Black Hills expert posts article on response to weaponized wildfires

The spontaneous ignition of ponderosa pine in a hundred-yard radius would be measured in kilotons and in parts of the Mountain West improvised fuel air explosives (FAEs) and common road flares deployed during red-flag conditions have the potential to create firestorms that are virtually unstoppable. Now consider that there are some 70 million acres of collapsed pine forest in the United States. 

Bill Gabbert worked as a wildland firefighter in California for twenty years but today he lives in a Black Hills county named for a war criminal where he writes as an expert on wildland fire. Using metrics that measure the probability of ignition or PI he took a firm stand on the risk of wildfire starts after a return of pyrotechnics to Mount Rushmore National Memorial where he was Fire Management Officer for four years. Former Superintendent Cheryle Schreier fled the Park Service and retired after criticism for her outspoken opinion on the fireworks display at Rushmore in the occupied Black Hills last year saying she spoke out for the right reasons. 

Gabbert posted an article on evidence gathering and forensics after a weaponized wildfire. 

The one criminal who possesses the power of a nuclear weapon at his fingertips is the wildland arsonist. In certain areas of the world, if the weather and fuel conditions are favorable, a wildland arsonist has the instant ability to burn an entire community to the ground, and kill scores of people, their pets, livestock, and the wildlife in the area. It is not common to find incendiary devices in any arson event, However, the use of an incendiary device is more common in the wildland setting than any other type of arson (other than extremist arsons). An incendiary device is the single most important piece of evidence in any arson/serial arson case. [The wildland arsonist: one of the most dangerous criminals]

When the Custer Expedition came through the Black Hills in 1874 bringing invasive cheatgrass for their horses stands of ponderosa pine were sparsely scattered but a century and a half of poor ranching and land management practices have created an unnatural overstory best controlled by the mountain pine beetle, prescribed fires and periodic wildfires. The bug is hard at work clearing centuries of overgrowth throughout the Rocky Mountain Complex, so is the western spruce budworm. But leaving dead and dying conifers on the forest produces methane, an even more dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide is.

Under guidance from a Democratic president the Black Hills National Forest has resumed burning slash piles and conducting prescribed fires as evidenced by the above graphic from the Wildland Fire Assessment System. But if you live in the wildland-urban interface government can't always protect you from your own stupidity. Volunteer fire departments are irreplaceable as first responders to unexpected blazes and they should convince Congress to make sure the resources are there to sustain rural firefighters.  

Keystone, Hot Springs, Custer, Pringle, Argyle, Hill City, Rockerville, Hisega, Rochford, Nemo, Galena, Silver City, Hanna, Cheyenne Crossing, Savoy, Deadwood, Lead, Whitewood, Newcastle, Alva, Aladdin, Hulett even parts of Sundance, Rapid City, Piedmont, Sturgis and Spearditch are at extreme risk from the tactical use of wildfire. Lawrence County has already admitted the Northern Hills are ripe for weaponized wildfire.

The grassland fire danger index will be in the very high category again today for parts of Kristi Noem's failed red state. 

More on cheatgrass linked here.