News and opinion about wildland fire
Warnings for elevated wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas.
The Red Flag Warning map was current as of 7:50 a.m. MDT on Saturday. 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.
This video showcases how firefighters in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia helped to prevent a fire from crossing a natural barrier by lighting more fire. The additional heat created convection and indrafts that allowed firefighters to affect the spread of the fire, resulting in them being able to protect structures and a highway.
The video was created by Fire Information personnel working for Parks Canada, using a series of still images shot by Jon Large, who told us he “had a great viewpoint on the adjacent mountain!”
Thanks Jon, and Parks Canada.
Below is a description of the video from YouTube.
Using fire to fight fire may seem counter-intuitive, but a deliberately lit fire can be a very important tool in a firefighter’s toolkit. During the Numa Creek Wildfire in 2013, specialists burned away fuel in the wildfire’s path to slow its progress. They used a natural fire break and convective air currents to control the deliberately set fire and protect both the highway and structures below. Fire specialists rely on a thorough understanding of fire behaviour to successfully manage fires of all kinds. Where we see flames and smoke, fire specialists see prevailing winds, convective heat, in-drafts and more. This is what fire specialists saw during one operation on the Numa Creek Wildfire of 2013.
Custer State Park, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, completed a 560-acre prescribed fire Friday afternoon near the buffalo corrals. The objective of the project was to improve grass habitat for buffalo and other wildlife and to enhance interagency cooperation and training for firefighters. Other agencies that assisted were South Dakota Wildland Fire, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, the National Park Service, and the Black Hills National Forest.
I arrived at the scene at about 1:30 p.m. thinking that the most active fire activity would be in mid-afternoon, but they were just finishing the ignition as I pulled up. With good planning, an early start, and with roads on some sides for firelines, a 560-acre prescribed fire in grass does not take all day.
The photos below were taken by Bill Gabbert for Wildfire Today and are protected by copyright.
Continue reading “Custer State Park burns 560 acres”
The Drought Monitor released on Thursday shows a worsening condition in many of the states in the western and central part of the country, including California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Washington, and Oklahoma.
Below is the Drought Monitor map released on February 20, 2014:
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized17 Comments on Do the firefighting orders and watch out situations need to be changed? The “Safety Matters” group (“A Wildland Firefighter Forum for Change”), is asking for firefighters to express their opinions about the need, or lack thereof, of making changes to the 10 Standard Firefighting Orders and the 18 Watch Out Situations. On their Facebook page the group posted the following:
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“We agree that the 10 & 18 were designed for firefighter safety, to cover all safety bases on the fireline.
We would like to raise an important consideration. Fire seasons have become longer. Fire behavior is more extreme. There are numerous accounts of fire behavior that “outperforms our expectations”. The new normal is considered to be extreme fire behavior. Drought is rampant; fuel moistures remain critically low and do not recover. Global warming is discussed, and radical weather is seen across the globe. Red flag warnings are becoming typical, more homes are lost in the WUI, and more acres are burned each year. But more importantly, wildland firefighters are exposed to increasing risk while doing the same job.
The 10 Standard Firefighting Orders and the 18 Watch Out Situations were developed in past decades to reflect wildfire conditions at the time of their development.
Is it possible that the 10 and 18 need to be reevaluated, reassessed and reconfigured to reflect a changing fire regime, an increase in fire severity and an obvious shift in what firefighters can expect on the fireline, a shift to the extreme?
Certainly the 10 and 18 should exist in some standard form, but is it possible that they need our careful reevaluation in order to keep pace with and reflect our changing conditions and circumstances?”
Victims who lost homes and cabins in two fires last year in southern California have filed claims against two public agencies alleging they are responsible for starting the blazes.
Chariot Fire
10News in San Diego is reporting that some of the owners of the 100 cabins that burned at the Al Bahr Shrine Camp east of San Diego on Mt. Laguna are claiming that the fire was started by the operation of a Bureau of Land Management vehicle. The Chariot Fire started July 6, 2013 near the Butterfield Ranch in the Anza-Borrego Desert, 3.000 vertical feet below the community of Mt. Laguna. Managed by CAL FIRE, it burned into the Cleveland National Forest not far from the Mt. Laguna Engine Station. In addition to wiping out many of the structures at the Shrine Camp, it threatened electronic sites at the former Mt. Laguna Air Force Base.
From 10News:
“We’ve hired experts and we’ve done an investigation,” [attorney John] Fiske said. “We believe that a Bureau of Land Management Jeep, driven by a Bureau of Land Management officer, started the fire in the desert and it burned 7,000 acres — the equivalent of 11 square miles.”
Fiske said the experts believe the person driving the Jeep didn’t notice. He has filed a claim against the BLM on behalf of Woodworth, the Al Bahr Shrine Camp and nearly 100 other cabin owners.
Wildfire Today’s coverage, including more photos, of the Chariot Fire.
Powerhouse Fire
From the AP:
Victims of a wildfire that burned 24 homes have sued the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, claiming the utility started the huge blaze and failed to properly maintain power lines and equipment.
About 100 plaintiffs, ranging from homeowners to a camp for disabled children, filed the lawsuit last month alleging negligence, dangerous condition of public property and other grounds, the Daily News reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1lIIUEC).
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The Powerhouse Fire burned 53 structures, including two dozen homes, and more than 30,000 acres near Santa Clarita and in Angeles National Forest. It began May 30 near a hydroelectric power plant and burned for about 10 days.
