Propane truck crashes and burns in Northern California, area evacuated within one mile

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Firefighters backed off, suppressed the fire that spread into dry rice field

Colusa Incident propane truck fire
Colusa Incident. CAL FIRE photo.

A truck carrying 2,000 gallons of propane crashed, burned, and ignited the leaking gas Monday morning in Northern California seven miles west of Gridley on the Colusa Highway near Schohr Ranch Road.

For hours, firefighters were forced to stay back and evacuations were ordered within a one mile radius of the incident. The fire spread to a dry rice field which was suppressed at a distance from the burning truck.

Large pressurized flammable gas tanks exposed to extreme heat can create a very powerful explosion called a “BLEVE“, or boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. These can be deadly within thousands of feet, depending on the quantity of flammable gas involved.

Colusa Incident propane truck fire
Colusa Incident. The fire spread into a dry rice field. CAL FIRE photo.

The incident was reported around 9 a.m. Monday and at 2 p.m. the firefighters stopped the propane from leaking and arranged for the owner of the truck to remove the remaining propane. The firefighters expected to finish the suppression and overhaul by about 4 p.m. Monday.

Map, Colusa Incident
Map, Colusa Incident
Map, Colusa Incident propane truck fire
Map, Colusa Incident

Photos of lookout tree on Ochoco National Forest in Oregon

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Black Mountain Lookout Tree
Black Mountain Lookout Tree, Steve Stenkamp

Steve Stenkamp sent us photos of another lookout tree in Oregon. This one is on the Ochoco National Forest between Bend and John Day. Previously he documented one on the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon.

Years ago, in order to detect new ignitions of wildfires, land management agencies occasionally took advantage of tall trees on hilltops, building platforms near the top with ladders or other climbing aids below.

Mr. Stenkamp used his Phantom 3 Pro drone to get these photos.

Black Mountain Lookout Tree
Black Mountain Lookout Tree, Steve Stenkamp.

“The unique feature is the ‘resting platform’ about 30 feet up,” Mr. Stenkamp said. “The ground cabin was moved to the Ochoco Guard Station when the lookout went out of service.”

Black Mountain Lookout Tree, Steve Stenkamp
Black Mountain Lookout Tree
Resting platform on the Black Mountain Lookout Tree, Steve Stenkamp
Black Mountain Lookout Tree
Black Mountain Lookout Tree, USFS archives.

Thanksgiving power shutoffs due to fire danger could affect 76,000 in Southern California

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Red Flag Warnings November 26, 2020

Southern California Edison has notified some of their customers that strong Santa Ana winds on Thursday and Friday could result in a preemptive power shutoff on Thanksgiving in order to reduce the chance of wildfires being ignited by power line failures caused by the winds.

The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings from Ventura County south to San Diego County as well as the Lower Colorado River Valley.

The Red Flag Warning goes into effect at 2 p.m. Thursday about the time many Southern Californians will be thinking about sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner. It will end at 6 p.m. Friday.

The forecasters expect 40 to 55 mph northeast winds in the lower elevations with isolated gusts to 65 mph in the mountains, with 12 to 25 percent relative humidity Thursday dropping to 8 to 15 percent Friday. The wind will decrease during the weekend but it will remain breezy and dry.

Red Flag Warnings November 26, 2020
Red Flag Warnings November 26, 2020.

The Angeles National Forest will have extra firefighters on duty through this wind event.

Joint Fire Science Program produces map of firefighter burnovers

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Map of firefighter burnovers
Screenshot of a map of firefighter burnovers. The size of the circle is proportional to the number of personnel involved. JFSP, November, 2020.

The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) has produced a story map highlighting some of the organization’s success stories, in particular their research in entrapment avoidance, safety zones, and escape routes.

The screenshot above is from an interesting interactive map in the presentation showing the locations where wildland firefighters were burned over by fires. The size of the circle is proportional to the number of personnel involved in each incident, but not every burnover resulted in fatalities. A click on the circle brings up a few details about the incident.

The JFSP was established by Congress in 1998 and is jointly funded by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. The Joint Fire Science Plan written then, (linked to on their website) says the organization “will address issues critical to the success of the fuels management and fire use program.”

In FY 2017, 16 of the 22  JFSP approved and funded research projects were various ways of studying vegetation. Back then we wrote:

It would be refreshing to see more funds put toward projects that would enhance the science, safety, and effectiveness of firefighting.

Since then the emphasis has shifted a little — in a good way. In FY 2020 their research grants were for projects on one of two topics:

  1. Effectiveness of fuel breaks and fuel break systems.
  2. Reducing damages and losses to valued resources from wildfire.

And in FY 2021: (they expect total funding to be $1.5 to $3.5 million):

  1. Sources and distribution of human-caused ignitions and their relation to wildfire impacts.
  2. Reducing damages and losses to valued resources from wildfire.

Wildfire Today continues to advocate for the the JFSP to place a major emphasis on developing science that can be directly used by wildland fire personnel to enhance their safety, firefighting efficiency, and reduce the undesirable and sometimes catastrophic effects of uncontrolled wildfires on citizens, infrastructure, and property. If the JFSP Plan needs to be revised to accomplish this, then let’s get it done.

Large fire burns much of the northern half of Fraser Island in Queensland

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , 1 Comment on Large fire burns much of the northern half of Fraser Island in Queensland

The blaze is about 46 miles long

map fire Fraser Island Queensland Australia
Map showing heat detected by satellites at the fire on Fraser Island in Queensland, during the period November 16 through 23, 2020. The large gap shown between the burned areas is because the satellite heat data between October 14 and November 15, 2020 was not available.

A large wildfire is burning on Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Since it started October 14 it has grown to 46 miles in length, north to south, covering much of the 76-mile long island.

Officials from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) believe it started from an illegal cooking fire that was not completely extinguished.

Satellite photo showing the fire on Fraser Island in Queensland, October 16, 2020
Satellite photo showing the fire on Fraser Island in Queensland, October 16, 2020 a few days after it was reported.
Satellite photo showing the fire on Fraser Island
Satellite photo showing the fire on Fraser Island in Queensland, November 20, 2020.

At of 2:15 p.m. Sunday November 22, the QFES reported the fire was north of Moon Point Road East, and was west of Northern Road.

Crews from the QFES are assisting Parks and Wildlife rangers working to contain the blaze with the use of back burns, assisted by Conair’s Q400 air tanker which has been dropping on the fire, reloading at Bundaberg.

No homes or private property were directly threatened as of November 20.

Judging from the satellite data, the fire appeared to burn in a mosaic pattern, leaving unburned areas scattered throughout the fire’s footprint.

Fraser Island, a World Heritage-listed national park, is the world’s largest sand island (covering 410,000 acres), with rainforests, pristine freshwater lakes, seafront rock pools, colored sand cliffs, massive dunes and more than 75 miles of unspoiled beachfront facing the Pacific Ocean.

Deferred maintenance projects for federal fire agencies receive funding

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12 projects are for fire management facilities

Yellowstone National Park Visitor Center
Yellowstone National Park Visitor Center. NPS photo.

Federal funding is expected to become available to begin addressing the historically underfunded, multi-billion-dollar deferred maintenance backlog at our national parks and public lands. The Great American Outdoors Act signed in August transfers revenues to our public lands from oil and gas royalty money derived from drilling on federal property. This money is deposited into two funds: the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The potential for $9.5 billion to be deposited into the Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund over the next five years will help cover about half of the current deferred maintenance backlog. The money will be distributed to public land management agencies proportionally to the amount of backlog faced by each agency (70 percent for the National Park Service, 15 percent for the U.S. Forest Service, 5 percent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 5 percent for the Bureau of Land Management, and 5 percent for the Bureau of Indian Education).

The Department of the Interior has released a list of the projects that will be funded in the fiscal year that began October, 2020. Many of the projects involve replacing, rehabilitating, or repairing buildings, water systems, sewer systems, and campgrounds for the NPS, BLM, FWS, and BIE.

We found on the list a number of projects related to wildland fire. They are all for the BLM or the National Interagency Fire Center.

  • BLM, California Telecommunication Network; repair critical telecommunications structures and equipment to provide reliable fire and law enforcement communications and protect the safety of the public and staff.
  • BLM, Grand Junction Air Center, Colorado; repair leaking containment pond integral to regional wildland fire aviation operations.
  • National Interagency Fire Center, Boise, Idaho;
    • Replace two aging uninterruptable power system (UPS) units that serve a mission critical data center; repair failing subgrade, and heating systems.
    • 405-Hangar; replacement of the outdated fire detection notification system and repair the HVAC system.
    • Repair an aging storm water collection system that is inadequate to manage storm water in accordance with clean water act requirements.
  • BLM, North Central District, Montana; Grub Dam rehabilitation to provide a consistent source of water for habitat and wildland fire.
  • BLM, Winnemucca District, Nevada; replace dilapidated Orovada Crew Quarters at a fire station in McDermitt, NV with a new Fire Station Quarters in Orovada, NV.
  • BLM, Nevada Telecommunications Network, Nevada; repair radio infrastructure across Nevada to provide a communication system that is safe and reliable to support BLM’s fire suppression, law enforcement, and emergency responses.
  • BLM, Burns District, Oregon; the Warm Springs-Stinkingwater project will repair 18 miles of damaged road to provide safe access public wildlife viewing and hunting, wildland firefighting operations, and cattle grazing allotments.
  • BLM, Burns District, Oregon. Replace an aging and deteriorating radio tower to protect public safety and ensure reliable radio service for interagency fire, law enforcement, and employee communications.
  • BLM, Prineville District, Oregon; the Prineville District Sunflower Creek culvert replacement will resolve outstanding safety issues and improve wildland fire response on South Fork John Day Road.
  • BLM, Burns District, Oregon; the Burns Junction Fire Station Repair and Renovation project will renovate the bathrooms, sleeping quarters, kitchen, and laundry facilities of the Fire Station.

The Department of the Interior also released their projects to receive the Land and Water Conservation Fund money this fiscal year. The Act guarantees the Fund will receive $900 million annually.

The Forest Service has a list of deferred maintenance projects for FY 2021 and 2022 that are under consideration, subject to final budget appropriations.