News from The Rapid City/BLM Veteran Wildfire Mitigation Program

Rapid City Veteran Training and Wildfire Mitigation

New Crew Job Opportunities! IACB Project Area Update!

The Rapid City Survivable Space Initiative and the BLM team up to train Veterans.

Monthly Newsletter

February 2014

First Project Area

The first project area is near Kingswood, a neighborhood community in NW Rapid City adjacent to the Pennington County boundary. This area has varying terrain with ponderosa pine and cedar being the dominant vegetative cover type. The area is a 20 acre parcel owned the city which is currently overgrown and in the current state, a catastrophic fire event is likely in the event of a wild land fire. There is also a pine beetle outbreak in this timber stand, further increasing the wildfire threat this property poses to the Kingswood

neighborhood.

Heavy Overgrowth of Hazardous Fuel

Several property owners in Kingswood have done fuel mitigation in preparation for wildfire through the Initiative and the Urban Interface Management Plan, and have expressed great concern over this adjacent property to the neighborhood. This grant gives Rapid City the ability to help make one of its neighborhood communities safer from wildfire while helping to train some of our transitioning veterans for a future career.

Jarod and Jim talk with a Kingswood resident.

Kingswood Project Update

The Kingswood project area has undergone a major change since the project inception in June. Currently the Veteran crew has managed to cut a 300 ft buffer zone of mitigated timber extending from the property lines of adjoining private property owners! We are super excited that they have been able to get that much cut in such a short amount of time, and just as we are going into out hottest and driest months. The total area of the buffer zone is approximately 10 acres, and extends along the entire southern border of the Kingswood neighborhood. The Veteran crews' efforts will undoubtedly make a huge difference in the event of a wildfire in the area, and will greatly reduce the severity at which the fire will impact the neighboring property owners. Great job!

Dave Ferrier fells a tree on the Kingswood Project

The IACB project area

The property is adjacent to several neighborhoods in west Rapid City, and in the current state of heavy fuel loading is a major disaster just one stray ignition away. The new project area will create a 10 Acre zone of modified vegetation next to the Cedar Dr. neighborhood. These residents all completed fuel reduction projects of their own, are worried about the severe wildfire potential of the adjacent property, and asked what could be done. In response to the neighborhood concern, Lt. Tim Weaver with the RCFD arranged for a Memorandum of Understanding to complete the wildfire fuel thinning project between the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and Rapid City. This collaboration between the property owners (IACB), the BLM, and Rapid City is a great testament of what can be accomplished in communities where landscapes that have been void of the natural process of fire have overgrown to levels of catastrophic wildfire potential.

Look at the difference from the Left of the picture where they have not worked yet!

This heavy fuel loading is evident in the pictures, and without funding from programs like the BLM Wildfire Community Assistance program, the massive amount of work to remove this hazardous fuel would prove extremely difficult. The crew has made great progress in the new project area. What a enormous safety benefit to both residents and firefighters in our community!

The crew is making a huge difference!

Update:

Still great progress through the winter!

Incredible difference, & great progress in December with good weather!

John, Jarod, and Dave staying warm!

Still making great progress in the February cold!

Jim and Taylor remove hazardous brush

Veteran Crew helps with Firewise Day!

Jim and Taylor assist homeowners in the Chapel Valley subdivision with their Firewise Day recently in Rapid City. Part of the Survivable Space Initiative, the veteran crew assists neighborhoods with fuel reduction events. Shirley Frederick, who lives in the subdivision, commented that this program "Helps bring veterans back into the community doing work for people who really appreciate what they do."

Grinding cedars from Shirley Fredericks yard

Veteran Crew Helps Pinedale Heights with Fire Mitigation!

Recently the Crew helped out in parts of the Pinedale Heights neighborhood with brush clearing on properties bordering the main egress routes. These parcels were severly overgrown, and in their current state would have contributed to severe fire behavior along the main exit routes from the neighborhood. The Veteran crew was able to drastically minimize the amount of heavy fuel loading on these parcels. The Pinedale Heights area is excited about the progress, and has decided to persue becoming a Firewise Community! Many property owners in Pinedale Heights have followed our lead in making their own properties more fire resistant.

Jarod and Dave work on clearing brush alonside the roadway.

John Murray-Veteran Crew Member

John served in the Army as an Infantryman with the 25th ID and deployed for 15 Months to Iraq. He moved to Rapid City with his wife in February, and will be starting the Fire Science Program at WDT this fall. He enjoys scuba diving, the outdoors and sports.

Jarod Lewis-Veteran Crew Member

Jarod formerly served as a Corporal in the Marine Corps infantry with 1/4 Bravo Company. He spent two years as a rifleman and then cross trained as and assault man for the last two years. He served as a squad leader in charge of 12 Marines, and then took over an assault squad. He did two deployments to the South Pacific and the Middle East.

Graduated!

Jim has graduated from the program and is now employed as a teacher at a local University! Thanks for all the hard work Jim!

9/2013

James Reichert-Veteran Crew Member

Jim is Rapid City born and raised, and has 14 years of military service in the United States Air Force, 4 years of experience as a volunteer fire fighter, and 6 years working in the lumber industry. He is also the 3rd generation of his family to work for the Rapid City Fire Department and Rapid City while part of this program.

Dave Ferrier-Veteran Crew Member

Dave is also Rapid City born and raised, and served as a Corporal in the Marine Corps. He did all 4 years of his enlistment in the infantry as a rifleman, and was a team leader. He went on 2 deployments with 1/4 Charlie Company to the South Pacific and the Middle East.

Taylor Bowling-Veteran Crew Member

Taylor is originally from North Carolina and served 3 1/2 years in the Air Force doing HVAC work. He was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base as a member of the 28th Civil Engineering Squadron, and deployed overseas once to the Middle East for 6 months.

Rapid City Survivable Space Initiative

Training & Job Opportunities

Update:

Jarod Lewis will be fighting fire with the Black Hills Helitack Crew this summer!

Dave Ferrier will be fighting fire with the Mystic Ranger District in the Black Hills this summer!

School:

Jarod Lewis, Dave Ferrier, and John Murray are all attending the WDT Fire Science Program!

Training opportunities completed so far in addition to Fire Science school are:

S130
&

S190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior