Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Year: 2022

Firefighters make progress on Washburn Fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , , 1 Comment on Firefighters make progress on Washburn Fire

Threatens 3,000-year-old giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park

Updated 5:00 p.m. PDT July 13, 2022

Washburn Fire, photo looking NNE from Miami Peak at 4:45 p.m. July 13, 2022
Washburn Fire, photo looking NNE from Miami Peak at 4:45 p.m. July 13, 2022. AlertWildfire.

The Washburn fire in Yosemite National Park has kicked up Wednesday afternoon like it has every afternoon since it started July 7.

Helicopters have been assisting ground-based firefighters on the east side of the fire today, but due to spot fires and increased fire activity in the afternoon they called in two large and one very large air tanker to slow the spread.

A community meeting about the fire will be streamed live on Facebook at 7 p.m PDT on July 14.

The FIRIS aircraft shot video of the fire earlier today:

Updated 6:04 a.m. PDT July 13, 2022

Washburn Fire map, 3-D, 1045 p.m. July 12, 2022
Washburn Fire map in 3-D looking west. The red line was the perimeter at 10:45 p.m. July 12, 2022. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before. The orange areas had extreme heat at the time of the mapping flight.

Most of the fire activity on the Washburn Fire over the last 24 hours has been on the east side where it has burned out of Yosemite National Park and into the Sierra National Forest. So far crews have been able to suppress all of the spot fires on the north side that crossed the South Fork of the Merced River and ignited the five-year-old vegetation in the footprint of the 2017 South Fork Fire.

Washburn Fire map, 1045 p.m. July 12, 2022
Washburn Fire map. The red line was the perimeter at 10:45 p.m. July 12, 2022. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before. The orange areas had extreme heat at the time of the mapping flight.

The incident management team is evaluating the feasibility of building a fireline on the east side between Raymond Mountain and the river in order to stop the movement beyond that point.

On a flight at 10:45 p.m. an infrared line-scanning aircraft mapped the fire. An infrared analyst interpreted the data and found that it had burned 3,772 acres.

Below, another aircraft using a different system, FIRIS, reported it was 3,843 acres at 10:06 p.m. July 12. Their infrared video, looking east, is below.

Washburn Fire map 12:53 p.m. July 12, 2022
Washburn Fire map 12:53 p.m. July 12, 2022. The green lines represent all of the mapping flights by the FIRIS aircraft.

Fire crews are making progress on the Washburn Fire in Yosemite National Park — the south and west sides are starting to look more secure. At 12:53 p.m. Tuesday it was mapped at 3,516 acres.

Approximately 340 acres of the blaze is within the Mariposa grove of giant sequoias, some of which are close to 3,000 years old. The more than 500 mature giant sequoias are adjacent to heavy fuels and have so far avoided serious damage from the fire, the National Park Service reported Tuesday.

On Monday, firefighters suppressed about 15 spot fires on the west side of the fire that were across Highway 41. They now have a fire line around the Wawona community and have structure defense equipment in place.

Washburn Fire, July 10, 2022
Washburn Fire, July 10, 2022. InciWeb.

On the northeast side the line is complete from the highway down to the South Fork of the Merced River and around the community. On the north side the fire has reached the river in most places and crews are putting out spot fires as they occur across the river in the fire scar from the 2017 South Fork Fire.

The east side continues to spread. Firefighters assisted by air tankers have constructed fire line along the ridge east of Wawona Point and so far that is holding. About a mile to the east hotshot crews are evaluating the feasibility of building a fireline between Raymond Mountain and the river in order to arrest the movement beyond that point.

Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon said the fire was caused by humans.

“As you all know there was no lightning on that day so it is a human start,” Muldoon said Monday night. “It’s under investigation. That’s all I can say about that right now. We’re looking at that really hard.”

The weather for this week will continue to be warm and dry due to a strengthening high pressure system. Winds should remain light to moderate and mostly terrain driven. Temperatures will reach the low-90s and relative humidity will be in the 20-30 percent range.

Washburn Fire 4:21 p.m. July 12, 2022
Washburn Fire — looking north-northeast from the Deadwood camera at 4:21 p.m. July 12, 2022. AlertWildfire.

FBI using system to detect drones over wildfires, and the pilots

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 14 Comments on FBI using system to detect drones over wildfires, and the pilots
Lakeview IHC drone Operation
Lakeview Hotshots using a drone to assist with a burn operation in Alaska in 2019.

This article was first published at Fire Aviation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is using a new system to help wildland firefighters by detecting, identifying, and neutralizing drones that are illegally interfering with firefighting activities.

It is very dangerous to fly a drone near a fire at which helicopters or fixed wing aircraft are operating. A collision could impact the windscreen or damage the engine, props, rotors, or flight control surfaces, causing a crash. If a drone is seen near a fire the standard operating procedure is to remove all aircraft from the fire area until it is confirmed that the drone has left the scene. In other words, it interferes with firefighting efforts.

The FBI is working with the Los Angeles County Fire Department to use a system that can detect a drone flying over a fire within 30 seconds of it being launched.

From CNN:

“When the detection equipment finds the drone and identifies the operator’s location, we can very rapidly get that information to a ground intercept team who can then go make contact with that drone operator and essentially get them to stop flying that drone,” said James Peaco III, the weapons of mass destruction coordinator for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.

With a special sensor, the team can set up a boundary as large or as small as desired and get notified if a drone flies into that area, instantly obtaining precise details such as elevation, direction, speed as well as where the drone took off from and where the controller is currently standing.

“The first thing we do is order them to bring the drone back, explain to him that there’s a wildfire and flying that drone during a wildland fire is actually a federal felony,” Peaco said.

It’s a federal crime punishable by up to 12 months in prison to interfere with firefighting efforts on public lands. Additionally, Congress has authorized the FAA to impose a civil penalty of up to $20,000 against any drone pilot who interferes with wildfire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response operations. The FAA treats these violations seriously, and will immediately consider swift enforcement action for these offenses.

According to the US Forest Service, in 2019 at least 20 documented instances of unauthorized drone flights over or near wildfires in seven states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Minnesota) resulted in aerial firefighting operations being temporarily shut down nine times. There is no centralized national mechanism to report unauthorized UAS flights over wildfires, so these are only the incidents that wildfire management agencies have become aware of, there are likely more that are not known about.

Suspending air operations could decrease the effectiveness of wildfire suppression operations, allowing wildfires to grow larger, and in some cases, unduly threaten lives, property, and valuable natural and cultural resources. The effects of lost aircraft time could be compounded by flames moving into untreated terrain.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom and Gerald.

Jacob City and Halfway Hill fires burn thousands of acres in Utah

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , ,

11:04 a.m. MDT July 11, 2022

Halfway Hill Fire 3-D map 10:34 p.m. July 10, 2022
Halfway Hill Fire 3-D map looking south at 10:34 p.m. July 10, 2022.

Two wildfires in Utah are burning in steep, rugged terrain.

The Halfway Hill Fire is in the Fishlake National Forest two miles southeast of Fillmore east of Interstate 15. The activity on the fire Sunday was more moderate than the previous two days as the wind speeds lessened. It was mapped Sunday night at 10,417 acres. Most of the heat detected by the sensors on the aircraft was on the eastern side.

Halfway Hill Fire, July 10, 2022. Utah Fire Info
Halfway Hill Fire, July 10, 2022. Utah Fire Info.

Residents of the Virginia Hills subdivision are still under an evacuation notice.

Map of the Halfway Hill Fire 10:34 p.m. July 10, 2022
Map of the Halfway Hill Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 10:34 p.m. July 10, 2022. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.

The Jacob City Fire has burned 4,094 acres 2 miles east of Stockton. When it was mapped at 10 p.m. Sunday it was very active on the northwest and southeast sides. As of Sunday evening no communities are imminently threatened, according to Utah Fire Info.

Jacob City Fire map 10:09 p.m. July 10, 2022
Map showing the location of the Jacob City Fire at 10:09 p.m. July 10, 2022.
Jacob City Fire, July 10, 2022
Jacob City Fire, July 10, 2022. Utah Fire Info
Jacob City Fire 3-D map 10:09 p.m. July 10, 2022
Jacob City Fire 3-D map looking east, 10:09 p.m. July 10, 2022

Lead plane and air tanker avoid falling tree branch

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , , 7 Comments on Lead plane and air tanker avoid falling tree branch
Ensalados Fire Vandenberg Air Force Base
File photo of Tanker 103, July 9, 2017. Photo by Vandenberg Fire Department.

This article was first published at Fire Aviation

Yesterday July 9 a lead plane and a large air tanker had a close call while on a retardant dropping sortie on the Washburn Fire in Yosemite National Park.

There was virtually no wind over the fire most of the day and the area was smoked in causing very poor visibility making it impossible for air tankers to drop on the fire. But by 6 p.m. conditions had improved and at about 6:10 p.m. a lead plane was leading Tanker 103, an MD-87, over a target when they saw a falling tree branch above the lead plane. It fell between the two aircraft, in front of the tanker.

Twitter user Robert, @Rob_on_sisukas, captured an audio recording of the radio conversation. We’re not sure who the lead plane pilot was talking to, but we’ll call it “dispatcher” for now:

LEAD PLANE: Hey I just want to let you know that a branch went right over the top of us, pretty good size, probably 50 feet above us coming down and fell right in between Tanker 103 and myself.

DISPATCHER: OK. Copy. So it’s repeat of yesterday’s (unintelligible) 

LEAD PLANE: That’s exactly what I’m getting at. So if we keep seeing that we might have to knock it off. I don’t want to take a chance on busting a window in an airplane or hurting an aircraft for this. 

DISPATCHER: Absolutely. Keep me updated on this.

When a fire is burning intensely in an unstable atmosphere the convection in the rising smoke column can be powered by a tremendous amount of energy. As air at ground level rushes in to take the place of the rising column, the developing horizontal wind and the fresh oxygen feed the fire, causing an even higher level of intensity. The horizontal and then vertical movement of air can sometimes transport unexpectedly large objects up into the sky. Large columns may rotate as they rise and in extreme cases can actually become a fire tornado. You don’t want to be nearby when that happens. Fire tornados are not to be confused with small dust devils or fire whirls.

What is surprising about the incident yesterday is that the fire was smoked in most of the day, and tankers could not fly until about 6 p.m. I looked at various AlertWildfire cameras a few times and did not see any smoke columns. Maybe the cameras I saw were not able to see all of the fire, but I remember that late in the afternoon fire activity increased at the Sierra Fire Watch camera below, and columns may have developed.

Washburn Fire at 5:24 p.m. July 9, 2022
Washburn Fire at 5:24 p.m. July 9, 2022. Sierra Fire Watch image.

Firefighting aircraft being damaged by debris being lofted into the air over a fire is not unheard of. Here’s part of an article I wrote for Wildfire Today in 2018:

During the large vegetation fires in southern California in 2003 some of the convection columns were so powerful that the windshields on six air tankers were cracked by chunks of debris that were being hurled into the air (page D-6 in 2003 California Governor’s Blue Ribbon Report; huge 20 Mb file). One pilot saw a four by eight sheet of plywood sail past at 1,500 feet.

As of late morning today, July 10, the Washburn Fire has burned about 1,800 acres in Yosemite National Park. About 300 of those acres are in the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees, some of them 3,000 years old.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Kelly.

Washburn Fire grows in Yosemite National Park

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , , 13 Comments on Washburn Fire grows in Yosemite National Park

It has burned into a grove of giant sequoia trees, some of which are 3,000 years old

Updated 5:08 p.m. PDT July 11, 2022

Washburn Fire, July 11, 2022
This photo of the Washburn Fire posted at about 4 p.m. PDT July 11 appears to have been taken near the South Fork of the Merced River, looking west. Compare it to the west-facing 3-D map below and you can pick out the large rock face on the north side of the ridge. The column of smoke appears to be coming from an area east or northeast of the sequoia grove, near the park boundary. Photo by Courtney Aviation.

Late Monday afternoon activity on the Washburn Fire increased substantially. There have been reports of at least one spot fire on the north side of the South Fork of the Merced River. There were also reports of spot fires across highway 41 on the west or northwest side of the fire.

Satellite heat detections at 2:36 p.m. Monday showed numerous heat sources east of the earlier perimeter of the fire across the park boundary on the Sierra National Forest, and on the northwest side of the fire between Highway 41 and the river.

In mid-afternoon the FIRIS aircraft mapped the fire at 2,720 acres.

Washburn Fire at 3:13 p.m. July 11, 202
Washburn Fire at 3:13 p.m. July 11, 2022. AlertWildfire.

Updated 7:11 a.m. PDT July 11, 2022

Washburn Fire, 3-D map 10 p.m. July 10, 2022
Washburn Fire, 3-D, looking east at 10 p.m. July 10, 2022.

The Washburn Fire in Yosemite National Park in California continued to spread west, north, and east on Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday the size increased by 749 acres, bringing the total to 2,340 acres according to a mapping flight Sunday at 10 p.m.

Approximately 340 acres of the fire are within the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. While protective foil-based structure wrap is not being used on the sequoias themselves, additional methods are being employed including the removal of fuels around the trees, and ground-based sprinkler systems to increase humidity and fuel moisture near the sequoias. The Mariposa Grove has a long history of prescribed burning and studies have shown that these efforts reduce the impacts of high-severity fire.

Washburn Fire map 10 p.m. July 10, 2022
Washburn Fire map. The red line was the perimeter at 10 p.m. July 10, 2022. The white line was the perimeter 24 hours before.

Firefighters are constructing direct fireline on the fire edge where possible, but are also using tactical firing to tie it in with barriers, such as Highway 41 on the west side.

Evacuations are in effect in the Wawona area. A map is available showing the locations. The Wawona Road (Highway 41) is closed from the South Entrance to Henness Ridge Road.  Yosemite West remains accessible from the northern side of the Wawona road.

Washburn Fire, 3-D map 10 p.m. July 10, 2022
Washburn Fire, 3-D map, looking west at 10 p.m. July 10, 2022.

The weather forecast for the fire area (6,400 feet above sea level) predicts for Monday and Tuesday 81 degrees, 3 to 8 mph west and southwest winds, relative humidity in the low to mid-20s, partly cloudy skies, and no chance of rain.

Updated 5:34 p.m. PDT July 10, 2022

Smoke from the Washburn Fire
Smoke from the Washburn Fire, looking northeast from the Miami Peak camera at 5:09 p.m. July 10, 2022. AlertWildfire.

The Washburn Fire, part of which is burning in a grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park, has grown to 2,045 acres, according to a mapping flight at about 4 p.m. Saturday. Most of the additional acres are on the north and east sides. It spread closer to the South Fork of the Merced River, but at that time had not crossed. The east side has moved across the county line, from Mariposa into Madera county.

Washburn Fire map, July 10, 2022

Three large air tankers and a very large air tanker dropped retardant along a ridge in mid-afternoon, pretreating it in anticipation that when the fire reaches that location the spread will be slowed or stopped.

Satellite view of the Washburn Fire July 10, 2022
Satellite view of smoke from the Washburn Fire at 5:17 p.m. PDT July 10, 2022. NOAA.

Late in the afternoon the fire activity increased substantially, sending up a substantial smoke column which was blown off to the north.

9:11 a.m. PDT July 10, 2022

Washburn Fire 3-D map 10 p.m. July 10, 2022
Washburn Fire, 3-D map looking west. The red line was the perimeter at 10 p.m. July 9, 2022. The white line was the perimeter 24 hours before.

With very little wind Saturday, the Washburn Fire continued to spread in and adjacent to the Mariposa grove of giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park in California. In spite of the relatively mild weather conditions, spot fires are occurring hundreds of feet out in front of the leading edge. The growth into the grove has been limited due to previous prescribed fires that reduced the amount of fuel on the ground, and by the efforts of firefighters. Some of the trees are about 3,000 years old.

Firefighters set up sprinklers at Grizzly Giant sequoia fire
Firefighters set up sprinklers at the Grizzly Giant sequoia during the Washburn Fire in Yosemite National Park, July 9, 2022. NPS image.

While the huge, very old trees are adapted to fire, they are not prepared for human caused climate change and the current “exceptional drought” conditions that have led to low soil and fuel moistures. The monster trees are more vulnerable to the existing weather and fuel conditions. They only grow in about 70 groves located on the western slopes of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. They are the largest trees on Earth in terms of volume.

The fire was mapped Friday night at 1,591 acres. Approximately 300 acres are in the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias, on the west and north sides.

Smoke at times on Saturday degraded visibility to the point where retardant-dropping aircraft were grounded. Most of the movement of the fire was on the north end where it is working its way down-slope to the South Fork of the Merced River, which is also the southern edge of the South Fork Fire that burned 7,563 acres in 2017. The footprint of that 5-year-old fire scar will not stop the fire by itself, but there will be less resistance to control as it spreads through the lighter fuels.

Washburn Fire map 10 p.m. July 10, 2022
Washburn Fire map. The red line was the perimeter at 10 p.m. July 9, 2022. The white line was the perimeter 24 hours before.

The Washburn Fire is burning in mostly high load conifer litter with a heavy dead and down component as well as numerous standing dead trees.

There was very little wind on the fire Saturday and none overnight at Fish Camp, south of the fire and 1,000 feet lower where the minimum humidity Saturday was 31 percent but rose to 83 percent by 7:31 a.m. Sunday. Warmer and drier weather is predicted for the next few days.

The weather forecast for the fire area on Sunday calls for temperature around 80, relative humidity 26 percent, and ridgetop winds out of the west at 5 mph gusting to 12 mph in the afternoon. For Sunday night, 66 degrees, 33 percent RH, and 5 to 10 mph northwest winds in the evening shifting to east after 9 p.m.   Monday should bring 83 degrees, 20 percent RH, and 5 to 10 mph winds out of the southeast shifting to southwest by 11 a.m.

Washburn Fire 3-D map 10 p.m. July 10, 2022
Washburn Fire, 3-D map looking east. The red line was the perimeter at 10 p.m. July 9, 2022. The white line was the perimeter 24 hours before.