News and opinion about wildland fire
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized3 Comments on Smoke and air quality maps, August 7, 2021 
Wildfires in Canada and the Western United States are having massive impacts on air quality in some locations, depending on the wind direction.
Above is the measured air quality at noon Pacific time.
Below are forecasts for wildland fire smoke, at 6 p.m. Saturday, and then Sunday.
“We have to have more boots on the ground”
On August 4 Governor Gavin Newsom, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and new U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore met at the burn scar of the 2020 August Complex of fires in Northern California to discuss state and federal collaboration on wildfire response and fuels management across the West.
During a press availability, Secretary Vilsack uttered words we don’t hear from Chiefs of the Forest Service, or certainly from Secretaries of Agriculture:
We are prepared to do a better job [of forest management] if we have the resources to be able to do this… Candidly, I think it’s fair to say over the generations and decades, we have tried to do this job on the cheap. We have tried to get by, a little here, a little there, with a little forest management here, a little fire suppression over here, but the reality is this has caught up to us.
We have to significantly beef up our capacity. We have to have more boots on the ground… And we have to make sure our firefighters are better compensated. Governor, that will happen.
We need to do a better job, and more, forest management to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire.
Governor Newsom said he has been exploring way to obtain more fire aviation resources, lamented that there are “only a few contracted DC-10s nationwide”, and said he was looking at how “to get the 747 back in our hands, and that’s been a challenge, that thing has been sold, so we’re still working to get some more aerial equipment.” (This statement is queued up in the video below.)
Secretary Vilsack said the Governor’s request for additional aviation resources, “… Came to my desk. One of the challenges we’re working on right now is making sure we get the Defense Department personnel necessary to fly the planes. So sometimes it’s not even the planes, it’s the pilots, the people who know how to fly these planes…I was given instructions to… make sure we have the people in the planes to fly them.”
The Secretary was most likely referring to the military Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems, MAFFS, which can be loaded into C-130 aircraft to temporarily serve as air tankers. They are the only military air tankers used on wildfires in the U.S. Each requires a seven-person crew, additional support personnel, and often a third conventional C-130 for every two MAFFS that are activated.
The Secretary’s comment could be the explanation for why only five of the eight MAFFS have been activated this year. On July 27, wondering if there was a specific reason why the remaining three were still parked, I asked US Forest Service spokesperson Stanton Florea if the three were available if needed. He replied on July 28, “There are 3 additional MAFFS-equipped C-130s that can be brought into service, if needed.”
As of today, August 6, there are still only five MAFFS working.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Wildfire30 Comments on Most of the vegetation in the Dixie Fire has not burned in more than 40 years A look at the fire history
9:01 a.m. PDT August 6, 2021
Most of area where the Dixie Fire has been burning has not been visited by fire within the last 40 years. There are roughly 100,000 acres of the 430,000-acre blaze that did burn in several fires between 2008 and 2012. This is the area in the center of the present footprint, that burned in the two to three weeks after it started July 14. Since then it has been spreading more quickly in very old vegetation.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Dixie Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
Generally the predominate wind direction is from the southwest, but wind events can come from other directions that can cause major growth. Thursday night the Dixie Fire was 13 miles southwest of Susanville, population about 15,000, but there are a number of old burns near the city that could slow the fire if it makes it that far. Closest to Susanville are two large fires from 2020, Sheep and Hog. Between them is the 2016 Willard Fire.
Update 7:44 a.m. PDT August 7, 2012
I added this map that shows the history of fires in the area of the Dixie Fire before 1980. It is unknown how complete this data from NIFC is, or how far back in time it goes.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Wildfire3 Comments on Dixie Fire spreads east, grows by 110,000 acres On Friday a layer of smoke partially shaded the fire, slowing the spread
9:41 a.m. PDT Aug. 7, 2021
Environmental conditions on Friday and Friday night resulted in the Dixie Fire, 13 miles northeast of Paradise, California, being much more subdued than we had seen in the previous two days. Smoke from this fire and others in Northern California was trapped by an inversion and provided partial shade. It did not rise, disperse, or be transported into other states. Smoke was thick enough to keep temperatures cooler and humidities higher than earlier this week. It persisted into Friday night causing better humidity recovery, rising to 35 to 65 percent.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Dixie Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
The forecast for Saturday calls for similar weather conditions. The fire will still be partially shaded by smoke remaining in the area and the winds are expected to be light.
The northernmost portion of the Dixie Fire has entered Lassen National Park and is expected to continue burning north through the park. The northeastern section has burned into the 2007 Moonlight Fire and Friday night was very close to the 2020 Sheep Fire and may have burned into it by Saturday morning.
The number of documented destroyed structures has increased to 184, plus another 84 described as minor structures. The Incident Management Teams are still reporting no injuries or fatalities to firefighters or civilians, however some people that were in burned over communities are unaccounted for.
Mapping Friday night determined the fire had burned approximately 446,000 acres, an increase of about 16,000 acres in 24 hours, much less than the growth of 110,000 acres Thursday.
Two Type 1 Incident Management Teams, CAL FIRE Team 1 and California Team 4, are assigned to the fire which has been divided into two zones, East and West.
Resources assigned to the fire Friday evening included 384 fire engines, 124 water tenders, 27 helicopters, 87 hand crews, and 107 dozers for a total of 5,118 personnel. The estimated cost of suppressing the fire so far is $171,000,000.
Continue reading “Dixie Fire spreads east, grows by 110,000 acres”
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Wildfire5 Comments on River Fire burns thousands of acres near Colfax, Calif. Evacuations are in effect
10:37 a.m. PDT August 5, 2021
Fire officials said in a briefing Wednesday evening that the River Fire west of Colfax, California had damaged or destroyed approximately 35 to 40 structures, but that number is preliminary and could change. Approximately 4,000 structures were threatened as of Wednesday evening.
The fire started at about 2 p.m. Wednesday and had spread for more than four miles when it was mapped at 7:20 p.m. that night. (see map above) Thursday morning CAL FIRE was calling it 2,400 acres.
The south end of the fire generally followed the Bear River drainage which comes out of Rollins Reservoir, then continued to the north-northeast as it spread to the Chicago Park area on Highway 174.
In an 8 p.m. briefing on Wednesday law enforcement officials said 2,400 people were under an evacuation order in Placer County. There were 4,200 under either evacuation orders or warnings in Nevada County.
The fire was pushed Wednesday afternoon by 5 to 8 mph winds gusting at 12 to 17 mph out of the south, southwest, and west while the humidity was in the teens and the temperature 95 degrees. The very dry fuels were receptive to burning embers that started numerous spot fires which burned together resulting in “area ignition”, as described in a briefing Wednesday evening.
Similar to Wednesday, on Thursday the Colfax area is surrounded by, but not officially within, a Red Flag Warning. The forecast for Thursday is for 85 degrees, 14 percent RH, and 8 to 10 mph southwest winds. On Friday it will be warmer (95 degrees) and drier with 9 mph winds out of the west.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Wildfire13 Comments on Dixie Fire spreads into Greenville, CA, burns structures Threat is modified due to a change in wind direction
7:30 p.m. PDT, Aug 5, 2021
The spread of the Dixie Fire Thursday was made more complex and unpredictable by the passage of a weather trough. It hit the fire area in the afternoon and brought a significant change in the wind, shifting it from the south or southwest to come out of the west or west-northwest. This may not seem like a huge difference, but wind is the primary factor affecting the direction of spread of a vegetation fire. A 90-degree change in wind direction can turn the flank of a fire into the head. Next to the heel or back of a fire, the flank can sometimes be a somewhat safe place from which to attack a fire, unless it burning in extremely dry vegetation pushed by strong winds. (Which is often the case over the last several years.)
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Dixie Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.
Radar that was detecting smoke showed the wind shift in real time Thursday afternoon.
Wind shift occurring now on #DixieFire as trough moves overhead, putting additional towns in danger. Plume shift visible from KDAX radar. pic.twitter.com/BLMlWknblV
— Courtney Carpenter (@CourtECarpenter) August 5, 2021
Firefighters who were on the right flank of the Dixie Fire today were no doubt warned by their Incident Meteorologist to expect the east flank Thursday afternoon to become the head of the fire, moving east quickly in their direction pushed by strong winds.
Westwood is a community of about 1,600 residents on Highway 36, 11 miles north of Greenville and 11 miles east of Chester. If the fire moves north from Greenville it will be threatened, and, if it moves east from Chester, it will be threatened.
By 3:15 p.m. Thursday the Dixie Fire, after destroying many of the structures in Greenville, had continued to spread 6 miles further north from the town. With long range spotting it reached Mountain Meadows Reservoir. If it finds a way around it, another 5 miles with a south or southwest wind and it could be at Westwood.
Another danger to Westwood is the northwest portion of the fire that burned over the Chester airport Wednesday and continued north during the night and Thursday, chewing through another 14 miles of forests. It looks like those 14 miles of the east flank could become a 14-mile wide head fire at least for a short time if the forecast pans out as expected.
The prediction for the Westwood area Thursday was for the winds to change direction in the afternoon to come out of the west at 13 mph with 21 mph gusts. The good news is the period of strong winds will be brief. At 8 p.m. it should decrease to 6 mph but still be from the west, and by 11 p.m. slow to 2 mph.
Obviously, Westwood is under a mandatory evacuation order by the Lassen County Sheriff’s office. (More information about evacuations.)
Keep the firefighters and the residents in your thoughts.
Continue reading “Dixie Fire spreads into Greenville, CA, burns structures”
