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Red Bank Fire grows quickly in Northern California

Bill GabbertSeptember 5, 2019September 6, 2019UncategorizedCalifornia, Red Bank Fire2 Comments

The fire is 20 miles west of Red Bluff

Red Bank Fire South Fire September 6 — The red dots represent heat on the South and Red Bank Fires detected by a satellite at 2:54 a.m. PDT September 6, 2019. Some areas of the Red Bank Fire are burning in light vegetation which can burn and then cool quickly before the next satellite overflight and therefore are not detected by the sensors. This means the fire is probably larger than indicated here.

(UPDATED at 11 a.m. PDT September 6, 2019)

The Red Bank Fire that was reported at 8:19 a.m. on September 5 was active Thursday night according to heat detecting sensors during a satellite overflight at 2:54 a.m. PDT Friday morning. (see map above)

CAL FIRE, in their new shortened incident reporting format, said the fire had burned 6,500 acres. The Red Bank Fire is being suppressed by CAL FIRE, while another fire, the South Fire four miles to the southwest, is the responsibility of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Overnight at the Cannon Road weather station the relative humidity increased to 63 percent and recorded a minimum temperature of 64. Between 8 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday the wind was out of the southeast at 8 to 13 mph with gusts of 20 to 25, but then shifted to come out of the northwest at 1 to 3 mph, a 180-degree change in direction.

The weather forecast on Friday calls for 89 degrees and 22 percent RH. The slight northwest wind should continue until 11 a.m. when it will then be from the east-northeast at 5 mph. Beginning at 2 p.m. the wind should be out of the southeast at 8 mph.

Variable winds make it very difficult for firefighters to safely and effectively fight a fire.

(Originally published at 7:56 p.m. PDT September 5, 2019)

map Red Bank Fire — Map showing the location of the Red Bank Fire 20 miles west of Red Bluff, California at 2:36 p.m. PDT Sept. 5, 2019.

The Red Bank Fire spread quickly after it was reported Thursday afternoon 20 miles west of Red Bluff, California. (see map above) Another fire seven miles to the west was reported by aircraft working the fire. Both fires are east of the Mendocino National Forest and mandatory evacuations have been ordered.

Air Attack reported at about 7:45 p.m local time Thursday that the fire had spread 7 miles to the northwest from the fire’s location shown on the map above at 2:36 p.m.

The fire has approached structures in some places but due to the fire behavior, not as many aerial resources as they would like, and smoke limiting the visibility of aircraft, firefighters in some cases had to withdraw.

The Red Bank Fire as seen from the Nevada Seismo Lab Eagles Nest camera at 7:05 p.m. PDT September 5, 2019.

The Incident Commander has placed orders for a large number of ground and air resources, including eight air tankers for Friday.

Friday afternoon the Cannon Road weather station recorded a high temperature of 93 degrees, 17 percent relative humidity, and 10 to 13 mph winds out of the southeast gusting at 18 to 25 mph.

The weather forecast for the fire area on Friday calls for 88 degrees and 23 percent RH. The wind direction will be variable but will be 6 to 8 mph out of the southeast after 2 p.m.

Tenaja Fire causes evacuations near Murrieta, California

Bill GabbertSeptember 5, 2019September 6, 2019UncategorizedCalifornia, Tenaja Fire

By Thursday afternoon it had burned almost 2,000 acres

map Tenaja Fire — The red dots represent heat on the Tenaja Fire detected by a satellite at 2:30 p.m. PDT September 5, 2019 .

About 24 hours after it was reported at 4 p.m. PDT Wednesday the Tenaja Fire west of Murrieta in Southern California flared up again requiring additional evacuations and commitments of firefighting resources.

The blaze started near the intersection of Tenaja Road and Clinton Keith Road in the La Cresta community. (see map above) Spreading quickly in the high temperatures, thunderstorms played havoc, causing the wind direction to shift causing erratic fire behavior. Air tankers, helicopters, and firefighters on the ground kept it to about 1,400 acres Wednesday night as the rate of spread slowed.

Thursday morning there was still very little containment of the fire perimeter. It was fairly quiet until early afternoon when the activity picked up considerably. Rapid spread toward dense complexes of homes in the Murrieta and Wildomar communities triggered more evacuations and large orders for additional firefighting resources.

Tenaja Fire smoke — Smoke over the Tenaja Fire at 1:39 p.m. PDT September 5, 2019. HPWREN.

The fire came very close to a number of homes, some of which were painted red by fire retardant drops. Good work by firefighters on the ground and in the air prevented it from moving into residential areas.

Tenaja Fire homes — Tenaja Fire. Screenshot from ABC7 video.

At 5:30 p.m. the spread had been at least temporarily stopped, and in places where there was no fireline the vegetation was red from multiple air tanker drops. Fire officials estimated it had burned 1,974 acres. There were no reports of homes burning.

Tenaja Fire. Screenshot from ABC7 video.

Fishhawk Fire doubles in size, evacuations ordered

Bill GabbertSeptember 5, 2019September 5, 2019UncategorizedFishhawk Fire, Wyoming11 Comments

The fire is burning between Yellowstone National Park and Cody, Wyoming

Yellowstone Cody Map location Fishhawk Fire — Map showing the location of the Fishhawk Fire. The red line was based on a USFS mapping flight at 12:50 a.m. MDT September 5, 2019. The white line was the perimeter at 8:19 p.m. MDT September 3, 2019. Click to enlarge.

(UPDATED at 12:37 p.m. MDT September 5, 2019)

Strong winds gusting up to 33 mph along with low humidities caused the Fishhawk Fire to more than double in size Wednesday to 10,321 acres. It spread two miles to the north and the same distance to the south. The spread to the west and east is slowed by steep ridges going up to 9,000 to 11,000 feet. However the overnight mapping shows the northeast section of the fire crossed the ridge at the 9,800-foot level, establishing fire in the adjacent drainage to the east.

During the 12:50 a.m. MDT mapping flight on Thursday the Fishhawk Fire was 1.5 to 2 miles from Highway 14/16/20 and the Camp Buffalo Bill Scout Camp. It is 38 miles west of Cody, Wyoming and about 6 miles east of the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park. (see the map above)

(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Fishhawk Fire, including the most recent, click here.)

Wednesday night the Park County Sheriff’s Office issued a mandatory evacuation notice for the Scout Camp as well as the cabins in the Kitty Creek drainage.

The evacuation notice said, “…the fire has breached a line of protection that indicates a full evacuation is necessary.”

The Rocky Mountain Type 2 Blue Team assumed command of the fire at 6:00 am. Thursday.

The fire is not being fully suppressed, however the Forest Service will attempt to protect structures and private property.

On Thursday structure protection work continued in the North Fork corridor along Highway 14/16/20. Firefighters have been building fireline around structures in Kitty Creek in addition to implementing structure protection around the nearby lodges. Due to rugged terrain and safety concerns, the southern perimeter of the fire will not be staffed by personnel, but will be monitored by air assets, according to the Incident Management Team.

The day after the fire was detected, Mark Giacoletto, the Shoshone National Forest Fire Management Officer said, “Appropriate actions will be taken when it is needed and where it is safe to do so with the highest probability of success. The amount of standing dead timber and the hazardous terrain in the vicinity of the fire makes it unsafe to put firefighters near the current location of the fire.”

While the 2008 Gunbarrel Fire north of Highway 14/16/20 burned at least 67,000 acres, there have been relatively few fires in recorded history south of the highway. Much of the vegetation in the area has not burned in more than 80 years.

TBT: EPA’s Whitman not liable for statements about 9/11 air quality

Bill GabbertSeptember 5, 2019August 29, 2019Uncategorized

From a post on Wildfire Today April 24, 2008.

9/11 smoke — Credit: Washington Examiner

On April 22, 2008 a federal appeals court dismissed a suit against the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, ruling that Christie Whitman can not be held liable for giving the false information that the air was safe to breathe following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Many firefighters, including those working on the Incident Management Teams at the scene, were affected by the contaminated air while working on the recovery and clean-up in New York City.

More information from the New York Times:

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals said that Mrs. Whitman, a former governor of New Jersey, was forced to balance competing interests after the attack. The court found that complying with instructions from the White House to hasten the return of financial workers to Wall Street as soon as possible after the World Trade Center was destroyed conflicted with Mrs. Whitman’s obligation to highlight the health risks facing people who lived, worked or went to school in Lower Manhattan.

“Whether or not Whitman’s resolution of such competing considerations was wise,” the court said, “she has not engaged in conduct that ‘shocks the conscience’ in the sense necessary to create constitutional liability for damages to thousands of people.”

In February 2006, Judge Deborah A. Batts of Federal District Court in Manhattan refused to dismiss a range of charges brought by residents against Mrs. Whitman in 2004. Judge Batts found that Mrs. Whitman made statements about safety that were so misleading that they were “conscience-shocking.”

The plaintiffs alleged that Mrs. Whitman and the environmental agency she led had deliberately misrepresented the health risks of the dust from the collapsed trade towers that clouded the air in Lower Manhattan.

In their lawsuit, they argued that Mrs. Whitman should have been obligated to pay for the cleanup of homes, schools and offices in Lower Manhattan.

In her defense, Mrs. Whitman argued that as a public official she was entitled to immunity because her conduct had not violated anyone’s constitutional rights.

CAL FIRE engine rolls over, four firefighters injured

Bill GabbertSeptember 4, 2019September 6, 2019Uncategorizedaccident, rollover

CAL FIRE engine rollover Porterville — A CAL FIRE engine rolled over injuring three firefighters September 4, 2019 near Porterville, CA. Photo by @GilbertABC30

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced that at 8:43 a.m. September 4 one of their engines was involved in a single vehicle rollover. Four firefighters were on board. Three were treated and released, while one was scheduled to remain overnight.

The San Diego County based engine was covering a CAL FIRE station during the Creek Fire.

ABC30 reported that it happened on a rural road in the Porterville area near Avenue 56 and Road 240.

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

Smoke from wildfires in the Northwest spreads to the east

Bill GabbertSeptember 4, 2019Uncategorizedsmoke

Above: Near Surface Smoke that is remaining near the Earth’s surface, created by vegetation fires. Forecast for 9 p.m. MDT September 4, 2019. Red dots represent heat detected by a satellite.

These images represent the forecast for the distribution of smoke from vegetation fires at 9 p.m. MDT September 4, 2019.

The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite.