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California and the Southeast expected to have above normal wildfire activity

Bill GabbertOctober 1, 2019Uncategorizedpotential, weather

On October 1 the Predictive Services section at the National Interagency Fire Center issued their Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for October through January. The data represents the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services Units and the National Predictive Services Unit.

If NIFC’s analysis is correct, the Southeastern United States and areas of California will have areas with above average potential for wildfires through December.

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;
Vegetation greenness map;
Keetch-Byram Drought Index.

From NIFC:

“Both [California and the Southeast] appear to have areas of elevated large fire potential entering the fall, especially across the Southeast where drought is emerging in the Appalachians. In California, fuels remain receptive to fire activity under critical fire weather conditions in the middle and lower elevations. The grass crop remains dense. This should remain a concern heading through October, November, and into December. In the Southeast, the persisting dry conditions will allow for the fuels to continue to dry which will allow for the large fire potential to continue to gradually elevate until the frequency of passing weather systems begin to increase in December and January.”

Continue reading “California and the Southeast expected to have above normal wildfire activity”

Timber thieves foiled by bees ignite 3,300-acre fire

Bill GabbertOctober 1, 2019November 19, 2021WildfireMaple Fire, Washington

Maple Fire Olympic National Forest — Maple Fire, Olympic National Forest, Washington, August 2018. IMT photo.

Maple trees are so valuable and prized by woodworkers, especially those who manufacture musical instruments, that it is a violation of the law in Washington to transport the wood without a state-issued specialized forest products permit. Armed with a permit that authorized the harvesting of maples from private land, Justin Andrew Wilke and Shawn Edward (Thor) Williams and others camped for several days in the Olympic National Forest scouting for big leaf maple trees with the highly desired figured wood pattern. They identified trees containing figuring by “checking” the trees, that is, using an axe to peel back the bark to expose the pattern of the wood, sometimes doing it at night to avoid detection.

When they found a tree they liked they would fell it with a chain saw, buck it up, and transport the wood to a mill in Tumwater, Washington, presenting the permit and saying it had been harvested with permission from private property. According to the federal grand jury indictment, Wilke and/or Williams made more than 20 trips to the mill between April and August of 2018, collecting more than $13,000 by selling illegally harvested National Forest timber.

The theft was going fine for the two men until they ran into a problem on August 3, 2018 near the Elk Lake Lower Trailhead. Their latest target contained a bee’s nest that made it difficult or impossible to fell the tree. Spraying wasp killer was not effective, so they agreed that Mr. Wilke’s plan to burn them out with gasoline was the next step.

The indictment does not specify if the fire got rid of the bees, but the men were not able to put it out with water bottles. The fire, named “Maple”, ultimately burned 3,300 acres.

When a U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer questioned Mr. Wilke on August 4 about the fire and his timber-poaching activity, he told the officer that he had not been cutting timber, did not have a chain saw, and knew nothing about the fire. It turned out that he had concealed his saw to hide it from investigators.

Mr. Wilke and Mr. Williams were charged with multiple felonies related to timber theft and starting the fire. Mr. Williams had previously been in trouble with authorities in Florida for firearms violations.

From the Washington Post, October 1, 2019:

A spokesperson with the U.S. attorney’s office told The Washington Post that Wilke pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on Monday and remains detained. His trial will begin in December. Williams is in state custody in California and will be transported to Washington state to be arraigned, the spokesperson said.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom. Typos or errors, report them HERE.

Overview of Rapid Extraction Module

Bill GabbertOctober 1, 2019October 1, 2019UncategorizedRapid Extraction Module1 Comment

https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/rapid-extraction-module/ — Rapid Extraction Module. Screenshot from the video below.

It has been a while since we covered Rapid Extraction Modules. Here is a video describing one that was assigned to the Maple Fire in Washington last year.

The Incident Command System Position Manual (ICS-223-12) describes a Rapid Extraction Module as “a pre-staged rescue team assigned to a wildland fire to provide firefighters a safe, effective and efficient method of egress off the fireline in the event of injury or illness incurred during firefighting operations.”

Kari Greer took photos of an REM going through proficiency practice.

All articles on Wildfire Today tagged Rapid Extraction Module.

Backup copy of the video.

Photos of homes being rebuilt after the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa

Bill GabbertOctober 1, 2019September 30, 2019UncategorizedCalifornia, tubbs fire2 Comments

Map Tubbs, Nuns, Atlas Fires — Map of the Tubbs, Nuns, and Atlas Fires. October, 2017.

When the Tubbs Fire burned through Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, California in October 2017, it destroyed over 5,600 structures and burned almost 37,000 acres.

Photographer Kent Porter has documented some of the rebuilding efforts in Santa Rosa with photos taken soon after the fire and again recently.

Nearly two years after the #Tubbsfire plowed through Santa Rosa, #coffeyparkstrong is being rebuilt at a steady pace as are sections of Fountaingrove. @NorthBayNews pic.twitter.com/iCkThOXueZ

— Kent Porter (@kentphotos) September 30, 2019

Park Service, still without a Director, gets a new Acting Director

Bill GabbertSeptember 30, 2019UncategorizedDavid Vela, National Park Service2 Comments

The NPS Director position has been vacant since January 2017

David Vela NPS acting director — David Vela. NPS photo.

The National Park Service has not had a Director to lead the agency since January 2017, when Jonathan Jarvis left the job after serving as director for eight years under President Obama.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced September 30 that David Vela, already serving as one of three deputy directors in the NPS, will now also exercise the delegated authority of the director. In other words, he was appointed to the Acting Director position.

Mr. Vela was nominated for the Director position in 2018 and was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, but the Senate declined to take a vote. When the new Congress convened in January he would have had to have been nominated again by the President, but that did not happen. When he was nominated he was the Superintendent of Grand Teton National Park. After the Senate confirmation fell through, according to EENews he joined the NPS Washington Office anyway serving as the Deputy Director of Operations.

On October 1, 2019 Mr. Vela will take the place of the current acting Director, P. Daniel Smith who has been a controversial figure.

National Parks Traveler has three examples of recent forced transfers of high ranking NPS employees that resulted in them choosing to retire rather than agree to the moves.

Former paratrooper on extended motorcycle trip visits wildland firefighting sites

Bill GabbertSeptember 30, 2019September 30, 2019Uncategorized

(Above: screenshot from Cannonshot’s wildland fire tour article. Click to enlarge.)

After a military veteran, a retired Colonel, learned that there are similarities between warfighting and firefighting, he decided to visit scores, if not hundreds, of locations around the western United States that are related to wildland fire. He departed from Southeast Wisconsin on his BMW GS Adventure motorcycle and returned 22 days and 10,000 miles later having accomplished about a third of his goal. He visited fire stations, notable fires, fatality sites, as well as helitack and air tanker bases. He also stopped at, photographed, and wrote about other sites of general interest in between. He identified locations to visit all around the western United States. His first article documents his travels through the Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and parts of South Dakota, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. On two more trips next year he plans to cover the Southwest and California.

It is interesting to hear how someone with a military background, in this case a paratrooper, perceives wildland firefighting. In this case the writer is known only by his “Cannonshot” handle at the Adventure Rider website, which is usually frequented by long distance or “adventure” motorcyclists, who are not often seen on Harley-type loud-pipe bikes. That’s my impression of the site anyway, after a quick perusal.

Cannonshot’s writings and photographs of this 22-day trip are very extensive, covering 14 lengthy pages. You’ll need to schedule some time if you intend to read it all. But if you’re into wildland fire or motorcycles, or both like some of us, it will be a good way to spend an evening.

Above is a quick screen grab of one portion of the piece. Here is a link to the article.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Eric. Typos or errors, report them HERE.