Tim Walton sent us a link to a video that was shot on Sunday at the Scotts Fire east of Ukiah, California (map). The cast of the film includes:
One or more S-2Ts (tanker 96 was one of them)
Tanker 911, the Very Large Air Tanker, a DC-10
Tanker 40, a BAe-146
A MAFFS C-130, (possibly MAFFS #8)
Tim, who has been capturing images of fires for 30 years, shot the video. Thanks Tim!
CAL FIRE says the Scotts Fire has burned about 4,600 acres and is 15% contained. Approximately 300 homes are threatened. In Addition:
The fire continues to burn southeast towards Little Cow Mountain and east towards the Scotts Valley Road area in steep and rugged terrain. Fire crews and equipment have been successful in holding the fire south of Highway 20, west of Scotts Valley Road, and east of Cow Mountain Road. Today, a heavy commitment of aircraft, bulldozers, and fire crews will continue to build and strengthen containment lines. Efforts continue to protect BLM lands, as well as critical communications infrastructure in the Cow Mountain Road area.
On the Mustang Fire, the old Alta Ranger Station is covered in fire shelter wrap. Photo by J. Hibbard/USFS
Red Flag warnings brought stronger winds and low humidities to one of the megafires in Idaho, but as of 4 p.m. on Monday, the winds have not been quite as powerful as predicted in the Red Flag Warning that covered Sunday and Monday.
Mustang Complex
On the Mustang Complex the winds did not hit until 6 p.m. on Sunday. At the Squaw Creek weather station on the east side of the fire they averaged 10 to 13 mph with gusts of 18 to 27 for about six hours, then slowed until they increased at 2 p.m. on Monday, blowing at 11 mph with gusts to 21 along with a RH of 13%. But at the Pinyon Peak weather station farther west the winds have been consistently strong, averaging around 20 mph with gusts in the 30s and 40s.
There were some areas of growth in the northwest corner of the fire in a wilderness area.Additional activity was near the Gattin Ranch, but with support from helicopter water drops firefighters were able to defend the community. The anticipated fire growth along the Highway 93 corridor only occurred in the southeastern corner of the fire near North Fork, where the fire progressed down Donnelly Gulch towards the Salmon River.
Firefighters on the fire are not using any air tankers, but say the helicopters are sufficient for thier needs. They recorded 38 hours of time on the ships Sunday.
Evacuation orders are still in effect for the Highway 93 corridor.
Trinity Ridge
Strong winds have not occurred on this fire. Over the last 24 hours they have been averaging from 1 to 5 mph with some gusts at 12 to 20. But the RH Monday afternoon has been in the single digits at a nearby weather station.
The fire is showing very little heat detected by satellites, however there are two areas on the east side with heat near the perimeter that could be problematic.
Halstead Fire
This fire has also been spared from the strong winds mentioned in the Red Flag Warning for Sunday and Monday. Fire managers were thinking that if the fire made it through the Red Flag Warning with no significant growth then it would be pretty much over. However on Sunday there was additional growth on the north side amounting to over 600 acres. The fire did not use any helicopter time on Sunday, in fact they loaned two Type 1 helicopters to other fires, the Mustang Complex and a new fire near Boise.
The map shows Red Flag Warnings in effect for today.
I wonder if the weather forecasters at the National Weather Service realize that when their map shows weather patterns adhering to state boundaries it reduces the credibility of their product. This map brings up some questions… are there really no warnings for Utah, Colorado or western North Dakota? Or, are there really warnings for all of Wyoming and South Dakota? Which portions of the map are accurate?
UPDATE at 9 a.m. September 11, 2012:
I asked Darren R. Clabo, the South Dakota State Fire Meteorologist, for his insight about this issue, and he was kind enough to provide the following:
…It really has to do with the NWS Local Forecast Area boundaries and the boundaries of the individual GACCs.
Here is the link that shows the local NWS office coverage areas as the NWS issues the Red Flag Warning (RFW). Each individual office has the responsibility to issue RFWs for their forecast area. These areas encompass distinct counties, some of which have common borders with other states. Each NWS forecast office does talk to neighboring offices to try to make their forecasts ‘mesh’ but often times, one office will issue a warning while another will not; it all depends on forecaster confidence in the particular weather situation.
It can even get more confusing: The GACCs, in concert with the NWS, determine the criteria for a RFW for their region (due to the different climates within the GACCs). For example, the Rocky Mountain GACC has specific RFW criteria, while the Northern Rockies GACC has a slightly different RFW criteria. If we look at western SD, Harding County typically sees more RFWs than the rest of West River. This is because Harding County is in the Northern Rockies GACC while the rest of SD is in the Rocky Mountain GACC. Furthermore, the GACC boundaries do not correspond to the NWS local office boundaries which contribute to the confusion as well.
Geographic “boundaries” in meteorology always present large hurdles in terms of communicating a forecast, especially when it comes to forecast areas. The zero-order boundaries for RFWs on the map do look goofy but I am not sure how else they could go about it.
Three firefighters on a crew in California suffered first and second degree burns on the Likely Fire northwest of Likely, California (map) on September 5. They were members of the CAL FIRE Devils Garden Crew 4 constructing fireline when a wind shift caused numerous spot fires. The firefighters attempted to retreat into a previously burned area when their escape route was blocked by a barbed wire fence. They received burns on their faces and were transported by a ground ambulance to a hospital where they were treated and released.
A Joint Accident Investigation Team comprised of BLM and CAL FIRE subject matter experts will be investigating the incident.
According to the criteria published by Ameriburn.org all facial burns should be treated at a burn unit, so we hope the firefighters received appropriate medical treatment and were not simply treated and released at the Modoc Medical Center in Alturas as stated in the 24-hour report.
Red Flag Warnings, September 9, 2012. (click to enlarge)
Much of the northwestern United States is under a Red Flag Warning for Sunday, and also Monday for some locations. More details HERE.
The warnings will affect the three megafires in Idaho. For example on the Mustang Fire, the rather interesting forecast on Sunday is for strong winds gusting up to 29 mph. In the morning they should be out of the south in alignment with the valley along Highway 93 on the east side of the fire between North Fork and Gibbonsville, then switching to west or west-southwest in the afternoon. There will be a 13% to 28% chance of rain during the day along with a chance of lightning, but the relative humidity will bottom out at 13%.
Sunday may be a very interesting day on the fires in Idaho.
Trinity Ridge fire, August 24, 2012, photo by Kari Greer for USFS
Kari Greer is at it again… taking great photos for the U.S. Forest Service at a wildfire. These were all shot in mid to late August at the Trinity Ridge Fire in Idaho. You can see the another 600 or so HERE. Excellent job, Kari. And again we congratulate the USFS for their wisdom to arrange to have a great photographer document some of the major fires we are experiencing.
Trinity Ridge fire, August 17, 2012, photo by Kari Greer for USFSTrinity Ridge fire, August 18, 2012, photo by Kari Greer for USFS
