The wildfire season is drawing to a close in parts of the western United States. Here are some reports that we ran across:
- Oregon – Ended their 115-day fire season on October 23. The largest fire of the season according to spokesman Brian Ballou was the 315-acre Blackwell Hill fire near Gold Hill on September 12. HERE is a list of the fire season lengths in southwest Oregon since 1967.
- California – Parts of the state have had quite a bit of rain, but the southern area still has to wait out a few more weeks with the potential for Santa Ana winds. More than once I spent Thanksgiving day on fires there, eating canned “turkey loaf” served at the chow line. The Klamath National Forest officially ended their fire season on October 25. Yosemite National Park ended theirs on October 8 in spite of receiving 1,220 lightning strikes October 1-4 which led to 30+ fire starts. The park is retaining their fire crews, according to an October 21 update, and expected to begin pile burning last weekend.
- The city of Vail, Colorado will lay off their six-person wildland fire crew at the end of October.
- Australia – The state of Victoria is preparing for their upcoming fire season and has started recruiting an extra 123 permanent firefighters due to above average spring rainfall which produced additional fuels.
Is the fire season still going or ending where you live?
This fire season ended two seasons without a single fire call, which helped with the decision to sell the Type 6 Engine and move on. Here is the link to our Blog if you are interested: http://doctordilday.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/for-sale-type-6-engine-wildland-fire-suppression/
With leaf fall approaching across much of the state, and drier than average conditions predicted especially for the mountians, we’re expecting an above average fall fire season in NC. If we hadn’t had a tropical system in late September, we’d be in really bad shape.
Snow along the Wasatch Front and in the Salt Lake Valley yesterday and today. I think we’re done. Besides Twitchell Canyon and Machine Gun, we’ve had a pretty tame summer, just like most places.