Montana Wildfires
Battle Over Chopper Safety Hindered Firefighting Efforts
By Jonathan Weber , 11-14-07
The Flathead Beacon has a startling story today about a pitched battle within the Montana state firefighting community over the safety of helicopter operations and specifically the actions of the state's chief pilot, Chuck Brenton. The controversy began with a harrowing incident on the 2006 Bearmouth Fire outside Missoula, and when the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation initially declined to conduct an investigation it bled over into the 2007 fire season, when some fire crews were ordered not to fly in DNRC choppers for a month in the midst of the fire season. Read all the details here on the Beacon website.
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Comments
No IC may knowingly put anyone into dangerous situations, now, without fear that if somethings goes terribly wrong, he or she has the very real possibility of ending up in US District court charged with criminal responsibility for whatever the terrible outcome was.
That is what a whole lot of backfires set from far away are about, and that is what no fire fighting effort whatsoever is all about. The huge uncertainty of outcomes demands that ICs and Overhead Teams do nothing when in doubt. It demands more planning than time allows. It is legal shackles on people who have a good idea of their jobs, and how to carry them out....two years ago. Today is an unknown. Making a sincere effort not to go to jail is now a part of fire fighting overhead's job.
And all this from a Bush administration US Attorney bringing charges. Those charges brought a sea change in how fire ops are now conducted. One has to wonder what kind of pandora's box is being opened with this legal action.