The legislation (S. 1120) would allow seasonal firefighters to use their experience to compete for career jobs that open up at land management agencies. It would also enable those temporary employees to convert to any “successor permanent positions,” or permanent jobs in the same agency with similar duties and qualification requirements.
Eligible workers must have worked as time-limited or seasonal employees, served one or more two-year stints with a land management agency, and received acceptable performance reviews on the job. The legislation identifies land management agencies as the Agriculture Department’s Forest Service and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation. There are more than 8,000 temporary seasonal firefighters.
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“Wildfires don’t operate on our schedule, and we need to make sure the folks who manage our outdoors have the resources they need to keep us safe,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who introduced the bill and is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs federal workforce subcommittee. “This bill will make sure that trained, experienced workers can stay on the job when they are needed the most.” Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., is a co-sponsor.
(Originally published at 3:02 p.m. MT, June 11, 2013; updated at 8:47 a.m. MT, June 12)
Several new fires are being pushed by very strong winds and are influenced by record high temperatures and very low humidities, on a day when the south two-thirds of the state is under a Red Flag Warning and Denver set a record for the highest temperature ever recorded for the date, 99 degrees, which is 4 degrees higher than the previous record.
Royal Gorge Fire
We have transitioned new information about the Royal Gorge Fire, including maps, to its own location on Wildfire Today, where all additional developments about the fire can be found.
The first one is from the fire at the Royal Gorge near Canon City (map), southwest of Colorado Springs. HERE is a link to a web cam view of the area. More photos are at KVDR.
KKTV reports that at least three structures have burned as well as 3,800 acres.
The Canon City Daily Record reports a prison, the Colorado Territorial Facility, is evacuating 881 inmates to the vacant CSP II facility because of the Royal Gorge Fire.
The two Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) at Grand Junction have been requested for the fire, but they can’t take off in the 30+ mph winds there. Strong winds at the fire would make the retardant ineffective and the conditions could possibly be unsafe for the pilots.
Royal Gorge Fire 6-11-2013 Photo by @AzchiiiaBisssh
Below is a map showing heat detected by a satellite on the Royal Gorge Fire at 2:40 p.m. MT, June 11, 2013. These satellite maps can have the locations off by a mile or two, but this data shows that the fire is approximately two to three miles long.
Map showing heat detected by a satellite on the Royal Gorge Fire, 2:40 p.m. MT, 6-11-2013
Black Forest Fire
We have transitioned new information about the Black Forest Fire, including maps, to its own location on Wildfire Today, where all additional developments about the fire can be found.
A large fire is burning in the Black Forest area of Colorado Springs (map). 9NEWS (KUSA) in Denver is occasionally streaming live video of the fire. And this CBS site sometimes has a live video stream of the fires.
Multiple homes were seen burning on the coverage from 9NEWS.
In a briefing at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Terry Maketa, the El Paso County Sheriff, said the fire has burned 7,500 to 8,000 acres, a Type 1 Incident Management Team has been ordered, and 40 to 60 “primary structures” have burned. About 5,400 residents have been evacuated from 1,900 homes.
The Sheriff said the fire crossed Meridan Road and moved into what had been designated a pre-evacuation area. (See the evacuation map here.)
He said the Governor has activated the two Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems (MAFFS) air tankers at Peterson Air Force Base and they should be available by mid-morning Wednesday. Those aircraft are operated by the 302nd Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve, rather than the state national guard like the other three units that have MAFFS, so it would be unusual for a governor to have the authority to activate them without going through the National Interagency Fire Center.
The Sheriff also reported the following resources were working on the fire Tuesday: 16 water tenders, 36 engines, 4 dozers,and 1 Type 1 air tanker.
Military helicopters, two UH60s and two CH47s, from Ft. Carson and the Colorado Army National Guard have mobilized and are joining the fire fight.
Ordering the Type 1 Incident Management Team is a significant change from a year ago, when the City of Colorado Springs was very hesitant to accept any help or support from the Type 1 IMTeam that was suppressing the Waldo Canyon Fire which blackened 18,247 acres and destroyed 346 homes in the city.
The photos below were taken by Jake Weien looking east from from North Gate & Hwy 83 (map).
Black Forest Fire 6-11-2013 Photo by Jake Weien, j8xmanBlack Forest Fire. Screen grab from KUSA, 4:48 p.m. MT, June 11, 2013
The Big Meadow Fire is burning on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park and on Monday and early Tuesday gusty winds prevented the deployment of smokejumpers. Tuesday morning the lightning-caused fire had only burned two to three acres, but the Park reported at about 2:50 p.m. Tuesday that there was increased smoke coming from the fire:
Significant smoke, rapidly increasing in size is being seen from the Big Meadows Fire.
The Park’s Tuesday morning press release said the National Park Service reluctantly decided to suppress the fire, rather than let it burn, citing extended drought conditions and reduced interagency resources, which influenced the decision, they said. Then a few hours later, it was off to the races — and it could be a long race unless there is a major change in the weather very soon.
Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team A has been dispatched to the Big Meadow Fire. Their inbriefing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The photo below of the Big Meadow Fire was taken Monday, June 10.
Big Meadow Fire 6-10-2013 NPS photo
This next photo of the Big Meadow Fire was taken Tuesday afternoon by Park Ranger “JP” from Trail Ridge Road. The fire obviously grew larger than two to three acres.
Big Meadow Fire 6-11-2013 NPS photo (click to enlarge)
The map shows the distribution of smoke generated by wildfires.
Below is information from NOAA about smoke observed in satellite imagery today:
New Mexico/Arizona: Wildfires burning in northern and southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona were generating smoke which covered most of central and western New Mexico and eastern Arizona. There were areas of moderately dense to dense smoke and it was mainly moving to the northeast.
California: The Hathaway fire continues to burn in southern California is generating mostly light smoke plume that was moving to the northeast and reaching into extreme southern Nevada.
Nevada/Idaho: A fire in central Nevada along the Lander/Eureka county border was producing a plume of mainly light smoke that was lifting to the north and into southwest Idaho.
(Originally published at 11:12 a.m. MT, June 11, 2013; updated at 12:30 p.m. MT, June 11, 2013)
The U.S. Forest Service has released the following statement:
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“US Forest Service wildland firefighter dies in Northern California
Release Date: Jun 11, 2013
VALLEJO, Calif. – A 28-year-old firefighter from Susanville, Calif., died Monday afternoon [June 10] as a result of injuries received on a wildfire on the Modoc National Forest in northeast California. Luke Sheehy was a member of the California Smokejumpers, based out of Redding.
Sheehy was struck by a falling portion of a tree on the Saddle Back Fire in the South Warner Wilderness about 15 miles southeast of Alturas, Calif. The incident occurred just before 5 p.m. Efforts to resuscitate Sheehy were not successful. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Alturas where he was pronounced dead.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this brave young smokejumper who lost his life yesterday working with his team to control a blaze on the Modoc National Forest,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “We are launching a full review into the cause of his death to learn everything we can to prevent future tragedies like this.”
Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Randy Moore echoed Chief Tidwell’s sentiments. “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. It’s a devastating loss and is being felt throughout the entire Forest Service.”
The Saddle Back Fire is one of several dozen lightning-caused fires that began on multiple national forests throughout northern California on Sunday and Monday. It was first reported to the Modoc Interagency Communications Center about 3 p.m. Monday. Several U.S. Forest Service firefighters remain on scene suppressing the fire.”
John Hawkins, Fire Chief of the CAL FIRE Riverside Unit & Riverside County Fire Department, who supplied us with the details of the Hathaway Fire photo in our “caption this photo” article, also sent us these two photos that he took of the fire just after 2 p.m. PT, June 9, about two hours after the fire started. Click on the photos to see larger versions.
Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Arizona.
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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 8:45 a.m. MT on Tuesday. 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.
