Instructor: Dave Thompson
4 hours
Responding to the North Bay Fires: What we learned about responding to search and recovery operations following an urban megafire
In 1992 the Oakland Firestorm may have seemed like a one-off event that involved a previously unimagined combination of events: namely high fuel loads, high winds, and the daunting scale and speed of the fire’s movement creating its own weather. Now, over 25 years later, we are starting to understand that high speed, initially unstoppable wildfires threatening dense metropolitan areas as well as wilderness areas are part of the “new normal” here in California.
A panel of presenters representing multiple agencies and resource types will talk about what can we learn from the October 2017 Northbay Fire Operations. We will discuss how events unfolded and explore the kinds of contributions that search and rescue personnel and K9 handlers can contribute to this kind of event. What types of tools and training will help you perform more effectively and safely when the next Megafire happens? We will discuss and compare the application of search dogs at fire scenes over the last 25 years, with a focus on how some of the challenges are the same but the tools and technology have changed along with deployment protocols.
Biography - Frances Roelfsema
After beginning as a canine handler with California Rescue Dog Association over 30 years ago, Frances served on a series of in county SAR organizations including Los Angeles, Santa Clara and most recently over 20 years with Alameda County Sheriff's Office SAR. As Captain of the Canine Division for AlcoSAR, Frances works with a team of 15 experienced dog handlers certified in Area, Trailing, Human Remains and Water. Collectively, AlcoSAR dogs and their handlers have worked a large but diverse series of fire operations over the last 20-30 years and the breadth of that experience was our best contribution to the North Bay Fire Operation.
