A prescribed fire escaped at a national wildlife refuge east of Orlando on Monday. The plan was to burn 660 acres within St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge, but multiple simultaneous spot fires outside the burn unit exceeded the capability of the firefighters from Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge who were conducting the burn. An additional 72 acres of private land and 200 acres of Brevard County property outside the refuge burned — 600 acres in the original planned unit were completed.
The escape was knocked down by 43 personnel on Monday. Today spokesperson Candice Stevenson of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the fire is 70 percent contained. Agencies involved in the suppression of the escaped fire included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Brevard County, Florida Forest Service, the City of Titusville, and the U.S. Forest Service.
We have updated information from the National Weather Service about the wind event in southern California that is now predicted to last into Thursday.
1:14 PM PDT TUE APR 29 2014
RED FLAG WARNING FOR LATE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY EVENING…
A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE WEST COAST COMBINED WITH OFFSHORE FLOW FROM SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL BRING MUCH HIGHER TEMPERATURES AND VERY LOW HUMIDITIES WITH POOR OVERNIGHT RECOVERIES THROUGH THURSDAY. THE OFFSHORE FLOW WILL ALSO BRING PERIODS OF STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS NEAR THE COASTAL MOUNTAIN SLOPES AND ADJACENT INLAND AREAS…WITH STRONGEST GUSTS TO AROUND 85 MPH WEDNESDAY MORNING. MODERATE STRENGTH AND LESS WIDESPREAD NORTHEAST WINDS WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY WITH EVEN WEAKER WINDS INTO FRIDAY.
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(Originally published at 8:30 a.m. PDT, April 29, 2014. Updated at 10:30 a.m. PDT, April 29, 2014 to add a new Red Flag Warning issued at 9:35 a.m. MDT.)
Riverside, CA weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. (click to enlarge)
Wind gusts exceeding 80 mph and single-digit humidities are in the forecast for some areas of southern California Tuesday and Wednesday. A High Wind Warning issued by the National Weather Service at 1:55 a.m. Tuesday predicted sustained winds of 25 to 40 mph with gusts to 80 today, increasing on Wednesday to 30 to 45 mph with gusts to 85. That forecast applies to Orange County coastal areas, San Bernardino and Riverside county valleys, the Inland Empire, San Diego County valleys, and the mountain areas in the counties of San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego.
The graphical forecast (above) for Riverside shows relative humidities as low as 6 and 4 percent today and Wednesday, respectively, and high temperatures of 95 and 100.
In spite of this forecast, and live fuel moistures that are typical of July, there is no Red Flag Warning in effect for the area, only a Fire Weather Watch for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. UPDATE at 10:18 a.m. PDT Tuesday: the NWS issued a Red Flag Warning for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties at 9:35 a.m. PDT
In anticipation of this wind event, CAL FIRE has moved engines and hand crews to the southern part of the state. Air tanker and helitack bases in the area were ordered to be ready to fly at 7 a.m.
Red Flag Warnings (in red) and Fire Weather Watches (in yellow) areas — 8:30 a.m. PDT April 29, 2014
The Red Flag map above was current at 8:30 a.m. PDT, April 29. The revised map below was captured at 10:23 a.m. PDT, April 29, showing all of the Fire Weather Watches had been cancelled, and Red Flag Warning issued for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
Red Flag Warnings in southern California — 10:23 a.m. PDT, April 29, 2014
Near-real-time wind speeds in southern California can be monitored at this NOAA website.
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.
Fire weather forecasters depend on data from weather balloons and many other sources to develop our forecasts. During a strong wind, as evidenced by the 6 p.m. launch at Albuquerque on April 26, it can be a challenge. Watch as the balloon nearly blows apart then narrowly misses the observation tower and the forecast office.
…“We’ve had great success at apprehending arsonists,” [John Bird, an investigator for the state Division of Forestry] said. “And the word has gotten out. It doesn’t matter if people are on foot, riding four-wheelers or inside vehicles. The dogs can track them back to their homes. Once people realize that, they tend to be a whole lot less inclined to go out and start fires.”
With noses more than a million times more sensitive than those of their human handlers, the agency’s bloodhounds have proven themselves capable of some amazing olfactory feats.
“We’ve tracked some suspects for miles,” Bird said. “We’ve had cases where the suspect had set fires from his vehicle and the dog was still able to track him. We even had one case in which the dog tracked seven different people to their homes. It turned out that all of them were involved in a single arson. Every time we harness these dogs, they do something that amazes us.”
A devastating fire in Valparaiso, Chile that began on April 12, 2014 destroyed about 2,500 homes and killed 15 people. This video was shot on April 14 from an unmanned aerial vehicle.
