Six single engine air tankers ready for fires in South Dakota

Air Tanker 466 at Hot Springs
Air Tanker 466, a Dromader, at Hot Springs, SD, March 14, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert

In what is unprecedented in the state, six Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) are staged and available to help to fight wildfires in South Dakota this week. The aircraft are positioned at  Pierre, Mobridge, Valentine, Hot Springs and two in Lemmon.

Part of the reason for the surge in the numbers of air tankers is the opening of pronghorn antelope season on Saturday.

There have been quite a few fires in western South Dakota this year and the SEATs have been busy.

Squirrel causes vehicle fire

Vehicle fire south of Wind Cave National Park
Vehicle fire south of Wind Cave National Park, 1:15 p.m. MT, September 26, 2012. Wildfire Today photo by Bill Gabbert

Wednesday afternoon an older couple was driving their Dodge pickup truck on US Highway 385 just south of Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota when they smelled smoke. The driver told us that it smelled like a forest fire but they could not see any nearby — until the interior of the truck filled with smoke. They pulled over and called 911 on their cell phone and then stood on the side of the road several hundred feet away with their two dogs as the truck burned, waiting for what they thought was the inevitable explosion — just like they have seen so many times in movies.

Vehicle fire south of Wind Cave National Park

When they received the dispatch to the fire the engine crew from Wind Cave was only about four miles away doing some training. Already wearing their Nomex shirts, they responded in Engine 628 (the white truck) and saw that the burning vehicle was on the side of the road parked at a driveway, which provided more clearance than if the truck had stopped anywhere else. With the strong wind that was blowing, one burning ember in the grass alongside the road and the fire would have been over the hill quickly. The National Park Service engine crew quickly knocked down the fire, keeping it from spreading into the vegetation, and then turned it over to firefighters from Hot Springs when they arrived from their station about 6 miles away.

Congratulations to the Wind Cave crew for preventing what could have become a large vegetation fire. The weather at the Elk Mountain weather station a few miles away recorded a 10 mph wind with gusts up to 22 at the time of the fire. Darren Clabo, a fire meteorologist for the state of South Dakota, sent out this tweet earlier today:

Extreme Fire Danger for many West River counties today. Gusty southeast winds with RHs falling below 20%

 

Vehicle fire south of Wind Cave National Park

The occupants told us that after they pulled over they saw pine cones dropping out of the engine compartment as the truck burned. They figured that while they had been camping, a squirrel had designated their truck as a storage facility for its’ winter food supply. The pine cones must have been close to an exhaust pipe which caused them to ignite.

After I downloaded these images I noticed some pine cones in the picture above. Below is an enlargement of the area below the truck’s engine, with arrows pointing out some of the pine cones that were still recognizable.

Pine cones at vehicle fire south of Wind Cave National Park
Pine cones at vehicle fire south of Wind Cave National Park (click to enlarge)

We are adding this to our articles that are tagged “animal arson” — the 10th in the series — so far.

Fuels and firefighting discussion for the northern plains

During fire season the Fire Meteorologist for the state of South Dakota, Darren Clabo, distributes on a regular basis a paper describing the predicted weather and the current condition of the fuels. In the edition published on Tuesday a section about fuels written by Jim Strain, the Chief of Operations for the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division, caught my eye. He references the 28-mile-long Wellnitz fire that burned 77,159 acres in Nebraska and South Dakota.

…Do not underestimate the spread potentials of Fuel Model 1 and Fuel Model 2 fuels during the evening and night hours. When wind, slope and fuels are in alignment, with no natural barriers, these fires will burn just like in the middle of the day. The Rosebud complex in eastern MT last month went from 7000 acres to 100,000 acres in one night! When the Wellnitz fire crossed the state line on late Friday afternoon, the forward progress of the fire was finally stopped in the south portion of the road ditch on US Highway 18, at 2230 hours that evening.

The head of the Wellnitz fire spread quickly through green crop fields such as standing sunflowers. The head of the Wellnitz fire was finally corralled by tactic used by Pine Ridge BIA. Pine Ridge BIA units scraped a line with a grader on the south side of the Hwy 18 Right of way, and as the fire moved through the shorter grass (FM1) to the scraped line, it meet a pretty significant barrier of 10 feet of bare mineral soil, and 33 feet of pavement. This allowed fire units to patrol larger sections of line and hold the fire. Pine Ridge BIA and the Tribe did an outstanding job of pulling the trigger real fast for evacuation once the fire crossed the state line, and good thing they did. Fire was up to many housing units just as fire trucks arrived that evening.

So for any fire in our zone, if you think evacuation needs to take place, just do it, because it probably needs to happen!

Firefighters making progress on Wellnitz fire in SD and NE

Wellnitz Fire
Wellnitz Fire, photo by Nebraska Governor’s office

Firefighters are making progress on the Wellnitz fire that started August 29 north of Hay Springs, Nebraska and ran 28 miles north across the state line into South Dakota into the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, stopping when it got to the community of Oglala.

The only heat detected by the MODIS satellite during its 2 p.m. pass on Sunday was near the Division A/B break at the state line (see map below), the result of a large slopover that drew “quite an air show” according to the Information Officer for the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team A.

The fire has burned 96,000 acres, 63,000 in Nebraska and 33,000 in South Dakota. The IMTeam is calling it only 27 percent contained.

Below is a map of the fire provided by the IMTeam, prepared by Glenda Torres with data from 1200 hours on Sunday.
Continue reading “Firefighters making progress on Wellnitz fire in SD and NE”

Update on Nebraska’s Region 23 fires

map of Nebraska and South Dakota fires, 122 am MT, Sept 2, 2012
Map of fires in northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota, 1:22 a.m. MT, Sept 2, 2012. The brown cross-hatched areas are the latest fire perimeters uploaded by the Incident Management Teams. The small circles represent heat detected by a satellite in the last 24 hours, with the red and yellow circles being the most recent. GEOMAP and MODIS. (click to enlarge)

Firefighters are making progress on the two large fires in the Region 23 Complex that are south and west of Chadron, Nebraska, comprised of the Douthit Fire northwest of Crawford and the West Ash fire southeast of Crawford and south of Chadron.

The Chadron Record reported that Incident Commander Joe Lowe said in a public meeting Friday that the Douthit Fire has a control line around it but could still be susceptible to growing larger if strong winds become a problem.

The Chadron Record also had this interesting bit of information:

Crow Butte [uranium] Mine near Crawford has also been shut down and evacuated, and Lowe said the team is strategizing how to handle the potential hazardous material situation should the fire advance that far. The blaze is currently three to four miles from the mine.

The more active of the two fires, the West Ash Fire, has come close to Highways 385 and 20, requiring the temporary closure of 385. One of the DC-10 air tankers dropped at least three 10,600-gallon loads of retardant near the highways.

The Wellnitz Fire northeast of Chadron has burned about 60,000 acres in Nebraska and South Dakota.

The information below about the Region 23 Complex was sent to us at 10 p.m. September 1 by Beth Hermanson, Public Information Officer for the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C:

==============================================================

Region 23 Fire Complex has burned 87,555 acres and is 47% contained as of this evening.  Significant progress was made on the Douthit Fire today, while West Ash remains active.

The Douthit Fire crews took advantage of yesterday’s temperatures to complete burnout operations to help secure containment lines. Firefighters worked on constructing and strengthening line, and focused mop up around structures and near the fire line, while mitigating risks.

The West Ash Fire remained active as firefighters worked on constructing and strengthening fire lines which were tested throughout the day by high erratic winds. Significant indirect efforts to provide extra protection to the city of Chadron were completed, including drops from the DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker, (VLAT) of 36,000 gallons of retardant, and heavy equipment completed lines around each home.

Near Crawford, fire officials successfully completed a five-mile burnout operation to help reinforce containment lines.

Resources continued to arrive throughout the day, with a reported 658 personnel now dedicated to the Region 23 Complex.  To date, there have been no firefighter injuries.

Fire crews anticipate a busy night operational period with changing weather conditions.  A cold front is expected to move in this evening, likely preceded by strong erratic winds and a thunderstorm.  The Incident Management Team prepared by staffing a significantly larger night operation shift.  Crews plan to take advantage of the predicted cooler temperatures and increased relative humidity to make significant progress on containment, and to continue burnout operations.

EVACUATIONS:  Fire and Law Enforcement Officials strive to return evacuees’ home as soon as possible; meanwhile the following evacuations continue mandatory, including:

Residents living west of Highway 385, and south of Highway 20, Highway 385 to Hawthorne Road and all areas north of Buttermilk Road to Highway 20; including Country Club Road, Old County Club Road, and Goffena Road.  This also includes Deadhorse Road to Table Road and Flag Butte Road.

Residents living on Highway 385 between Chadron City Dams and Red Cloud Camp area, both the east and west side.

Crawford area residents living from the West Ash Road south on Highway 2 for five miles, across Breakneck Road, east to West Ash Creek Road; including West Ash Creek Road, Squaw Creek Road, Saw Log Road, Horseshoe Road, Breakneck Road, Dyer Road and Crow Butte Road.

The Village of Whitney remains evacuated.

Update on fires in northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota

Northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota fires
Northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota fires, 10:01 pm MT, August 31, 2012 (click to enlarge)

UPDATE at 11:47 a.m. MT, September 1, 2012:

What we thought were four major fires in the northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota areas are actually three. The large fire near east of Chadron, northwest of Pine Ridge, and south of Oglala, named Wellnitz, is just one VERY large fire that burned from Nebraska into South Dakota. If you notice the gap in the heat icons at the white SD/NE state line southwest of Pine Ridge, the fire must have burned very quickly through some light vegetation and burned out, between passes of the heat-sensing satellite. The MODIS satellite passes over most areas of the world two to three times a day on an irregular schedule.

The two fires nearest Crawford are part of the Region 23 Complex. Here is an update from InciWeb, which was updated at about 12:30 p.m. MT today:

More than 68,689 acres have burned in the Region 23 Complex fire in northwest Nebraska accordingto Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C officials.

The complex consists of two fires the West Ash Fire near Chadron and the Douthit Fire near Crawford. The fires started by lightning, Aug. 28. Containment of the fires is estimated at 25 percent. West Ash accounts for 44,354 acres and the Douthit fire has burned 24,335 acres. The fires did not grow overnight.

The fires are in rugged inaccessible terrain burning ponderosapine and grass. Red flag warning is expected to continue,possibly for the next three days. Fire fighters worked through the night preparing areas of the fire likely to be affected by potential high winds over the next couple of days.

The InciWeb site also has information about evacuations.

Five Nebraska National Guard helicopters are assisting with the fires. Models being used include CH-47 Chinook, UH-72 Lakota, and UH-60 Blackhawk.

The weather in the area is very conducive to rapid fire spread. A weather station south of Chadron at 11:22 a.m. today recorded a temperature of 89, relative humidity of 13 percent and a wind speed of 21 gusting to 40 mph.

One of the DC-10 very large air tankers dropped retardant on the fires today and yesterday, and is most likely reloading at Casper, Wyoming with 10,600 gallons of retardant with each flight. Casper is 133 miles from the fire near Harrison, not a long flight when cruising at more than 500 mph. The aircraft dropped three loads of retardant Friday and Saturday on the West Ash fire, totaling approximately 34,000 gallons.

Neptune’s Tanker 40, a jet-powered BAe-146, filed a flight plan to travel from Missoula to Rapid City, and is expected to arrive there at about 3:30 MT today. It is likely that it will also be working on these fires. Maybe someone will send us a photo of it or the DC-10 assisting the firefighters on the ground.

=======================================================

Originally posted at 4:06 a.m. MT, September 1, 2012

We will write more about this later, but  now there are four major wildfires burning in northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota. The MODIS heat sensing satellite is showing detections in a new area in South Dakota, south of Oglala and northwest of Pine Ridge.

We had more information about the Nebraska fires earlier, including a fatality that may be related to the fires, and Inciweb has information about evacuations.