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October 17, 2001 Publisher's Comment ~ by Lee Hicks Another look at Thirtymile This Thursday (Oct. 18) a subcommittee chaired by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is set to begin a hearing on findings of the Thirtymile Fire investigation. The hearing results from a request from fellow Northwest Democrat, Sen. Maria Cantwell. The Forest Service also announced it would re-examine parts of its own report, after objections to some of the conclusions by families of the four who died and several survivors. As Cantwell noted, there are enough questions about management of the Thirtymile Fire to warrant a second look. Cantwell and others have been concerned that lessons of the 1994 Storm Canyon Fire in Colorado, which claimed 14 lives, were not put into practice at Thirtymile. The failure to follow such basic guidelines as establishing escape routes and selecting safety zones was compounded by poor communications and apparent lack of management control throughout the chain of command. There have been questions about the investigation itself. Some skeptics have said the Forest Service should be required to turn the probe over to another agency—rather than pick its own panel, as has been the protocol. It may be satisfying to families of the four firefighters that the agency will review accounts of what happened immediately before the tragedy. However, the decision in effect could raise doubts about other parts of the report, among these: Why weren’t initial observations from the night before that the fire would grow quickly relayed or understood by fire managers? Why was water delayed and at what point would it have made a difference? Why weren’t crews pulled off the fire, or another strategy pursued, when early afternoon temperature and fire behavior became so troublesome? The Senate hearing should focus on the range of issues that played a part in this tragedy—not merely those that the Forest Service has agreed to re-examine under public pressure. Opinion | Sports |
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