Showcase of joint efforts to suppress wildfires

A helicopter drops 640 gallons of water. This technique can help suppress wildfires. 

By Ashley Tammen
Public Affairs Manager
Northcentral Kansas 

When it comes to suppressing wildfires in our communities, we can never be too prepared as fires can travel quickly over the Kansas grasslands! Last Thursday the Kansas National Guard showcased a demonstration of wildland firefighting capabilities in Saline County. Training on these capabilities is being conducted to build readiness in order to support local and State agencies during the wildland firefighting seasons, which takes place during the drier months of the year.

Lieutenant Colonel Larry Leupold says they hope to take some relief off local fire departments that may need some help in the event of a wildland fire. The training allows them to increase their capabilities and capacity to help local communities. The showcase included demonstrations on brush support, ground support, water tender and aerial suppression capabilities.

Brush support includes fire suppression to protect structures or wildland within the fire area and efforts to prevent fires from crossing established fire lines. The brush tank is equipped with a poly tank of water, which can pump at a rate of 300 gallons per minute and the side winder cannon up front can be operated from within the cab for suppressing fires.

National Guard Chief Warrant Officer Jason Garr demonstrates how a helicopter and Bambi bucket can fight
wildfires. Wild fire season takes place during the driest months of the year. 

When it comes to ground support to suppress the fire, nothing is overlooked including equipment standards, physical fitness standards, experience, and personnel qualification standards. Personnel must possess an accepted inter-agency certification known as a Red Card or Incident Qualification Card when arriving at an incident.

Although the personal protective equipment worn by ground support may look simple to most, it is tested to meet red card qualification standards to facilitate inter-operability— safety first!

The Bambi tank is used for dipping into large pools of water where there must be at least six-seven feet so the tank can be filled completely. 

The water tender team consists of six personnel, a heavy truck with a 6,000-gallon water trailer haul system, and a 20,000-gallon dip tank with a pump and hoses. It takes about 30 minutes to empty the large tank while it pumps out 550 gallons per minute!

The most fascinating demonstration to watch was the aerial suppression demonstration. This fire-fighting capability consists of a UH-60 helicopter, a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief and Bambi bucket equipment. The Bambi tank is used for dipping into large pools of water where there must be at least six to seven feet of water so the tank can be filled completely. 

Once the Bambi tank is filled it is transported to the fire via helicopter, making proximity to water a critical source. The Bambi buckets hold 640 gallons of water, which can be released at variable speeds to maximize attacking a fire line.

With the increased capabilities of local and state agencies across your communities you can take comfort in knowing that Kansas is more prepared to tackle the unexpected tragedy of a wildfire! “It’s about our families, everything starts local and ends local,” said Lt. Leupold.

Wildfire Awareness Week: It only takes a spark

Gov. Laura Kelly has declared this week as Wildfire Awareness Week.

According to the K-State Research and Extension's website, The 2019 wildfire season may start earlier this year. The southwest and central parts of the state could even see an increase in fire weather events. Those areas have experienced extreme fires during the past few years, including the Anderson Creek and Starbuck fires. 

More than 800,000 acres burned and there was more than $80 million in property damage as a result of those events. 

While the causes for the majority of fires are accidental, there are plenty of ways you can help avoid unintentionally starting a grass fire while driving.

Double check to make sure trailer safety chains are secured. Dangling chains can get hot as they hit the pavement and cause sparks, which can ignite nearby vegetation.

Don’t park your car in tall vegetation. Emergencies happen. Sometimes you need to safely pull off to the side of the road. Be aware of your surroundings. Your car’s hot engine or exhaust system could ignite tall grass if it smolders long enough.

Check your exhaust system: Loose or damaged exhaust systems could allow small sparks to escape.

Don’t throw cigarette butts out of your vehicle. Cigarettes are manufactured to burn slowly. When thrown out of car windows, they have the potential to ignite dry grass and brush hours after being tossed out of a moving car. 

Wildfires and grass fires along the side of the roads are serious and can impede traffic due to lack of visibility. Taking these preventative steps could keep you and other travelers safe.

For more information on how to avoid wildfires check out this website.

KDOT crews assisted firefighting efforts

More than a week has passed since the record-breaking wildfires burned over 1,000 square miles of the state. The flames, which were fueled by an abundance of grass, low humidity and strong winds, devastated lives and left some parts of Kansas looking like a barren wasteland.  Governor Sam Brownback has made a disaster declaration for 20 counties in Kansas.

One person was killed and 11 were injured as a result of these fires. The blazes destroyed at least 40 homes and countless livestock.

Last Monday, when the wildfires appeared to be the most numerous, 21 counties were reporting some form of fire event.

KDOT crews in several areas answered the call to assist the firefighters who stood on the front lines against these out-of-control flames.

In Northwest Kansas, Josh Hudson, the Supervisor at the Stockton Sub-Area, worked with his crew to help control traffic on Monday and Tuesday in Rooks County.  They were also able to help fight the flames along U.S. 183 south of Stockton.

U.S. 183 south of Stockton was among the many places affected by the wildfires in Kansas last week. 

KDOT crews were able to assist Firefighters in Rooks county. 

“Senior Equipment Operator, Chad Boyle and I worked with the fire departments and assisted on the fire trucks fighting the fire,” Hudson said. “It was a very long day."

“We had the loader and motor grader south of town making fire breaks to stop the fire from going any farther,” Hudson said.  “We had a truck with water being used.”

The large flames and smoky conditions proved to be a challenge for everyone involved.

Smoky conditions limited visibility and made fighting the flames difficult.

“The smoke made it impossible to see anything on U.S. 183 between town and the top of the hill south of Stockton,” Hudson said.  “There were flames taller than the motor grader burning the right of way.”

On Wednesday, the National Guard out of Salina provided 26 air drops with 660 gallons of water per drop to extinguish areas that they were not able to reach.

The Kansas National Guard out of Salina provided relief with 26 air drops to help extinguish the flames. 

“It was nice to see all the communities and government agencies work together to get this fire under control,” Hudson said.

Farther south, Clark County was hit hardest by the fires, with more than 500,000 acres of land devastated by the flames. One of the state’s smallest communities, Englewood, was severely affected, with at least 12 homes destroyed. 

A damaged sign rests on the charred ground in Clark County. 

Area Superintendent Galen Ludlow said that KDOT crews in the area mostly assisted with traffic control and closing routes where the smoke and fire burned the roadways.

“I was in contact with all my personnel in Ness, Hodgeman, Ford, Clark and Gray counties to get the crews in position to detour traffic,” Ludlow said. “We had to close the highways at the state line going both ways, so I was in contact with Oklahoma to stop traffic going into Oklahoma and vice versa coming into Kansas.”

The flames that destroyed more than 500,000 acres of land in Clark County also affected Kansas roads. Note the coloration change of this highway where the heat from the flames burned the asphalt. 

Ludlow said this was the first time he had ever been involved with a fire of that size and scale. 

“We started with the fire here in Dodge City at approximately 1 p.m.,” Ludlow said. “We received a call from the KHP and Ford County communications that they were requiring traffic assistance. It was a pretty big fire that was burning around the four-way stop at the U.S. 283 and U.S. 56/400 Junction on the south end of Dodge City.”

Ludlow said that the fire in Clark County had caused a great deal of damage to a lot of KDOT’s inventory such as signs and guardrails.

“620 of our guardrail systems were burned in Clark County,” Ludlow said. 

One of many damaged guardrail systems in Clark County. 

One of many damaged guardrail systems in Clark County. 

Ludlow said that it could take several months to clean up and rebuild.

“For us it will entail going out and replacing what was burned,” Ludlow said. “The locals will have lots of cleanup from buildings that have burned up. We are still in the process of deciding how we are going to handle the guardrail situation. It’s such a large scale that it could take an estimated several months to complete.”

Another damaged highway sign after it was burned by the flames. 

Zach Oswald, the Public Affairs Manager in Southcentral Kansas said that KDOT also assisted with traffic during the Reno County fires last week.

“KDOT crews were actively involved in flagging and redirecting traffic along alternative routes,” Oswald said.

“As of Friday, the burned area along K-61 extended along the west side from 56^th Street to roughly Tobacco Road,” Oswald said. “The fire didn’t cross south of 56^th Avenue.”

KDOT Right of Way burned from the Reno County wildfire. 

Oswald said that the closed section of K-61 was used as a fire block to prevent the fires from spreading east of K-61.

“The highway remained closed until the fires had been contained and was safe for public use.”

KDOT would like to thank all who risked their lives to help fight the fires that devastated parts of the state last week.