They hope Captain Cal will help them connect with children
Captain Cal. Screenshot from CBS Sacramento video.
Fire safety mascots have been around at least since since the 1950s, such as Smokey Bear for wildfires and Sparky the Fire Dog for structure fires. Forestín, the official mascot of the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) of Chile, was created in 1976.
Now the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) has adopted its own mascot. Captain Cal, based on a mountain lion, was introduced to the public earlier this week at the state capitol in Sacramento.
CAL FIRE hopes that the mountain lion character will help them connect with young people about fire safety, wildfires, and other topics.
“We want to make sure we get a character out there that identifies all safety hazards,” CAL FIRE information officer Richard Cordova said, “not only just wildland, but pool safety, earthquake safety, whatever message we want to push we will use Captain Cal to do that.”
Disney animators helped design Captain Cal, the mountain lion that walks erect on two legs. Of course Smokey does also.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
Firefighters have been burning out from structures and roads — evacuations are still in place
3-D map of the Woodbury Fire looking west. The red line was the perimeter at 10:12 p.m. MDT June 20. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:48 a.m. MDT June 21. Click to enlarge.
For the last several days most of the growth of the Woodbury Fire east of Phoenix has been to the east and northeast, but variable strong overnight winds caused a previously quiet area of the fire to spread significantly to the north. During a 3:48 a.m. MDT satellite overflight on Friday the fire had come to within 2 miles of Apache Trail about nine air miles east of Tortilla Flat. (See the map, above, of the Woodbury Fire)
The night shift that included four Hotshot Crews conducted burnouts on the east side of Highwa 188 six miles southeast of the community of Roosevelt northeast of the junction with Desert to Tall Pines Highway, and in other locations where needed to protect infrastructure.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Woodbury Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
The fire is not being fully suppressed. Instead, a variety of strategies are being used.
At about 10 p.m. on Thursday the fire was mapped from an aircraft at 65,903 acres but it continued spreading vigorously after that fixed wing flight.
Resources assigned to the fire include at least 21 hand crews, 28 engines, 8 helicopters and an unknown number of air tankers, for a total of 1,112 personnel. One of the air tankers, a DC-10, reportedly flew four missions Thursday dropping a total of 37,000 gallons of fire retardant. Approximately $10.9 has been spent on the fire so far.
On Thursday the fire continued moving through Reevis Creek into the Two Bar area. Additional significant growth was observed near the Reevis Mountain School, Granite Mountain near Little Campaign Creek, and the Blackberry Spring area. The fire is also in the west fork of Pinto Creek which prompted crews to burnout around the Rock Springs Barn and Corrals as well as the Miles Ranch Trailhead.
Structure protection is now in place at Top of the World and the Roosevelt area. This includes building firelines and prepositioning hose lays and portable water sources.
Map of the Woodbury Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 10:12 p.m. MDT June 20. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:48 a.m. MDT June 21.
State Highway 88 is closed from milepost 213 at Tortilla Flat to State Highway 188 at Roosevelt. State Highway 188 is closed from State Highway 88 just west of Roosevelt at milepost 244 to State Highway 288. For current Arizona Department of Transportation information visit https://az511.gov/.
For information about evacuations, shelters, livestock and pet shelters call: 928-402-8888.
The weather forecast for the Roosevelt area on Friday calls for 88 degrees, southwest winds of 17 mph gusting to 24, and relative humidity of 19 percent. The weather on Saturday should be about the same.
A Red Flag Warning for extreme fire weather is in effect through Friday evening for the northeast part of Arizona just outside of the Woodbury Fire area. Much of New Mexico is also under a Red Flag Warning through Saturday evening.
Predicted to move into New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma by Friday evening
Forecast for the distribution of smoke from the Woodbury Fire, at 6 p.m. MDT June 21, 2019.
The massive smoke plume produced by the Woodbury Fire east of Phoenix will begin to take a more northerly track on Friday. The National Weather Service predicts that after it crosses Northern New Mexico it will move into Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas. States farther east could be affected during the weekend.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Woodbury Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
Satellite photo at 7:16 p.m. MDT June 20, 2019 showing smoke from the Woodbury Fire near Phoenix spreading to the northeast.The map shows the extent of wildfire smoke from Canada and Arizona at 10:35 p.m. MDT June 20, 2019.
Wednesday night the fire was mapped at 50,595 acres.
Map of the Woodbury Fire. The red line was the fire perimeter at 11 p.m. MST June 19. The white line was the perimeter about 48 hours before. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 1:47 p.m. MDT June 20, 2019. Click to enlarge.
At 1 p.m. local time June 20 the the Gila County Sheriff’s Office announced an “evacuation alert” for two areas northeast of the Woodbury Fire, Roosevelt and Roosevelt Lake area:
All residents are asked to GO at this time. Go! Evacuate Now. If you are unable to evacuate, call 911.
The west side of the Woodbury Fire is about 12 miles east of the suburbs of Phoenix. Winds over the last several days have pushed the blaze to the east and northeast. At 5 p.m. on Thursday the temperature at a weather station east of Tortilla Flat recorded temperatures in the mid-90s, relative humidity of 10 percent, and WSW winds of 14 mph gusting to 23 mph. The forecast for Tortilla Flat for Friday predicts about the same. (See the map, above, of the Woodbury Fire)
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Woodbury Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
Wednesday night the fire was mapped at 50,595 acres. Officials at the Tonto National Forest are not attempting to completely suppress it, but instead are using a variety of strategies.
Satellite photo of smoke from the Woodbury Fire at 5:36 p.m. MDT June 20, 2019.
Satellite photo, at 6:56 p.m. MDT June 19, 2019 showing smoke from a prescribed fire and wildfires in Arizona.
Smoke from a prescribed fire southwest of Flagstaff, the Woodbury wildfire east of Phoenix, and other wildfires in northern Arizona was photographed from a satellite at 6:56 p.m. MDT June 19, 2019.
Much of the smoke is blowing into New Mexico and Western Texas.
Forecast for the distribution of smoke from fires, at 6pm MDT June 20, 2019.
