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For the first time ever, I am thrilled to say we have an official sponsor for the Dirt Talk podcast, and that's Ariat. I've worn Ariat boots on every job site I visited over the years, traveling in them across five continents. More importantly, I have yet to find a single project where working folks, unlike me, are not wearing Ariat boots and workwear in every condition imaginable. And there's really good reason for that, and that's because it's phenomenal stuff. And the more I've learned about Ariat and the company, the more I've loved their brand. So with this, Ariat is offering any dirt talk listener 10% off their next Ariat order at ariat.com dirt talk that's 10% off boots, jeans and workwear@arianiat.com dirt talk or at the link in this episode's description. With that, let's get to the show.
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All right, everybody, welcome back. Monday episode Dirt Talk podcast today. I don't have any notes, anything all that drawn out, but I do have a recent experience I can draw upon to explain how fire dozers work. Based on my very elementary understanding of how fire dozers work. We recently got to go to the heist training for this was my third time. My first time was, I believe, in 2021, maybe, ah, maybe 2019, something around there. And this is the one of the annual fire dozer academies that they have out in California. We have talked about fire cleanup. We have referenced Cal Fire in the past, but this is how the logistics and how these dozers actually work, again based on my very brief understanding. So in California, we have a few things going on from a fire standpoint. We have the state fire agency, and that is Cal Fire. Then we have some federal areas governed by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. And then we have different county and city agencies. So we have Orange County Fire, for example, and Riverside County, LA county, and then we have LA City, San Francisco, the big cities, for example. So there's all these different fire agencies all throughout California. And these fire agencies have different areas they're responsible for for protecting those people in the area and for protecting them from. From fire. Traditionally, the fire season kicks off about midway through the summer and goes into roughly the end of the year, maybe November, December, ish, starting in December into January, February, March, April. It gets pretty wet in California. So fires are not typically an issue. Well, this year we obviously had the monster fire in the Palisades, Altadena and elsewhere in January because it was unusual dry after unusually wet months. But that is when the fire season occurs. So we have all of these state agencies, we have the Cal fire, we have all these other fire agencies, and they're responsible, like your typical fire department, for keeping these wildland fires at bay, keeping people safe. So here I am in Nashville, there's other cities around me, but if for whatever reason, my house catches on fire, I'm gonna call 911 and I am gonna get routed to the closest fire department, the closest fire station, and they're gonna get to me as fast as possible. Because with fire, with emergencies, time is everything. So that is why we have all of these fire agencies spread throughout California. It's too big for one agency, but you do need some of these bigger agencies with more resources based on how big the fire is, et cetera. But they have different outposts from Southern California to Northern California. If you've driven up California, you'll know that it's a very big state. So there are a lot of people involved here. Now, with wildland fire, it's a little bit different than your typical structure fires. There's a few key tools in fighting wildland fires. One, we have people on the ground. You are oftentimes in very rural areas fighting these fires with very limited access. So a lot of it is done on foot. A lot of it is done by these remarkably hardworking people who go out, sometimes for weeks at a time without a shower even, and dig trenches, clear fuel, do prescribed burns, et cetera, to contain and prevent fires. Then we have more off road fire engines. I don't know what the technical term for them really is, because I'm ignorant, really. But there are more of these wildland fire engines with water that can help contain and fight these fires. That is an important, important tool. And then we get into the heavier stuff. So now we get into the dozers. The dozers are a huge weapon in fighting and containing wildland fires. And that's what this whole episode is dedicated to. And then we've got, from the air, the air attack side of things. We've got aircraft, small aircraft, up to really big aircraft. And then we have helicopters, which help fight the fires from the air and also help crews on the ground identify where the fires are, where they're going. In general, California is prone to fire for a few reasons. One, there is just a lot of brush throughout, especially Southern California, up to the bay. So you have these rainy seasons come through. You've got the ocean right there, a lot of precipitation rolling into the state, helping all of this brush and everything grow, accumulate. All of that is fuel for fires, especially when it all dries out over prolonged dry periods. Now all you need is somebody with a cigarette, a lightning strike, a power line, somebody camping. There's all kinds of ways these fires can start. Arson, for example. All you need is that one little ignition instance and you've got yourself a potentially out of control fire. Then up north, California has done away with a lot of logging, if not a majority of the logging industry. And it's been very unfortunate. I think California can log in a very sustainable way. Logging is sustainable itself. Oregon and Washington prove it. The Southeast of the United States proves it. But California says now we don't want that anymore. And the byproduct of that is an enormous accumulation of fuel because you have to manage forests. If you don't manage forests, you've got all of these dying trees, all of this underlying brush. And over years and decades it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And at some point it's going to go, it's just a matter of time. And so that's what's happened up north. That's, I think a big misunderstanding though is people are like, oh, you know the forest, these forest fires are burning and we need to manage our forests. But it's like, well, have you been to Southern California? They don't have forests. It's all this lower lying brush that builds up that you do have to manage. But it is hard to manage, especially in urban areas, urban environments. And that's what happened unfortunately, tragically with, with Palisades and with, with Altadena. Now California also has these wind events, Santa Anas, so you can have these, these perfect storms, so to speak, where you've got all of this accumulated fuel that's dry after months of no rain. And then you've got these winds. Now the winds, they don't cause the fire, but they do cause fires to aggressively move throughout land. So the past fires, Santa Ana's over 100 miles per hour blowing from the mountains down into the valley. So that fire in theory is moving 100 miles per hour. And the fire doesn't just move on the ground, it's not just running across the ground. You've got embers that blow up into the air and be carried, and can be carried for miles, miles, starting other fires. So it's particularly devious, these conditions. And that is why these fires can get so out of hand so quickly. So the absolute priority for these fire departments, these hard working first responders, is containing the fire. If you can contain the fire if you can stop it. The faster you can stop it, the better off you are. So containment means if you've got a fire 0% contained, that fire is out of control. It can go in any direction that fire is going, where it wants to go, based on where the wind and the fuel is. But then as you contain it, you start to corral that fire and say, no, no, no, you're not going over there anymore. You're stopping. We're containing you. And maybe you can still burn over here. Maybe we still need to contain this area, but at least we know it's not going to go east. Now we just need to focus on that western portion or whatever it is. So containment is always the goal. The faster you can contain the fire and the smaller the fire footprint, the better off everybody is. So to do that, we have dozers as one of, again, these fire agencies best weapon. The dozers, their biggest job, their primary job is to cut fire breaks. Firebreaks are a patch of land, a stretch of land in which no fuel exists. So the fire can run up to that firebreak, but then since there's no fuel, there has to be wind, maybe it can jump the brake, which does happen, but because there isn't fuel, it will likely stop at that break because those dozers have come through. They've cut all of that brush away, so they've pushed it all away, they've exposed the raw earth, and they've done it quite a few blade widths wide, ideally so that fire doesn't go from here to there, meaning it is contained. So that is why most of these agencies have dozers sitting on trailers, ready for any moment, ready for any emergency at any time. As fires pop up, they dispatch those on the ground. They dispatch the fire trucks, but then they dispatch these dozers. So each dozer has its own transport truck with lights, sirens. It's red, it's for the fire department. It's awesome. And that dozer is always on the transport truck. And the transport truck is always accompanied as well by a tender. And that tender is like the fuel and service and mechanic truck for that dozer. You need total uptime with these machines because it's essential that they do their job when they need to do that job. So when something pops up, that dozer, that lowboy, that tender can get out to where that is as fast as possible and do their best to contain that fire by cutting a break around where that fire is going to end up or where that fire is smothering the fire sometimes by kicking dirt over, like windrowing material over the existing burn areas and corralling that fire, working in tandem with air assets, with ground assets to get that thing contained. Ideally, it's just a few acres. They can make sure it's all out, it's not going to start anything back up again, their job's done, they can put the dozer back on the lowboy, they're good to go. That is an ideal situation if there's a fire. Now, I will say the ideal situation is prevention to begin with. So during the off season, these dozers will spend some times cutting and maintaining fire breaks. And that's what the heist training is that we saw recently. So they go out, these fire agencies, they gather. We had about maybe 25 dozers there, all with their transport trucks and tenders. It's awesome to see. And they go out to the marine base, Camp Pendleton, which is tens of thousands of acres along the California coast, in between San Diego and in Orange County. And because it's a lot of land, they have substantial fire risk when it gets dry. So they have dedicated fire breaks throughout this land as a preventative measure if anything were to catch fire out there during that fire season. But the fire breaks need to be maintained. So to train interagency, to train with the other agencies, they will bring their dozers out there for a two week period and practice cutting miles of fire breaks. So they get the training, they get to communicate with others, they get seat time to understand how their machines work so that they know what the heck's going on. Some of these newer operators, when they do get out to a fire scenario, uh, and so they know also how to work together. Some of the more experienced operators also know how to work with the newer equipment. Sometimes they'll have new dozers out there, which is very exciting. They had a new D7 out there this year, and they'll also maintain these fire breaks. So that's, that's prevention as well. You have prevention in terms of dedicated fire breaks, prescribed burns, getting rid of vegetation, clearing fuel around homes, etc. To prevent that disaster scenario from taking off. So we have prevention, we have those small ideal scenarios when there is a small fire that does pop off. And then we have the bigger fires. Now again, the dozers are a key part of containing these bigger fires. These bigger fires can get out of control quickly. We just saw it a few months ago. But the dozers, you still need to contain that fire, even as it's getting bigger and bigger. And those Dozers are essential in that equation. Now with the LA situation, you will first have all of the dozers within LA county, within that immediate area going out to those fires based on where the priorities are. And they can be running anything from a D4 to a D8. There's bigger dozers, smaller dozers, medium sized dozers. They'll immediately dispatch all of the dozers in the area. Now, because those fires were so big, they'll also bring in dozers from the surrounding area. So they may call in dozers from the north, they may call in dozers from the south. As those dozers move up to fight that bigger fire, other dozers will push in to cover the areas that the dozers that are working the bigger fire typically cover. So there, yes, there is a priority. They want to go fight those bigger fires, but they also don't want to leave other areas totally exposed. And that's when these other fire agencies will push up. They'll cover for the fire agencies that are then going to move and going to fight the bigger fires. And they'll redistribute the dozer fleet, the firefighting fleet within the state. They'll bring in other fire assets from other states, depending on how big the emergency is. The January event was a big emergency. They were drawing fire assets in from everywhere, everywhere. So that's a little bit about dozer logistics. The primary role of these dozers again is cutting firebreaks so they're not moving giant amounts of material. In the south, those dozers are pushing a lot of grass, brush. But in the north, these dozers can be pushing full trees, knocking trees over, because that, that fire break needs to be a gap in between, no fuel, trees or fuel. So they're pushing, knocking everything down as they go. The dozers will also help with access. The dozers will also help smother flames. You've probably seen these videos, it's spectacular. These dozers are going right into the fire. Oftentimes it's not like the fires, oh, a few miles out we see some smoke, they're going into the damn fire. These guys are just next level, a different breed of individual. And I have the utmost respect for them. So that's what the dozers themselves are doing. They're also, because they're heavy equipment, because they can trot into certain areas that road type vehicles can't, they will, they will be a very, a valuable communication resource as well for those on the ground and air assets. So the dozers will also help coordinate with those in the air where Things need to go when fighting that fire and into now. The machines themselves, given the tough circumstances that they operate within, you expect them to be modified. And they certainly are modified. We the 25ish dozers we just saw, they're all a little bit different, which is fun because there's no one fire dozer spec. It's a lot of trial and error based on what's worked in the past, what certain fire agencies prefer. So I would say standard is the Cal Fire Spec dozer. It's based on a D5, the current Caterpillar D5, which is the old D6N. So it's a mid sized dozer. It has a six way blade on it to keep it flexible from a how it can go about things, cut line, etc standpoint. These dozers have an extra roller on the back. I believe they have a longer undercarriage and this helps them climb steep terrain more effectively, which is very cool. And then the undercarriage is also extra wide so it's extra spread out so it has more stability. But the track shoes are very thin. So it looks really funny because it looks like an LGP machine. But then instead of those really wide pads, you'll have the narrow pads because that helps them with rock conditions a little bit better. You don't want the dozer's weight spread out. You want as much weight cutting into the earth for traction and then as little surface area as possible so the dozer is not sliding around on rock. Then we have typically a winch on the back. This can be used in very steep scenarios. This can rescue stuck equipment. This can be used for all kinds of different things. So you typically have a winch on the back. You have that VPAT six way blade on the front. Just behind that blade they drape a steel cable across from where the blade is to where the radiator is. And that is just in case tree branches come down. They don't fall on top of the cylinders and damage the hydraulic cylinders, protect those cylinders as they're pushing into trees. They have a brush guard built up on the front of that blade to prevent the brush and the trees from coming over in the first place. They'll have extra guarding in the front on that radiator to protect that radiator. So nothing just goes right through it pierces the radiator. Especially in those tree scenarios, they'll have additional guarding around the dozer. They don't want stuff getting in, especially to the engine compartment. You've got pine needles, leaves, etc. That can accumulate within the dozer, if it is open and that can start a fire itself and burn the machine itself. And so you want to seal off as much of the engine compartment as possible. The wiring is, is, is wrapped with a high heat wrap on it. So when that dozer is working in those higher heat areas, it's not eating away at that typically plastic coating on wiring harnesses, which is quite cool. Going to the intake, on the, the air intake for the dozer itself, there is a ember guard. So you're not sucking embers into the air, it's sucking a bunch of smoke into potentially damaging the engine. So they're protecting the air going into the machine in the first place. The older machines do not have def. They are emissions free. The newer machines still do have emissions because it's so complex. So they do have def going into the, the, the, the top of the dozer. A lot of the cabs have further reinforcement around the cabs because of things potentially falling onto the cab. They don't want to damage that cab. If a tree were to fall on it, they'll have a brush guard over the machine itself to prevent trees from falling onto the other part of the machine. So typically they'll have sweeps up from the front and it'll go all the way across to the back of the dozer. And then up top on top of that brush guard is. It's typically painted like a white, something that's very visible with a number to identify that dozer from the aerial support that will be supporting that machine future state. Around that rops we have crazy cool lighting packages. A lot of them use Baja designs lighting, very bright lighting, because they're typically working in dark conditions, either smoky or at night. And then most dozers also have yellow or amber lighting that they can, that they can use. Either they can use it with the white lighting or they can cut the white lighting completely and just run the amber lights because the amber gives much better visibility in high smoke and high heat scenarios. So each one of these dozers will have both white and amber, and they'll be able to run both or different lights depending on how the dozer set up. And they have switches in the cab to control all of that. We also have sirens in each one of the dozers. These are primarily for emergency situations. If the dozer is going to get burned over, that siren is in the machine to alert other people within the area that there is an emergency situation. It is also used for communication. So each dozer has a very, very loud rocker alarm. Some dozers around the back will have a ladder for access. And then they will have things like axes or hand tools mounted to the machine itself. Some have toolboxes, some have coolers. Because these guys are out oftentimes for a very long time, they've got to bring everything they need with them. So that's on the outside of the machine. Now we go to the inside of the machine where it's standard controls, standard cab, but many more buttons, many more computer screens, and many more communications. So there are oftentimes multiple radios for different frequencies within each cab. Each operator will be wearing a headset so they can talk and listen to the communications going on while working the fire. They have all of their controls for, for the lighting, for the machine, for alarm, everything like that within the dozer. And then they have their internal fire dispatch or whatever the heck that computer system is. They'll have this big tablet in there to allow them to understand where other units are, where other people are, and what the heck's going on in that fire situation. Because it's oftentimes very disorienting. So having that situational awareness within the cab is essential. And then finally, within the cab, some of these machines also have the ability for oxygen tanks. So these dozers, they don't just fight wildland fires, they can also be in trash settings or structure settings. And that is when they can keep an oxygen bottle there. And these guys can wear oxygen masks like firefighters do. You can picture the ones, it's a full face mask and they can breathe that oxygen in and if they're in typically or particularly precarious situations. So that was probably way too much information. Got a little dense there. Did it all from memory based on what we just saw. But hopefully that gives you some insight into these dozers. They're some of my favorite machines because they're some of the most modified machines I've ever been around. The operators are equally as extraordinary. They're using these amazing machines to do this amazing work in spectacular, in oftentimes very terrifying way in spectacular settings. They're very skilled, they're very good at what they do. And I have the utmost respect for everything they have going on. And I'm very grateful that they've had us out now for three times to see this training and to learn about what it is that they do. They could not be more open to having us, which is just extraordinary. They are some of the nicest people I've ever been around. And yeah, they're, they're, they're modern day heroes. So again, nothing but respect for those running and maintaining these machines. These machines, they save a lot of people, protect a lot of people and prevent a lot of damage. And I know there's been a lot of damage recently in California, but I also know it would be a lot worse without these machines, without these hardworking individuals, without then the people on the ground, the people in the trucks, the air attack resources containing these fires to the best of their abilities. So a lot of blame going around, but these are the people making it happen and protecting a lot of people and doing a lot of extraordinary work. So thank you to Cal Fire, thanks to Orange county, thanks to San Diego, the Cal Fire group down in San Diego. Thanks to everybody that's helped get us around these machines, has taught us what we know about these machines. Will have a video coming out at some point explaining what the heck these tractors do and how they do it, which I'm very looking forward to. And if you want to hear me explain anything else that you've seen on social media or YouTube, feel free to write us anytime. Dirt talkillwhit.com and with that, we'll see you on the next one. Stay dirty, everybody.