AZ Firefighter Wins First Annual Southwest Wildland Firefighter of the Year Award

Scott Glaspie, assistant fire management officer on the Safford District of the Coronado National Forest in Arizona, won the first annual Southwest Wildland Firefighter of the Year Award.

The award is conferred by the Arizona Wildfire Academy. Glaspie was given the award for his actions at the Montezuma Fire during the 2012 wildfire season, according to The Daily Courier (http://bit.ly/156zdlm).

The paper recounts how a fire engine rolled in rough terrain during the wildfire, killing engine boss Anthony Polk of Yuma, causing most of the Type III incident management team to stand down. Glaspie stepped in and assumed operational command until another Type III team could get there, and also served as liaison with the local dispatch center.

Glaspie returned home from the Montezuma fire only to have to deal with several lightning-caused wildfires. He coordinated the initial and extended attacks on these fires.

Read more about the incidents that led to Glaspie receiving the award at http://bit.ly/156zdlm.

For more on fires in the wildland-urban interface, consider Wildland Urban Interface: Ensuring the “Defensibility” of Defensible Space, Wildland Urban Interface Fires: Managing a Cascade of Risk, and THE WILDLAND INTERFACE: IMPACT ON LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS.

Gas Leak Closes KFC in Surfside Beach (SC). Firefighters Work to Contain Leak

A propane leak at the KFC in Surfside Beach has closed the fast food restaurant and led to a large presence of firefighters trying to contain it.

Snow Crushes Roofs at Oswego County (NY) Wire Plant, Church

The roof of a wire plant in Oswego County collapsed this morning, firefighters said.