Fire whirl on the Sam Fire in LA County, Aug. 10, 2022. KTLA-2
On Wednesday afternoon the Sam Fire burned nearly 150 acres of grass and brush in northwestern Los Angeles County. No structures were damaged and there were no reports of injuries.
The KTLA Channel 5 helicopter captured some interesting video of an impressive fire whirl. It’s hard to appreciate it from seeing still photos since it did not appear to be very tall like many large fire whirls, but the indrafts it created are fascinating. At the end of the video below, an Air-Crane helicopter dropped water that at least for a while took most of the energy out of it.
Helicopter drops water on a fire whirl on the Sam Fire in LA County, Aug. 10, 2022. KTLA
Maybe a helicopter pilot can tell us how ballsy it was, or was not, to fly close enough to drop water on the fire whirl.
Fire whirls, much like dust devils, are not uncommon on a fire when the atmosphere is unstable, and are much smaller than fire tornados. In 1978 a researcher for the National Weather Service in Missoula, David W. Goens, established parameters for the two.
He said the average size of a fire whirl is usually 33 to 100 feet, with rotational velocities of 22 to 67 MPH.
But a fire tornado dominates the large scale fire dynamics. They lead to extreme hazard and control problems. In size, they average 100 to 1,000 feet in diameter and have rotational velocities up to 90 MPH.
The 24-hour Preliminary Report was released today for the August 10 fatality on the Big Swamp Fire in Oregon.
Below is the narrative from the document:
Narrative: A crewmember from a Bureau of Land Management Interagency Hotshot Crew was killed as a result of critical injuries sustained during firefighting operations on the Big Swamp Fire. He was struck by a falling tree and transported via helicopter to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Notifications to the family have been made and preliminary steps taken to convene an Interagency Serious Accident Review team ordered to facilitate organizational learning.
/s/ Duane Bishop – Acting Forest Supervisor, Willamette National Forest
Updated 12:23 p.m. PDT August 11, 2022
REACH Air Medical helicopter arrives at the Roseburg Regional Airport with Firefighter Collin Hagan’s body. Douglas County Sheriff’s Office photo.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s office reported that the firefighter who was killed on the Big Swamp Fire in Southwest Oregon on August 10 was 27-year-old Collin Hagan of Toivola, Michigan.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m., 9-1-1 dispatchers received information that a wildland firefighter was critically injured after being struck by a tree. An ambulance and REACH Air Medical Services were dispatched to the scene. Despite lifesaving efforts by EMS personnel assigned to the fire, Mr. Hagan succumbed to his injuries.
Mr. Hagan’s body was flown from the Toketee Airstrip to the Roseburg Regional Airport by REACH Air Medical Services helicopter. Firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Roseburg Fire Department, and Douglas County Fire District #2 stood together to honor Mr. Hagan as his body arrived and was transferred to the care of a funeral service provider. The firefighters then provided an honor escort to the funeral home.
“We are devastated by the tragic loss of a cherished firefighter working on our forest to save our communities and beloved recreational areas,” said Duane Bishop, Acting Forest Supervisor on the Willamette National Forest. “Their family has been notified and we are working with our partners to ensure the crew is well taken care of. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and fellow crew members of this brave firefighter.”
Updated 8:43 a.m. PDT August 11, 2022
Map, location of Big Swamp Fire, August 11, 2022.
The National Interagency Fire Center reported early Thursday morning that on August 10, a member of the Craig Interagency Hotshot Crew was fatally injured while assigned to the Big Swamp Fire on the Willamette National Forest in southwest Oregon.
A Serious Accident Investigation Team has been mobilized. As of 8 a.m. Thursday morning the name of the deceased had not been released.
The Craig Interagency Hotshot Crew, founded by the Bureau of Land Management in 2001, is based in Craig, Colorado.
The Big Swamp Fire has burned 117 acres. It is 5 miles northwest of the 1,009-acre Windigo Fire and 62 miles southeast of Eugene. The August 10 update from the Incident Management Team said crews were securing line, mopping up, and looking for opportunities to put in direct fire line. It is one of four blazes being managed by Northwest Incident Management Team 6. The others are Windigo, Potter, and Shelter Fires.
Our sincere condolences go out to the family, friends, and co-workers.
The red shaded area represents the Big Swamp Fire in southwest Oregon, mapped at 9:29 p.m. PDT August 10, 2022. Looking northwest.
The US Forest Service will be hosting the annual Women in Wildfire Training this fall in Arizona. This is a fast paced, six-day training where women from around the nation have an opportunity to participate in hands-on wildland fire training in a simulated fire assignment. Anyone is welcome to apply, no experience necessary. After the completion of the training, students become certified as FFT2 (Firefighter Type 2) and will be provided with information on how to apply in USAjobs if interested in working on a fire crew.
The camp will be held at the Pinedale Work Center on the Lakeside District of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in Arizona. The dates for the training are Sept 23rd-25th and Sept 30th-Oct 2nd. Participants must attend both timeframes. Time and travel are paid, and equipment is provided. Apply by August 21, 2022.
If you have any questions, contact:
Naomi Corkish (naomi.corkish@usda.gov, 928-333-6247) or
Matt Sigg (matthew.sigg@usda.gov, 316-617-9898).
Tuesday afternoon, August 9, a single engine air tanker working on a wildfire in southeast Texas crashed in Lake Livingston. The pilot was quickly rescued, taken to shore, and treated.
The accident was announced by the Texas Forest Service’s Lone Star State Incident Management Team which said the agency was assisting with wildfires in the Corrigan area.
The incident occurred at about 5 p.m. CDT. Lake Livingston is 25 miles southwest of Corrigan and 55 miles northeast of Houston.
The Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss is amphibious. It has floats and can skim across the surface of a lake to refill its water tank, then fly to the fire and assist firefighters by dropping water. The Texas Forest Service does not own any air tankers, they issue contracts to private companies.
When we hear more about the condition of the pilot we will update this article. An 802 Fire Boss usually only has one person on board.
File photo of an Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss. Not the aircraft involved in the incident.
There have been two other incidents in the last seven days involving Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss air tankers.
On August 3 a Fire Boss suffered an engine failure and made a forced landing while working on a fire in British Columbia. The pilot survived.
Two days later on August 5 a Fire Boss crashed and sank in the Gulf of Elefsina while working on a fire near Nea Peramos in Greece. It occurred about 12 miles west of Athens as the air tanker was scooping water. Both crew members were rescued.
There have been three recent fatal helicopter crashes related to wildfires.
On July 16, 2022 a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter crashed northeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, killing all four on board. It had been assisting with a wildfire, providing bucket drops and other air logistics needs to fire crews on the ground.
A Boeing CH-47D helicopter crashed into the Salmon River July 20, 2022 while working on the Moose Fire in Idaho, firefighters swam across the river to extract and care for the two pilots. Unfortunately, both of the pilots died from their injuries.
On June 26, 2022 a Bell UH-1B operated by Northern Pioneer Helicopters out of Big Lake, Alaska was attempting to assist firefighters by hauling equipment to the Clear Fire by a 125-foot long line. It was maneuvering at the Clear Airport 53 miles southwest of Fairbanks about 140 feet above the ground to have the end of the long line connected to the cargo. A loud noise was heard and the helicopter fell to the ground, killing the pilot, the only person on board.
The result of aerial ignition on the Moose Fire August 2, 2022 in Idaho. By Mike McMillan for the USFS.
Bloomberg Law has an interesting article by Bobby Magill about efforts to reduce the wildfire threat to homes. It discusses and compares forest thinning vs. hardening structures. Here are excerpts, but read the entire article.
Congress is spending billions to save communities from Western megafires by thinning large swaths of forests even as scientists say climate change-driven drought and heat are too extreme for it to work.
The money would be better spent thinning woods closest to homes and shoring up houses against embers raining down from firestorms, according to academics, former agency officials, and others who study wildfires.
“If our goal is to keep homes and communities from burning, the experts are telling us to focus from the home outwards. First, harden the home so it is less likely to ignite,” said Beverly Law, an emeritus professor of forestry at Oregon State University.
Megafires are sustained by drought and heat, and “no amount of thinning treatment will prevent such fires from occurring,” she said.
[…]
No Scientific Consensus
As the federal government focuses on forest thinning, no scientific consensus exists that removing vegetation, especially at a landscape-scale, will save communities in the paths of firestorms amid the West’s historic 23-year drought.
The science is clear that “there isn’t a great connection between home loss and these fuel treatments,” though they sometimes help firefighters gain a foothold on some fires, Cheng said.
Randy Moore, the Forest Service chief, said the agency is confident that as homes are built deeper and deeper into the woods, its research shows that removing “overstocked” trees is the best way to protect them.
“We know where we do nothing, or where we do a little, we’re seeing the evidence out on the landscape,” Moore said, referring to recent megafires. “We feel compelled to do something.”
The US Forest Service has announced that one of the four people killed in the McKinney Fire in Northern California was Kathy Shoopman, a long-time FS employee. The agency said she died in her home in the community of Klamath River as a result of the fire on July 29, the day the fire erupted.
Ms. Shoopman started her career as a lookout at Baldy Mountain Lookout, west of Happy Camp, in 1974. Since then, she has staffed Lake Mountain Lookout, and most recently Buckhorn Lookout, a post she has held since 1993. She lived in the community of Klamath River for nearly five decades and was a talented artist, gardener, and a devout animal lover.
All four victims lived in Klamath River, which was ordered to evacuate on July 29 as the fire spread rapidly. It has now burned more than 60,000 acres. Ms. Shoopman was the first victim to have been positively identified.
Our sincere condolences go out to Ms. Shoopman’s family, friends, and co-workers.
