Wildlandfire Hotlist Forums - General Discussion (All Areas)

Wildlandfire Hotlist Forums - General Discussion (All Areas) http://wlfhotlist.com/ This area is open to general fire related discussion or questions affecting or of possible interest to all wildland firefighters. en Wed, 22 May 2013 14:04:15 GMT vBulletin 5 http://wlfhotlist.com/images/misc/rss.png Wildlandfire Hotlist Forums - General Discussion (All Areas) http://wlfhotlist.com/ <![CDATA[FAA's concerns hold up use of wildfire drones]]> http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34122-FAA-s-concerns-hold-up-use-of-wildfire-drones?goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:50 GMT By FELICITY BARRINGER — The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO -- As wildfire season begins in Western landscapes that were covered in smoky haze for weeks at a time last summer, the federal government's firefighters are exploring the use of small remote-controlled drones with infrared cameras that could map a fire's size and speed, and identify hot spots, a particular danger.

With a maximum wingspan of about 52 inches, the drones would supplement and perhaps replace manned surveillance aircraft, potentially reducing the risk to both pilots and firefighters.

But the effort is being slowed by Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/05/21/291080...#storylink=cpy

fair use disclaimer

]]> General Discussion (All Areas) AK Old Timer http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34122-FAA-s-concerns-hold-up-use-of-wildfire-drones California Firefighter in need of help http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34103-California-Firefighter-in-need-of-help?goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 01:13:51 GMT Wildlanfire.com Community, On May 15, 2013 the family of Cal Fire...

Wildlanfire.com Community,

On May 15, 2013 the family of Cal Fire Firefighter, Luis Herrera-Martinez, was stricken with a great tragedy. His mother-in-law Yolanda Ramirez and 1-year old nephew, Gabriel Ramirez, were found dead, and his 3 year old daughter, Joclyn Herrea, sustained serious injuries during a vicious knife attack in the Alum Rock area of San Jose.

While Joclyn continues down the road to recovery, Firefighter Herrera-Martinez and his family are faced with increasing financial expenses including significant medical expenses and the impending cost of two (2) funerals.

“In lieu of flowers we are asking family and friends to make donations to the Fire Family Foundation a 501 (3) (c) “In loving memory of Yolanda and Gabriel Ramirez”. The funds collected will be used to assist with medical expenses and the cost of the funerals that will need to be coordinated to lay their loved ones to rest. You may visit the Fire Family Foundation website atwww.firefamilyfoundation.org and click on the donations tab at the top of the page and it will take you to a list of information that will show you various ways that you can donate. The Foundation takes all forms of credit cards and for those individuals that are Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union members you can donate via FIRE OnLine Home Banking. Checks can be made payable to (in the memo section of the check, reference Yolanda & Gabriel Ramirez):

Fire Family Foundation
815 Colorado Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041

Please take a moment to consider donating to a memorial fund that has being set up in their name through thewww.firefamilyfoundation.org.
Please feel free to contact our offices at 800/5-FFF-GIVE (800/533-3448). Thank you.

]]> General Discussion (All Areas) MtEddy http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34103-California-Firefighter-in-need-of-help Message from Wildlandfire.com to our Friends and Family Members! http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34101-Message-from-Wildlandfire-com-to-our-Friends-and-Family-Members!?goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 23:36:56 GMT Friends of Wildlandfire.com, As Fire season is now upon us, take time to...

Friends of Wildlandfire.com,

As Fire season is now upon us, take time to thank your family for supporting you. There are few careers like ours. Not many people understand what "Getting held on" means. Or, "We're on a staffing pattern, and I can't make the kids birthday party!"

The life of a Wildland Firefighter is a pretty painful one for everyone involved in the industry. Lots of cancelled appointments, missed important phone calls, and many first' get missed. As a firefighter for the last 14 years, I've had the unfortunate pain of let down of my family. But they've always been understanding.

Thanks to the family and friends who are in the background, and sticking around. Without them, our lives couldn't be what they are.

This season is shaping up to be another long, dry, and tiresome year for our Nations Firefighters. Remind yourself to have patience and know we all have a tremendous task to do.

Our most important job is to make it home to the friends and family who support us everyday day!

Stay safe out there, and know we are building the tools you need to make it home safe!

The Whole Wildlandfire.com team!

]]> General Discussion (All Areas) MtEddy http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34101-Message-from-Wildlandfire-com-to-our-Friends-and-Family-Members! The U.S. Forest Service will hire 500 fewer this year...... http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34045-The-U-S-Forest-Service-will-hire-500-fewer-this-year?goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 04:17:39 GMT http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/13/nation/la-na-fires-west-20130514 ... http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may...-west-20130514

Wildfire risk runs high, but budget cuts mean fewer firefighters
The U.S. Forest Service will hire 500 fewer this year, officials say, although the cuts are expected to affect Eastern states rather than the drought-stricken West.

Are any Forests not hiring firefighters or staffing engines as the article suggests?

We hired to be fully staffed this year, and heard so are the other forests in Northern California.

50 less engines? Where?

Or is this just a scare tactic like flight delays and FAA?

I'm not seeing it, at least not from my view. ]]> General Discussion (All Areas) 5000 http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34045-The-U-S-Forest-Service-will-hire-500-fewer-this-year A message from Wildlandfire.com... http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34029-A-message-from-Wildlandfire-com?goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 04:09:59 GMT Dear Wildlandfire.com Community members, As some of you may, or may not have... Dear Wildlandfire.com Community members,

As some of you may, or may not have heard, this past winter, Ab and Original Ab passed the torch to lead Wildlandfire.com to my team and I. The past 9 months have been a very exciting and very educational time for all involved.

First thing I'd like to make sure everyone knows, Ab and Original Ab spent long days working with us to make sure we carried on the tradition they and this interagency firefighting community began. We share the same vision of more and better information, delivered as quickly as possible. Over the next few months, you will start to see some subtle changes to the site. Be assured, we aren’t planning on taking the great website that exists and mixing it up.

That said; we do plan to build the ideas the whole community has been asking for over the last few years. Our team is a team of Firefighters, who have the exact same passion and desire to get the best information to you, the Firefighters who need it most. And get it to you in the most timely and accurate fashion.

We aren’t a major media conglomerate, or a tech firm that doesn’t care about the mission of Wildlandfire.com. We have all been very active users of the site for several years, and know the importance of the information and community it brings to you, our user!

Yes, I am the "CEO" of the Company. And we are a "Company". But Wildlandfire.com has been a company for the last 10 years. The only difference is we have a bit different structure. There are four (4) of us who run the day-to-day operations of the site and are the entire company. We started FireWhat Inc. in 2011, and all work very closely with several partners to build the latest mobile tools you have all asked for.

But again, we are all firefighters, and there are just four of us. I've heard the rumors that the new "Company" is planning to charge for the site. That's not the case. The site WILL REMAIN FREE.

So with all of that behind us, I do want to fill you all in on the exciting things we are working on...

First, a Mobile Application: The mobile app will apply new mapping technology, which we are working towards with ESRI. It will allow firefighters to get the same Hotlist IA info, but have a map that gives the needed info in the field (Weather, Geography, lay of the land etc.). The New App is expected out this summer.

Next, we will be making some needed upgrades to the website. The upgrades are mainly for our moderators to have an easier time uploading content.

You may remember that the Hotlist went to a separate temporary website (wlfhotlist.com). The two sitesWildlandfire.com and Wlfhotlist.com will now be rejoined and have a cleaner look. Wildlandfire.com will be the sole site that houses the Hotlist, They Said, Classifieds, and other existing information. The site will also have a mobile little brother. So, you will have the same website, but it will be easier to view on your smart phone or tablet.

Another development, we are working on building a Wildlandfire.com Gear Store. The store will cater to you, the Wildland Firefighter. The most exciting part about the store is a portion of the proceeds will go to the organizations that directly support Wildland Firefighters. The store will have equipment, apparel, and odds and ends that Wildland Firefighters use everyday.

We invite you to reach out and visit us. Stop by the office. We are in Dunsmuir, which is a small town (1,600 people) on the Upper Sacramento River in Northern California. It’s great having folks stop in to see the operations, and see that we are all part of the same family. Our goal is to keep building the tools you need to keep you safe, and bring you home at night!

I look forward to the next leg of the journey. It's been an exciting ride so far, and it has just begun!

Thanks and Stay Safe out there!

Sam Lanier
Wildlandfire.com
Owner and Firefighter
Wildlan_admin@wildlandfire.com ]]> General Discussion (All Areas) MtEddy http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34029-A-message-from-Wildlandfire-com 2 Large Air Tankers Leaving Calif. For Wyoming http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34010-2-Large-Air-Tankers-Leaving-Calif-For-Wyoming?goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 07:16:43 GMT A California company that operates two large wildfire-fighting air tankers is... A California company that operates two large wildfire-fighting air tankers is moving to Wyoming.

The president and CEO of Victorville-based 10 Tanker Air Carrier, Rick Hatton, told the Casper Star-Tribune ( http://bit.ly/19qnQH0) that its two tankers and about 16 employees will be based at the Casper/Natrona County airport as early as next month.

The DC-10s are passenger aircraft that have been equipped to hold 100,000 pounds of fire retardant and water. Hatton says that's about four times the capacity of the next largest air tankers.

One of the planes was used to fight the Sheep Herder Hill Fire on Casper Mountain last summer. Hatton said he was impressed by the airport staff's "can do" attitude and with its facilities.

The U.S. Forest Service has an exclusive-use contract for one of the planes.

Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com ]]> General Discussion (All Areas) AK Old Timer http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/34010-2-Large-Air-Tankers-Leaving-Calif-For-Wyoming Another year, another bandwidth offer http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/33988-Another-year-another-bandwidth-offer?goto=newpost Wed, 15 May 2013 18:22:25 GMT For many reasons, there are a lot of independent scanner audio providers who... For many reasons, there are a lot of independent scanner audio providers who choose not to deal with Broadcastify. Unfortunately, in times of heavy traffic, their systems are usually overwhelmed. In addition, there are lots of people who live in areas where there may be an active fire but don't actively provide scanner audio on a regular basis.

For those people, the Butte County Public Safety Scanner (http://www.thenet411.net) makes its excess bandwidth available every fire season at no charge. In the past, we have offered up to 1,000 Windows Media and/or ShoutCast ports available and many have taken us up on our offer and in fact we continue to augment one independent scanner year round. We've just completed a massive upgrade in our bandwidth and server capacity so we are now prepared to offer up to 5,000 ports of any combination of encoders to independent scanner audio providers who are close to an incident and need augmented bandwidth. Just send us a private message via WLF or email bandwidth@thenet411.net and we'll get you setup in no time. Just to clarify, this is for the duration of active incidents only. We're not attempting to compete with Broadcastify for long term scanner feeds. We're offering our bandwidth to independent providers during active incidents who need augmented bandwidth during a major incident.

Thanks. ]]> General Discussion (All Areas) thenet411 http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/33988-Another-year-another-bandwidth-offer