Above: Charred Pitaya cactus in Big Bend National Park during the Powerline Fire, February 2, 2017. NPS photo.
A year ago the Powerline Fire burned 1,792-acres near the headquarters of Big Bend National Park in south Texas. Since then a tireless camera has been taking photos of a particular area. When they are put together in a time-lapse fashion the resurgence of the vegetation is enough to convince anyone to stop using the word “destroyed” when describing the effects of a wildfire.
I almost decided not to post the video below because unfortunately the resolution of the photos is very, very poor, but check it out for yourself.
These photos were taken by the crew of the 747 Supertanker that is working out of Santiago, Chile. All of the pictures were shot at a fire south of Matanzas that burned about 19,000 hectares.
A Russian-made IL-76 air tanker takes off at Santiago, Chile. Photo by crew of the 747.An IL-76 makes a drop on a wildfire south of Matanzas, Chile, February 1, 2017. Photo by the crew of Global Supertanker.A Chilean military CASA lead plane flies ahead of the 747 Supertanker. Photo by crew of the 747.
The photo below is not exactly an aerial photo, except it was taken from the cockpit of the 747 Supertanker, which is pretty far above the ground even when parked on the ramp!
A Russian-made IL-76 air tanker on the Santiago ramp. Photo by crew of the 747.
The report is expected to be completed in about 60 days, after which it will be submitted the the NPS national office for review before it is released.
A former Type 1 Incident Commander will lead a team that will conduct a review of the Chimney Tops 2 Fire that started in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on November 23, 2016. After growing to dozens of acres over five days the fire was pushed by very strong winds out of the park into Gatlinburg, Tennessee where it killed 14 people and destroyed 2,013 homes and 53 commercial structures. It eventually burned over 17,000 acres in and outside the park.
Chimney Tops 2 Fire November 27, 2016. Photo by Brett Bevill.
The purpose of the review is to identify the facts leading up to and during the Chimney Tops 2 fire within the boundaries of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, as well as make recommendations on any planning, operational, or managerial issues which can be addressed locally, regionally, and/or nationally to reduce the chances of a similar incident in the future.
Joe Stutler, a former Type 1 Incident Commander and now a senior advisor for Deschutes County, Oregon, will lead the interagency team.
Other members include:
Fire Behavior Specialist: William Grauel, Bureau of Indian Affairs – National Fire Ecologist, Boise, ID
Municipal Fire Department Representative: Jimmy Isaacs, Boone Fire Department – Chief, Boone, NC
Fire Operations/Risk Management Specialist: Shane Greer, U.S. Forest Service – Assistant Fire Director-Risk Management, Region 2, Golden, CO
NPS Fire Management Officer: Mike Lewelling, Rocky Mountain National Park – Fire Management Officer, Estes Park, CO
Fire Operations/Risk Management Specialist/Writer/Editor: Miranda Stuart, NPS Branch of Wildland Fire – Fire Management Specialist, Crawfordville, FL
NPS Management Liaison: Tim Reid, National Park Service – Superintendent, Devils Tower National Monument, WY
The work of the review team is expected to take up 59 days according to information released by the National Park Service. After that, the team will submit their report to Bill Kaage, Division Chief of Fire and Aviation for the NPS, for review prior to it being made public.
Above: This appears to be a fuel tender on the Matanzas Fire. Either that, or a fuel truck repurposed as a fire engine.
We took these photos on February 2, on a fire south of Matanzas, Chile that had burned about 19,000 hectares (46,950 acres).
A typical burned area on the Matanzas fire.Many eucalyptus plantations were severely damaged. Here is a link to WebMD about the uses of eucalyptus.The military had a presence at the Incident Command Post for the Matanzas Fire.Dr. Gabriel Iribarren (orange vest) and his medical crew on the Matanzas Fire.A helicopter approaches the Base Heliport on the Matanzas Fire. More photos of aircraft on the fire are at FireAviation.comA staging area on the Matanzas Fire.A fire crew on the Matanzas Fire.
We spent some time with Dr. Gabriel Iribarren who, with three others on his crew, is treating injured firefighters at a wildfire south of Matanzas, Chile.
1 CP Maria de Los Angeles Vargas was kind enough to talk with us February 2, 2017 while she and her crew were assigned to a fire south of Matanzas, Chile that had burned about 19,000 hectares (46,950 acres).
