Posted on 09/06/2011 9:07:28 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
BASTROP — Firefighting-trained volunteers from around the state converged on Bastrop and Smithville Tuesday to lend a hand to the beleaguered local firefighters battling the Bastrop County Complex Fire — only to be sent away as federal officials arrived at the scene and took command, apparently because local officials never made a formal request for volunteers.
“We were at the station getting set up into strike teams, and this guy came up and said that the U.S. Forest Service had ‘assumed control of the situation, and that ‘If you don’t have a vehicle that squirts water, go home,’” said Gordon Greer of Kirbyville, who drove all night Monday to arrive in the town beset by the worst wildfire in Texas history. “You’ve got guys who had driven all night long from Corpus Christi and Brownsville on their own dime, and they turned them away. He was really a (bleep) about it.
“There was a whole line of beige cars that came in this morning, tinted windows and such,” Greer said.
A spokesperson with the U.S. National Interagency Incident Center, Jennifer Jones, confirmed that federal group of several different agencies would be assuming command in Bastrop County around 1 p.m. Tuesday, but had not done so when the firefighting volunteers were told to leave. April Saginor with the Texas Forest Service said her agency had not given any such order, to her knowledge, but promised to provide an update later in the day.
The question is apparently one of protocol, however.
The Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management announced via its Facebook account Tuesday afternoon that “Any fire mutual aid requests would always come through (and to) Local, State and National fire service and emergency leadership. This message sent as per Texas Fire Chiefs, TIFMAS, IAFC, USFA and FEMA. If you are a fire fighter wanting to volunteer you have to be activated by the National Forestry Service first.”
The Texas Forest Service issued a statement Tuesday evening that it is not requesting firefighters/retired firefighters to report to Central Texas.
"If a person wants to fight fire they can: 1. Apply for a full-time Texas Forest Service position. We are not hiring seasonals as we currently do not have the time to hire, train and certify them. 2. Join a local fire department. 3. Members of local departments should not self-dispatch. Have your fire chief contact TIFMAS Coordinator Joe Florentino at jflorentino@littleelm.org"
Several of the volunteers voiced their displeasure, however, at federal agents taking charge at the scene after appeals by Texas Gov. Rick Perry for federal aid following another series of wildfires earlier this year was turned down.
“They’re willing to sacrifice the lives of the people of Bastrop just so they can come in here and pull rank,” said Daniel Miller of Nederland, who had led a group of Texas Nationalist Movement members who were certified firefighters to Bastrop from the Beaumont area. Miller said he and several other members of the group would remain in the Bastrop area to aid with civilian relief efforts.
Just like mclaim "halted" his campaign to help pass stimulus?
Volunteer fireman have been around forever. They know what the hell they're doing.
If, God forbid, I ever have a fire in my house, am I supposed to wait to "hired, trained and certified" to put it out?
These three BREAKING NEWS headlines occurring in this order (newest to oldest) tells the whole story...
-Feds to assume control of Bastrop Co. fire; TX volunteer firemen turned away
-Confirmed: Perry scheduled to leave wildfires for GOP debate
-Rick Perry: Because of the Texas fires, I’m not sure I’ll make the debate tomorrow night
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46009
Interesting conflict over aviation contract for fire-fighting fleet.
Perry & Texas being hamstrung again!!!
It basically hasn't rained in Texas since last September. We have had less than 10" since Sep, and nothing over .75 at any given time. The past 12 months will be the driest ever recorded. We have had over 70 days of 100+ here, and not much is green anymore.
And, it looks like no real chance of rain ‘til November.
Do not presume that Federal intentions are beneficial for Texas. Texas did not actually ask for the feds to step in, did they?
Unfortunately I have so little trust in the system that I can fully believe that the feds will let Texas burn so that Obama can use it in a campaign ad against Rick Perry (”I had to clean up his mess ...”).
I heard that last week. I never thought we would be praying for a hurricane or tropical storm, but that is what I am doing.
Well...if Bammy is doing this to make Perry look bad, I guess he’s willing to be personally responsible for the fires in Texas from the moment he “took over.”
He’s not very smart to be doing this to raise himself politically because of the risks involved if and when FEMA screws up.
Texas is hurting. Pray for rain.
There’s part of the problem-——who the bleep started measuring Texas land in “hectares”??? Is the United Nations involved? That’s gotta be a guy who’s never seen a Texas ranch or any other ranch for that matter.
It's not a matter of manpower or even the skills that a volunteer may have that matters, it's the credentials. Why you may ask. Lawsuits.
“He was really a (bleep) about it.”
Word games are fun!
Let me guess....a.....RUNT!!
Gonna need it.
But I gotta ask...why is ZerØ offering federal assistance now, when all this past year, he’s avoided sending $ to Texas?
One starts to suspect that they are trying burn Texas to the Ground.
“
“We were at the station getting set up into strike teams, and this guy came up and said that the U.S. Forest Service had ‘assumed control of the situation, and that ‘If you don’t have a vehicle that squirts water, go home,’” said Gordon Greer of Kirbyville, who drove all night Monday to arrive in the town beset by the worst wildfire in Texas history. “You’ve got guys who had driven all night long from Corpus Christi and Brownsville on their own dime, and they turned them away. He was really a (bleep) about it. “
Seriously does the U.S. forest service know anything about fighting fires in desert conditions? Much of it is not about “squirting water” its about clearing land and erecting fire barriers.
Even the Texas National guard can do that under the supervision of firefighting experts. They don’t need no hoses or water, they just need a strong back, knowledge about setting up fire barriers and a shovel.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46009
Obama cut over 40% of fire fighting plane contracts five weeks ago.
The IT manager at work is a volunteer fire department captain in west Katy, TX. He told me he spent the weekend fighting the Montgomery County fires, they lost 7 houses and a truck. He told me it is a tinderbox, and that he ran from a fire for the first time in his life. He said the walls of flames were 20 to 30 feet high in the semi rural part of the county.
My analogy was to the Incident Command Structure, not comparing wildland fire fighting to ground combat, I have no idea what combat is like, although I will say that in my youth (1977-1983) I actively participated in 47 southern california wildfires with the USFS on engines and Helitack, I saw an engine foreman burned to a screaming mass of charred flesh, saw a retardant dropping aircraft crash before my eyes, watched as a helicopter was struck by a train, medivaced a beautiful girl I knew who fell into a hidden bed of coals and was horribly maimed beyond belief, got heatstroke, went to put out a fisherman who was hit by lightening and exploded, yanked a dead rotted person out of crashed car for the CHP slept in my boots for weeks at a time with scarce food and no shower, fought fire by hand constructing line for miles and had to run for my life more than once, stayed up many nights in a row holding line out in the wilderness, gone with no water for days, I fought fire with a passion and commitment to the mission, as did most of my fellows on the line, and i take exception to some of the posters cavalier bashing and armchair quarterbacking of something they know little about
I am no fan of the government beauracracy but this article is full of factual bits rolled into an emotionally biased ball of hyperbole aimed at making a subjective point that it is the fault of the federal government because it failed to stop an overwhealming force of nature
Force of nature? The same people who spend billions in firefighting allowed the fuel in that forest to develop to catastrophic levels. It's the same all over the country. They know better too, as the Cone Fire showed. It doesn't matter if it was Rodeo-Chediski, Los Alamos, or San Bernardino, in every case they were warned and in every case the Forest Service did nothing. In every case there are hearings with lots of experts telling them the same things. And in every case they cave to the leftist eco-freak agents of those with investments in selling timber from abroad. The top level reason is politics and money, while the agency staff celebrates a culture of institutional incompetence and goes back to collecting overtime on "firefighting." Over forty percent of the agency budget is for lawsuits, not management.
"Overwhelming force of nature"? Human nature, maybe.
*cough* (bullshit) *cough*
I wasn’t “trained” when I fought my first wild fire, I didn’t have a “Vehicle that squirts water”, and the old couple who were fixing to watch their house burn to the ground didn’t care that I wasn’t trained either.
Dangerous yes, but when you’re exhausted, no sleep, no help, and some asshat turns away help...
Not going to give a sermon here, but if we ain’t here to HELP each other, especially in situations like this, than what the hell are we here for?
Any good “Commander” would have know how to handle volunteers, we ain’t talking civillians here, and made use of them.
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