October 2013 - Wildfire Today

Schwarzenegger becomes honorary Forest Ranger

Bill GabbertOctober 31, 2013Uncategorized7 Comments

It was just a month ago that Betty White became an honorary Forest Ranger. Now Arnold Schwarzenegger has been added to the ranks which also includes Chuck Leavell, keyboard player for the Rolling Stones. A rather diverse group.

Below are excerpts from an announcement by the USFS:

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“Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger received a U.S. Forest Service badge and jacket during a special ceremony in Washington, D.C., naming him an Honorary Forest Ranger for his work on climate change issues.

“I know you understand what we need to do as a nation to reduce the level of carbon in the atmosphere — after all, you have helped lead the way,” U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said to Schwarzenegger during the ceremony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “We look forward to having your help in educating communities on the devastating impacts of climate change on our forests and grasslands.”

Schwarzenegger said the honor “truly touches my heart” and expressed high praise for the agency and highlighted his respect for the thousands of Forest Service firefighters, especially as climate change effects have contributed to hotter, longer fire seasons.

“I have always known the kind of great work the U.S. Forest Service is doing. But when I became governor of California, (I saw) firsthand the kind of devastating fires we have in California,” he said. “I also have seen what climate change has done. We used to have a fire season, which was in the summer and the fall. Eventually this creeped up to (include) spring and now there is fire all year long.”

He said that Forest Service firefighters are “without a doubt the best firefighters in the world.”

“And it was like a sport team,” he said. “When a mistake was made there was never any finger pointing. You just got together and figured out how to work even better together. And because of that they were better able to do their jobs. . . and this is why I became such a fan.”

What some people may not realize is that he has an established record of working to ensure the viability of natural resources worldwide.
Continue reading “Schwarzenegger becomes honorary Forest Ranger”

Wildfire Today reader creates Smokey Bear Jack O’Lantern

Bill GabbertOctober 31, 2013November 1, 2013UncategorizedSmokey Bear1 Comment

Steve read the instructions for creating a Smokey Bear Jack O’Lantern and executed them brilliantly, as you can see in the photo above. He said it’s his “best pumpkin carving yet!” His primary tool was a Dremel with a small drill bit. It took about two hours.

Thanks Steve. Great job! It is also an excellent photograph.

Happy Halloween everyone!

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UPDATE November 1, 2013:

Michael created the one below. He said it takes a lot longer than you would think. He also used a Dremel tool.

Record-setting heat in Alaska brings a fire back to life

Bill GabbertOctober 30, 2013August 25, 2019UncategorizedAlaska1 Comment

If someone told you about a fire named “Mississippi” that was near Delta, would you guess it was in Mississippi? If so, you’d be wrong.

The Mississippi Fire started May 30 ten miles west of Delta, Alaska. The last time it was updated on InciWeb was August 25 when the Type 1 Incident Management Team turned it back over to the BLM – Alaska Fire Service. At that time it had burned 67,288 acres.

Normally by October firefighters in Alaska don’t have to worry about wildfires — they can’t spread very far under snow. But this year firefighters have to worry, at least a little. Temperatures in Delta Junction on Monday did not just set a new record, they blew it to smithereens — 19 degrees higher than the previous record.

Under those conditions, and combined with winds that gusted to 63 mph, the Mississippi fire found new life, crossing dozer lines and burning another 300 acres. A 10-member Alaska Fire Service crew responded to the fire Monday.

Alaska Fire Service Manager Kent Slaughter said the fire is 2.5 miles from Whitestone Farms but there is little threat it will spread to the community.

Last year in late November dry conditions and strong winds contributed to the rapid spread of a fire near Palmer, Alaska that burned 200 acres and required homes to be evacuated.

Dozers Delta River Mississippi Fire — Dozers crossing the Delta River at the Mississippi Fire, unknown date. InciWeb photo.

What happened to the fall fire season?

Bill GabbertOctober 29, 2013October 29, 2013Uncategorizedweather4 Comments

The wildland fire season came to a screeching halt about mid-September or even earlier in some areas. Since the Rim Fire in Yosemite National Park, fire activity has been fairly subdued, and there has been no significant, extended appearance of the Santa Ana winds in southern California. The eastern and southern fire season that follows leaf fall and the first severe frost seems to be still waiting in the wings.

This has also been noticed by the National Interagency Fire Center, of course. In an anonymous article on their Facebook page, someone writing on their behalf explored some of the reasons. (Articles like that which lay out numerous facts and opinions should be attributed.)

What happened to the fall wildfires? What about the upcoming fire situation in the southern and eastern states? Here’s some info from Predictive Services –

In early September fuels made a rapid transition to a much more moist state across the Northwestern quarter of the U.S. This led to greatly reduced significant fire potential and changed the focus of fire concern to Southern and Central California. Drier than usual conditions continued across Southern and Central California into October, but weather events necessary to create significant events were rare.

The normal transition of fire season back to the southern and eastern U.S. in the fall associated with leaf drop also did not occur as would be expected. Wetter than normal conditions continued and leaf drop is occurring on top of wet ground and as leaves are falling they are being layered with moisture preventing a significant fall fire season from developing.

Wildfire briefing, October 29, 2013

Bill GabbertOctober 29, 2013October 29, 2013UncategorizedArizona, Colorado, Grand Canyon, New South Wales, prescribed fire, UAV2 Comments

Smoke creates health problems in Australia

Smoke from wildfires and prescribed fires is being blamed for increased visits to hospitals in New South Wales. On Monday when air quality was at its worst, the number of people treated for asthma in hospitals more than doubled. In recent weeks Sydney has been inundated with smoke from bushfires, but since the weather moderated a week or so ago smoke from prescribed fires, or “backburns”, has replaced it.

Landowners are motivated to use fire to reduce the hazards around their property by insurance companies that impose higher premiums if they don’t have a buffer around their improvements. Some of them are taking advantage of the favorable weather to conduct the backburns before the normal beginning of the bushfire season in December.

Australian government warns operators of UAVs who operate over fires

In what may be a reaction to a stunning video and others taken by unmanned aerial vehicles over bushfires, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority issued a warning to the operators of small UAVs, saying they are putting fire fighting operations at risk and should be aware of appropriate regulations.

Catastrophic wildfires in Colorado ignite new center for managing ‘WUI’ wildfire risk

Colorado State University’s Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship is launching a new center dedicated to creating and applying the next generation of wildfire management solutions. The Center for Managing Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Wildfire Risk will provide science-based answers to critical questions raised by the most destructive wildfires in Colorado’s history. The Center for Managing WUI Wildfire Risk will provide science-based answers to critical questions raised by the most destructive wildfires in Colorado’s history.

Catching up with Fire Aviation

Cedar Fire, California’s largest

Bill GabbertOctober 28, 2013February 10, 2021UncategorizedCalifornia, Cedar Fire

Above: map of Cedar and Laguna Fires. USFS map by Corey Ferguson.

We continue to find retrospective articles about the largest fire in the history of California, the Cedar Fire, that started 10 years ago this month, on October 25, 2003. One of the more interesting is an animation of the spread of the fire which was initially pushed by very strong Santa Ana winds blowing from the northeast and east.

The fire was started by a hunter that got lost and wanted to improve his chances of being found. The 273,246-acre fire accomplished that goal and then some.

Just yesterday a hiker from Redlands, California who had been missing for nearly a week was found stranded in Coldwater Canyon about five miles above Arrowhead Springs Resort after he started a fire to stay warm, but the fire grew out of control. He was rescued after firefighters responded to suppress the fire which had spread to an area about 20 by 30 feet.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has an article that examines how the vegetation is recovering from the 2003 Cedar Fire. Below is an excerpt:

…The Cedar Fire and subsequent burns in 2007 wiped out more than half of the mixed conifer in San Diego County, according to park documents. Cuyamaca [State Park] saw the worst of it. Before the fire, conifers covered about 40 percent of the park, in pine-oak woodlands and mixed conifer forest, [Mike Puzzo, an environmental scientist with the park] said. All but a few stands were incinerated.

A decade later, the alien terrain left after the blaze is recovering to varying degrees. In some spots, such as Fern Flat, charred stumps are surrounded by what Puzzo called a “monoculture” of ceanothus.

In nearby West Mesa, where the fire burned less intensely, signs are more encouraging. Scrub and saplings mingle with 15 to 20 foot oak trees which shot up since the fire. Several miles away, in a meadow near Los Vaqueros, some large pines survived, and new ones are cropping up.

“I think this place is recovering very nicely,” Puzzo said. “This right here is a good representation of what a fire should do. Some is dead, but a lot is still alive.”

Sign in the Cedar Fire area — Sign within the Cedar Fire five months after the fire. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

The video below appears to have been shot by a homeowner in Poway as the Cedar fire burned near his home.

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