2024 Wildfire Season

[childs56]

I think the most important question is, can the DHC 515 carry bombs and torpedoes.

yes, along with passengers, patients and supply's if required.

 

[daftandbarmy]

LA Mayor makes Trump look great...

LA Mayor, Trump argue over rebuilding after fires

President Donald Trump and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass argued over the timing of when displaced residents can legally return to their properties to clear out debris after the recent fires.

www.foxla.com

 

[Cloud Cover]

Informative thread about Californias Incarcerated Fire Fighter program. I know we have a few corrections, parole and criminal justice professionals on these boards, I’d be interested in knowing if this is a program that could be available in Canada. Specifically the brush clearing work they do when not on fires and between fire seasons.

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[RangerRay]

Informative thread about Californias Incarcerated Fire Fighter program. I know we have a few corrections, parole and criminal justice professionals on these boards, I’d be interested in knowing if this is a program that could be available in Canada. Specifically the brush clearing work they do when not on fires and between fire seasons.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

There’s a good documentary on firefighting in California on Netflix that came out a few years ago and the prison firefighting program was a good chunk of it. It looked like a great program for low to medium risk offenders.

I think it used to be more common to use prisoners as firefighters or labourers here, but I think the courts or some other good idea fairy seemed it was cruel for prisoners to do any kind of labour. I could be wrong though. I do remember prison farms and highway cleaning crews were a thing not long ago, but not anymore.

 

[daftandbarmy]

There’s a good documentary on firefighting in California on Netflix that came out a few years ago and the prison firefighting program was a good chunk of it. It looked like a great program for low to medium risk offenders.

I think it used to be more common to use prisoners as firefighters or labourers here, but I think the courts or some other good idea fairy seemed it was cruel for prisoners to do any kind of labour. I could be wrong though. I do remember prison farms and highway cleaning crews were a thing not long ago, but not anymore.

Good article from a few years ago...

I hung out with the prisoners who fight California's wildfires

"It's more unity here than it would be in the yard because we've gotta work together."

www.motherjones.com

 

[Halifax Tar]

There’s a good documentary on firefighting in California on Netflix that came out a few years ago and the prison firefighting program was a good chunk of it. It looked like a great program for low to medium risk offenders.

I think it used to be more common to use prisoners as firefighters or labourers here, but I think the courts or some other good idea fairy seemed it was cruel for prisoners to do any kind of labour. I could be wrong though. I do remember prison farms and highway cleaning crews were a thing not long ago, but not anymore.

Colin's Bay Penitentiary in Kingston, Ont had a working farm. It was shut down a few years back, and I think it was Canadas last penal farm.

It was an interesting location as Kingston had grown up around it.

 

[Rifleman62]

Add the Grumman TBM Avenger to your list. Saw them operating while at Vernon Cadet Camp in 1962
Aviation Collection Visitors - Warhawk Air Museum

Grumman TBM Avenger​

d the

 

[lenaitch]

Colin's Bay Penitentiary in Kingston, Ont had a working farm. It was shut down a few years back, and I think it was Canadas last penal farm.

It was an interesting location as Kingston had grown up around it.

I think it's back up and running. I think Joyceville has one as well as a few out west.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Bagged him...

Man agrees to plead guilty for flying drone that damaged firefighting aircraft in LA wildfire​

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pilot of a drone that crashed into a firefighting plane, leaving a gaping hole and grounding the aircraft during the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of unsafely operating

Man agrees to plead guilty for flying drone that damaged firefighting aircraft in LA wildfire

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pilot of a drone that crashed into a firefighting plane, leaving a gaping hole and grounding the aircraft during the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of unsafely operating

www.nsnews.com

 

[foresterab]

Informative thread about Californias Incarcerated Fire Fighter program. I know we have a few corrections, parole and criminal justice professionals on these boards, I’d be interested in knowing if this is a program that could be available in Canada. Specifically the brush clearing work they do when not on fires and between fire seasons.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Talking with the CALFIRE guys a couple of years ago when on holidays regarding this program.
1) you're only eligible to apply if you're serving time for minor crimes. So not all prisoners are eligible.
2) you have to volunteer. This is a critical part. And then pass the fitness test.
3) They are paid a nominal sum. I think it's below minimum wage and guys jokes "a pack of smokes of day earned".
4) they're often in the jail. These resources are mobilized when needed with the CALFIRE crews usually doing much of the pre-suppression but could be used as needed (budgets and costings get messy normally).

However here's the benefits to the inmate:
4) Time spent on fire is taken off the sentence so they release faster
5) provides some recent work experience on the resume especially if they have "questionable" employment backgrounds
6) CALFIRE allows applications to their positions and waives the historical criminal past (assuming no major crimes and no new crimes since release).

This last one is huge because normally a criminal background would eliminate an applicant from jobs. Once they are hired within CALFIRE as an employee (non-convict crew) its up the individual suitability/drive/opportunity to move up the ranks.

Now I'm sure there are actually some more checks and balances in the process...I can't see a guy with a nazi swastika tattooed on their face being hired....but it's a rough outline.

California is not the only state with this type of program and co-workers have been on other US fires with armed sheriffs on the line supervising the crews. I believe those sheriffs also get some fire safety training but different rules by state/agency in the USA.

From what I'm told of the past prison crews in Alberta at least (1970's and early 80's) a couple of the arguments that resulted in shutting it down was that a) convicts had no choice b) not all convicts were fit for the work which causes other issues if part of the crew is injured and guards need to be split c) more provincial seasonal crews were created to fill the demand especially at initial attack stages.

It's not uncommon to work with ex-convicts. You learn very fast not to ask about jail tattoos unless the individual brings it up and almost everyone of them I've worked with have been good men/women on the line. It's also not unheard of to get a call from the RCMP asking if we have individual X on a fire and could we notify them when they're heading back to town due to a trial date/warrant etc. Situations like that are usually discretely handled with the individual assuming no alerts provided due to dangerous people...same way people have to leave a fire for the birth of a child, death in the family or other life events.

 

[foresterab]

Add the Grumman TBM Avenger to your list. Saw them operating while at Vernon Cadet Camp in 1962
Aviation Collection Visitors - Warhawk Air Museum

Grumman TBM Avenger​

d the

TBM's were a mainstay across much of Canada - in multiple fleets - up until 2012 in New Brunswick at least. I last saw one in BC in the late 1980's. Big brutes of a machine that were set up for carrying torpedoes with a bay...and easily converted to water bombers.

Forest Protection Limited of New Brunswick apparently peaked at 43 TBM's in 1971 due to water bombers and spray aircraft (spruce budworm aerial spraying). I believe they are flying Air Tractor 802's now. JD Irving also used to have one but it crashed many years ago.

Unfortunately I never got to see them flying while on the fire line but my career missed out on many of the old WW2 warbirds. That being said I sure like the higher capacity and increased response times of the newer airframes.

 

[YZT580]

TBM's were a mainstay across much of Canada - in multiple fleets - up until 2012 in New Brunswick at least. I last saw one in BC in the late 1980's. Big brutes of a machine that were set up for carrying torpedoes with a bay...and easily converted to water bombers.

Forest Protection Limited of New Brunswick apparently peaked at 43 TBM's in 1971 due to water bombers and spray aircraft (spruce budworm aerial spraying). I believe they are flying Air Tractor 802's now. JD Irving also used to have one but it crashed many years ago.

Unfortunately I never got to see them flying while on the fire line but my career missed out on many of the old WW2 warbirds. That being said I sure like the higher capacity and increased response times of the newer airframes.

They were a real treat to watch and more so to hear. They would fly formation from job site to site as often only one or two would have radios. The dash had a lot of gaping holes and there were a lot of fatalities unfortunately.

 

[lenaitch]

They were a real treat to watch and more so to hear. They would fly formation from job site to site as often only one or two would have radios. The dash had a lot of gaping holes and there were a lot of fatalities unfortunately.

I watched them work a fire near St. Andrews NB in the early 2000s. I'm used to the sound of a radial but those large (14?) cylinder engines were next level.