Gila Fire map, showing heat detected by a satellite at 2 p.m. MDT April 4, 2021. The highway that goes through Dateland is Interstate 8.
Firefighters have been battling the Gila Fire in southwest Arizona since it was reported at 7:15 a.m. on April 2, 2021. The fire is near the Gila River, north of Interstate 8, and south of Hyder Road. It is 8 air miles northeast of Dateland and 74 miles southwest of Phoenix. A power line is threatened but no structures are endangered.
The Bureau of Land Management said at 2:27 p.m. on Sunday it had burned about 2,112 acres.
Gila Fire. InciWeb. Undated or credited.
Fire resources have conducted burnout operations to reduce fuel ahead of the fire to manage fire intensity and tie in to natural features such as rock outcroppings, roads, and areas of lighter vegetation to assist with containment.
Ground and air resources from the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management are on scene. On Sunday a total of 22 personnel were assigned to the fire.
Gila Fire. InciWeb. Undated or credited.
At 3:52 p.m. Sunday MDT the Oatman weather station northeast of the fire recorded 94 degrees, 5 percent relative humidity, and 12 mph southwest winds gusting to 18 mph.
The forecast for the fire area is not good news for the firefighters. It calls for winds decreasing Sunday night, but on Monday a high of 97 degrees, 7 percent relative humidity, and 16 mph southwest to west winds gusting to 24 mph in the afternoon.
Firefighters said the area was inaccessible, and allowed it to burn
Fire on Sherman Island, April 2, 2021. Image from NBC SkyRanger.
A wildfire burning on an island east of San Francisco Bay was not suppressed by firefighters on Friday. It generated a large plume of smoke but according to the PIO at Contra Costa Fire, Solano County fire authorities said “The fire is inaccessible and will have to burn itself out.”
The fire is on a section of Sherman Island in the Sacramento River about 600 acres in size.
Fire on Sherman Island, April 2, 2021. Image from NBC SkyRanger.
Red Flag Warnings have been issued for areas of the Great Plains on April 2, including sections of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Very low relative humidity and strong winds are predicted. Most of the warnings expire Friday evening.
The Hot, Dry, Windy Index for April 2 shows elevated wildfire danger for many areas in the western U.S. This is a fairly new tool for fire managers, described as being very simple and only considers the atmospheric factors of heat, moisture, and wind. To be more precise, it is a multiplication of the maximum wind speed and maximum vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in the lowest 50 or so millibars in the atmosphere. It does not consider fuel moisture.
Hot, Dry, Windy Index for April 2, 2021
(Red Flag Warnings can be modified throughout the day as NWS offices around the country update and revise their weather forecasts.)
The Rapid City office of the National Weather Service acquired these satellites photos of the Schroeder Fire which has burned 2,195 acres just west of their city.
Here is how they described the photos in a Tweet Thursday evening:
“Sentinel-2 satellite views of Schroeder Fire on Mar. 29 (when it started) and today (Apr. 1). The red hot spots are not apparent today, and the reddish-brown area shows the extent of the fire. White = clouds in first image (black = shadows). Green = vegetation.”
The NWS office in Rapid City is on a hill about four miles due east of the Schroeder Fire. They probably had an excellent view of the fire, if the smoke permitted.
You can follow the Rapid City NWS on Twitter: @NWSRapidCity
File photo of new CAL FIRE Firefighter 1 hand crews, August, 2020. CAL FIRE photo.
California Governor Newsom has approved $80 million to hire or bring on earlier than usual a total of 1,399 additional firefighters to bolster CAL FIRE’s fuels management and wildfire response efforts the rest of this fiscal year which ends June 30, 2021.
This Emergency Fund authorization includes a surge of 1,256 seasonal firefighters. This funding will provide fire crew and fire engine staffing, augments eight currently understaffed existing fire crews ahead of the summer, and allows the early hiring and training of fire crews for fuels management. The funding would also provide twelve new CAL FIRE crews, and twelve new Conservation Corps crews.
Further, the state will onboard 24 seasonal firefighters for California National Guard hand crews who support CAL FIRE’s fuels management work.
The funding will also create the opportunity to bring on 119 helitack firefighters earlier than usual this year to allow them time to train and be operationally ready by May, 2021. This includes the orientation and operation of the new S-70i CAL FIRE Hawk helicopters that will operate from four helitack bases.
Proposals for the next fiscal year
For the Fiscal Year that begins in July, 2021 the Governor proposes a $143 million General Fund to support 30 new fire crews, and also includes $48 million to continue phasing in the new S-70i helicopters and large air tankers.
The Governor proposes $1 billion to support California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. The initiative sets forth a strategy to increase the pace and scale of forest and wildland management to meet the state’s target of completing projects on 500,000 acres annually by 2025 and expanding the use of prescribed fire. The plan centers on building fuel breaks around vulnerable communities, expanding home hardening, defensible space and preparedness planning to create wildfire-adapted communities, and sustaining the economic vitality of rural forested areas.
The article was modified to indicate that the twelve new Conservation Corps crews being established are not Conservation Camp (inmate) crews.
Wildfire potential to remain high through June in the Southwest and Southern Plains
Drought Monitor, issued March 23, 2021.
The forecasts for wildland fire potential issued April 1 predict wildfire potential will be higher than normal in Florida, the Southern Plains, and the Southwest through June, 2021. High potential is also expected during April in North Dakota and portions of the state’s neighbors, Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota.
According to the Drought Monitor issued on March 23 all of the 11 western states have areas with severe drought, and all of them except Washington have areas of extreme drought. Very large sections of exceptional drought, the highest category, are in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
The data from NIFC shown here represents the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services Units and the National Predictive Services Unit.
Below:
An excerpt from the NIFC narrative report for the next several months;
More of NIFC’s monthly graphical outlooks;
NOAA’s three-month temperature and precipitation forecasts;
Drought Monitor;
Keetch-Byram Drought Index.
“Climate outlooks indicate warmer and drier than normal conditions are likely for much of the Plains and Intermountain West through spring into early summer continuing and exacerbating drought there. A Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory is in effect for northwest Minnesota for the potential of rapid rates of spread due to high fuel loading and fire carrying in all fuel types, including peat. Active fire seasons are anticipated for much of the Plains, especially the northern and southern Plains, and for the Southwest this spring.
“Above normal significant fire potential is expected across the northern Plains into northern Minnesota through April into early May. Depending on weather spring precipitation, this may extend farther into May before green-up. Additionally, much of the southern Plains is forecast to have above normal significant fire potential through May before green-up. Recent and continuing dry weather in Florida is likely to contribute to above normal significant fire potential through May with conditions returning to normal by late June.
“The Southwest is forecast to have above normal significant fire potential during most of April through June before the Southwest Monsoon arrives in July. Above normal significant fire potential will expand northward into the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain Geographic Areas May through July. Additionally, central Oregon and central and southeast Washington are likely to have above normal significant fire potential beginning in June with portions of the Coast Ranges, Sierra, and Cascades in California increasing to above normally by July.”
Temperature outlook for April, May, and June, 2021.
