Link to Part 1. here:
What Happened On The 1990 Dude Fire? Perryville Dept. of Corrections Officer Deserted His Crew, Why Zane Grey Cabin Burned, Records Shredded, How We Saved The Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery 6/26-27/90. PT1 (yarnellhillfirerevelations.com)
Fred J. Schoeffler and contributing authors
Views expressed to "the public at large” and "of public concern"
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Figure 14. Proverbs 29:16 verse image Source: FB
"In a society that values conformity and obedience, the individual who dares to think for themselves is often ostracized and ridiculed. These nonconformists, these outcasts, are the true pioneers of society, the ones who push us to question our assumptions and expand our horizons. They are the ones who are not afraid to be different, to be themselves. If you find yourself feeling like an outsider, like you don't fit in with the crowd, that's a good thing. It means that you have the potential to make a real difference in the world. Don't be afraid to be yourself, to follow your own path. The world needs your unique perspective."
Consider now Figure 15. (below) the Fred J. Schoeffler v. USDA (Jan. 31, 1991) Docket #DE07529010286 regarding this author's Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB / MSPR) Opinion and Order consisting of 20 consecutively numbered pages (Snippets) including Background, Analysis, and Order regarding this author's challenge to an Administrative Judge's decision regarding demotion from a GS-7 HS Supt. to a GS-5 Forestry Technician for alleged falsification of time and travel documents and violating the USFS Health and Safety Code regarding driving regulations.
Figure 15. Fred J. Schoeffler v. USDA (January 31, 1991) Docket #DE07529010286 Snippets regarding this author's MSPB / MSPR Opinion and Order. Source: MSPB /MSPR, Schoeffler files
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity.
Proverbs 2:7 (KJV)
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”
Albert Einstein
Figure 16. Sit with God's warriors image Source: Pinterest
The post title brings to mind the quote by Human Factors author and researcher Sidney Dekker in "Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error" 3rd Edition, p. 5 (2006). "Underneath every simple, obvious story about ‘human error,’ there is a deeper, more complex story about the organization.” Dekker, in a subsequent research paper, talks about what this deeper more complex story and systems in what he refers to as “"complexity and systems thinking" in his Lund University paper which is titled as a noteworthy question requiring a noteworthy answer: "In the system view of human factors, who is accountable for failure and success?" Dekker's research paper, along with over 30 others' papers, is published within the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Europe Chapter Annual Meeting in Linköping, Sweden, October 2009 book titled: "Human Factors - A system view of human, technology and organisation" is available in part in this link.
Dekker, Sidney. Human Factors: A system view of human, technology and organisation, Maastricht, the Netherlands: Shaker Publishing (2010). "In the system view of human factors, who is accountable for failure and success?"
However, he does make this one debatable statement that this author takes issue with: "Formal, government-sponsored accident investigations enjoy this aura of objectivity and truth ..." (emphasis added) His statement regarding government-sponsored investigations being objective and truthful may apply to his own trustworthy Government, certainly not our Government, which has a totally different impression of objectivity and truth, discussed in some detail in this post and elsewhere in other research papers and books on the subject, and on this website.
Dekker states: "The consequence for the ethics of failure is that there can be only one true story of what happened. In Newtonian epistemology, the “true” story is the one in which there is no more gap between external events and their internal representation. (i.e. those who, without any bias that distorts their perception of the world, will consider all the facts) are better poised to achieve such a true story." (emphasis added) Dekker wrote a paper titled:
"In the system view of human factors, we are attempting to discover who is accountable for failure and success."
One of the primary goals of this author, this website, and these posts will always be to continually seek clues to the human behavior that cost these WFs and FFs lives on all wildland fires. We need to know these things for "complete lessons learned" because otherwise we lack full understanding.
Figure 17. Drawing by Navajo Scout WF who narrowly escaped the Dude Fire Source: Weick, Fire Management Today (FMT)
Figure 18. Book readers will always sound crazy image Source: FB
Authentic leadership: A review of the literature and research agenda. Leadership Quarterly. Gardner, Cogliser, Davis, Dickens (2011)
These authors present the results of a context analysis of 91 publications that focus on authentic leadership following the "know thyself'' precept of Greek philosophy. The authors are spurred by deep-rooted concerns about the ethical conduct of today's leaders based on chilling examples of corporate and government malfeasance providing a plethora of sources.
"The search for truth implies a duty.
One must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true."
Albert Einstein
The Tragic Tale of Another Deadly AZ Wildfire (The Week - 2015) The incredible story of a 1990 Arizona forest fire, the prison inmates who died fighting it, and the families who struggled for justice. Except for Asst. Crew Boss Bachman, who had never been on a fire, the Perryville crew members had worked together on two fires in the weeks before Dude, and had fought seven forest and brush fires the previous year. The article falsely states: "Around 1:00, they ran out of water. Larry Terra, the crew boss, and Fred Hill, 37, an inmate firefighter and an assistant squad boss, walked downhill to Control Road to get more." The article further falsely states: "Terra sent a Forest Service employee uphill on an all-terrain vehicle to deliver water to the crew. An hour later, Perryville crew members gathered around the ATV to refill their canteens." In reality, the ATV operator was a USFS employee delivering water all day long in Walkmoore Canyon on his ATV. The article further states: "The Navajo crew made it out. But when the fire jumped the line meant to keep it at bay, the Perryville crew was separated into two groups. Nine crew members made it to Control Road, where they climbed onto the back of a pickup truck that was waiting to get them out. The rest of them were trapped." The pickup truck and a Model-70 Type 3 Engine afforded the Perryville Crew a means to escape otherwise they would have also died. It melted the tail lenses on the Model 70. The article further states: "The fire was otherworldly. Its size and sound were terrifying. A 100-foot wall of flame rose behind the crew. It roared like a steam engine. There was nowhere to escape. LaTour ordered the crew to deploy their fire shelters." LaTour, claiming to be their alleged "Lookout" ignored the Navajo Scout's warning to get out and also ignored several obvious fire behavior indicators as well, (e.g. "burning bark plates, sticks and twigs bouncing off my fire shirt").
One of the inmates, Bill Davenport, who deployed his fire shelter and was burned on his legs from a burning fallen tree limb was threatened by the Deputy Warden and Dept. of Corrections Officer Larry Terra at the hospital on June 27th to "never talk to anyone about the Dude Fire."
“Today not only in philosophy but in politics, government, and individual morality, our generation sees solutions in terms of synthesis and not absolutes. When this happens, truth, as people have always thought of truth, has died.”
~ Francis Schaeffer (evangelist and pastor)
We need the Wildland Fire realm, including the YH Fire Revelations website, to be a "learning organization" using "complete lessons learned." Therefore, you will all need to be more willing to include the "human mental elements" in this, which entails including this into your annual training and fire refreshers because this author and experienced others know for a fact that you will be placed in these ethical dilemma situations at some point in your careers and so it is often difficult to do the right thing when placed there if you've never been there before.
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.
Albert Einstein
Figure 19. June 28, 1990 Dude Fire Shift Plan Source: Dude Fire IMT
Figure 20. June 27, 1990, Payson Hot Shots Crew Buggies Photo - Dude Fire - June 27, 1990 - Roberts Mesa Road (FR 29) near Tonto Creek Road junction, where they, along with DMFO Velasco, were told to go to Zane Grey Cabin as it was imminently threatened by fire - Source: Schoeffler Files
“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already.” Tolstoy (Farnam Street)
Reasoning in public forces discipline of thought. It's like doing math on the chalkboard in front of the class. Every step must be clear and correct, or someone will point out the mistake. There's no room for fuzzy thinking or skipped steps. If your reasoning is correct, you have nothing to fear. If it's wrong, you have everything to learn. Farnam Street
“Running from your fear is more painful than facing it.”
Chuck Norris
"I don't know how I'm going to live with myself
if I don't stay true to what I believe."
WW II Medic & Medal of Honor recipient Desmond T. Doss
Figure 21. To The Last Man novel image Source: Zane Grey Society
This is where we attempt to answer the question posited at the beginning of this post: What Really Ensued On The June 1990 Dude Fire? The Perryville Dept. of Corrections Officer Deserted His Crew Taking The Only Radio; The Two Fire Bosses Shredded Key Fire Package Documents (Records); Why Was The Historic Zane Grey Cabin Allowed to Burn; and The Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery Was Saved Between June 26-27, 1990.
“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
Marie Curie
Figure 22. He that doth evil has not seen God from image Source: FB
"History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from. And if it offends you, even better, because you are less likely to repeat it. History is not yours to change or destroy."
Aldous Huxley
All along, we Truth Tellers have strived to share the truth and debunk the lies, however, the Cover-up Crowd, Naysayers, and Kool-Aid Drinkers attempted to forcefully negotiate otherwise, We have shrived to keep the dialogue open, and all along, they have thwarted us and closed the doors in our faces. We have to do what we can to keep these truthful memories alive, because people forget so easily - especially the young FFs and WFs.
Those of us there that day attempting to continue successfully firing out around the historic ZGC did our level best to follow and apply the Rules of Engagement and "lead up" to our supervisors went unheeded, included in this author's sworn "under penalty of perjury" Declaration above in Figure 9. Former Asst. US Attorney Mike Johns (RiP) states in his article titled: Dude Fire Still Smokin'" in Wildfire Magazine, June 1996: "The Forest Service Manual requires that firefighters ensure that the fire can be fought consistent with the Ten Standard Fire Orders. But the Dude Fire litigation raises the question of how much discretion do the Fire Orders allow, and how much risk is therefore tolerable. The Manual requires that firefighters be alert to the Watchouts and take appropriate responsive actions. But there is no objective standard against which to measure the risk against the propriety of the action. Fire managers would shudder at the legal arguments made in the Dude Fire litigation which demonstrate the great amount of discretion which the Standard Fire Orders and Watchouts permit. ... At the very least, supervisory firefighters and lookouts need to take key moments during movements, fire behavior changes and weather changes, and visualize a response to possible worst-case events. Can they see the terrain, the fire and the weather? Do they need more information'! What escapes and safety zones are available? LCES, Standard Fire Orders and Watchouts [Rules of Engagement] need to be rechecked against current and potential conditions at all key times. ... What human factors contributed to the good and bad results in this entrapment? What role did the urban interface play in this tragedy?" ... The Dude Fire can now be used for case studies and analysis to address such questions, without the cloud of litigation hanging over it. It is up to the community of firefighters to ensure that the lessons to be learned from the Dude Fire are not lost to budget cuts, busy schedules, or apathy. At this point, the Forest Service is anxious to pursue these issues, and I look forward to working with their eager experts." This author is incredulous regarding John's last sentence in that the USFS and their alleged eagerness to "pursue these issues" because this author alleges that they did everything they could to cover-up, lie, and whitewash the alleged "facts" regarding the June 1990 Dude Fire. There are select members of "the community of firefighters to ensure that the lessons to be learned from the Dude Fire are not lost to ... apathy" and that "case studies and analysis" issues have also been raised, with some good suggestions made by Ted Putnam, et al., in Findings From the Wildland Firefighters Human Factors Workshop, USDA Forest Service, p. 8, November 1995.
And for those of us attempting to save the historic Zane Grey Cabin on the afternoon of June 27, 1990 - engaged in
the fight - this event still haunts all of us to this very day.
Considering Figure 12. below. Offended? No way. We get downright pissed off at those that continue with the ongoing intentional and willing cover-ups, lies, and whitewashes of the the truth while toeing the Party Line. While thinking nothing of it either. All in stride. It's wrong! It's unethical and unprofessional at a minimum.
Figure 23. The reason I refuse to be offended image Source: FB
Figure 24. Comfort zones & mediocrity image Source: FB, Ugwuegbu Charles
To those who think it is enough to know what is right and simply avoid doing anything wrong, Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet had something important to say. In one of his essays occurs the following profound sentence:
"God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose.
Take which you please --- you can never have both."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.”
WWI Veteran PV2 Martin August Treptow
The Armor of God
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (NKJV)
