Wildfire briefing, August 24, 2013

Transformer explodes, starts fire behind fire station

An electrical transformer on a power pole exploded and started a fire behind a fire station in Ramona, California early Saturday. Here is an excerpt from the Ramona Patch:

The incident occurred about 7:45 a.m. at Cal Fire Station 80 at 829 San Vicente Road south of H Street, Cal Fire firefighter-paramedic Brandon Morgan said.

“We were just sitting in the station and we heard an explosion outside and we went out and a power pole was on fire about 200 yards away,” Morgan said.

Prompt action by firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze before it spread.

Firewise landscaping saved homes in Utah

Removing and managing vegetation around homes saved several of them during a wildfire in Utah, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Eight homes were destroyed by the lightning-caused Rockport Fire near Rockport Reservoir last week.

Scoopers help slow wildfire in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Some Canadair CL-415s helped slow a wildfire in the Jabalnica region in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, but Saturday it took off again and came within 200 to 300 meters of the Jablanica hydro-electric plant. The Croatian government made two water-scooping air tankers available to suppress the fire, at the request of the Bosnian Council of Ministers.

Granite Mountain 19 widow gives birth

One of the widows of the 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots gave birth Thursday to a 6 pound, 15 ounce son. Amanda Misner who was married to Sean Misner, named him after his father, giving him the name Sean Jaxon Herbert Misner.

The child’s father and 18 others from the fire crew were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, near Yarnell, Arizona.

Beth Lund, Incident Commander on the Beaver Creek Fire

Beth Lund, Incident Commander
Beth Lund, Incident Commander. Incident Management Team photo.

Beth Lund is one of two female Incident Commanders on Type 1 Incident Management Teams, the largest and most capable teams that run large incidents. Jeanne Pincha-Tulley is the other.

Ms. Lund’s Type 1 Team has been managing the Beaver Creek Fire near Ketchum, Idaho which is one of the fires getting a lot of national media attention due to the number of acres burned, 111,000, and the movie stars homes that have been threatened by the fire. The Idaho Mountain Express has an article about her. Here is an excerpt:

In the modern world of firefighting, mavericks are discouraged, a strong and flexible mind excels and only quiet competence is rewarded.

It’s in this world that a 58-year-old woman, who is halfheartedly eyeing a retirement in which she will learn to quilt, has risen to become the face of fire news at its best and worst.

She is one of only two women in the already tiny national cadre of 16 U.S. Forest Service Type I incident commanders—the people who try to tame the most complicated wildland fires.

“My policy is to tell what I know and to tell the truth while being mindful that we don’t want people to hear it from the news first,” says Beaver Creek Fire Incident Command Leader Beth Lund.

She’s been the calm center in a relentless stream of media and public inquiry since arriving nearly two weeks ago to manage and expand the efforts to repel the fire that threatened the length of the Wood River Valley.

Even in the diciest moments as she bounces from gathering recon to live TV on demand, to fielding questions from strangers, with nearly every step she takes, she remains unflustered—even when she delivers unsavory news.

Traci Weaver and Beth Lund
Traci Weaver and Beth Lund accept a card from the Wood River community. Incident Management Team photo.
Burnout operation on the Beaver Creek Fire
Burnout operation on the Beaver Creek Fire. Incident Management Team photo.

 

Wildfire briefing, August 23, 2013

Firefighter dies in Portugal

A female firefighter was killed and nine were injured Thursday on a wildfire in Portugal near the small city of Tondela. Commander Antonio Ribeiro of the Serra de Caramulo firefighters said the crew ran from the fire but the firefighter who died fled in the wrong direction. Euronews reports that three firefighters have died this month. High temperatures and strong winds have contributed to the spread of 13 large fires in Portugal.

The national wildfire situation

Today there are 49 uncontained large fires listed on the national Situation Report in the United States, and that number does not include individual fires within complexes. There are currently 854,480 acres within the perimeters of those active fires. The national Preparedness Level has reached the highest category, PL 5, for the first time since 2008. And while it may seem like much of the west is on fire, the number of acres burned to date, 3.4 million, is much less than average, which is 5.6 million.

Competition for firefighting resources is occurring. There is only one California-based Type 1 or Type 2 incident management team available that is not assigned to a fire; 33 IMTeams are assigned nationwide. But surprisingly, there are no Area Command Teams committed.

We have 11 large and very large air tankers working right now on exclusive use contracts, and there are another 9 that the USFS has borrowed from the military, the state of Alaska, and the Canadian government. In 2002 there were 44 large air tankers on contract.

Forest Service runs out of money for firefighting

For the sixth time in the last ten years the U.S. Forest Service has run out of funds for suppressing wildfires. Even though the number of acres burned to date this year is below average, the USFS is having to divert funds from other non-fire accounts in order to cover the shortfall. This is due in part to reductions in the amount of money Congress allocates for the FLAME fund, which is supposed to fund firefighting while protecting other accounts. The Washington Post has more details.

Scott Olsen writes about a firefighter’s first day on the job

You may have seen the articles written last year by W. Scott Olsen, a professor of English at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota about “the war on wildfires out west, meeting shot-callers and looking at the operation from the inside”. He has just published a new article at the Huffington Post about a wildland firefighter’s first day on the job.

Granite Mountain 19

The issues surrounding the deaths of the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots June 30 on the Yarnell Hill Fire continue to make the news. Firefighters with the New York City Fire Department have raised $30,000 so far for the families of the 19, and they are hoping to add to that total. The Prescott Daily Courier asked the candidates for Mayor and the City Council to express their positions on the discrepancy between the benefits for the seasonal and full time members of the crew. And there is a debate about whether the city’s hotshot crew should be rebuilt.

Investigative reporter John Dougherty has two recent articles about the Yarnell Hill Fire: “Yarnell Hill Fire: The Granite Mountain Hotshots Never Should’ve Been Deployed, Mounting Evidence Shows” and “A Granite Mountain Hotshot’s Father Says the Blaze That Incinerated His Son Could’ve Been Controlled“.

Montana residents contribute for free coffee for firefighters

Residents near Lolo, Montana are contributing to a fund to provide free, good quality coffee for firefighters working on the Lolo Creek Complex. According to an article at KZBK, Samantha Harris, a barista at Florence Coffee Company in Lolo, said customers have been donating money to give firefighters coffee.

“We have a huge tab here so all the firefighters’ coffee is paid for,” Harris said. “Which has been really fun to tell them their coffee is free.” The tab is at nearly $300, she said.

Florence Coffee Company is at 11880 HWY 93 in South Lolo, Montana.

Photos of pyrocumulus

The Alaska Dispatch has some very impressive photos of pyrocumulus smoke columns caused by wildfires.

Goat manure fire stinks up town

A burning pile of goat manure is affecting the quality of life for residents of Windsor, Vermont. The pile ignited from spontaneous combustion Wednesday at George Redick’s 800-goat dairy. Windsor Town Manager Tom Marsh said he could smell the fire at his home which is five miles from the dairy.

Red Flag Warnings and Smoke Map, August 22, 2013

wildfire Red Flag Warnings, August 22, 2013

Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Idaho, California, Washington, Montana and Oregon. Click the map above to see a larger version.

The Red Flag Warning map was current as of 9 a.m. MDT on Thursday. 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.

The map below shows the distribution of wildfire smoke in the United States at 9:40 a.m. MDT August 22, 2013.

Wildfire smoke, at 9:40 a.m. MDT, August 22, 2013
Wildfire smoke, at 9:40 a.m. MDT, August 22, 2013

 

Time lapse photography of Colorado fire

Matt Johnson shot this time lapse photography of scenes in the southern Colorado mountains, plus smoke columns from the Windy Pass, West Fork, and Papoose fires. All of the footage is beautiful, but in case you’re wondering, the fire scenes begin at 1:55.

Mr. Johnson’s description:

Colorado is currently experiencing some of the largest wildfires in the state’s history. In July, I visited the Bruce Spruce Ranch a little ways outside of Pagosa Springs and watched as the Windy Pass, West Fork, and Papoose wildfires burned thousands of acres of forest. I have never seen such a powerful event up close like this before, it was truly humbling.

Please visit http://whoismatt.com/pagosatimelapse and download this film in high definition. The video itself is 3 Gigabytes in size and looks amazing.

Music by Salomon Lighthelm at The Music Bed // http://www.themusicbed.com/#!/In-The-Sullen-Silence-5326/

If you have trouble viewing the video, you can try the Vimeo site.