News and opinion about wildland fire
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings for areas in Nevada, Montana, Oregon, and California.
The map was current as of 10:20 a.m. MDT on Wednesday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts.
On the map of the Burro Fire, above, the red and brown squares on the north and southeast sides indicate new growth Tuesday and Tuesday night. The red line was the perimeter early Tuesday morning. The white line shows where it was early Monday morning.
(Originally published at 10:10 a.m. MDT July 5, 2017)
Firefighters battling the Burro Fire northeast of Tucson, Arizona were also fighting extreme heat again Tuesday. On the southeast side of the fire they successfully kept the fire north of Redington Pass Road and protected ranch buildings in the area.
On the northeast side steep, rugged terrain and a lack of roads means directly confronting the fire will be very difficult, at best. For now they will rely mainly on air resources to slow the fire’s progress in this area. Contingency plans are in place, should fire activity become a threat to infrastructure or other resources.
The Incident Management Team said Wednesday morning the fire had been mapped at 23,238 acres, growth of more than 4,000 acres from the day before.
Resources assigned to the fire include 594 total personal, 14 hand crews, 33 engines, 19 water tenders and 7 helicopters. The number of air tankers varies throughout the day.
Evacuations are still in effect along the Catalina Highway from Mile Marker 0, north including Summerhaven.
The weather forecast for Wednesday at the 4,000-foot level on the Redington Pass Road where firefighters are presently working predicts 102 degrees, 12 percent relative humidity, and northwest winds at 12 mph gusting to 17.
Check out this 57-second video of Fire Behavior Analyst Stewart Turner describing the expected fire activity for Wednesday.
In the video below, I don’t know about a “storm”, but the Burro Fire, like many rapidly spreading intense fires, did create a pyrocumulus cloud (in the left part of the image).
Check this out – the #BurroFire created its own storm yesterday!
Watch the rapidly developing pyrocumulus cloud on the left side. #azwx pic.twitter.com/jmUg9qYKE2— Jeff Beamish (@jeffbeamish) July 4, 2017
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on The July Fire burns 1,000+ acres near Zortman, Montana Above: Photo of the July Fire. Inciweb, July 3, 2017.
(Originally published at 8:30 p.m. MDT July 4, 2017)
(Updated at 10:16 p.m. MDT July 4, 2017)
(At about 10 p.m. July 4 the BLM said the July fire had burned 1,669 acres and had 136 personnel assigned.)
One of the first significant wildfires in Montana this year is burning near the small town of Zortman off U.S. Highway 191 in the north-central part of the state 75 miles south of the Canadian border.
There is not a lot of timber in that part of the state but it is burning in the southern end of a 60,000-acre area of mixed timber on Bureau of Land Management lands.
It is being battled by firefighters from BLM,
U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Phillips County Volunteers.
After it was discovered Monday afternoon it was attacked by 11 engines, 1 water tender, 4 air tankers (1 heavy and 3 SEATs), 3 helicopters, and 8 smokejumpers from West Yellowstone.
Our very unofficial estimate based on satellite data indicates that as of 2:30 p.m. MDT on Tuesday it had burned approximately 1,150 acres.
Zortman, with a population of 69 in the 2010 census, could be threatened by the fire west of town on Wednesday, with the forecast of Red Flag Warnings, 13 percent relative humidity, and northwest winds of 5 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
In the video below, apparently the videographer missed the air tanker that is usually a few seconds behind the lead plane after they pop smoke.
July Fire near Zortman, MT, now 1000 acres https://t.co/ABtKIx7NgQ #mtfire pic.twitter.com/62VotNKJra
— BLMMontanaDakotas (@BLM_MTDKs) July 4, 2017
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Chris.
Typos or errors, report them HERE.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized4 Comments on Firefighter on the Brian Head Fire Above: Firefighter on the Brian Head Fire in southwest Utah. Photo by Kari Greer working with Great Basin Incident Management Team 2.
I saw this photo on the “Utah Fire Info” Facebook page, was impressed by it, and asked them the name of the photographer and if I could use it. They said yes, and it was taken by Kari Greer. “I should have known”, I replied.
We’re trying to find out the firefighter’s name. If anyone knows, please leave a comment. (UPDATE July 6, 2017: as several people told us in the comments, it is Noah Piepryzca, a senior firefighter on the Bitterroot Hotshots, a Montana crew that was first formed 54 years ago.)
Kari is a very accomplished photographer and is rather famous within the wildland fire community. She has had contracts with the federal land management agencies to take photos at fires and often embeds with crews to get action photos like you rarely see otherwise.
Kari has her own tag at Wildfire Today.
An update on the Brian Head fire in southwest Utah:
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Burro Fire near Tucson grows to over 19,000 acres Above: Map of the perimeter of the Burro Fire. The red line was current at 11 pm MDT July 3, 2017. The white line was from 26 hours earlier.
(Originally published at 8:15 a.m. MDT July 4, 2017)
(Updated at 10:06 a.m. MDT July 4, 2017)
The Burro Fire on Monday expanded by another 7,770 acres to bring the total area burned up to 19,057 acres. It grew on the north side by about 1.5 miles and by 2. 5 miles on the south, but on the west side it is not much closer to the Catalina (Mt. Lemmon) Highway than it was Monday morning and is still more than a mile away. It is still about four miles from the northeastern outskirts of Tucson.
Firefighters are working on indirect firelines and protecting structures along the Catalina (Mt. Lemmon) Highway on the west side. On the south firefighters continued preparations along Redington Pass Road in case they need to protect or fire out from the road. Natural barriers are also being used to aid in suppression efforts.
On the lower slopes the fire is burning in tall grass and brush, with Ponderosa Pine and mixed conifer at the higher elevations. The fire covers an area ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level.
Airtankers and helicopters were used Monday to help delay the fire’s spread. With the high temperatures expected on Tuesday, the use of aircraft may be limited if it becomes too hot to fly as the density altitude becomes a problem.
The temperatures Tuesday will vary widely with the elevation. At 4,000′ the temperature should reach 100 degrees in mid-afternoon with 14 percent relative humidity and 10 mph winds out of the northwest gusting to 17. Higher up the mountain at 7,600′ the high will be 81, with 22 percent relative humidity and northwest winds at 10 with gusts to 15. Similar conditions are in the forecast for the rest of this week.
There is a chance of isolated thunderstorms Tuesday which could bring troublesome strong, erratic winds.
An evacuation order is in effect for all residents along the Catalina (Mt. Lemmon) Highway from Mile Marker 0, to Summer Haven. The highway is closed. No public, including residents, will be allowed access into the area. The Redington Pass Road is closed between Mile Marker 2 and 14.
Pyrocumulus clouds from the #BurroFire. View from Casa de Beamish in Oro Valley. #azwx #KVOAwx pic.twitter.com/rxqv1oKife
— Jeff Beamish (@jeffbeamish) July 4, 2017
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Three large wildfires in Southeast Arizona continue to spread Above: Map showing three large wildfires in Southeast Arizona, July 2, 2017: Burro, Frye, and Hilltop fires.
(Originally published at 9:38 a.m. MDT July 3, 2017)
Much of the wildfire activity in the United States over the last several weeks has occurred in Arizona. Currently there are three large fires in the southeast part of the state:
Frye Fire — This 45,000-acre fire is burning on the steep slopes of Mt. Graham in the Pinaleno Mountain Range in a wilderness area southwest of Safford. It is a limited suppression incident.
Burro Fire –Six miles northeast of the outskirts of Tucson. Evacuations are occurring. We have more information about this 14,000-acre fire here.
Hilltop Fire — This 8,600-acre fire 27 miles northeast of Globe has been burning since June 25. It is on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and is threatening timber, cultural resources, recreation areas, and wildlife habitat.
