From the National Interagency Coordination Center, here is a list of the Incident Management Teams that were assigned to COVID-19 pandemic related issues on April 10, 2020:
–Area Command teams (Team 1 Stutler, Team 2 Sexton and Team 3 Jalbert) along with IMT2 (EA Silver Team) have been assigned by the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) to develop a national COVID19 wildland fire response plan.
–NIMO (Houseman) has been assigned to COVID-19 support at Forest Service headquarters in Washington D.C.
–IMT1 (GB Team 2) has been assigned to Intermountain R4 Regional Office COVID-19 Support, providing complexity analysis, risk assessments and short/long-term planning guidance.
–IMT1 (NW Team 3) has been assigned to the Spokane Regional Health District, WA, assisting with strategic planning and building capacity.
Bloomberg graphic showing the flight paths of North America based air tankers that travelled to Australia for their 2019-2020 wildfire season.
When a reporter for Bloomberg asked me if she could interview me I said OK, as long as I could have the rights to publish the article on my web site — Mira Rojanasakul said yes. I thought the article, written with Hayley Warren, was going to be primarily about air tankers, and those used in Australia in particular, but now that it has been published today I see that it also covers how climate change is affecting wildfires down under and in the United States.
In addition to being a writer, Ms. Rojanasakul is an accomplished graphics editor for Bloomberg. And that’s why I’m writing about this article and why you should check it out. She takes graphics to a higher level.
Here are some samples.
Bloomberg graphic, showing the flight paths of various firefighting and mapping aircraft in Australia.
A very impressive large animated version of the graphic below is on the Bloomberg website.
Between July 2019 and February 2020, nearly 40,000 flights by firefighting aircraft were taken over southeast Australia.The occurrence of wildfires in Washington, Oregon, and California showing how some of them occurred during the summer bushfire season in Australia. If aviation resources are going to be shared between North America and Australia, this information comes into play. Bloomberg graphic.Bloomberg graphicBloomberg graphic
On April 10 a large wildfire was within a few kilometers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor that exploded in 1986
Sentinel-2 satellite photo showing the wildfire burning in the exclusion zone near Chernobyl, Ukraine. April 10, 2020.
(UPDATED at 4:11 p.m. EDT April 11, 2020)
The Sentinel-2 satellite photo above was taken April 10, showing the wildfire approximately 3 kilometers south of the New Safe Containment structure that covers the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor that exploded in 1986 at Pripyat. The area in the photo is similar to that shown in the map below which includes heat detected by a satellite.
(Originally published at 10:59 p.m. EDT April 10, 2020)
The map shows heat detected over the previous seven days, as late at 7:42 a.m. EDT April 10, 2020 on a wildfire burning in the exclusion zone near Chernobyl. Heat was detected somewhere within each of the circles on the map.
A wildfire that started April 4 in Ukraine has spread rapidly in the last two days to come within approximately 3 kilometers of the New Safe Containment structure that covers the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor that exploded in 1986 at Pripyat.
Satellites detected heat from the fire at 7:42 a.m. EDT April 4 showing the fire extending to the Pripyat River just north of the abandoned city of Chernobyl.
Our very unofficial estimates based on the satellite data put the size at about 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) as of Friday morning. The fire has been spreading east and southeast.
In recent days elevated radiation levels have been detected near wildfires burning in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. People are not allowed to live within 19 miles of the closed facility, however about 200 people have remained in the area despite orders to leave.
New Safe Containment structure over the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Photo by Tim Porter.The map shows heat detected as late at 8 a.m. EDT April 9, 2020 on a wildfire burning in the exclusion zone near Chernobyl, approximately 24 hours before the map at the top of the article.
Darren O’loughlin, Superintendent, Jackson Interagency Hotshot Crew. Screenshot from the video below.
The Jackson Interagency Hotshot Crew is the only Bureau of Land Management Hotshot Crew east of the Mississippi River. Formed in 1997, the crew has fought wildfires from Alaska to Florida. They have been called upon to assist with numerous national emergencies, including Ground Zero after 9/11 and search and recovery operations from the Space Shuttle Columbia. The Hotshots were also involved in recovery efforts following several devastating hurricanes, including Katrina, Rita and Sandy. They are based in Jackson, Mississippi.
The crew is supported by Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters Foundation. The Jackson Hotshots are also committed to working with veterans and veteran organizations such as Team Rubicon.
Map of the Split Ditch Fire, April 9, 2020. New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
(Updated at 9:16 p.m. EDT April 9, 2020)
The Split Ditch Fire in southern New Jersey has burned approximately 250 acres 4 miles southwest of the Millville Executive Airport and 12 miles south of Vineland.
“Crews are making an indirect attack utilizing existing fuel breaks and county roads,” said Micheal Achey of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. “The fire is estimated to be 1,500 acres by the time of containment. Firing operations will continue until morning.”
The blaze has been pushed by winds out of the west-northwest gusting above 40 mph per hour with relative humidity in the high 20s and temperature in the high 50s.
Wind speed Thursday afternoon at Millville Municipal Airport, NJ.
The Split Ditch Fire is being fought by 30 personnel on 10 Type 6 engines, 4 dozers, and one UH-1H helicopter operated by the state.
BLM fire crews remain hard at work to prepare for this year’s fire season. Today, a crew from the BLM Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office conducted prescribed burns at the Dos Palmas Preserve near the North Shore of the Salton Sea.
These three photos were posted with the text on Facebook.
BLM prescribed fire April 7, 2020. BLM photo.BLM prescribed fire April 7, 2020. BLM photo.
