Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

Nuns Fire continues to spread while the Atlas Fire slows

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

More evacuations were ordered by Santa Rosa officials.

Above: The red lines on the map were the perimeters of the Nuns and Atlas Fires Friday in northern California at around 10 p.m. PDT. The white lines were the perimeters about 24 hours earlier. The yellow and red dots represent heat detected by a satellite on Friday night and Saturday, as late as 12:57 p.m. PDT.

(Originally published at 6:07 p.m. PDT October 14, 2017)

Additional evacuations were ordered Saturday in northern California by Santa Rosa officials for areas endangered by the 46,104-acre Nuns Fire. The new mandatory area is north and south of Hwy 12 between Calistoga Road and Adobe Canyon Road.

Evacuation orders are still in effect for many other areas. Santa Rosa has an interactive map showing which areas are affected.

Friday night and Saturday morning the most active areas on the Nuns Fire were on the northeast side of the huge fire. Overnight winds pushed the fire toward the Oakmont community in Santa Rosa and kept the fire spreading east of Sonoma.

On Friday the Nuns Fire grew by over 4,000 acres.

The Atlas Fire is east of the Nuns Fire, Highway 29, Yountville, and Napa. It was much less active than the Nuns Fire, growing by about 211 acres on Friday to bring the total up to 50,872 acres. Satellites detected much less heat than was seen on the Nuns Fire.

California firefighters will have to battle strong winds again Saturday

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado for strong winds and low humidity.

The warnings issued are for many different fire weather areas, the borders of which you can see on the map. Most of the warnings in northern California expire Saturday night, while the southern California areas generally expire at various times on Sunday. The Colorado warnings are valid until Saturday evening.

The map was current as of 9:30 a.m. MDT on Saturday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts.

Interview with Amanda Marsh

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 6 Comments on Interview with Amanda Marsh

Amanda talked about the Granite Mountain Hotshots, her late husband Eric, the movie that will be out in a week, horses, and what it is like being the spouse of a wildland firefighter.

If you are having trouble viewing the video above, you can see it on YouTube.

The version above is 26 minutes long; a 6-minute version is HERE.

This interview with Amanda Marsh was filmed the day after the red carpet screening in Phoenix of the movie “Only the Brave”, which is about the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a 20-person crew of wildland firefighters. In 2013, 19 members of the crew, including her husband Eric, perished in the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona.

You might think the film is solely about the tragedy, but most of it is about the firefighters, their families, relationships, and building a crew.

We are very appreciative of Amanda for spending time with us. Three days before, she was in Los Angeles for the red carpet premiere and 14 hours before we filmed this she was at the Phoenix event. It does not show, but she was tired and said she was glad that her official appearances related to the movie were over.

The film will be released nationwide October 20, 2017. We reviewed it on October 11.

Be sure and catch the very end of the interview.

Red Flag Warnings in California and Colorado

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings in California and Colorado.

North of San Francisco enhanced fire weather conditions will return Friday night and Saturday with 20 to 30 mph northeast winds gusting at 40 to 50 mph. Isolated gusts up to 60 are possible on the highest ridges and peaks. The humidity will be in the teens during the day and between 25 and 35 percent at night.

The map was current as of 11 a.m. MDT on Friday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts.