Wildland Firefighter. - Review - periodical review

WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER The Voice of the Wildland Firefighter Brian Ballou, ed. $45/year (12 issues). North American Wildfire Ltd., 2532 Gray Oak Lane S., Salem, OR 97302. 800/964-8971, pulaski@teleport.com, www.wildlandfirefighter.com.

These publications represent the full extent of wildland fire magazines available in the US today. WILDFIRE was the first professional firefightermagazine. It's the monthly publication of the International Association of Wildland Fire, so articles and news briefs span the globe. Themes range from Hotshot Crews to fire aviation. Regular features include a new-equipment section and the "Near Hit" column, describing safety infractions on the fire line. A great calendar section includes meetings, symposiums, and workshops. WILDFIRE is well written, with great insights into the culture of wildland firefighters. It's full of colorful and descriptive advertisements for wildland firefighting resources. A bit technical, but there's something in here for everyone.

Wildland Firefighter is also aimed, specifically, at those of us who fight fire in the brush, woods, and prairies. Great articles on Smokejumpers and the wildland community. It does a good job of covering specific fires with in-depth articles about tactics and strategies, describing what worked and what didn't. "Regional Round-up" reports on fire activity around the country. I like the "Bulletin Board," new-equipment reviews for their straightforward approach, and the quality photos. (The monthly Photo Gallery features high-quality images, taken by wildland firefighters, that really give you a sense of what it's like on the fire line.) Wiidland Firefighter and WILDFIRE share many of the same elements and are very comparable publications, but Wildland Firefighter is more specifically aimed at fire personnel and their interests.

Fire Management Notes is put out by the US Forest Service. With a federal perspective, it provides a nice mix on fire science, including articles on fire suppression technologies and the ecological role of fire. As a government publication, this magazine lacks advertisements and extensive equipment reviews (this may be a plus for many readers). I particularly like the frequent contributions on prescribed fire and public education. It also does a great job in its coverage of the "fire use" versus "fire control" debate+-a policy shift occurring within many agencies, but most acutely felt at the federal level. --Robin Wills

"South Canyon Fire, Colorado. 1994. A wall of flame rolled up the side of the mountain and over the heads of 60 wildland firefighters. Fourteen died. Sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and our co-workers--their lives ended tragically, and much too soon.

... We've learned many things from South Canyon, and from other fatality fires as well. Sure we've changed procedures. We've added new rules, new training, and new methods for analyzing and correcting our mistakes. But ... the, changes we make to prevent future fatalities won't make the critical difference we need unless we begin to look at the behaviors that lead to the tragedies.... our firefighting culture must change. We must embrace the strengths in our culture (and there are many), but be willing to give up the weaknesses in favor of improvement and change. In other words, we look forward to an evolution--not a revolution, in firefighter culture. --WILDFIRE

"Smokey's still a hero, but as the number and sizes of prescribed burns climb, the fire community has to reconcile Smokey's messages for the public. For aggressive RxFire programs to succeed, the public will have to learn about how fire can be both good and bad.

And sometimes it's not just the public who need a little spin on fire prevention--sometimes it's fire agencies themselves. Those who work in prevention, public affairs, or air quality--if they aren't up to speed on prescribed fire--can douse a planned burn even faster than an outraged smoked-out public can.

--WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER

"Fire websites for kids young and old:

Project Learning Tree: www.plt.org/. ... ready-made lessons for classrooms, nature centers, museums, and scouts.

How a Fire is Fought: www.iias.com/forest/fightfire.html.

Very nicely done with simple but accurate language and great photos.

Woods on Fire: http://whyfiles.news .wisc.edu/018forest_fire/.

Fire history, cycles, ecosystem connections, Rx fires that get away.

--WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER

"We fail to weigh the risk and cost of using aircraft resources against the probability of success when we use helicopters to mop up fires where fire behavior indicates little threat; when we use air tankers to drop retardant at mid-slope where fire behavior shows that the fire will burn to the top of the ridge no matter what we do; or when we use retardant aircraft without the benefit of having firefighters on the ground. Such risky, ineffective practices amount to fighting fire based on convenience rather than fire behavior. --FIRE MANAGEMENT NOTES

COPYRIGHT 1999 Point Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group