Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Author: Kelly Andersson

4000-acre fire in New Jersey forces evacuations

Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories WildfireTags 2 Comments on 4000-acre fire in New Jersey forces evacuations

A fast-moving wildfire in southern New Jersey grew to nearly 4,000 acres in under 24 hours as record springtime heat has set in across the Northeast. CNN reported that the Jimmy’s Waterhole Fire had already burned more than half the average acres burned in New Jersey in an entire year, according to statistics from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. The fire was 50 percent contained at 3,859 acres by Wednesday morning.

It was reported at just 500 acres at 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

WPVI-TV News reported Wednesday morning that the fire was at 50 percent containment, and by  Wednesday afternoon it was estimated at 60 percent.

About 170 structures in the Manchester Township area were evacuated Tuesday night, but all residents have since been allowed to return home, Manchester Police Chief Robert Dolan said during a news conference Wednesday.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection photo
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection photo

New Jersey has been dealing with a series of recent fires exacerbated by dry and windy conditions. The Washington Post reported a mandatory evacuation  in Manchester, where residents were relocated to the Manchester Township High School, with support from the American Red Cross, Manchester Township EMS, Manchester Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office.

 

 

University of Oregon launches new smoke research center

Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories ResearchTags , , 3 Comments on University of Oregon launches new smoke research center

The University of Oregon in Eugene is launching a new research program to study effects of wildfire smoke and examine options for reducing risks. UO research professor Cass Moseley told KGW News that the center’s launch is due in part to efforts by Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, who secured $800,000 in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Research will focus in part on new ways to protect homes from smoke infiltration, along with more efficient communication with communities in emergencies and developing community action plans tailored to different regions in the Northwest.

The new Wildfire Smoke Research and Practice Center builds on research already completed through the Ecosystem Workforce Program (EWP), a joint venture between the UO and Oregon State University. KLCC reported that the EWP’s senior policy advisor Cass Moseley will head up the new center; she said recent incidents in the Pacific Northwest, particularly the 2020 Labor Day fires, highlighted the need for new smoke research. Much of Oregon, particularly the southern Willamette Valley, was choked with wildfire smoke for weeks during the 2020 fire season.

Those fires and the severe levels of smoke really emphasized the need for new research, according to Moseley. “And we saw this fall in Oakridge, several weeks of highly dense smoke as the fire there settled into that valley and really stayed; that community spent a lot of time and energy responding to that smoke event.”

Cedar Creek Fire, October 2022
Cedar Creek Fire Incident Command Post in Oakridge, Oct. 15, 2022 — Inciweb photo

The center’s launch was announced by Merkley and Wyden, who secured the funding to help communities prepare for wildfire smoke. One area of interest is the toxins released when manmade structures burn, as these risks became obvious during western Oregon fires in wildland/urban interface areas over the last few years. Most smoke research has focused on burning timber and wooden structures, and part of the new planned research will study effects of smoke from burning plastics, glass, fuels, and other synthetic materials. Moseley said the center has three co-investigators and a principal investigator leading the group, along with research assistants and graduate and undergraduate student assistants.

California Sen. Bill Dodd leads an oversight hearing Tuesday on state wildfire response

Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Chairman of the California state’s Senate Governmental Organization Committee, Bill Dodd, D-Napa, will hold a hearing tomorrow to review “improvements to wildfire preparedness and prevention,” including legislation and investments undertaken over the past five years. The Daily Republic of Solano County reported that the committee will hear from state and local agencies including Cal Fire and the Legislative Analyst’s Office, and will take public comment.

Back in February, the Lake County News reported on Sen. Dodd’s announcement of legislation to create the Wildfire Mitigation Planning Act, to better prevent and contain wildfires. In the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire (which leveled the northern California town of Paradise and evacuated not just Paradise but also Magalia, Centerville, Concow, Pulga, Butte Creek Canyon, Berry Creek and Yankee Hill), Dodd co-authored AB 1054, which created a framework for electric utilities to evaluate their wildfire risk and plan for their wildfire mitigation investments and activities — overseen by the Office of Electric Infrastructure Safety within the California Natural Resources Agency.

alifornia Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task ForceThe California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, a multiagency effort to identify needs and develop strategies for wildfire risk, has produced plans to better manage risk.

“With this cycle of heavy rains and prolonged droughts, we cannot take our eyes off of the risks that major wildfires present to communities across the state,” said Dodd. “The Legislature made good progress on wildfire safety and we must ensure our proposals and investments do what they are intended to do,” he said in a statement announcing the hearing, which will be held tomorrow after Senate adjournment.

The hearing will be available live at senate.ca.gov — background information is available at https://sgov.senate.ca.gov/sites/sgov.senate.ca.gov/files/wildfire_oversight_background_3.28.23.pdf

Wildfire in eastern North Carolina grows to 5,200 acres

Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

A North Carolina fire has spread across several thousand acres and had reached about 34 percent containment by late Sunday afternoon.

Last Resort Fire photo by North Carolina Forest Service
Last Resort Fire photo by North Carolina Forest Service

The News & Observer reported that the Last Resort Fire is burning on both private and federal lands in rural Tyrrell County. After firing operations on Saturday, the fire was estimated at 5,800 acres. That was revised downward  late Sunday.

eastern North Carolina
https://products.climate.ncsu.edu/fwip//?tab=fcst&state=NC&map_bg=ter

The North Carolina Forest Service said the fire’s burning near Columbia, just south of the Albemarle Sound. Joint command has been established with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

North Carolina fires to date
2023 North Carolina fires to date

Light rain moderated conditions late yesterday, and crews are working on containment lines. Fire managers cautioned that smoke may impair driving conditions in the area; about 75 firefighters from both the state and U.S. Fish and Wildlife were assigned. A Type 3 IMT took over management Sunday.

13NewsNow reported that the fire may cause smoky conditions on the Outer Banks and was producing heavy drifting smoke to the east of the fire.

03/27/ update: People from as far north as Washington D.C. are complaining of smoke smell.

Biden Administration announces new community funding for prevention

Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories WildfireTags , 5 Comments on Biden Administration announces new community funding for prevention

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced on Sunday more than $21 million in new funding for wildfire risk reduction; she spoke during a press conference with Senator Jeff Merkley at the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest District headquarters, according to a report by KEZI-TV News in Eugene, Oregon.

She said fire management agencies plan fuel management work on more than 170,000 acres in Oregon this year.

District Forester Mike Shaw said there’s good news with better snowpack this year. “I do project that we’re going to have another challenging fire season,” he said. “All hands on deck is the approach that we’re taking and all wildland fire agencies are working together.”

Senator Jeff Merkley, chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, joined Haaland and Shaw to emphasize their collaboration on wildfire prevention. “We’re really focusing on the front end of forest treatment and on the back end of having the resources to fight the fires,” Merkley said. “The key word here is collaboration.”

Aside from the millions in federal funding allotted from his bipartisan infrastructure law, Haaland said that President Biden is also supporting increased pay, better housing, and more full-time jobs for firefighters.

Vice President Kamala Harris joined other national leaders in the nation’s capitol to announce the new funding to help protect high-risk communities. “Our acres of burned land have doubled,” Harris said. “We need to change how we think about how we respond to fires. We need to prevent them, not just respond after they’ve started.”

Community Grants

KRDO News reported that $197 million in federal funding will be made available this year to 100 communities in 22 states and 7 Native American tribes. “There were 36 states and 45 tribes that applied for the funding,” Harris said. “This is the result of legislation I started years ago while I was in the Senate.”

She said she was motivated by recent destructive fires in her home state of California. “This will be the first of many grants,” she said. “We’re committing $1 billion over the next four years and $7 billion over the next ten years.”