News and opinion about wildland fire
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings for June 13 in areas of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of the areas will experience strong winds and low humidities, resulting in enhanced wildfire danger.
(Red Flag Warnings can be modified throughout the day as NWS offices around the country update and revise their weather forecasts.)
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Wildfire5 Comments on Bringham Fire triples in size in 24 hours The fire is 27 miles southwest of Alpine, Arizona
After exhibiting moderate growth since it started from a lightning strike on June 6, the Bringham Fire in eastern Arizona more than tripled in size Thursday. It was mapped Wednesday night at 3,318 acres, and 24 hours later an infrared mapping aircraft determined it had grown to 10,803 acres.
The fire is 23 air miles north of Clifton, Arizona and 27 air miles southwest of Alpine, Arizona. Values at risk that have been identified include the highway, area cabins, Rose Peak lookout, campgrounds, natural and cultural resources, and threatened and endangered species and their habitat.
Firefighters have been conducting burnout operations in an attempt to keep the fire east of Highway 191. Portable water tanks have been set up along the highway to support helicopter operations in this effort.
Resources on the fire include 4 hand crews, 1 initial attack crew, 4 engines, 2 water tenders, 3 helicopters, plus various incident management overhead.
This is the forecast for near surface wildfire smoke at 6 p.m. MDT today, June 12, 2020. It was created by NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory.
The fire was stopped after burning 5 to 10 acres near Gloleta, California
Quick action today by Santa Barbara County Fire Department firefighters stopped the Mockingbird Fire before it could burn more than five to ten acres, which made it possible to lift the evacuation warnings in Goleta.
The video below by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department is excellent. You can almost feel the smoke stinging your eyes! And turn on the audio so you don’t miss the WHOP – WHOP – WHOP of the Huey.
VegetationFire- #Mockingbird Fire. On More Mesa area off Mockingbird Ln in Goleta. Mockingbird IC reports 3-4 acres at this time. C/T 10:52 **Call Newsline ** pic.twitter.com/dYB7Mo0BAs
— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) June 12, 2020
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Wildfire8 Comments on Bighorn Fire spreads to within a mile of Tucson suburbs It has burned over 4,700 acres
The Bighorn Fire has spread to within a mile of the northern suburbs of Tucson, Arizona. Since the fire started from lightning on June 5 it has burned 4,769 acres, less than a mile from the northernmost suburbs of Tucson.
The fire was active Wednesday night, with flames being pushed downhill by downslope winds. On Thursday temperatures up to 106 degrees with low humidity will increase fire activity and it will again be highly visible on the front range of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Crews will work to hold the fire perimeter and continue building fire line, tying into control features such as roads and rock outcroppings. Aerial resources will support the crews on the ground with water and retardant drops.
Over the next several days communities can expect to see crews and apparatus working in and around subdivisions in the Catalina Foothills.
Resources assigned to the fire include 9 hand crews, 15 fire engines, 7 helicopters, and 10 water tenders.
(UPDATED at 3:28 p.m. PDT June 12, 2020)
The map below shows heat on fires detected by satellites over the last two days only, and does not include the previous five days like the map farther down.
(Originally published at 2:43 p.m. PDT June 11, 2020)
The smoke map we posted earlier today showed a great deal of smoke being created in northwest Mexico. Here is a map with the locations of those fires.
