Red Flag Warnings, June 10, 2013

wildfire Red Flag Warnings

Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Arizona.

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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 10 a.m. MT on Monday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.

California: Hathaway Fire burns into San Gorgonio Wilderness

(UPDATE at 11:09 a.m. PT, June 11, 2013)

Map of Hathaway Fire, June 11
Map of Hathaway Fire, looking east, 2:35 a.m. PT, June 11, 2013 (click to enlarge)

The Hathaway Fire has grown to 1,954 acres and is 25 percent contained, according to information released by Incident Commander Don Garwood’s Incident Management Team.

As you can see in the above map of the Hathaway fire, which shows heat detected by a satellite, the fire has gone over the hill, as firefighters say, so we had to turn the 3-D image around, looking to the east now. Cabezon and Banning, along Interstate 10, are on the right, south of the fire.

It is burning in the San Gorgonio Wilderness, an area with steep, rocky cliffs. The fire has reached Raywood Flats which is a narrows-type area between Mill Creek and Water Canyons on the west and the huge, Whitewater River watershed on the east.

The fire has exhibited extreme fire behavior. According to the U.S. Forest Service, there is continued potential for large fire growth into the San Gorgonio Wilderness. Emphasis today is on continuing direct fire line construction, continue air operations until dusk, and night air attack flying. The Hathaway Incident Command Post has been established at Noble Creek Park in Beaumont, CA.

The firefighting resources working on the fire include:

  • 1,018 personnel
  • 40 hand crews
  • 35 engines
  • 13 water tenders
  • 11 dozers
  • 6 air tankers
  • 10 helicopters

Predicted weather, according to information released by the IMTeam: wind speeds today will be 25 mph from the West. Temperature 87. Humidity 15%. High pressure will begin to rebuild in the area today, bringing warmer temperatures to the area.

Monday night the IMTeam put in a late request that the USFS fixed wing aircraft, which images fires at night with infrared equipment, map the fire, however the infrared ship was booked solid with the Powerhouse fire that has been quiet for several days as well as four fires in New Mexico. The USFS has two infrared aircraft, but only one at a time has been mapping fires so far this year.

We posted some photos that Chief John Hawkins took of the fire two hours after the fire fire started.

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(UPDATE at 6:35 p.m. PT, June 10, 2013)

The U.S. Forest Service says the Hathaway Fire has burned 1,650 acres and is 25 percent contained.

The map below, which has been sent to many U.S. Forest Service employees, is a computer model projection of the spread of the Hathaway Fire 80 miles east of Los Angeles over the next seven days. While it may be startling, keep in mind there are many caveats, including but not limited to:

  • It uses a 1,354 acre estimated perimeter as the ignition file.
  • Size and location may not be accurate.
  • No barrier files were used.
  • Anticipate fire spread burning into the low probability surfaces early in the 7 day analysis period due to drought, critically low live and dead fuel moistures and forecasted gusty W-SW winds.
  • Model assumes no suppression action.
  • Model outputs represent the probability of each 120 meter pixel burning but NOT the probability of fire extent.

Again, it is very important to consider that the model assumes that no firefighters on the ground or the air will take any suppression action on the fire. And it assumes there are no barriers, such as surface streets or interstate highways.

The concentric circles of color represent the probability that the fire will reach those areas, with no suppression action and the other caveats. For example there is a 40 to 59 percent chance the fire will reach out into the yellow area, and only a 0.2 to 4.9 percent that it will reach the blue area.

Click the image below to see a larger version.

Hathaway_Fire_FSPRO_6-9-2013, partial

Continue reading “California: Hathaway Fire burns into San Gorgonio Wilderness”

Red Flag Warnings, June 9, 2013

Wildfire Red Flag Warnings

Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

Dry lightning and strong winds are in the forecast for Northern California, the Bay Area hills & the Sierras.

On the map above it is unusual to see a small part of Utah’s southwest corner marked as a Fire Weather Watch area. The weather forecasters in Utah rarely forecast Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches, even when their neighboring states do so right up to the imaginary line separating the two.

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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 9:20 a.m. MT Sunday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.

Fuel treatments, before and after

I like before and after photos. The images below show the community of Silver City, South Dakota (map) before and after a fuel treatment which qualified them for official recognition from the National Firewise Communities Program.

Silver City before
Silver City before
Silver City after
Silver City after

A recognition ceremony will be held at the Silver City Community Hall on Saturday, June 8 at 7:00 p.m in which community members will be presented an award.

Silver City worked with the South Dakota Wildland Fire Division, the Black Hills National Forest, Pennington County Fire Administration and the Silver City Volunteer Fire Department to conduct a wildfire hazard assessment and develop a plan to address safety concerns. Residents then worked together to implement a detailed plan.

The photos are from The South Dakota Wildland Fire Division’s Twitter account, @SDWildlandFire.

New Mexico: Thompson Ridge and Tres Lagunas Fires (updated June 9, 2013)

(UPDATE at 9:55 a.m. MT, June 9, 2013)

Map Thompson Ridge Fire
Map Thompson Ridge Fire, 2 a.m., June 9, 2013 (click to enlarge)

The map of the Thompson Ridge Fire above shows the perimeter at about 2 a.m. Sunday. The most recent fire spread was on the southeast side onto South Mountain, within about a mile of Highway 4.

The fire has grown to 20,687 acres and is listed at 40 percent containment. Firefighters have been completing firelines and burning out in the interior for the last couple of days. Saturday just before sunset they were firing out along a road on the southeast side, removing fuel between a planned line and the fire edge, when the fire spotted across the road and became established on the north side of South Mountain.

The plans now are to prepare for and then burn out between the southeast side of the fire and Highway 4.

Effective 6 a.m. today, June 9, 2013, New Mexico Highway 4 will be closed at the junction of State Route 126 to the junction of State Route 501. Residents in and around Sierra los Pinos are permitted entrance and exit along Highway 4 south to Jemez Springs. No traffic will be allowed to travel along Highway 4 east of Forest Road 10. Residents must show their identification to gain re-entry. There are no additional evacuations at this time. Evacuations remain in effect for Thompson Ridge, Rancho de la Cueva, and Elk Valley.

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(UPDATE at 1 a.m. MT, June 9, 2013)

The Thompson Ridge Fire posted this “Urgent Update” at about 6 p.m. MT, June 8:

During burning operations this evening, the fire spotted across the fireline on the southeast side and established on South Mountain. Fire personnel are on scene evaluating containment options. Further updates as information becomes available.

Effective 0600 Sunday, June 9, 2013, New Mexico Highway 4 will be closed at the junction of State Route 126 to the junction of State Route 501.

On the map of the Thompson Ridge Fire below, (created before the expansion onto South Mountain) the firefighters were most likely burning to remove fuel between the fire (the red area) and the black dashed line on the southeast side of the fire when it spread onto South Mountain, between the black dashed line and Highway 4.

Map Thompson Ridge Fire,
Map Thompson Ridge Fire, June 8, 2013 (click to enlarge)

The DC-10 air tanker and possibly other air tankers were dropping retardant on the Thompson Ridge fire Saturday afternoon, probably in the South Mountain area..

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Continue reading “New Mexico: Thompson Ridge and Tres Lagunas Fires (updated June 9, 2013)”

Neptune withdraws their protest of air tanker contracts

Neptune Aviation has dropped their protest of the contract awards for next-generation air tankers. The protest held up the issuing of the contracts that were originally announced by the U.S. Forest Service on May 6. Fire Aviation has more details.