Bill Gabbert – Page 21 – Wildfire Today

Oak Fire prompts evacuations in Mariposa County, California

Updated 8:36 p.m. PDT July 23, 2022

Map of the Oak Fire, 8 p.m. July 23, 2022.

The Oak Fire has spread to the east quite significantly, crossing Jerseydale Road about two miles south of Jerseydale in the vicinity of Wild Dove Lane.

To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Oak Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.

That puts it less than a mile west of the footprint of the very large Ferguson Fire which burned more than 96,000 acres in 2018. It was caused by a hot catalytic converter on a vehicle that parked in dry grass July 13, 2018 along Highway 140 near the Savage Trading Post.

The Oak Fire is exhibiting extreme fire behavior, igniting spot fires far ahead of the main fire.

CAL FIRE announced that at 6:45 p.m. it had burned 11,900 acres.

Oak Fire 7:43 p.m. July 23, 2022 — Oak Fire, as seen from Miami Peak, looking northwest at 7:43 p.m. July 23, 2022.

Updated 5:00 p.m. PDT july 23, 2022

Oak Fire at 4:57 p.m. July 23, 2022 — Oak Fire, looking northwest from Miami Peak at 4:57 p.m. July 23, 2022.

At approximately 4:20 p.m. Air Attack reported that the latest mapping of the Oak Fire showed had grown to 11,500 acres.

Updated 12:58 p.m. PDT July 23, 2022

Oak Fire, 12:34 p.m. July 23, 2022 — Oak Fire, looking east from Mt. Bullion, 12:34 p.m. July 23, 2022. AlertWildfire.

At 11:15 a.m. Saturday the Oak Fire was mapped by Air Attack at 9,100 acres.

CAL FIRE confirms 10 structures have been destroyed. That number will likely increase.

Updated at 8:35 a.m. PDT July 23, 2022

Oak Fire map, 4:25 a.m. July 23, 2022 — Oak Fire map, the red line was the perimeter at 4:25 a.m. July 23, 2022. The white line was the perimeter at 5:09 p.m. July 22.

The Oak Fire at Midpines, California was active throughout much of Friday night, growing by about 2,200 acres between 10 p.m. and 4:25 a.m. Saturday when it was mapped by FIRIS at 6,555 acres. Half an hour after sunrise it was putting up two smoke columns that were quite some distance apart, with one of them creating enough energy to be capped by a pyrocumulus cloud.

Oak Fire 6:37 a.m. July 23, 2022 — Two smoke columns on the Oak Fire are seen soon after dawn, looking southeast from Edith Hill at 6:37 a.m. July 23, 2022.

Just to be clear — wildfires normally lay down at night, providing an opportunity for firefighters to move in closer and put in direct fireline. It is not common for a fire to be burning so actively soon after dawn that it is creating multiple smoke columns, especially a pyrocumulus column.

The Mariposa County Sheriff has ordered evacuations as far south as Highway 49 and east to Jerseydale. Their map is available online. As we wrote earlier, this is a dangerous fire.

The Oak Fire is spreading rapidly. When it was mapped at 4:25 a.m. Saturday it had spread south across Triangle Road and reached Darrah Road. At that time it was about a half mile west of the community of Darrah. Firefighters were planning a burning operation between Triangle Road and Darrah Road west of the town.

Oak Fire, Lush Meadows subdivision, Friday afternoon July 22, 2022. Credit: Chad Anderson.

Weather
The spot weather forecast for the area predicts hot and dry conditions to persist into next week. Winds will be generally light, except becoming gusty in the afternoons. On Saturday, mostly sunny skies, 90 to 94 degrees, 9 to 13 percent relative humidity, and 6 to 12 mph ridgetop winds from the south to southwest gusting to 20 mph in the afternoon. Saturday night will see poor humidity recovery, 26 to 31 percent, with very light winds. For Sunday, 10 to 14 percent RH with afternoon ridgetop winds out of the west at 4 to 8 mph.

10:36 p.m. PDT July 22, 2022

Oak Fire map at 5:09 p.m. July 22, 2022. The fire is growing rapidly and has doubled in size since this data was collected.

The Oak Fire that started Friday afternoon in Central California has been growing rapidly in Mariposa County. The County Sheriff has ordered evacuations for several areas east and southeast of Midpines. At 10 p.m. Friday it was about 4 miles northeast of Mariposa.

Evacuation Map, Oak Fire, posted by the Mariposa County Sheriff at 10:21 PDT July 22, 2022. This is a dynamic situation and the evacuation status and map may only be current only for a short while.

This is a dangerous fire. Residents should not hesitate to evacuate if there is any doubt about their safety.

At 5:09 p.m. it was mapped at 1,745 acres; at about 10 p.m. CAL FIRE reported it had grown to 4,350 acres.

Oak Fire, looking east at 8:08 p.m. July 22, 2022.

California Oak Fire

The Staging Area, July 22, 2022

Staging area, Grant Fire, Riverside County, CA June 22, 2022 — Staging area, Grant Fire, near the Salton Sea in Riverside County, California June 22, 2022. BLM photo.

This weekend we are continuing an occasional weekend feature we started a few weeks ago. This post can serve as the beginning of an open thread where our readers can talk about issues that we have, or have not, gotten into yet. This is literally an off-topic thread. You have the floor.

The usual rules about commenting apply. And remember, no personal attacks or politics, please.

Let’s enjoy a wide-ranging conversation!

(Oh, and send us pics of staging areas — date, location, and photographer’s name would be nice.)

The Staging Area

San Diego Fire Rescue helicopter assists firefighters in San Carlos

San Diego Fire Rescue Helicopter 2, a 412EP (N282SD), drops on a wildfire in San Diego, July 22, 2022. Photo by Ryan Grothe.

Friday morning firefighters from San Diego Fire Rescue made quick work of knocking down a fire in the city’s San Carlos neighborhood. Working with the department’s Helicopter 2, a Bell 412EP, they stopped the spread at about two acres.

San Diego Police officers briefly informed residents on southbound Navajo Road, between Park Ridge Boulevard and Margerum Avenue, to evacuate, but that was lifted after about half an hour.

Thanks go out to Ryan Grothe for these photos.

San Diego Channel 8 shot aerial video of the fire. You can see the helicopter dropping water at the beginning and again at 3:20.

California San Diego

Very large fire break being constructed in Southwest France

About 1,000 feet wide

fire break France fuel break

Helicopter crashes into Salmon River while working on Moose Fire

Updated 3:56 p.m. MDT July 22, 2022

More information is available about the helicopter crash in Idaho.

Both pilots have died, the U.S. Forest Service said on Friday.

Mary Cernicek with the Salmon-Challis National Forest said Thomas Hayes, 41, of Post Falls, Idaho, and Jared Bird, 36, of Anchorage, Alaska, died from injuries they sustained when their CH-47D Series Chinook crashed in the Salmon River about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

The pilots were employees of the Anchorage-based ROTAK Helicopter Services and were working on the Moose Fire northwest of Salmon, Idaho.

7:52 a.m. MDT July 22, 2022

Thursday afternoon a CH-47D Chinook helicopter operated by ROTAK Helicopter Services crashed into the Salmon River while working on the Moose Fire northwest of Salmon, Idaho. The US Forest Service reported Friday morning there were two fatalities.

The company released a brief statement Thursday evening.

It is with heavy hearts that we confirm that on July 21, 2022, at approximately 3:30 p.m. a CH-47D series “Chinook” helicopter operated by ROTAK Helicopter Service with two pilots on board was involved in an accident near Salmon, Idaho. Emergency medical teams are responding to the scene. ROTAK is working closely with all appropriate agencies and will issue a full statement as information is confirmed.

We send out our sincere condolences to the families, friends, and co-workers of the two that were killed.

Growth of the fire
The Moose Fire grew incrementally on Friday, showing growth on all sides, primarily south of the Salmon River on the west and east sides. Very little growth occurred north of the river.

A mapping flight Thursday night determined it had burned 23,620 acres, an increase of nearly 3,000 acres. Much of that difference was due to an overnight change in procedure, a decision to not consider in the acreage the unburned islands in the interior. Previously the size of those islands had been subtracted from the total exterior perimeter.

Moose Fire map 10:38 p.m. July 21, 2022 — Moose Fire map. The red line was the perimeter at 10:38 p.m. July 21, 2022. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours previously.

Weather
The forecast for Friday afternoon is for increasing winds, gusting out of the west and then northwest at 31 mph with the relative humidity in the mid-teens. After sunset the wind will drop to about 6 mph out of the north. Saturday should bring 5 to 8 mph winds out of the south shifting to the north, with 13 percent relative humidity.

Firefighters expect the weather on Friday could lead to spread south of the Salmon River west towards Spring Creek, east towards North Fork, and spotting to the north side of the river.

Resources
Resources assigned to the fire Thursday evening included 18 hand crews, 25 fire engines, and 7 helicopters for a total of 517 personnel, a 24-hour increase of 141 individuals.

Structures
There are no reports of structures burning, but 301 are threatened. Evacuation information is available at the Lemhi County website.

crash Idaho lodd Moose Fire

Chinook helicopter working on Moose Fire crashes into river in Idaho

Updated 3:54 p.m. MDT July 22, 2022

Both pilots of a firefighting helicopter that crashed in Idaho have died, the U.S. Forest Service said on Friday.

Mary Cernicek with the Salmon-Challis National Forest said Thomas Hayes, 41, of Post Falls, Idaho, and Jared Bird, 36, of Anchorage, Alaska, died from injuries they sustained when their CH-47D Series Chinook crashed in the Salmon River about 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

The pilots were employees of the Anchorage-based ROTAK Helicopter Services and were working on the Moose Fire northwest of Salmon, Idaho.

We send out our sincere condolences to the families, friends, and co-workers of the two men.

12:05 a.m. MDT July 22, 2022

A CH-47D Chinook helicopter operated by ROTAK Helicopter Services crashed into the Salmon River Thursday July 21 while working on the Moose Fire northwest of Salmon, Idaho.

The company released a brief statement Thursday.

It is with heavy hearts that we confirm that on July 21, 2022, at approximately 3:30 p.m. a CH-47D series “Chinook” helicopter operated by ROTAK Helicopter Service with two pilots on board was involved in an accident near Salmon, Idaho. Emergency medical teams are responding to the scene. ROTAK is working closely with all appropriate agencies and will issue a full statement as information is confirmed.

A spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service said an incident management team is handling the crash but further details were not released, including the condition of the pilots.

A few weeks ago ROTAK purchased two former US Army CH-47D Chinooks from Oregon’s Columbia Helicopters for use in firefighting and line maintenance. ROTAK also operates K-MAX helicopters

The Moose Fire has burned more than 20,000 acres in the Salmon-Challis National Forest 12 air miles northwest of Salmon, Idaho. It is burning in steep terrain on both sides of the Salmon River west of North Fork and Highway 93.

Moose Fire map, 3-D, looking east at 9:56 p.m. July 20, 2022.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom and Gerald.

CH-47 Columbia Helicopters crash Idaho ROTAK Helicopter Services

NWCG approves changes to the Fire Traffic Area (FTA)

NWCG Fire Traffic Area (FTA), page 1 of 2. Revised July, 2022.

Today the National Wildfire Coordinating Group announced revisions to two documents associated with the NWCG Standards for Aerial Supervision, PMS 505.

One is the Fire Traffic Area (FTA), PMS 505d. The new two-page .pdf version dated this month can be downloaded here. Images of the revised FTA are above and below.