# Presentation: 375428

## WILDLAND FIRE/ENERGY INDUSTRY SAFETY SUMMIT 

- WILDFIRE
- SCENARIO

## WILDFIRE STARTS 

- At 1430 on June 28 a Dry Thunderstorm West of Parachute Starts a Fire from Lightning.
- Fire is on the North End of High Mesa in the Dry Creek Drainage.
- The Fire is Almost Immediately Reported By Passing Motorists on I-70.
- Garfield County Dispatch Pages out Grand Valley Fire to the Smoke.

## Conditions for June 28th

- Scattered Dry Thunderstorms in Afternoon
- Temperature 90-96 degrees
- Winds West 8-12 mph Gusts to15 mph
- Minimum Relative Humidity 8-12%
- Fuels- Fire is Burning in Thick Mature Pinion Juniper in Dry Creek Drainage
- Areas of Grass and Sage Brush in the Flats on Top of High Mesa
- Google slide 1

## First on Scene at 14:37

- Grand Valley Fire Brush 14 arrive North of Fire on County Road 300.
- Fire is now 1⁄4-1⁄2  acre in Size with Black Smoke Column 1⁄2 mile South of Road Inaccessible by Vehicle.
- Notifies Garfield County Dispatch the Fire is on BLM Land and Sizes Up Fire.
- HIGH POTENTIAL TO BECOME LARGE FIRE BASED ON WEATHER AND LOCATION.

## First Role Player

- Grand Valley Incident Commander
- _Question_
- Based on fire location, weather and current behavior what resources would be ordered and what are your concerns at this point?

## 14:50-Additional Resources Arrive

- Rifle Helicopter Arrives and Begins Bucket Work
- Air tankers Arrive Dropping on East Flank.
- Incident Command Post (ICP) and Staging Area Established North of Fire in Field Next to House along County Road 300.
- Google Slide 2

## Values at Risk in Area

- Major Power Line 1⁄2 North of the Fire
- Oil and Gas Infrastructure on top of High Mesa
- Including and active Drill Rig 1 Mile West of Fire
- Scattered Homes North of Fire
- Community of Battlement Mesa 11⁄2 mile Northwest of Fire

## Unified Command Established Federal/ Grand Valley FPD 

- Unified Command established due to potential for fire to move onto private land.
- Law Enforcement has Been Activated to Try to Evacuate Anyone on High Mesa and Set Road Blocks.
- Power line, Oil/Gas and Pipeline Liaisons have been requested to Incident Command Post.

## Role Players Added

- Federal Incident Commander Helitack Foreman
- Oil and Gas Liaison-Encana

## Questions?

- What Will the Incident Commander Want to Know from the Oil and Gas Liaison?
- 	-Is there Personnel that Need Evacuated?
- 	-Where are the Personnel & Do You have Communications with them?
- 	-How Soon can Drill Rig be Shut Down?
- 	-What Hazards Exist?
- 			Example-Above Ground Pipeline
- 	-What is the Most Important Infrastructure that is being Threatened by the Fire?

## Fire at 1540 has Spread to 40 Acres in Size

## 1540 Fire Status

- Fire has Spread up Both Sides of the Dry Creek Drainage.
- Main Fire Spread is to the East Driven By the Wind.
- Now Fire is 1⁄2 mile from the Drill Rig.
- The Fire is also Advancing to the South Up the Dry Creek Drainage.
- Google Slide 3

## Suppression Response

-        **Resources on Scene**
- 	-Air Resources-Helicopter, 2 SEATS, 2 Heavy Air Tankers, and Air Attack.
- 	-Ground Resources- 3 UCR Engines, 4 Grand Valley Engines, Initial Attack Squad. More Resources on Order.
-  	-Firefighters Began Direct Hand Line Construction at the Heal of the Fire to Establish an Anchor Point with Helicopter Support.

## At 1600 Air Attack ReportsDozer Working West Side

- 	-A Local Rancher has used his Dozer to begin Constructing Fuel Break on Top of High Mesa on the Ridge West of Dry Creek.
- 	-The Dozer is Rolling Rocks into the Dry Creek Drainage in the Area of the Crews Working the on Handline.

## The Dozer Constructing Fuel Break Would Cause What Issues? 

- Safety of Crews working in Dry Creek Drainage Downhill of Dozer and Safety of Dozer Operator.
- Need to Divert Firefighting Resources to make Contact with Dozer Operator.
- If Dozer line is constructed on BLM land it needs approved by Field Office manager and coordinated by Resource Advisor.

**One fatality**

**SAFETY  ISSUE**

## 1640 Fire Status

- The Fire is Now 150 Acres it is Actively Burning Spreading East with the Wind Along the Top of High Mesa.
- The Fire has Reached Drill Rig Burning around the Well Pad.
- Google Slide 4

## 1640 Firefighters Driving WestSide of High Mesa Report Water Tender Blocking Road  

- Private Water Tender in area decide to “Self-Dispatch” itself to the Fire to Help Out.
- In the Excitement of Driving to the Fire the Driver put a Tire off the Main Road going up the West side of High Mesa.
- The Rear Axle is High Centered and the Water Tender is blocking the Road

## Question

- What are Issues Associated with Water Tender Blocking the Road?
- Ingress and Egress of Firefighters and Evacuees.
- How are we Going to get Water Tender out of the Road?
- Are Road Blocks that are in Place Adequate?

## 1740 Fire status

- Thunderstorm moved over the fire area causing significant rainfall.
- Size of fire is 1150 acres.
- Even though rain has caused the fire to stop spreading it will take several days to control all hot spots on the fire.
- Google
-     Slide 5

## Conclusion

- The Fire Burned 1150 acres, One Drill Rig, Five Well pads were Impacted by the Fire
- Luckily the Rain came, The Fire had Potential to Burn Several Thousand Acres and Impact Large Amounts of Oil and Gas Infrastructure.  Could have Easily Burned into the Community of Battlement Mesa.

## Questions?

- Contact Info
- Lathan Johnson, UCR Central  Zone AFMO,
- 970-625-2872   Lathan_Johnson@BLM.GOV