Stephen Pyne wondered if there was any correlation between mass shootings and the number of structures destroyed each year in wildfires. Here, with his permission, are the facts he uncovered.
Mr. Pyne, who was a firefighter at the Grand Canyon for 15 seasons, is a prolific writer about wildland fire. His most recent book is “To the Last Smoke”.
In the eight days the Glass Fire has been burning in the Napa Vally area of northern California it has destroyed 297 residences, 273 commercial structures, and burned 63,885 acres according to CAL FIRE. An additional 18,000 structures are threatened as the portion of the fire east of Highway 128 continues to spread north.
West of Highway 128 the fire has not spread into the footprint of the 2017 Tubbs Fire north of Santa Rosa, but north of Kenwood between Highways 12 and 128 it grew for one to two miles into the Nuns Fire of 2017 but has not moved much in that area in the last three days.
East of Highways 128 and 29, a portion of the Glass Fire reached the LNU Lightning Complex that burned 46,000 acres a few weeks ago, but it is still spreading in an area north of Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, five miles north of Calistoga, and 6 miles south of Middletown. The fire was not very active directly west of Pope Valley Saturday.
Resources assigned to the fire include 23 helicopters, 408 fire engines, 66 dozers, 27 hand crews, and 49 water tenders for a total of 2,773 personnel.
The first part of the video below shows a dozer line or road on the edge of the Glass Fire. Then you will see where red retardant dropped by air tankers has slowed the advance of the fire. When it can be done safely, firefighters on the ground or on dozers will need to construct a bare-earth fireline where the fire has burned into or through the retardant. Aircraft dropping water or retardant do not put out a fire, they can only slow the spread, and only if the wind is not very strong.
Photographers at a wildland fire may be able to use and tolerate a mask that traps 95 percent of the 0.3 micron particulates in smoke, but the devices are not practical for firefighters. (see photo above)
In case you are wondering, masks and respirators are divided into rating classes: N is not oil resistant, R is oil resistant, and P is oil proof. The number, such as 95, refers to the percent of particles removed that are at least 0.3 microns in diameter.
The first two maps are for air quality, from AirNow.gov. The first was current at 10 a.m. PDT October 3. The second is the forecast for Sunday, October 4.
The map below is the forecast for near surface wildfire smoke at noon PDT, Saturday October 3, 2020. The one after that is the forecast for 1 a.m. PDT Oct. 4, 2020. It is interesting that the air quality maps (above) do not detect or predict a serious air quality issue in Colorado around the Mullen Fire.
The Mullen Fire that started September 17 in Wyoming 12 miles north of the Colorado border has spread south into Colorado. At 12:15 a.m. Friday a mapping flight determined it had progressed to the intersection of Colorado Highways 127 and 125 about four miles north of Cowdrey. Firefighters are conducting strategic firing operations along portions of Highway 127 and Wyoming Highway 230 to protect structures.
In Colorado the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has ordered evacuations for “the east side of Jackson County Road 8 along the eastern range north to the sand dunes following up to Highway 127, and along Jackson County Road 6E.” The most current information is on CodeRED and on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Mullen Fire, including the most recent, click here.
On Thursday the incident management team reported that the Mullen Fire had burned 118,778 acres. After an overnight mapping flight the team may add another 8,000 to 9,000 acres to that figure. (Update at 12:56 p.m. October 2: the incident management team updated the size to 127,503 acres.)
The Mullen Fire is producing large quantities of smoke that has been pushed to the south and southeast. On Friday it is predicted to heavily affect Rocky Mountain National Park, Boulder, and Denver.
The fire area is under a Red Flag Warning Friday. The forecast for the southern portion of the fire calls for a high temperature of 62, relative humidity of 16 percent, and winds from the west and northwest at 13 to 16 mph. Conditions will be similar on Saturday, with slightly stronger winds and slightly higher humidity.
The 125,271-acre Cameron Peak Fire, 26 miles southwest of the Mullen Fire, has been growing much more slowly than the Mullen Fire in recent days.