Firefighter Dies in Wildfire

Aug. 12, 2000 -- A firefighter was killed after a wind-fueledwildfire engulfed his truck on the Wind River Indian Reservation in WyomingFriday.

The firefighter, who was not identified, was the 11th person todie in Western wildfires this season, according to a National Interagency Fire Center official.

A second firefighter was burned and listed in stable conditionat a Riverton hospital, said Perry Baker of the Bureau of IndianAffairs.

Strong winds pushed the blaze out of control, forcingfirefighters to back off the 25,000-acre Kates Basin fire and5,000-acre Blondie Pass fire.

Both fires are located in the Owl Creek Mountains west ofThermopolis in a sparsely populated area of central Wyoming.

The two firefighters were the only crew members fighting aportion of the blaze when the fire roared over their fire engine,Baker said.

The firefighter died at the scene, Baker said. The injuredfirefighter suffered from burns and smoke inhalation.

The firefighters will be identified pending notification ofrelatives, he said.

This is the second fatality in these recent series of wildfires that have ravaged the West this month. On Aug. 3, a helicopter assigned to a fire in northeastern Nevada crashed during takeoff, killing one crew member.

Weather Provides Aid

Though cooler temperatures, rain and high humidity provided some relief, overnight lightning strikes ignited new fires and created new problems for overwhelmed crews battling wildfires in the West Friday.

Dozens of fires across several states have scorched more than 901,000 acres, forcing more evacuations. Firefighters have made some progress: On Thursday, 70 large fires were burning in 12 states. Friday, the National Fire Interagency in Boise, Idaho said 60 fires are now burning in 10 states. Fire managers in New Mexico and Oregon reported all major firescontained. In California, the 11,734-acre Pechanga Indianreservation fire was contained late Thursday, and firefighters werestanding by in case high winds fanned the flames of the 74,439-acre Manter fire.

The worst situation continues to be in Montana, where at least 19 fires continue to burn out of control. So far, more than 327,000 acres have been scorched; Montana’s largest blaze, the Bitterroot Valley, has grown to over 104,000 acres and come dangerously close to town of Darby, prompting the evacuations of another 50 families. Until Friday, as many as 971 residents had been evacuated.

Near Helena, Mont., flames knocked out two major power lines Thursday. One of the two big electrical transmission lines is back in service, but the second 500-kilovolt line is still down.

So far, more than 50 homes have been destroyed in Montana. Though the National Interagency Fire Center has focused on sending the most firefighting crews and supplies to Montana, officials warn that resources are dwindling. There are not enough firefighters to battle the numerous blazes.

“The resources available for fighting fires in the West now are at a level so low that I have never seen before,” Nick Greear of the National Forest Service told ABCNEWS.

More than 20,000 firefighters are battling wildfires nationwide. The Pentagon is planning to send 2,500 more soldiers to the region. One battalion of 500 soldiers is scheduled to receive training and be deployed this weekend to states that require the most help. Seventy-nine experienced firefighters from New Zealand and Australia arrived in the Boise Friday to help battle the devastating flames.

New Progress, New WildfiresElsewhere, six lightning-sparked fires merged into two bigger blazes in Klickitat County, Wash., officials said. The two fires combined were burning about 8,000 acres and threatening up to 35 structures, said Mark Clemens of the state Emergency Operations Center.

However, firefighters are making progress in Nevada and inColorado, where crews are making headway with a fire in Mesa VerdeNational Park. Visitors could be allowed back in the park nextweek.

“We contained 11 large fires yesterday and, fortunately, only seven new large fires started. So, for the past two days now, we’ve had a net gain. In other words, we’ve had more fires contained than have started,” said Ed Waldafel, fire information officer at the National Interagency Fire Center.

Placing BlameCiting a longtime need for more funding, a former fire official and Montana Gov. Marc Racicot told ABCNEWS that firefighting agencies were not prepared for the major blazes that have devastated the Western states, and that the wildfire crisis could have been avoided.

Lester Rosenkrance, a retired official with the Bureau of Land Management, said he warned agency officials months ago that the bureau was not prepared for a devastating wildfire season.

A memo he wrote, in fact, warned that cuts in fire readiness funding could jeopardize public safety and endanger the lives of firefighters.

“There is no doubt in my mind that we are placing the public and public property at greater risk,” Rosenkrance wrote. “If wildfires result in injuries or deaths … the agencies will be held accountable.”

Racicot said Thursday that policy decisions and budget cuts have made it very difficult to battle the fires. Racicot also claimed that administration neglect of wildfire warning signs and funding cuts have affected the fire crews’ability to combat the blazes.

“We’ve been saying that the accumulation of biomass in our forests have to be addressed and it hasn’t been addressed. And as a consequence, even though that’s not in singular fashion responsible for all the problems we’re presently confronting, nonetheless, it’s left our forest in a condition of being powder kegs whenever we confront difficult circumstances,” Racicot said.

Documented Warnings

Previous reports have warned about the current wildfire crisis. In a series of reports last summer, the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, warned “39 million acres on national forests are at a high risk of catastrophic wildfire.” The reports estimated that reducing the risk of a catastrophic wildfire season would cost $725 million, which is 10 times the current level of funding.

Still, administration officials say the firefighting budget has been sufficient and has increased the past four years. Since 1996, fire preparedness spending has increased 40 percent, said Tim Ahern, a spokesman for Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Just last month, Congress approved $350 million in emergency funding to fight wildfires.

“We’re giving them what they need,” Ahern said. “The real problem this summer is not budgeting. The problem is, you have fires you haven’t seen in half a century.”

Fire officials have called this wildfire season the worst in 50 years: according to the National Interagency Fire Center, 64,693 wildfires have scorched more than 4 million acres to date, and the numbers are growing by the day.

ABCNEWS correspondents Mike Von Fremd, Steffan Tubbs and Barbara Starr, ABCNEWS Radio and The Associated Press contributed to this report.