Firefighters Share Differences Between Florida and Western Wildfires

After hearing that 19 of their fellow firefighters died while battling a wild brush fire in Arizona, Palm Beach County firefighters Monday mourned their loss, heralded their commitment and explained why wildfires in that part of the country need to be tamed differently from here.

“It’s a tragedy. Our hearts go out to the department and the families of the slain firefighters,” Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Capt. Albert Borroto said. “It also puts into perspective the hazards that we take for granted day in and day out; that firefighters and first responders everywhere put their lives in danger to save property and the lives of others.

“You just never know what’s going to happen.”

The firefighters, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, were battling the Yarnell Hill Fire about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix. The fire was sparked Friday by a lightning strike, according to the Associated Press.

Lightning-sparked brush fires are not uncommon in South Florida. In fact, the area goes through a transition period that typically runs from March to May. During those months, firefighters tend to see more brush fires caused by lightning. While the lightning continues in the summer, the grounds are much wetter because of the rainy season. Prescribed burns are also common in South Florida to prevent the chances that an area of dry land will break out into flames. And while Florida brush fires are fueled by lots of brush and influenced heavily by the humidity, fires out west tend to be different.

“We don’t have the topography and the weather patterns they do out there,” Palm Beach Gardens firefighter Lt. Dave Markle said. “But the people who teach us come from Colorado, California. I was taught by lots of those guys. The experience they’ve got is tremendously different than what we deal with.”

Because of those differences, local firefighters fight brush fires with trucks and machinery. They even call in the Florida Forest Service, which has bigger machinery including bulldozers, tractors and plows.

“That’s why we call forestry because they come in with bulldozers and they just plow,” Borroto said. “There’s no more fuel for it to continue.”

While western fires are sometimes fought with helicopters that pour water on fires, choppers aren’t commonly used in South Florida. Also, the Hotshots team used hand tools to fight the fire in Arizona, an area where machinery likely wouldn’t be usable.

No matter the location or the size, brush fires in general are hard beasts to tame, firefighters say. One of the biggest difficulties is the chance the fire will jump and spread. In the western areas, a fire can travel up a hill between 30 and 60 mph.

In 2011, two rangers with the forest service died while fighting the Blue Ribbon brush fire in Hamilton County. It was a particularly bad brush fire year, with extreme drought and many fires sparked by lightning.

“That’s a tough and dangerous business out there,” said Scott Peterich, a wildfire mitigation specialist with the Florida Forest Service. “It’s a dangerous, dangerous profession.”

No matter the location, firefighters working brush fires are trained to locate safety zones, escape routes, and launch a fire shelter, a contraption similar to a sleeping bag used by firefighters to wrap themselves, as their last resort.

Still, there are many firefighters from Florida who have volunteered to be deployed to the western states, or even in other counties in Florida. But there are different certifications that must be met first, even ones specifically geared to fight brush fires in western states.

Markle is Palm Beach Gardens’ strike team leader, certified to be deployed to wildfires throughout Florida.

Each department has one or two strike-team members who can be called throughout the state when needed. The last time Markle got the call was about 4 1/2 years ago when wildfires threatened a small community north of Vero Beach.

“A lot of it was just support,” Markle said. But Markle did spend two weeks fighting fires in Volusia County in 1998.

He still remembers the orders from the lead firefighter he was working with. “He’d tell us, ‘We have about 15 minutes to sit on this fire or we’re going to lose this home.’~HOA~128~128~”

Peterich said forest service firefighters have helped in other states before — they’re referred to as wild land firefighters — and stay ready to do so.

“Once we make sure our Florida lands are protected because maybe fire activity has gone down due to weather, we’re able to release some of our resources if they’re requested,” Peterich said.

One of the wild land firefighters once worked with the Hotshots crew fighting Colorado wildfires, he said.

“They love to go out west because they get to see another aspect of wild land firefighting. Maybe it can help them in their career, it gains them more experience. Overall they become a better firefighter,” Peterich said. “They’ll see stuff that’ll help younger guys understand.

“It’s passion. It’s just something that they love to do.”