CANCER INFO - Do we now enough about it?

Dear friends,

As I told you via Facebook ('UFF - Unit of Forest Fires' and 'Mastros de Fogu') this post will regard the topic: cancer & firefighters. As cancer survivor Keith Tyson says: "What we are learning is that we MUST get our heads out of the sand and begin tu put a MAJOR EMPHASIS on CANCER prevention and protection within the Fire Service" ('The Firefighter & the Ostrich!").

First of all, I warn you that this post is written employing structural firefighters cancer-related information. Meaning that it is not wildland firefighters-related data. As every wildland firefighter should know, the fire phenomenon is not really different either inside a room, or in the forest (the fundamental processes developed there are the same). On the contrary, the burned materials are not equal: while in the forest the main element is wood, in structural fires fire burns plastic, concrete, fiberglass, iron, and many other chemichal-compounded materials. Therefore, structural firefighters (just 'firefighters') are more exposed to suffering cancer because of the toxic products generated in the combustion (either complete or incomplete) of those materials. Moreover, we never fight confined fires, so aerial particles always dissipate as fast as weather conditions (overall, mixing height conditions) permit.

So, even though wildland firefighters are not represented in any of the papers I will quote in this post, it is true that some of the recommendations are absolutely useful and will also prevent that little likelihood (little compared with structural firefighters) of suffering cancer. Breathing postcombustion air particles is always unhealthy.

Let's do it! 

"Most firefighter line-of-duty deaths are due to cardiovascular disease and occur during the active phase of fire suppression (Alarie Y. Toxicity of fire smoke. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2002; 32:259-289). Although most firefighter studies and statistics have looked almost exclusively at on-duty deaths, fea have looked at the long-term effects of career firefighting on health and longevity.

A Canadian study indicated that firefighters with 30 years of employment or more had a significantly increased mortality risk of colon cancer, kidney cancer, brain cancer and leukemia. In addition, firefighters with 40 years of employment or more had a significantly incresed risk of bladder cancer in addition to the risks previously described (Kales SN, Soteriades ES, Christophi CA, et al. Emergency Duties and Deaths from Heart Disease among Firefighters in the United States. NEJM. 2007;356:1207-1215). Similar findings were noted in a study of Massachusetts firefighters (Ma F, Fleming LE, Lee DJ, et al. Mortality in Florida Professional Firefighters, 1972 to 1999. Am J Ind Med. 2005;47:509-517). The prevailing theory is that repeated exposures to toxins on fire ground may result in the development of selected types of cancers"

 [...]

CO

Typically, a phase of decreased oxygen content in the blood (hypoxemia) follows CO exposure. The effects of CO-mediated hypoxemia are dependen on any underlying disease that might be present, such as emphysema or heart disease (Mannatoni PF, Masini VE. Carbon monoxide: the bad and the good side of the coin, from neuronal death to anti-inflammatory activity. Inflammatory Research. 2006;55:261-273). These periods of hypoxemia and re-oxygenation often result in the formation of dangerous chemicals called 'free radicals', which causes oxidative stress, as well as cell and tissue damage (Zang J, Piantadosi CA. Mitochondrial oxidative stress after carbon monoxide hypoxia in the rat brain. Journal of Clinical Investigations. 1992;90:1193-1199 & Van der Vaart H, Psotma DS, Timens W, et a. Acute effects of cigarette smoke on inflammation and oxidative stress: a review. Thorax. 2004;59:713-721).

Oxidative stress has been associated with the development of many diseases, including atherosclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease (Rice-Evans CA, Gopinathan V. Oxygen toxicity, free radicals and antioxidants in human disease: biochemical implications in atherosclerosis and the problems of premature neonates. Biochemical Essays. 1995;29:39-63). Thus, exposure to CO (either acute or chronic) may be a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

In a 2005 study, researchers in Minneapolis evaluated 230 victims of CO poisoning and found that myocardial injury was common in moderate to severe CO poisoning. These same 230 patients were followed for an average of 7.6 years after their exposure. Initially, 85 (37%) patients had an associated myocardial injury, such as ECG changes and elevated cardiac biomarkers, associated with the poisoning. Interestingly, of the 85 who had myocardial injury, 32 (38%) eventually died during the study. In contrast, only 22 (15%) of the 145 patients who did not sustain myocardial injury eventually died (Henry CR, Satran D, Lindgren B. et al. COHb% as a marker for cardiovascular risk in never smokers: Results from a population-based cohort study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2006;36:609-615).

CO poisoning can interrupt oygen delivery to the brain, causing brain hypoxia. This is later followed by oxidative stress that can damage sensitive brain tissue. The detrimental effects of hypoxia and oxidative stress can be either temporary or permanent.

[...]

OTHER TOXINS

Smoke is a complex mixture of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gasses that develop when materials undergo vaporization or thermal decomposition (Stefanidou M, Athanaselis S, Spillopoulou C. Health impacts of fire smoke inhalation. Inhal Toxicol. 2008;2:35-39). This vaporization and decomposition can liberate various toxins. Although the effect of these agents is unclear, exposure to some (e. g., aromatic hydrocarbons) has been linked to cancer development.

PREVENTION AS SOLUTION

The solution to mitigating the toxic effects of smoke and fireground risks, and thus many of the occupational risks of firefighting, is through prevention and treatment. This can be achieved through several efforts, including use of safe firefightin tactics (including safe mop-up) that mitigate unnecessary risks and exposures, and use of proper protective equipment (PPE) and clothing.

Other preventive practices include:

• Ensured adequate nutrition and hydration.

• Attainment of a satisfactory level of physical fitness.

• Organized firefigher rehabilitation practices"

(Where There's Smoke, There's Far More than Fire. NFPA 1584. 2010).

After these interesting quotes on that article, I would like you to keep in mind some of these others:

"For the years 2008-2010, 29% of our currently ACTIVE members [within a 2018 firefighers crew] have been diagnosed with some type of CANCER ISSUE!

[...]

We must insure that our members have CLEAN PPE, INCLUDING their Nomex hoods, gloves and sweat bands in ther helmets! The data is starting to add up more and more that dirty gear is more responsible for many of our issues than we thought in the past. Look at the types of cancers: testicular and prostate cancer = dirty pants, thyroid cancer = dirty hoods, brain and NS = dirty helmets (when was the last time you cleaned your helmet?). Again, what toxins are in the gear after a fire ARE being absorbed thru our skin as we sweat and our pores open up".

(Keith Tyson. The Firefighter & the Ostrich! 2011).

"One cancer that firefighters nay not realize they have a higher risk for is bladder cancer. We understand the importance of wearing proper protective equipment (PPE) during fire attack, but we must stress the importance of continued use of PPE during all phases of firefighting, including mop-up, because it's this long-term exposure to the products of complete and incomplete combustion that increases the risk for bladder cancer.

Firefighters are among the most prominent occupational groups at increased risk for bladder cancer. Surprisingly, many firefighters and their physicians are unaware of their risk for this cancer. Men get screened for prostate and colon cancers; they understant that they're not immune from lung cancer if they smoke or are exposed to tobacco smoke; and they watch for signs of skin cancer. Yet one of the most deadly cancers is not on their cancer watch list".

(Dr. Barry Stein, Michael Dubron. Firefighters & Bladder Cancer: Prolonged exposure to burning debris increases your risk. Fire Rescue Magazine. 2010).

"The connection between fire fighting and cancer is real and there is scientific data to support our position. But we can't stop there; we must continue to learn more so we can prevent our members from contracting this horrible disease and help them if they do".

(Fighting Fires. Fighting Cancer. Working to deat - Leading Causes of Death Among First Responders. 2008).

And that is all the info I wanted to share with you. I think it is such an interesting topic, which is being strongly developed by many different scientific researching teams. One thing it is clear to me: Even though we do not fight structural fires, clean PPE is fundamental.

Thank you very much to Dr. Adam Watts, who sent me many cancer-related information from the Firefighter Cancer Support Network. Also thanks to that organization, which fights to prevent Fire Services about cancer risk.

PS: As I told you via Facebook, if you want me to send to you some of these Firefighter Cancer Support Network-edited brochures, you just have got to both share either this post (http://merencianosardegna.blogspot.com.es/2013/09/cancer-info-do-we-now-enough-about-it.html) or the entire blog (http://merencianosardegna.blogspot.com.es/) on Facebook and leave one comment either here in the blog's page or in one of the two Facebook Groups' posts on which I update blog's data). Then, just write to me via private message on Facebook and we will figure out how I will make them arrive to you.

FIFTH DAY – Fire investigation

First of all, I apologize for the delay on the release of this post. I have been so busy both with one very important test and with a very special visit. Prof. Leda Kobziar, her husband, Prof. Domingo Molina Terrén and his family came to visit me and my family. Those were amazing days, sharing splendid moments with great people. I wonder when will we repeat...

Secondly, I warn you this is probably the most interesting post I will publish in this blog. It is not as long as others, maybe not as visual as others, but the lesson I learnt was so interesting. I will never forget that day. There we go!

Let’s develop one of the most interesting topics I learned while on Sardegna: fire investigation. It is important to explain the meaning of ‘fire investigation’ (or fire scene investigation), for it involves many things. As I understand it, fire investigation is the conjoint of actions, researches, conclusions and after-action-effects that seek to determine both the origin and cause of a wildfire. It is the analysis of wildfire-related incidents.

I had never enrolled a fire investigation team before, so I want you to forgive me is I make some mistakes in this post and I strongly ask you to send to me your comments and suggestions, as I don’t want to share wrong information. However, I would like you to know that what I am going to write is just the transcription of the day on which I learned the basis of fire investigation. Obviously, by the hand of Dr. Delogu, CFVA and GAUF crew.

The day started as a regular day: in Dr. Delogu’s Office. Actually, it was not a normal day. We had a meeting with Dr. Silvio Coco, Dottoressa Stefania Murranca, Ettore Deiana and both Dr. Delogu and me. We spent some time trying to figure out which is the best way to introduce on CFVA a sports training program. They don’t want to have out of shape fire crew and they will make all the crew get fit by employing kind of a personal training system, of course, totally adapted to each person physical status. This is amazing, because it is absolutely compulsory: fire crew needs a strong fitness. Even more in old-person-conformed fire crews (because of the strong efforts developed and the high likelihood of suffering either heatstrokes, or muscles aches or even heart attacks). The thinkg I really appreciated was that they were so interested in how we do that in Spain, and I tried to share all my knowledge as well as possible.

Later we drove to Monserrato Fire Station and had such a delicious meal: typical Italian pasta and sausages, good salad and fruit and kind of a homemade raw beacon with species (courtesy of Ettore Deiana). I absolutely enjoyed food in Sardegna, and that is a big deal. I mean, every single time a travel around the world I say: “OK, yes, the USA/France/Italy/Germany… is amazing but you’ll never eat as you do in Spain”. Nonetheless, this time was different. I loved Mediterranean Sardginian food.

The next step was a prescribed burn they did some time ago (I think maybe in May). A nice plot burned to prevent structural hazards in a close Government-managed building. They told me how they conducted the burn and their thoughts. Moreover, Ettore Deiana showed me a nice homemade adaptation to the 'batefuegos' (I am sorry but I don't remember the English word, holy smokes...). Nice experience sharing, but not as great as the next one (at least for me): fire investigation.

We moved to a private land to respond to a wildfire call: a property which burned several days ago and whose owner resulted fined as CFVA found he was the arsonist who put the fire on the ground.

Once arrived, other CFVA handcrew had suppressed the wildfire, which was really ‘soft’, behaving slowly even uphill. That was not a big deal. The question was: how is it possible, another fire in the same area (it actually started just in the end of the previous one, and burned maybe 200 square meters)? Was it arsonist-made? Which is the likelihood that to happen, that a man resulted fined for being arsonist and then a lightening/unknown cause start another wildfire exactly ahead? Answer: CFVA fire investigation team.

Guess what happened? Me and most of the guys there we thought that: the first time the arsonist argued that someone burned his house as revenge (or something similar), meaning that he was not the author. He never admitted his guiltiness. So it was logical to think that he had burned again the plot in other to demonstrate that he was not guilty!

I said “most of the guys there” because one of them was looking at some point which resulted interesting for him. Please, guess who that guy was. Yes, of course, dottore Giuseppe Delogu. 

Delogu looking at the key point (not fake picture)

He was looking with a concerned glaze to the starting point:

Ettore Deiana: ‘What is going on dottore Delogu?’

Giuseppe Delogu: ‘Something is wrong here’

Ettore Deiana: ‘What is wrong dottore?’

Giuseppe Delogu: ‘How is it possible that this stuff is that much burned if the wildfire just burned for several minutes, until our crew came and suppressed it? I mean, do you see these colors in the soil? That means high temperatures during lots of time’

Ettore Deiana: ‘What do you think happened?’

Giuseppe: ‘Let’s check it out’.

Nice conversation which made all the rest of us wonder if our judgment was absolutely wrong.

Crew wondering whether we were wrong or not close to the smoldering point

CFVA guys took the tools and started to research for evidences. You can see the procedure in the pictures below.

 

Unlike in Spain, in Italy 'Il dottore' works as one more crewmember

Raking up the smoldering combustion area

Here we go! Do you see that black stuff? And changes in colors

Everything has to be perfectly documented (evidences)

See how label 3 is overheated (it is plastic-made, bad choice)

More pictures

Some of the fire investigation stuff (electronic tools, labels, zipbags,...)

It is also very important to keep track of the area (GPS point because of the size)

'See these temperatures! That did not started to burn this morning!' - said Delogu

He confirmed that here smoldering combustion reached high temperatures

Of course, sampling is needed

Then, in the lab, everything is analysed

'Do you that kind of clay color? That means high temperatures' - told me Delogu

Also, sampling in the unburned area - to compare

Somehow Giuseppe Delogu noticed that a small visible piece of ground had a strange color, and that made all the difference: they found Delogu was right. The previous wildfire was bad suppressed, just with water on the surface, without checking for smoldering combustion (latent). They did not dig on the soil and oxygenate (aerate) the area in order to control the last stage of the combustion, so it remained burning underground, slowly but at very high temperatures (changing soil’s structure and modifying organic components’ status and proportions). That made the change in colors that Dr. Delogu noticed as a falcon.

Amazing lesson: ‘use evidences, not neither prejudgments, nor preconceptions, nor prejudices’. Never forget: we are SCIENTISTS, we have a METHOD and we MUST follow it.

THIRD & FOURTH DAY – “Dalla parte del fuoco”, techno-fighting and new inventions

This post is not actually going to be about the third day of my Sardegnian experience because I spent it on holiday; I had a wonderful beach day in La Caletta’s beach and a wonderful party night in a great concert. That’s not interesting for you, so I will speak about Dr. Delogu’s recently released book (“Dalla parte del fuoco”) and about how CFVA (by the hand of Dr. Delogu and some others) has implemented the use of forecasts, software, mapping and many new-tech tools.

“Dalla parte del fuoco” is written employing technical language, regarding complex terms, but in an easy-to-understand way. I mean, by reading it you’ll be able to relate many of those theories we know by the hand of famous scientists (Prof. Domingo M. Molina, Dr. Juli G. Pausas, Prof. Vittorio Leone, Ronald L. Myers, Jon Keeley, Prof. Leda Kobziar et al.) to Sardegna’s environment. You will understand how all that stuff is developing in Sardegnian ecosystems.

Another thing that makes it worthwhile is that Dr. Delogu includes many quotes of many of those papers I referred on the previous paragraph: he tells you what they said and how is it happening in Sardegna. That is amazing because it allows you both to remember the theory and to improve your knowledge (by applying it to different realities –forestry environments). Moreover, the book is perfectly structured: either you are used to fire stuff (at this level) or not, Dr. Delogu will guide you chapter by chapter, so as you are able to understand every single word he writes. That’s great, for the reason that each of us we’re specialized in different things (there are only a few who know perfectly everything).

Finally, format is also very good; it is easy to read, with nice letter and many charts, diagrams and pictures useful to better understand information. Language, Italian, is not a problem (at least for Spanish readers); absolutely understandable. And it prices the ridiculous amount of 16EUR, which nothing is compared with the great time you are going to have by reading it.

You can order it right here:

http://www.ibs.it/code/9788864291499/delogu-giuseppe-m/dalla-parte-del.html

I am still on sixth chapter so there are still over a hundred pages to go; but I want to share with you some quotes from the book that I’ve particularly liked and enjoyed.

Quote 1: <<[author is referring to GAUF] Si tratta di unità speciali recentemente istituite per l’attacco indiretto all’incendio con l’uso del fuoco di soppressione (fuoco tattico e controfuoco), per la preparazione di fuochi prescritti finalizzati alla prevenzione dei grandi incendi di interfaccia, per l’analisi degli incendi storici al fine di “apprendere lezioni” ed evitari errori di tattica che purtroppo in tanto occasioni sono stati causa di gravi incidenti>>

Well, I don’t know what to say. Amazing, wonderful, impressive, great… I mean, those units, born in 2008, are kind of the compendium of all good managing practices in one tactical team: PRESCRIBED FIRE as a prevention tool and as an ecosystem management tool, HIGH RELIABILITY ORGANIZATIONS’ principles, TECHNOLOGY applications and both FIRE ANALYSIS and FIRE as a suppression tool. Awesome! And, believe me, I saw those units working and they’re great.

Quote 2: <<Per evitarne gli effetti più devastanti occorrerà adottare, nella gestione forestale, tutte le azioni e le strategie necessarie non allo spegnimento delle fiamme ma soprattutto alla prevenzione, avviando il bosco alla “resilienza”>>.

He hit the spot! That’s what we all know (if not, we should); I think he is sending a message to some old-fashioned guys.

That is what I call ‘Forestry’s future formula’ (F³ by Merenciano):

Click to enlarge

Quote 3: <<Cosa direste se qualcuno vi chiedesse di partecipare ad una campagna di opinione segnata dallo slogan ‘Tutti uniti contro l’acqua!’ oppure ‘Tutti insieme contro la neve!’ per sensibilizzare i cittadini sul pericolo di alluvioni o di valanghe?>>

 

Please, guess what Dr. Delogu is speaking about in that paragraph. It is probably the greatest foresters’ mistake: those days on which (sadly many foresters still think like those days) we all used to use ‘fire’ to refer to a BAD thing, and only a bad one. Nowadays, we know there are GOOD fires and bad ones. In fact, look this amazing sticker I brought with me from the USA:

 

Quote 4: <<Prevale l’idea –tutta mediate dalla politica e dal luogo commune –che la soluzione agli incendi di interfaccia sia una robusta azione militare di soccorso pubblico e non invece l’ordinaria e virtuosa buona gestione dei luoghi in cui viviamo>>

Quote 5: <<[every single word written in the fifth chapter]>>

Fifth chapter is just amazing, awesome, incredible, impressive, wonderful, delightful, brilliant, splendid, extraordinary, remarkable… I would like to know more synonyms: it is just great! And I am not going to tell you anything about it, except for the title: “Ecologia del fuoco: un paradosso?”. You’ll have to read it.

There it is, “Dalla parte del fuoco” by Dr. Giuseppe Mariano Delogu; it is worth every single minute.

After that I would like to tell you how CFVA has implemented new technologies in its firefighting system. That is a complex matter so I will only make a brief resume regarding the two most interesting tools I know they use.

First of all, it is obvious that they employ local digital cartography, GPS, Kestrels and all that stuff. Moreover they (at least GAUF crew) check every single day (during the wildfire seasson), maybe three or four times, weather forecasts. As Giuseppe Delogu showed me, these are the main webpages they check:

http://www.sardegna-clima.it/ ; http://www.meteogiornale.it/ ; http://www.sar.sardegna.it/

Let’s review Wildfire Analyst and both LANDSAT and NDVI cartography.

1) Wildfire Analyst (http://wildfireanalyst.com/)

CFVA bought a few licenses for that amazing software. I don’t really know its true potential because I haven’t had the opportunity to use it with its main developer, Dr. Joaquín Ramírez – Technosylva (http://technosylva.com/). Hope I take some WA lessons soon (hopefully in CA).

Basically, the tool provides a fast on-scene fire analysis. If you are used to the software, you are able to introduce few parameters and simulate how fire is going to behave. Actually, you can get analysis showing spread and behavior, including fire paths and Campbell System analysis.

One of the greatest things is that you can adjust simulations, once run, by changing some parameters/data you’re observing on-scene and you’ve realized are not represented on the simulation. All that happens as fast as you’re able to do it, because it’s a very fast software. Moreover, I have to say that it is really easy to conduce simulations. In fact, e. g. you can download automatically weather data from a data source (that makes it worth, because introducing weather data –such as wind- in other simulators –for example FARSITE- is a slow process.

Of course it is also a prevention tool. And I love this. You can simulate either historical wildfires or likely-to-happen ones in order to manage the forest where it is really needed –it is time to save money and time, to do critical points management instead of huge fire breaks and all that stuff, isn’t it?-. Also you can simulate how a prescribed burn it’s going to behave.

Another amazing thing about Wildfire Analyst is the kind of results it provides and the way they are shown. Besides the typical charts/pictures… it automatically export data to Google Earth so as you are able to watch the simulation in 3D in an up-to-day cartography, absolutely versatile, handy, useful and easily share the results. It is great to improve situational awareness and to focus on what’s really important: an efficient management of the incident/forest policy. It also generates a complete simulation report, including source data, incident data…

As you can imagine, the employ of this tool makes system much more efficient, allowing incident commander to emphasize suppression efforts where they are really need, improving his/her incident awareness and making him/her able to forecast how will fire behave in a wide range of suppositions (as much as you are able to simulate by varying parameters).

Dr. Delogu running a simulation - Picture courtesy of Leandro Usai

Cheking simulation's accuracy - Picture courtesy of Leandro Usai

2) LANDSAT images and Image Analysis window for ArcGIS 10.1

As the US Geological Service describes on its webpage: “Landsat represents the world’s longest continuously acquired collection of space-based moderate-resolution land remote sensing data. Four decades of imagery provides a unique resource for those who work in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global change research. Landsat images are also invaluable for emergency response and disaster relief”.

Now, since May 30, 2013, Landsat 8 satellite’s images are available. It is an awesome free tool, which allow us, foresters, to both better manage ecosystems (aerial view incomparably increases situational awareness) and emergencies. It is ideal both for planning tactics and for doing the post-incident work.

You just have got to visit the project’s webpage: http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov , identify your area of interest, ask for the desired maps and get the results in the format you want. By combining this images with the GIS tool ArcGIS, and employing the tool Image Analysis window, you’ll be able to generate those interesting NDVI maps (Normalized Differential Vegetation Index).

Those are the resulting maps (courtesy of Giuseppe M. Delogu):

This comment by Dr. Delogu is good to better understand the process: <<[...] l'elaborazione è una sommaria azione di classificazione delle bande del rosso e dell'infrarosso vicino del Landsat 8; può essere fatta anche su base regionale; si tratta di applicare un indice di calcolo di questo tipo: R-NIR/R+NIR, dove R è la banda del rosso, NIR è l'infrarosso vicino>>.

After that, I would like to share with you our next day’s activities. There we go!

On August 4, 2013 we (Dr. Delogu and me) visited CFVA Regional Station at Nuoro. It was such a great idea because there I met Livio Peluffo a GAUF crew member. He is kind of the perfect firefighter: strong, agile, open-minded, smart and with a fast-processing brain (so fast!). He is able to make decisions really fast, always keeping a total situational awareness about all the area of the incident he’s managing.

I had the opportunity to make a couple of backfires with him and other guys from his crew, and that was so exciting. Minute-to-minute tactics (because fire behaviour was continuously changing) which allow us to control fire as much as possible. Very nice experience (that was on Laconi Fire – I will tell you about that fire in future posts).

Besides his amazing firefighting skills, he is a great designer (I think he studied Design Engineering or something similar). Actually, he designed GAUF first-response vehicles, which are really well-prepared. I love its setup.

That day I had the chance to witness the ‘release’ of his new invention: a foam spear (retardant) adapted to be attached to one of his previous inventions, the improved version of the atomizer. So, a firefighter carrying an atomizer (which is a rigid backpack, 18 liters volume, with an engine propelling water, air or both) full of retardant foam could spread it, e. g. all over a line to secure it in order to safely conduce a backfire –in a few seconds. The new spear is attached to the regular hose (Fire Engine) and a plastic pipe to the atomizer. In that way, and because of Venturi effect, once water is driven through the spear, foam is absorbed and pushed too.

The invention is still in the process of patent, so you’ll have to wait a few months to watch the video I recorded while testing it. I am sorry.

We spent the rest of the day visiting the basi elicotterische di Farcana which is also the Region COP. That is a great idea because the resources and the managers are together, ready-to-go; even one COP Officer could embark on the helicopter fast to evaluate with his/her own eyes the incident.

Let me share with you the rest of the day by showing some pictures:

 See you soon!