Searcy County leads state in 5-year wildfire average

1,800 acres damaged annually, forestry data show

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/RYAN MCGEENEY --01-04-2013-- Captain Jaimie Baggett of Pea Ridge conducts a brief inventory Jan. 4 of wildland firefighting tools kept inside a brush truck at Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department Station 1. The Arkansas Forestry Commission will be conducting an 8-hour class on wild land firefighting at the station Jan. 14-15. The Pea Ridge class is one of more than 25 sessions being taught at fire houses across the state between Jan. 5 and Aug. 6.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/RYAN MCGEENEY --01-04-2013-- Captain Jaimie Baggett of Pea Ridge conducts a brief inventory Jan. 4 of wildland firefighting tools kept inside a brush truck at Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department Station 1. The Arkansas Forestry Commission will be conducting an 8-hour class on wild land firefighting at the station Jan. 14-15. The Pea Ridge class is one of more than 25 sessions being taught at fire houses across the state between Jan. 5 and Aug. 6.

You don’t have to tell Searcy County’s Randy Smyth that these are dangerous times to fight wildfires in Arkansas.

Smyth, a county ranger with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, has been fighting fires in the area for 17 years. The county , almost entirely rural and bordered by the Ozark National Forest and Buffalo River National Park, has led the state in the average number of acres damaged by wildfires overa five-year span, averaging more than 1,800 acres each year from 2007 to 2011, according to data provided by the commission.

“As dry as it’s been, with this much fuel on the ground, anything will get it going,” Smyth said. “A spark from a lawnmower. Anything. And it just takes us a while to get to a lot of these places - we don’t have roads everywhere.”

The county is emblematic of many areas in the northwestern portion of the state. The fallout from a sweeping2009 ice storm left woodland areas covered with downed limbs, and repeated periods of high temperatures and minimal rainfall have left northwestern Arkansas in conditions ranging from “moderate drought” to “severe drought” as described by the National Weather Service’s drought monitor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. According to the service, 2012 was the fifth-driest year for Arkansas since the service beganrecording data in 1941.

Between Jan. 5 and Aug. 6, the commission is scheduled to teach wildland firefighting classes at 24 fire departments across the state. The eight-hour class is a requirement for both professional and volunteer firefighter certification.

The classes will be taught by Travis Haile, a training instructor with the commission. Haile, who began teaching the course three years ago, said the course curriculum was developed by a committee of firefighters, and initially approved by the Arkansas Fire Training Academy in Camden in 1979, when it was a four-hour class known as the Rural Fire Program. In 2000, the course was expanded from four to eight hours.

Haile said that the course concentrates on firefighting practices for small crews dealing with fires in areas that don’t involve man-made structures.

“We’re talking mainly about woods and grasses,” Haile said. “As far as getting to the fire, they don’t need to be speeding and jeopardizing themselves or others. They need to get out there and be safe.”

Haile said that in rural areas serviced by volunteer fire departments, fire crews typically number about four or five individuals. While most firefighter training concentrates on structure fires, wildland training focuses on creating a “fire line” around the fire - isolating the blaze, removing all available fuel from the fire, and letting it burn itself out.

The course also covers use of proper protective clothing, which differs from urban settings.

“A lot of fire departments have what we call structural turnout gear, but that gear isn’t designed to fight wildland fires,” Haile said. “It’s heavier, hotter, and harderto maneuver in.”

The eight-hour class is taught entirely in an indoor, classroom environment. Participants must pass a written examination to become certified in wildland firefighting. After certification, the individual departments are responsible for implementing the hands-on training.

“We hope they just go out and practice,” Haile said. “Do it a time or two and figure it out.”

Haile said that feedback he’s received from forestry commission rangers indicates that the wildland training classes are effective.

“When our forestry commission rangers show up to help fight a fire, they see the volunteers wearing the right type of gear, doing what we’ve taught them,” Haile said. “Over the years, the rangers have seen that happen increasingly often. It seems like it keeps getting better, that the volunteers are taking this course and putting it to use.”

One of the courses is scheduled to be taught over two four-hour sessions, Jan. 14 and 15, at the Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department.

Captain Brent Richey, who serves with the Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department, said the course usually attracts 15 to 30 firefighters, varying from year to year.

“Whenever you have fires out in the woodland areas, different things can happen. Things can change on you,” Richey said. “You’ve really got to have your head on a swivel - it’s as dangerous as a structure fire. The wind can change direction and bring the fire right down on you.”

Richey said tree damage resulting from winter storms throughout the area poses a serious threat to firefighters working to extinguish blazes in wooded areas. Richey said falling limbs are sometimes referred to as “widow makers” during a blaze.

“It’s a lot of weight coming down, and it has killed firefighters in the past,” Richey said.

Five-year average of acres burned.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 01/06/2013

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