Fourth graders tell their fire stories, learn about renewable forests

Fourth grade students ran with a parachute and squirted an engine hose as they enjoyed a day in the Forest May 31, experiencing how forest lands recover after wildland fire.

Forest visits were organized by Courtney Couch, Forest Service Fire Education and Prevention Specialist. Each day-long field trip took place at Spring Bar, O’Hara Creek and Musselshell Creek, three fire affected areas on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests.

Students were divided into groups and heard seven different presentations on wildland fire. Presentations included wildland engine operations, helicopter operations, what it means to be a smokejumper, the science behind prescribed burning, the ecological benefits of fire, and making a ‘firewise’ home.

Students also took an emotional healing walk while observing forest regeneration in a burned area. 

The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests were one of 186 federal recipients selected to receive an Every Kid in the Park (EKIP) grant. These grants provided funding for transportation to get children outside, exploring their public lands.

The grant covered the cost of busing fourth grade students from Nezperce, Grangeville, Kooskia, Kamiah, Weippe, Pierce, Riggins and Orofino, to sites on the Nez Perce–Clearwater National Forests.

In addition, the Forest Service visited classrooms before and after the field trip to give students an opportunity to discuss their experiences surrounding the 2015 fire season.

This effort was led Matti Sand, a U.S. Forest Service Fire Lookout. Matti provided a safe and understanding atmosphere where students could talk about how the fires affected their lives and families.

Following the field trips, students used poetry to express what they learned and their wildfire experiences last summer. See the end of this article to read student poems.

For the poetry writing, children were encouraged to be creative and were not bound by rules of spelling or punctuation. At the suggestion of the Friends of the Kooskia Community Library and through support of other local libraries, these student poems will be on exhibit this summer. The Forest Service will be providing a bound copy of poems, organized by school groups, to community libraries. 

The grant, Healing the Land, Healing Ourselves: Exploring the Ecological and Psychological Influences of Fire in Our Communities around the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests received writing assistance and fiscal sponsorship from the Clearwater Resource Conservation and Development council. 

Information on emotional healing was provided by the Willow Center. The Idaho Department of Lands provided presentations on ‘firewise’ homes. The Clearwater Potlatch Fire Protective Association assisted with wildland engine operations for the Orofino and Timberline field trip. 

The Nez Perce Tribe provided presentations on forest regeneration during an emotional healing walk. 

This project was made possible by a grant from the National Park Foundation through the generous support of Disney and individual donors from across the country.

The U.S. Forest Service is one of seven federal land management agencies that comprise Every Kid in a Park, a Presidential initiative to give every fourth grader the chance to explore America’s great outdoors and our unique history.

The President called upon seven agencies, including the Forest Service, to “help get all children to visit and enjoy the outdoors and inspire a new generation of Americans to experience their country’s unrivaled public lands and waters.”

In addition to the Forest Service, the other agencies that are part of Every Kid in a Park are the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Park Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

For more information, contact Courtney Couch at the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests: (208) 926-4274.

Timberline Elementary

The Great Fires of 2015 by Levi

Fire

Powerful, warm

Burning, growing, dying

Burning up trees; putting out fires

Moving, flowing, evaporating

Cold, deep

Water

When the Fires Came by Hailey

In the forest a tree

Here’s a fire crackling and

Screaming with rage,

The tree tries to run

But he can’t by now

He hates his roots…

Soon the fire emerges

In front of him

With the wood peckers

Yelling burn burn 

The fire, started to burn him 

Soon the fire past

He was alive

The tree was so glad 

He burst with tears of joy.

Fire the Destroyer

Warm soon turns to its wild side

The red flames set to burn all

In its path soon could with evil spirit

It’s out after a week and a half the elements still hold embers 

It start again

Fire and Ice – by Jayme

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire some say in ice 

from what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire

But if it had to perish twice

I think I know enough of hate to say

that for destruction ice is also great

Poems of FIRE by Exzavier

Fire

Fire is dangerous

It fills water of ash

Rashes from the heat

Embers and sparks burn

Run Trees by Destiny

I am red

I have flames

I burn things

There is smoke where I go?

What am I?

Fire

The animals die because of me

The trees burn because of me

What am I?

Fire

The trees burn from this thing

What is it?

I help recycle the Earth

My ash goes to the soil

What am I?

Fire Poetry by Sam

Fire burning when it’s hot, 

Flames flying with the wind,

Fire getting higher and higher,

Burning the canyon,

Scorching the woods,

And blazing the houses and fields.

That is my poem

The first flame, the first spark

Going higher and higher

The first black dust

Trying to catch the wind.

That is my poem.

Fire…glowing red and orange in the night,

Wanting to burn,

Wanting to glow so bright. 

Birthday Fire by Ethan

Sitting at the campfire watching flames go up

And up at my brother’s birthday

Stacking more wood and more

On the fire telling scary stories.

While absorbing more heat from the fire. 

The Poem of Fire by Kyd

1910

Fire…makes me remember the fire of 1910.

A lot of families died right then.

They could see the pyro catching up to them.

There in the woods was a sea of flames.

And that was the fire of 1910.

Orofino Elementary

Summer Flames by Stevie

Idaho Fires 2015

Summer flames above the mountains

Below the clouds

May it stop?

Should we sob?

What should we do?

Can we stop the trees from new

Hideous hairdos?

Most importantly

Can we prevent wildfires?

Help Smokey Out Kids

Don’t play with matches!

Fire Poem by Seger

Fire crackle sizzle

Frightening burning

Birds fly low

The smokes gets lower

When the smoke fly’s out

The animals pop out

The trees regrow

The bugs come out

Thank you to ALL the 

Firefighters for putting out the fire. 

Fire! Smoke! By Kelly

I don’t really like it

It is horrible

It smells horrible

It is fire!!

The smoke was thick

My dad was working

I was scared!!!

I went outside 

It smelled like smoke

Mixed with pine tree

It stunk bad.

Everyday my dad was out

Telling people to leave their home

I felt sad and scared.

It was one of the worst weeks

Of my life

But when it was over

It was one of the best days

Of my life.

2015 Fires by Mylie

The fire is burning so hot 

The heat is absorbing into my body.

The yellow and blue flames

The red coals glowing

And the smell of burning wood. 

Fire Tips by Cheyanne

1. Make sure your address is posted clearly so people can see it.

2. When there is a fire get wood and dry stuff away from your house.

3. Make sure tree branches are not on your house because when the fire comes it won’t burn the top of your house.

4. Clean your chimney because if you have straw or dry stuff in your chimney it could burn the straw and it could fall in your house and burn the whole inside of your house. 

Thank you J

Wild Fire!!! By Briley

We were sitting

Not aware of anything

Papa comes in telling us

To come out!!!

I stood on a stump 

looking at the site of the fire

Eating the house.

Across the canyon.

My gramma called 911

And the friends

Asking if they were OK.

They were just fine.

WILD FIRE by Bodey

Fire you make me quake and shake

Your heat makes my heart beat fast

And can’t control it. 

You fire sound like gunfire

You make firefighters fight.

Fire by Patrick

Fire is bad for lungs

Bad for wood in forests

Good for smores

Roasting hot dogs

Fire Poetry by Loudan

Fire fire everywhere.

Helicopters in the air.

We need water everywhere

To put that fire out so fast

We need water really fast.

Ashes in the air.

Flames in the trees.

Smoke everywhere

Propane tank on fire.

Yelling in the house.

A hose turning on.

My experience to Fire’s in 2015 by Dayna

Big fires smoke in the air 

Tears coming from my eyes 

Hot in the air

Sun hiding

Me sweating

Me sad

Watching houses burn down

Sad faces come all over

Birds flying low

Places on fire

Fire fighters working long days

Some water getting poured.

Sad people

Houses on fire

Scary sounds

Me crying

Sorry faces.

Outside fire fighters

Working hard

And risking lives.

The Fire of 2015 by Linda

Smoke flying in the morning

Can’t breath from smoke in the air.

Smoke going here 

Smoke going there

Smoke going everywhere

Fire is on the green burning

From all the lightning

Heading to the next place to attack. 

Quick! We need a evacuation 

Fire is going in my calculations.

Fires all done in all places

Time to get back to 

Summer vacation

Fire by Donya

Mom, Dad, the dogs and I drove through Lenore 

and got to somewhere safe

Then the fire was over 

We were safe

Back home with the dogs.

We’re glad to be home and so we’re the dogs

The end!

Fire of 2015 by Lexie

Fire, fire 

your cool to admire

but not when you spread

more and more 

fire.

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests gear up for 2016 fire season

Preparation for the 2016 fire season on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests began in the late fall with an After Action Review of the 2015 fire season.

Shortly after the first of the year, fire staff begin preparations by meeting with personnel to discuss resource needs, additional equipment, staffing levels, and new tools available. Forest Service firefighters are highly trained and complete all required courses before fire season begins.

A variety of forest personnel participate in incident management teams in the Northern Rockies Geographic Area. Incident team members met in March to discuss the seasonal outlook, safety, public information, logistics, operations, plan, and aviation.

Fire positions on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests are fully staffed this year. Fifty-one people have been hired in leadership positions, many of these folks have been on forest but have been promoted. There are currently a total of 238 fire personnel on board, and 197 of that total are primary firefighters.

Interagency Fire Guard School was June 6-10 at Camp Lutherhaven in Coeur d’ Alene. There, 180 rookies learned everything from fire behavior, size-up to initial attack, Standards of Survival, hand line construction, mop up principles, to wilderness fire suppression, and more.

Line Officers: All District Ranger positions are currently filled on both Forests. Line Officer qualification standards are met. Contingency plans are in place to insure fully qualified Line Officers managing all wildland fire, wildland fire use, and prescribed fire operations. 

Fire Leadership: Deputy Forest Supervisor Ralph Rau is leaving the forests in mid-June to fill the Fire and Aviation Director position at the Regional Office in Missoula.

Rau’s support in his new position will be invaluable to the forests. Bob Lippincott is the Fire Staff Officer and Kevin Chaffee is the new Deputy Fire Staff Officer.

Dispatch Program: The Grangeville Interagency Dispatch Center workforce is fully staffed. Idaho Department of Lands will be a primary partner, with additional support contributed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Clearwater Potlatch Timber Protection Association (CPTPA), and the Nez Perce Tribe.

Aviation Leadership: All aviation positions are currently filled.

Aviation Resources: Fixed-wing operations shut down at the Idaho County Airport June 3. Seventy-five working days is set for the project, which will last tentatively into October, during which fixed-wing aircraft will not be able to use the county facility; however, helicopter traffic will be able to continue.

For the duration, fixed-wing Forest Service firefighting aircraft—including smokejumper and SEATs (single engine air tanker)—will be dispersed between the Cottonwood and Lewiston airports.

There will be two SEATS and a Retardant Base at the Lewiston Airport. Grangeville Air Center currently has 29 smoke jumpers but will continuously staff a load at the Cottonwood Airport for initial attack during airport construction.

One helicopter will be based at Musselshell Work Center near Pierce (with 10 people) and one helicopter based at Grangeville Air Center (with 10 people). 

Additional Aviation Resources: Neighbors on the Payette NF, Wallowa-Whitman NF and IDL will have all of their aircraft in place and available under the Snake-Salmon Local Operating Plan. The zone will also continue to support the Umatilla NF under a standing agreement.

Current Conditions: As of June 1, the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests have had approximately eight prescribed fires at a total of 320 acres, and two wildfires for a total of 0.2 acres. Prescribed burning is being accomplished on several districts with no issue. 

Expected Conditions: According to the National Interagency Fire Center Predictive Services, normal significant wildland fire potential is expected for the Northern Rockies Geographic Area for the outlook period of June, July, and August through September, 2016.

May featured a very warm start to the month. However, with the onset of the wet pattern temperatures during the latter third of the month fell to well below normal.

Springs rains across the region were above normal for most areas. High elevation locations along the Divide picked up one to three feet of additional snow fall during the last week of May. 

Historically transitions out of El Niño conditions in late spring-early summer tend to be wetter-than-normal. Current trends and the latest models indicate above normal precipitation will continue for early summer.

Longer range data for the second half of the summer, mid-July to early September, shows near average precipitation expected.

There is general agreement that temperatures should be average to slightly above average over the next four months. 

A robust green-up is currently occurring across the Northern Rockies. Fuels in most locations are now much wetter than average. An extended green-up period is likely.

As a result, there is a chance that some areas across the western half of the region could see below normal significant fire potential this season.

That said, a normal start to the fire season is expected. The development of large fires may be delayed due to the longer time that it will take for fuels to become critically dry.

Two new tools for the public

“Wildfires Near Me” at: www.wildfiresnearme.wfmrda.com is a full-featured web app that brings information to the users when they need it.

The app can notify users when a fire is within a certain distance of the places they care about as well as notify them about specific fires when they change is size and complexity. 

Notifications can be sent to the user’s email or mobile phone via text and they can determine the type and frequency of the messages they receive. 

Regarding the Enterprise Geospatial Portal (EGP): The public side is accessed by anyone and without a password by navigating to https://maps.nwcg.gov or clicking the “Wildfire Maps” button in the National Fire Situational Awareness box.

It’s a great tool for the public to use to find incident information and incidents near them and holds a limited amount of incident information including location, size, latest perimeter map, containment, and hot spots (MODIS).

It also has a link to the daily Incident Management Situation Report (Sit report).

In harm’s way after the fire

By Elizabeth Morgan

Clearwater County’s Emergency Management team, under the direction of Don Gardner, advised those residing along Orofino Creek, near the area burned in the Orofino-area Municipal Fire this past year, of some potential risks in the fire’s aftermath.

Of the 22 people who attended the public meeting Feb. 22, more than half were officials from the city and county, the National Weather Service out of Missoula, MT, and a field officer from the Bureau of Homeland Security. 

Issues of concern

Hydrologist Ray Nickless of Missoula’s National Weather Service described the patterns he’s noted in regions affected by wildfires. He shared a couple of fairly recent videos illustrating the intensity of debris flows and flash floods near Salmon and Helena, MT, where wildfires had burned two to three years ago.

As jaws dropped and eyebrows were raised, Nickless assured his audience that the acreage we lost in last summer’s fire was much smaller than those in the videos. 

Geological and terrain studies performed by both the Corps of Engineers and the Forest Service illustrated areas where the fire had burned the hottest, and its impact on the ground.

Aerial maps indicated the draws and drainages along the steep hillside which flow toward Orofino Creek which were of particular concern.

“Presently,” said Nickless, “even though there are many dead trees along the hillside, their roots are still holding the soil. We will be more watchful once those roots begin to decompose in the next couple of years when the potential for harm is greater.

Still, this winter’s precipitation and recent wet weather isn’t as threatening as it might seem, and still not bad as spring rains continue in April and May. Nickless predicts the greatest potential danger in the months of July and August, when our area experiences torrential downpours from thunderstorms which seem to come from out of the blue.

A heavy amount of precipitation within a short period of time is something we need to watch, such as those thunderstorms producing one-half inch or more of rain within 30 minutes to an hour’s time. 

Landslide vs. mudslide, debris flows, flash floods

Landslides are slow to evolve. Signs of trees bending, telephone poles, retaining walls or fences leaning are another indicator. Watch for new cracks or unusual bulges in the ground.

Mudslides, debris flows, and flash floods can transpire much faster. These are harder to predict and often occur with little warning.

By planning ahead, and knowing ahead of time how and where to access the heavy machinery, we can clear debris from the creek if needed. It would be much easier to clear than if there were to be a mudslide. If debris were to lodge against the bridge or take it out, the situation becomes much worse.

What the city and county are doing

“As a county and city we felt it important to let you know what we know,” said Gardner. 

Having done his homework, Gardner will apply for the F MAG (Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant) from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for $400,000. The application’s closing deadline is March 10.

“It will take a couple of months to be approved and a few months beyond that to receive the money,” Gardner explained. “We’re looking toward the fall, before we have the funds. Then we’ll restore, reforest, and replant, then worry about weeds, as they love that open ground.”

Traditionally, government assistance is designated for roads, bridges, courthouses, etc. “This is one of those rare grants which is actually permitted to be spent on private lands,” assured Gardner.

“From my perspective, I see no issues this winter,” said Gardner. “The roots are still intact, and soon new grasses and growth will help stabilize the hillside. Later, this summer, there will be some concern, but next year, next summer, we’re going to have to be vigilant. The good thing is we have time to think about how to deal with it.”

For now, NOAA Weather Radios were distributed to those at the greatest risk for weather coverage and severe storm alerts available 24/7.

The radio helps to keep people informed of severe storms in neighboring counties and can sometimes send a warning three-five hours ahead of the storm. Still for some systems it may only be 45 minutes. But 45 minutes still allows for time to evacuate. 

If you were unable to attend but live in an area at risk, please contact Don Gardner at the Clearwater County Office of Emergency Management at 2200 Michigan Ave. or call (208) 476-4064. 

What individuals can do…before

Be aware of your surroundings.

Have a plan before it is needed.

Inform neighbors of any potential hazards.

Notify the sheriff’s office where and with whom (contact number) you are staying, should it be necessary to self-evacuate.

Help a neighbor who may need special assistance.

Stay alert and awake. Many fatalities occur at night, when people are sleeping.

And after…

Plant trees, grasses and shrubs to help stabilize the soil.

Trees which have been burned and are not being harvested may be used by placing them horizontally on the hillside to catch or impede the speed of debris and rocks being washed down.

A word of caution to homeowners: “Flood insurance does not cover mud slides.”

Having a plan doesn’t always guarantee that things will go the way we would like them to, but it does make us think beforehand and allow extra time to prepare. Make and review your plan with your family and loved ones at least once a year.

Last summer, we watched half of our town go up in smoke, with nary a warning. Let’s use this information and this time to prepare whatever and wherever we can. Being ready and alert will make all the difference.

Summer fire season is just around the corner—are you ready?

By Janet Boyer

Believe it or not, the summer fire season is just around the corner. Sunnyside Rural Fire District is hosting a “Firewise” presentation for the area residents on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the Sunnyside Fire Station.

Kip Kemak, Fire Prevention and Mitigation Specialist for the Nez Perce Tribe, will explain how you can prepare your home to better withstand a wildfire in your neighborhood.

There are many simple, effective steps you can take this spring to prepare your home before it is in danger. 

One of the most effective ways to reduce your risk during a wildfire is to reduce the level of flammable vegetation surrounding your home. This can also increase the moisture content of the remaining vegetation.

You will learn how to keep your home safer during fire season while still retaining its rural appearance.

Sunnyside Fire Station is located at about mile marker 7 on the Cavendish Highway.

If you have any questions, please contact Janet Boyer, Sunnyside Firewise Coordinator, at 208-476-0102, or Rich Hull, Fire Chief, at 208-827-0127.

Municipal Fire Damage meeting Feb. 22

Another fire meeting, this time covering the Municipal Fire that hit the Orofino area last summer, will be held Monday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m. at Orofino City Hall (217 1st St.)

The purpose of this meeting is to share with the public the results of a study done by the Corps of Engineers and Forest Service BEAR team. These studies looked at the damage done by the 2015 fire and the possible impacts.

They will discuss the possible landslide and debris flows along Orofino Creek and what the city and county are doing in relationship to the risk. They will also share what individuals can do.