Wildfire briefing, August 9, 2013

Fire photos

We found two very impressive photos of smoke columns, on Instagram, here and here, plus a third one on Facebook.

A “row” over death benefits for families of Granite Mountain 19

As the UK-based Reuters news service reported, there is a “row” over the variable benefits that the Prescott Fire Department intends to give to the families of the 19 members of their department that were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire. The families of the six firefighters classified as full-time will receive additional financial benefits and lifetime health insurance from the city — much more than the 13 firefighters the department puts in the seasonal category.

Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin is considering calling for a special session of the state legislature to debate a bill that would ensure that firefighters’ families, at least in this case, are fairly compensated when there are fatalities on state-protected land.

A video at Arizona Central describes the tense relationship between the families of the Granite Mountain 19 and the City of Prescott.

If you have not seen them yet, you need to view the video interviews with survivor Brendan McDonough that we posted earlier today.

Preparedness Level raised to 4

Today the National Interagency Fire Center raised the national Preparedness Level to 4, the criteria for which is:

Three or more Geographic Areas are experiencing incidents requiring Type 1 and 2 IMTs. Competition exists between Geographic Areas. Nationally, 60 percent of Type 1 and 2 IMTs and crews are committed.

Today, August 9, is later than last year for moving into PL 4. In 2012 we transitioned into PL 4 on June 27 and again on August 8.

Incident Management Team assigned to Elk Fire

Rich Harvey’s Type 1 Incident Management Team is mobilizing today to the Elk Fire on the Boise National Forest near Pine, Idaho. This morning there were four other Type 1 IMTeams and one NIMO team assigned to the following fires (Incident Commander’s name/Fire name):

  • Schulte/Big Windy Complex in Oregon
  • Kaslin/Silver Fire in California
  • Houseman (NIMO)/Lodgepole in Idaho
  • Poncin/Gold Pan Complex in Montana
  • McGowan/Salmon River Complex in California

There are also 14 Type 2 IMTeams committed.

Silver Fire grows to 16,000 acres in southern California

The Silver fire 60 miles east of Los Angeles has grown to 16,000 acres since it started August 7. The map below shows the fire’s location near Banning and Cabazon. More details about the fire.

Map of Silver Fire,
Map of Silver Fire, at 10:05 p.m. PDT, August 8, 2013. The squares represent heat detected on the fire. The red line is last month’s Mountain Fire which is contained. (click to enlarge)

Unfortunately another recent major fire in Arizona was also named “Silver”.

Smokey’s birthday

Smokey Bear is 69 years old today.

A quick glance at the image on the video below, before it starts, and you understand why some small children are scared when they see someone in a Smokey Bear costume.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.