The Flathead Hotshots are a U.S. Forest Service interagency hotshot crew located in the Hungry Horse Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest in Hungry Horse, Montana. [1]
The Flathead Hotshots are a U.S. Forest Service interagency hotshot crew located in the Hungry Horse Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest in Hungry Horse, Montana. [1]
The Flathead Hotshots were established in 1966, when the Slate Creek IR Crew was relocated from the Nez Perce National Forest to the Flathead National Forest. They were subsequently renamed the Flathead Inter-Regional Fire Suppression Crew. [2] [3] From 1966, until 1982, the crew was based out of the Big Creek Ranger Station located 27 miles north of Columbia Falls, MT. [4] In 1982, the crew was relocated to the Glacier View Ranger Station. In 1993, the Flathead Hotshots were again relocated, this time to the Hungry Horse Ranger Station where they remain to this day. [3]
Today, the Flathead Hotshot crew consists of 20 highly skilled wildland firefighters. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] When assigned to fires, crewmembers work shifts of 16 hours per day for 14-21 consecutive days. [11] [3] When not fighting fires, the crew participates in rigorous calisthenics, classroom training, field training, and project work throughout the forest. [12] In addition to wildland firefighting operations, the crew has also responded to natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ian and other search and rescue operations. [3] [13] [14] [9] The Flathead Hotshots are 1 of 7 interagency hotshot crews located in the U.S Forest Service's R1 Northern Region. [1] [15]
In 2008, two Flathead Hotshots crewmembers were struck by lightning while conducting a prescribed fire. [16]
In 2010, a crewmember suffered a broken femur while assigned to the Deer Park Fire. The situation became exponentially more complicated when the air ambulance sent to evacuate the firefighter suffered a landing mishap which put the helicopter and helispot out of service. The series of events became an incident with an incident within an incident. [17] [16]
Smokejumpers are specially trained wildland firefighters who provide an initial attack response on remote wildland fires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute.
Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing aircraft, or rappelling from helicopters. Chemicals used to fight fires may include water, water enhancers such as foams and gels, and specially formulated fire retardants such as Phos-Chek.
This glossary of wildfire terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to wildfires and wildland firefighting. Except where noted, terms have largely been sourced from a 1998 Fireline Handbook transcribed for a Conflict 21 counter-terrorism studies website by the Air National Guard.
The Great Fire of 1910 was a wildfire in the Inland Northwest region of the United States that in the summer of 1910 burned three million acres in North Idaho and Western Montana, with extensions into Eastern Washington and Southeast British Columbia. The area burned included large parts of the Bitterroot, Cabinet, Clearwater, Coeur d'Alene, Flathead, Kaniksu, Kootenai, Lewis and Clark, Lolo, and St. Joe national forests.The fire burned over two days on the weekend of August 20–21, after strong winds caused numerous smaller fires to combine into a firestorm of unprecedented size. It killed 87 people, mostly firefighters, destroyed numerous manmade structures, including several entire towns, and burned more than three million acres of forest with an estimated billion dollars' worth of timber lost. It is believed to be the largest, although not the deadliest, forest fire in U.S. history.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various areas under state responsibility totaling 31 million acres, as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. In addition, the department provides varied emergency services in 36 of the state's 58 counties via contracts with local governments. The department's current director is Joe Tyler, who was appointed March 4, 2022, by Governor of California Gavin Newsom.
In the United States, a Shot Crew, officially known as an Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC), is a team of 20-22 elite wildland firefighters that mainly respond to large, high-priority fires across the country and abroad. They are assigned to work the most challenging parts of the fire and are considered strategic and tactical wildland fire experts. Hotshots are a national resource and their deployment is controlled at the national level. Hotshot crews are considered the most highly trained, skilled and experienced wildland firefighters, along with smokejumpers. They are qualified to provide leadership for initial-attack and extended-attack on wildland fires. Hotshots are trained and equipped to work in remote areas for extended periods of time with minimal logistical support. They are organized by agencies such as the United States Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and state/county agencies; the National Interagency Fire Center coordinates hotshot crews on the federal level.
Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts depend on many factors such as the available fuel, the local atmospheric conditions, the features of the terrain, and the size of the wildfire. Because of this wildfire suppression in wild land areas usually requires different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated areas. Working in conjunction with specially designed aerial firefighting aircraft, fire engines, tools, firefighting foams, fire retardants, and using various firefighting techniques, wildfire-trained crews work to suppress flames, construct fire lines, and extinguish flames and areas of heat in order to protect resources and natural wilderness. Wildfire suppression also addresses the issues of the wildland–urban interface, where populated areas border with wild land areas.
The National Interagency Fire Center(NIFC) in Boise, Idaho is the American physical facility which is the home to the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC), and the National Multi-Agency Coordination group (NMAC or MAC).
The Rattlesnake Fire was a wildfire started by an arsonist on July 9, 1953, in Powder House Canyon on the Mendocino National Forest in northern California. The wildfire killed one Forest Service employee and 14 volunteer firefighters from the New Tribes Mission, and burned over 1,300 acres (530 ha) before it was controlled on July 11, 1953. It became and remains to this day a well-known firefighting textbook case on fatal wildland fires.
Helitack crews are teams of wildland firefighters who are transported by helicopter to wildfires. Helicopters provide rapid transport, enabling helitack crews to quickly respond and assess a wildfire situation. Helitack crews may land near a wildfire or, if equipped and trained, rappel from a hovering helicopter. Once on the ground, crews build firelines using hand tools, chainsaws, and other firefighting tools. They often remain overnight in remote locations. After they have completed their assignment, crew members may pack up to 120 pounds of equipment over difficult terrain to reach a pick-up point. Rappellers often prepare helispots that provide better access to a fire. Helicopter crew members may also perform other duties such as tree falling, firing operations, and managing helibases.
Wildfire suppression in the United States has had a long and varied history. For most of the 20th century, any form of wildland fire, whether it was naturally caused or otherwise, was quickly suppressed for fear of uncontrollable and destructive conflagrations such as the Peshtigo Fire in 1871 and the Great Fire of 1910. In the 1960s, policies governing wildfire suppression changed due to ecological studies that recognized fire as a natural process necessary for new growth. Today, policies advocating complete fire suppression have been exchanged for those who encourage wildland fire use, or the allowing of fire to act as a tool, such as the case with controlled burns.
Wildfire suppression equipment and personnel is part of the science of fire fighting focusing on the use of specialized equipment, training and tactics to effectively control, surround and eventually extinguish a natural cover fire. There are several specially designed tools that through their function and user training, perform specialized tasks that are specific to natural cover firefighting. This is used together in conjunction with the general understanding of the behavior of fire to form a viable plan of attack.
The Thirtymile Fire was first reported on July 9, 2001 in the Okanogan National Forest, approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Winthrop, Washington, United States. The wildfire had been caused by an unattended campfire that spread rapidly in the hot and dry weather in the Pacific Northwest. Four firefighters were killed when the fire cut off their only escape route out of the narrow canyon.
On August 18, 1937, a lightning strike started the Blackwater Fire in Shoshone National Forest, approximately 35 miles (56 km) west of Cody, Wyoming, United States. Fifteen firefighters were killed by the forest fire when a dry weather front caused the winds to suddenly increase and change direction. The fire quickly spread into dense forest, creating spot fires that trapped some of the firefighters in a firestorm. Nine firefighters died during the fire and six more died shortly thereafter from severe burns and respiratory complications. Another 38 firefighters were injured. The fire killed more professional wildland firefighters in the U.S. than any other in the 103 years between the Great Fire of 1910 and the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013.
The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Just one of the hotshots on the crew survived—he was posted as a lookout on the fire and was not with the others when the fire overtook them. The Yarnell Hill Fire was one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires since the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which killed 25 people, and the deadliest wildland fire for U.S. firefighters since the 1933 Griffith Park fire, which killed 29 "impromptu" civilian firefighters drafted on short notice to help battle that Los Angeles area fire.
The La Brea Fire was a fast moving 2009 wildfire which occurred in Southern California in the United States. The fire began near La Brea Creek in Santa Barbara County, in the Los Padres National Forest. The fire started burning on August 8, and just 5 days later on August 13 had grown by 10,000 acres, or 40 sq. km. When the wildfire was finally contained on August 22, it had burned 89,489 acres of land. The huge Zaca Fire burned in the same region as the La Brea Fire, and occurred just two years prior in 2007.
The Loop Fire was a wildfire in Angeles National Forest, above Sylmar, California. Twelve members of the El Cariso Hotshots were killed: 10 died at the scene November 1, 1966; two died later as a result of their injuries while hospitalized.
The Lone Peak Hotshots are an Interagency Hotshot Crew located in Draper, Utah in the United States. The crew consists of 23 firefighters 7 of which are permanent and 16 of which are seasonal. The Lone Peak Hotshots season typically begins in mid April and extends until late October.
The Lolo Hotshots are a specialist Interagency Hotshot Crew based out of the Lolo National Forest in west-central Montana. The crew consists of 21 permanent and seasonal wildland firefighters.
The 2021 McCash Fire was a large wildfire in Siskiyou County in Northern California. Part of the 2021 California wildfire season, the fire was ignited by lightning on July 31 and burned 94,962 acres before its containment on October 27. The fire burned within the Klamath National Forest and the Six Rivers National Forest.
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