearer Latest technology sees through smoke During the 2007 Harris fire near the U.S.-Mexico border, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Ray Chaney listened helplessly as a bulldozer driver radioed that he was about to be overrun by flames. As air-attack coordinator for Cal Fire's air tankers and helicopters, Chaney was in a plane about 4,000 feet somewhere above the dozer. "It was a bad situation," Chaney recalled. "He called me up and said he was in trouble. He was pushing dirt around the bulldozer, building a defensible perimeter and pulling the fire curtains inside the cab. "He was asking me for help. I looked down, and through the smoke I couldn't see him." Fortunately, the fire bypassed the bulldozer, and the driver was fine. But what if Chaney had been able to see through the smoke? Beginning in July, Chaney's air-attack plane, stationed at the Ramona Air Attack Base, will be outfitted with a camera developed by researchers at MIT Lincoln Laboratory that will allow him, as well as commanders on the ground via an intranet feed, to see through smoke. The Ramona squadron will be the first in the state to be equipped with the camera and the technology that will allow ground commanders to view the images in real time for a test period ending in December. "I'm pretty excited because we're entering into an agreement we think will be mutually beneficial to both MIT and us," Chaney said. "MIT is looking for venues to conduct experiments with some new technology." With the camera, which integrates infrared technology into its design, "I would have been able to pick up the heat signature off of (the bulldozer's) engine and exhaust system" and been able to direct a helicopter or air tanker to make a drop nearby. During Santa Ana wind-driven fires, smoke lies horizontally over the land, pushed by the strong winds. As the fire burns, embers will fly through the air, sometimes up to a mile ahead of the main blaze. With the new technology, Chaney and commanders on the ground will be able to see those "spotting" fires. If one is near a house, ground units and air support can be redirected. A ground commander also will be able to control the camera remotely, allowing Chaney to focus on directing air traffic. MIT is also equipping engines in Cal Fire's Riverside unit with tracking devices that will allow commanders to see instantly on a computer screen where every piece of equipment is. The ground technology also could be tested on some engines in San Diego, but just how many hasn't been decided. Source: signonsandiego.com - Link Webcam: Ramona Air Attack Base: - Link More information: About the CDF's aviation program is available at http://www.fire.ca.gov/FireEmergencyResponse/Aviation/Aviation.asp.

Earthquake 3.0 M - Central California, Keeler, Cartago, CA Posted: 31 May 2009 03:40 PM PDT Earthquake Details Magnitude 3.0 Date-Time Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 17:47:39 UTC Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 10:47:39 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 36.385°N, 117.846°W Depth 3.2 km (2.0 miles) Region CENTRAL CALIFORNIA Distances 12 km (7 miles) SSE (168°) from Keeler, CA 18 km (11 miles) ENE (66°) from Cartago, CA 19 km (12 miles) NE (45°) from Olancha, CA 30 km (19 miles) SE (138°) from Lone Pine, CA 236 km (147 miles) W (276°) from Las Vegas, NV Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 0.5 km (0.3 miles); depth +/- 1.7 km (1.1 miles) Parameters Nph=037, Dmin=19 km, Rmss=0.3 sec, Gp= 76°, M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=C Source California Integrated Seismic Net: USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR Event ID ci14466088

CAL FIRE SCU: Fire season starts Monday Posted: 31 May 2009 10:20 AM PDT Responding to increasingly warm and dry local conditions, Santa Clara Unit chiefs hire seasonal firefighters, increase dispatch levels and operate fire response facilities at all times. Who: Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit has announced that fire season will begin. Why: The start of fire season varies throughout the state and is based on local weather conditions, vegetation and increased fire activity. When: Starting Monday. Where: Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Burn Permits: All open burning permits will be suspended in areas under the Cal Fire's control. Agriculture, land management, fire training and other industrial-type burning may continue if a Cal Fire official inspects the burn site and issues a permit. Defensible Space and Evacuation: Cal Fire officials are reminding homeowners to follow basic fire safety measures as the season progresses, such as creating defensible space around all structures and preparing an evacuation plan for family members and pets. More information: Online at http://www.calfirescu.org/ www.fire.ca.gov.

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