News and opinion about wildland fire
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized9 Comments on Photos from the Rough Ridge Fire in Georgia These photos are from the very impressive Rough Ridge Fire in north Georgia 13 miles west of Blue Ridge. They were uploaded to InciWeb Friday.
The fire has burned 10,336 acres and currently threatens 48 structures. Approximately 227 personnel are assigned.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized69 Comments on Heavy wildfire activity continues in North Carolina and Georgia Above: The map shows the location of some of the larger wildfires in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia November 11, 2016.
(UPDATED at 4:59 p.m. ET November 11, 2016)
The intense wildfire activity that has been going on for weeks in the southeast United States ramped up a bit over the last 24 hours as extremely low relative humidities allowed some of the blazes to continue to spread aggressively Thursday night. A weather station southeast of Asheville, NC 9 miles northwest of the 977-acre Party Rock Fire recorded 9 percent RH early Friday morning. Night time humidities in that part of the country are usually far above 50 percent at night.
The good news is the conditions will moderate a little over the next several days after the passage of a cold front.
There are currently 31 uncontained wildfires in the Southern Geographic Area. Here some other numbers about the fires in the region (data from the National Interagency Coordination Center and the Southern Area Coordination Center):
Continue reading “Heavy wildfire activity continues in North Carolina and Georgia”
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized4 Comments on Evacuations continue for Party Rock Fire in North Carolina Above: Party Rock Fire near Chimney Rock, NC. Photo by Cathy Anderson.
(UPDATED at 11:53 a.m. ET November 12, 2016)
The Party Rock Fire at Chimney Rock, North Carolina continued to spread on Friday and has now blackened 2,626 acres according to information from the Incident Management Team at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Areas under mandatory evacuation orders include the entire community of Chimney Rock, the Highway 74-A corridor west of Chimney Rock, Rumbling Bald Resort, and some areas in the Town of Lake Lure.
There are no reports of any structures being destroyed.
On Friday air tankers and helicopters dropped water and retardant to help slow the spread of the fire and to protect the communities.
A section of Highway 74-A was closed for a period of time Friday afternoon.
The weather has changed to be more in favor of the firefighters. After some single-digit relative humidities earlier in the week, on Saturday it should bottom out at 30 percent in the fire area after having risen to around 80 percent overnight. The wind will not be a major problem, and is predicted to be out of the northeast at 4 to 6 mph with gusts of 5 to 10 mph. The high temperature will be 53 degrees. Sunday will be about the same, but a little warmer and drier.
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(Originally published at 2:01 ET November 11, 2016)
The rapid spread of the Party Rock Fire overnight is causing evacuations for some areas within the community of Chimney Rock, North Carolina. The fire is just west of Lake Lure, on the north side of Chimney Rock, and is 18 miles southeast of Asheville.
Here is a link to a map with details about the evacuation.
The fire started November 5 in Chimney Rock State Park and is being managed by Dan Brandon’s North Carolina Type 2 Incident Management Team. As of Thursday evening it had burned 977 acres and was being fought by 165 personnel.
Part of the reason for the increased fire activity over the last 24 hours was the extremely low relative humidity. It is not uncommon for this part of the country to have the RH go up near 100 percent at night, but Thursday afternoon it got down to 10 percent, went up to around 30 percent at midnight, then dropped as low as 9 percent before sunrise. At 2:04 p.m. ET on Friday it was 27 percent, still low for North Carolina. Aggravating the situation was 10 to 20 mph wind gusts out of the west and southeast.
The forecast calls for the RH to rise into the 40s later Friday afternoon and into the 70s during the night. The wind Friday afternoon will be out of the north and northwest at 8 mph with 20 mph gusts. The temperature will be around 60. These conditions will be challenging for firefighters
Saturday the RH will be in the 40s under sunny skies.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized18 Comments on Smoke from wildfires impacts Georgia Above: Satellite photo showing smoke from wildfires in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, November 10, 2016.
Many wildfires are still burning in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and several other states in the southeastern United States. On Thursday much of the smoke was being blown into the northern half of Georgia, potentially causing health problems for sensitive people.
The primary culprit for the wildfire activity is a lack of precipitation. Many areas in the southeast have not received any significant rain in weeks. It has been more than 70 days for some locations in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina. This has resulted in many wildfires breaking out in the last month.
The state with the most active fires is North Carolina, but the largest fire currently burning in the south is in Georgia, the 10,336-acre Rough Ridge Fire in the northern part of the state. Caused by lightning on October 16, it is being fought by 296 personnel, 9 hand crews, 2 helicopters, 7 engines, and 2 dozers.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Dozer rollover on the Trailhead Fire Above: Dozer rollover at the Trailhead Fire on the Eldorado National Forest in California July 2, 2016. Photo from the report.
A report has been released by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center about a dozer rollover that occurred July 2, 2016 at the Trailhead Fire on the Eldorado National Forest in California. You can read the entire report, but here’s a brief summary.
After getting unstuck from being high centered on a large stump, a dozer operator found himself off the ridge where he was building an indirect fireline, and was on a steep slope. Again he got stuck and was not able to backup, this time due to the slope which in places exceeded an 80 percent incline. At various times he was advised by two Resource Advisors, the Structure Group Supervisor, and the owner of the dozer to stay put. In the meantime another dozer with a winch was en route to assist.
Ignoring the advice, the operator continued down the slope and got into a heated argument with the owner, who then left the area. Determined to get the dozer back up to the ridge top, the operator began building a road and creating pads where he could work to push over trees that were in his way, including a 30-DBH cedar which missed by 50 feet the two Resources Advisors who had to run to get out of the way.
The incident-within-an-incident finally came to an end, at least temporarily, when the dozer rolled over onto its side. The operator escaped with only a scratch, after which the dozer continued to roll over onto its top in the creek bottom.
The report did not include information about how the dozer was eventually extracted, or what repercussions, if any, befell the operator and the contractor.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized4 Comments on Wildfire smoke in the southeast United States Above: Forecast for wildfire smoke at 10 a.m. EST November 9, 2016.
Smoke from wildfires in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia have been creating very unpleasant and in some cases unhealthful conditions for residents in the southeast. However by Wednesday afternoon the skies in the area should look much better according to a forecast from NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory. Some localized areas in the Northwest will also experience smoke today, possibly from prescribed fires.
So much smoke in Jackson County that it looks like it’s about to rain. @wxbrad pic.twitter.com/p97VKATjs0
— Matt Johnson (@NCMattJ) November 8, 2016
Airport Skycam @ Alcoa Hwy: Thick smoke mixed in w/ the clouds reducing visibility. Plan to spend more time indoors. pic.twitter.com/EID7yHFLeW
— WBIR Weather (@WBIRWeather) November 8, 2016
Drive carefully in the Nantahala Gorge. Brushfires in the area have caused dense smoke along roads Pictured is Silvermine Church pic.twitter.com/1lJdTn0FyJ
— Smoky Mountain Times (@smokymtntimes) November 8, 2016
For the latest articles at Wildfire Today about wildfire smoke check out the articles tagged “smoke”.
