Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504190002
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SPENCER LENGTH: Long
Dangerously brittle.
Locklear checked his flight plan. There were reports that an arsonist was at work in the woods around Patrick Springs, only about 10 miles to the west in Patrick County.
That would be their first stop.
Patrick County had been a problem spot for Locklear and Nystrom the day before. That was where they had spotted a fire near Philpott Lake that eventually blackened 90 acres of land and forced some people to evacuate from their homes.
What would they find this day?
Locklear and Nystrom, and other teams like them across the state, are the mountaintop fire spotters of the modern world. Only instead of sitting atop strategically-placed towers like the spotters of old, they do their scouting from a single-engine prop plane code-named Raven North.
Locklear works for the Virginia Department of Forestry. Nystrom is a pilot for Baron Aviation in Spencer, which owns the plane.
The men knew thousands of acres were burning in Craig County. Their worst fear would be to discover thousands more burning elsewhere, like in Patrick County.
The conditions certainly were right, with the relentless dry weather of the past month or more, plus an abundance of fallen timber from the ice storms of 1994.
Chances were, however that Locklear and Nystrom wouldn't discover anything remotely as large as the fires in Craig County. Anything that big, Locklear explained, already would have been discovered by someone else.
Besides, their job isn't the big fires. Their job is to find fires before they reach that size, when they can still be contained.
Few people know about Locklear and Nystrom. In these dry times, however, perhaps they should.
The Department of Forestry pulled out of the fire towers years ago because they were too costly to operate and maintain, and because aerial spotters are much more accurate and efficient.
Locklear and Nystrom cover 10 counties: Henry, Patrick, Floyd, Pulaski, Giles, Montgomery, Craig, Botetourt, Roanoke and Franklin. In the old days, the same territory required multiple fire towers and many more spotters.
By air, Locklear and Nystrom can pinpoint the location of a fire, and offer information or other support to fire crews on the ground.
Above Patrick Springs on Monday, it didn't take long for them to spot trouble.
Locklear, who is the primary spotter, explained that what he looks for are ``little puffs of smoke,'' not the billowing clouds of smoke that people commonly associate with forest fires.
The little puffs indicate a newly started fire, often one that has not yet been reported and therefore poses a threat. He shared here the fire spotter's creed: ``All big fires start as little fires.''
The trouble at Patrick Springs involved a series of small fires, most of them along one rural road, that forestry officials and fire crews already on the scene suspected were being set deliberately.
How Locklear and Nystrom then worked the fires, Locklear said, was a good illustration of what they do.
Spotting the fires, Locklear radioed the county forestry office. It asked him to stay in the area to look for additional fires and maybe catch the arsonist in the act.
Generally, Nystrom flies about 1,000 feet above the terrain and at the relatively slow air speed of 80 mph.
``Sky detective Mike Nystrom,'' Locklear cracked, ``and his trusty sidekick, Ken.''
They spotted a red car parked suspiciously on a remote dirt road, and they circled overhead to calculate its exact coordinates. Locklear then radioed the location to the crew below. (It turned out to be of no importance).
On this day, the fires over Patrick County were minor and easily controlled. If they had been worse, Locklear said, he and Nystrom would have been called on for additional support. Later, they flew over the devastating burning in Craig County, but otherwise what they found was uneventful.
Locklear said the firefighter's philosophy is ``Cut off the head and the body will die.''
Often, on bigger fires, they are called on to scout out the head or leading front of the fire and tell ground crews what direction it's burning, the fastest way to cut if off and other instructions. The old tower spotters couldn't do this.
There are other differences as well.
On windy days, at the low altitudes they fly, the four-seater Raven North can get bounced around pretty good. Locklear compared it to a boat on a lake, although a circus ride is probably more like it.
And in appearance, the weather-beaten, orange-and-white Raven North looks every bit like the work plane that it is. Nystrom also uses the plane to give flying lessons.
As a pilot, Nystrom, who is only 22, is self-assured beyond his years. He wants to fly commercial jets someday. Locklear, 38, is also a pilot and instructor.
This is their first year as a fire spotting team. While Nystrom typically concentrates on flying the plane, Locklear is looking for fires. He had to go through a one-day training seminar to qualify as a spotter, and would like to work again next year.
Typically, spotters fly four hours a day if needed during the March and April fire season.
This season has been so dry, though, that Locklear and Nystrom have sometimes flown more than four hours. They have worked nearly every day now for four weeks.
In fact, Jim Wagner, the regional flight coordinator for the Department of Forestry, said the spotters have logged 30 days in the air, compared with about 10 days during all of last year.
Wagner said he is running over budget as a result, but he said it's worth the extra money because of the savings in reduced firefighting costs.
Locklear makes $6.60 an hour. Nystrom earns $10, but both said they fly for more than a paycheck or recognition. It's a community service, Locklear said, and it's important.
``You're helping people,'' he said. ``Saving cars, saving houses.
``Saving lives.''
by CNB