There was a change in the wind

“In single file they marched right up to heaven.”
From the song, Change in the wind.

Some artists in Prescott, Arizona got together and recorded a song that honors the memories of the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots that were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. The recording has just been released and is available as a CD or can be downloaded as an Mp3. The organization they formed, Change in the Wind, will donate the proceeds from the sales to “help fill the immediate and long-term needs of the Granite Mountain Hotshot families”.

A video of the song, Change in the Wind, is below. We helped their effort in a small way by donating a photo we took of the procession that carried the bodies of the 19 hotshots from Phoenix to Prescott.

The CD release party will be tonight, Wednesday August 28, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the El Gato Azul restaurant, 316 W. Goodwin Street, in Prescott. CDs will be for sale there.

Honor Escort for the Granite Mountain 19. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
One of the Granite Mountain Hotshots’ crew carriers leads the Honor Escort for the Granite Mountain 19, near Yarnell, Arizona, July 7, 2013. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

Virtual tour of the Rim Fire area

This is an excellent virtual tour video that shows the geographical relationship of the 187,000-acre Rim Fire to Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley, and some of the other landmarks in the area.

Our main article about the Rim Fire is updated daily with maps and current information.

Firefighter in Oregon collapses, dies

Oscar Montano-Garcia, 50, a firefighter working on a contract Type 2 hand crew collapsed and died while working on the Nabob Fire on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon on Sunday, August 25.

The crew was rehabilitating a fireline by pulling brush back over the line that connected with the Pacific Crest Trail. They had just taken a lunch break when Mr. Montano-Garcia collapsed. EMT’s on scene and multiple other EMS personnel attempted to revive the firefighter but were unsuccessful.

Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Montano-Garcia’s family and co-workers.

Nighttime photo of the Rim Fire from space

Rim Fire, August 23, 2013 as seen from Suomi NPP satellite
Rim Fire, August 23, 2013 as seen from Suomi NPP satellite
Rim Fire, August 23-26, 2013
Rim Fire, as seen from Suomi NPP satellite August 23-26, 2013, showing the boundary of Yosemite National Park.

A satellite with extraordinary light-sensing capabilities recently photographed the Rim Fire at night. The image above was captured by NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite on August 23 as the fire burned into Yosemite National Park in California. That was a very active time period for the fire, as it was growing rapidly.

It is common to see satellite data showing heat generated by wildfires, but this is the first image we have seen of visible light created by a fire at night. In this photo, the smoke from the fire is also detected.

The satellite, launched in October 2011, has a new imaging instrument with a “day-night band” that can detect natural and man-made light with unprecedented resolution and clarity — six times better spatial resolution and 250 times better resolution of lighting levels than previous instruments.

Our main article about the Rim Fire is HERE, and is updated daily with maps and current information.

For comparison with the satellite photo, below is a map of the Rim Fire at 9 p.m. August 22.

Map of Rim fire at 9 p.m.  PDT, August 22, 2013
Map of the Rim fire. The red line was the perimeter at 9 p.m. PDT, August 22, 2013. The pink line was the perimeter about 24 hours previously. The boundary of Yosemite National Park is shown in green.

Let’s root for the Wildfire

Let’s root for the Wildfire! No, not THAT kind of wildfire. There is a school in North Dakota whose sports teams are named “Wildfire”.

Wildfire football team
Wildfire football team at Mott/Regent School in North Dakota. This appears to be the Junior High team. Mott/Regent School photo.

The Mott/Regent School in Mott, North Dakota (map) is the proud home of the Wildfire football team — with a distinguished record, according to their website. In their nine-man football division, they were state champions in 2007, made it to the state semi-finals 2010, and to the state Quarter-Finals in 2006 and 2011.

Other sports teams at the school are also called Wildfire, including basketball and track. The last line of their school song is:

…and rage on to Victory!

Their website proudly says:

Home of the Wildfire

I asked how they came up the the name. When the schools in the two towns, Mott and Regent, consolidated, they held a contest for a new name, and Wildfire was the winner.

So lets root for the Wildfire this year.

It’s good to have a schedule for Wildfire, don’t you think?:

Wildfire schedule, 2013

We were able to find a couple of other football teams named Wildfire. Did you know there is a Women’s Spring Football League? I didn’t either. One of the teams in the league is the West Virginia Wildfire. From their website:

The WV Wildfire is a women’s tackle football team based in Charleston, WV. We are proud members of the Women’s Spring Football League in the 8man Division. We began our inagural season in April 2011, through hard work these ladies brought home the National Championship in 2012 after winning thier division and conference titles, along with Bob Koontz as WSFL 8s Division Coach of the Year, and Courtney Cole, WSFL 8s Division MVP.

And, the Birmingham Wildfire was a minor league professional football team that competed in the Southern Conference of the LaBelle Community Football League in 2009.

Thanks go out to Jim