Danger pocket cards

An essential part of fire safety is understanding how the combination of fire weather and fire behavior will affect your fire. For firefighters moving into a different geographic area, its often difficult to get a real sense of how bad conditions really are, relative to the historical ranges for the area.

That's where the Fire Danger Pocket Cards come in. They're a valuable communications tool to show firefighters where they are compared to “average” or extreme conditions, and when memorable fire events occurred in the area. These cards are easily produced off of the Internet and allow incoming firefighters to rapidly get up-to-speed on local fire danger conditions. For more information, go to http://famweb.nwcg.gov/pocketcards/.

Battery pack alert

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group has issued a Safety Alert for King Radio Clamshell Battery Packs. Older clamshells used 10 AA batteries, but newer radios only need nine, so a metallic spacer was inserted in place of the 10th battery. It heats up, and can cause the batteries to explode or off-gas. For more information, contact Forest Service Safety Manager James Reim at 541-517-3698.

Sigg bottle transport

Chainsaws have proved to be a valuable tool in battling wildfires. Many crews carry extra gas and oil in aluminized fuel bottles, or Sigg Bottles, but have had difficulty transporting them on aircraft — until now.

The Technology & Development Center at Missoula, Mont., has developed a new carrying bag to transport Sigg Bottles on government-contracted aircraft. The carrying bag meets the requirements of the Interagency Aviation Transport of Hazardous Materials Guide and can be ordered through GSA or the Fire Cache: ask for NFES #0536.

For more information, contact Project Leader Wes Throop at 406-329-3957, or e-mail wthroop@fs.fed.us

To contribute to the “Wildfire Tailgate Safety Session,” drop an e-mail to blackbull@bigsky.net.