News and opinion about wildland fire
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Wildfires in Russia may be sending smoke to northern Canada 
Wildfires in Siberia may be to blame for some of the smoke that has passed over Alaska and northern Canada in recent days. Meanwhile, fires in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are contributing to the smoky skies in Ontario, Canada and the Midwest in the United States.
Below is a video showing a vehicle in the Chernyshevsky District of Russia, 300 km from Chita, driving through smoke near a wildfire. It was uploaded May 17, 2016.
Articles on Wildfire Today tagged “smoke”.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized4 Comments on Minnesota: Prescribed fire escapes west of Ely (UPDATED at 7:35 p.m. CDT May 22, 2016)
On Saturday the U.S. Forest Service reported that better mapping showed that the Foss Lake Fire, that escaped from a prescribed fire in northeast Minnesota, had not burned 1,000 acres as previously reported, but only 440 acres. On Sunday morning their update said it was 1,008 acres, and included this information:
There was little growth on the fire yesterday. Accurate mapping data from handheld and aircraft GPS units resulted in the large increase in acreage.
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(UPDATED at 10:08 CDT May 21, 2016)
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(UPDATED at 11 p.m. CDT May 20, 2016)
The U.S. Forest Service has provided more details about the escaped prescribed fire 15 miles west of Ely, Minnesota. Better mapping shows that it has burned approximately 440 acres rather than 1,000 from the earlier estimate.
From the Superior National Forest at about 10 p.m. CDT on Friday:
The fire is burning north within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
Crews made good progress today, directly attacking the fire on its north, east, and west sides. Aircraft dropped fire retardant along the east side of the fire and water on the west side.
Background: The Foss Lake Fire began on May 19 as a prescribed fire to reduce surface and ladder fuels, to enhance wildlife habitat, and to encourage jack pine regeneration. Shortly after ignition, an unpredicted change in weather conditions brought higher winds, warmer temperatures, and lower relative humidity. A spot fire north of the control line escaped containment and the wind-driven fire spread to the north. Aircraft that were on standby responded quickly and, with the work of ground crews, were able to slow the fire’s eastward spread with water and retardant drops, protecting the west and north sides of Burntside Lake. The fire spread north to Crab Lake in the BWCAW. There was no fire growth to the south.
Message: There is no threat to the towns of Ely, Winton, Tower, or Soudan. No structures are threatened. Good fuel-reduction work completed over the last two years on Burntside Lake increases firefighters’ ability to manage the eastern edge.
Resources: 80 personnel and 8 aircraft. MNICS Type II Team under Incident Commander Brian Pisarek arrived today and will take command of the fire Saturday morning. The Lake Vermilion Fire Brigade and the Morse/Fall Lake Fire Department both have fire boats on Burntside Lake are conducting structure-protection assessments.
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(UPDATED at 1 p.m. CDT May 20, 2016)
The U.S. Forest Service estimates the Foss Lake Fire 15 miles west of Ely, Minnesota has burned approximately 1,000 acres. Until the Type 2 incident management team that has been ordered arrives, the Type 3 Incident Commander is Timo Rova.
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(Originally published at 9:56 a.m. CDT May 20, 2016.)
A prescribed fire on the Superior National Forest escaped control Thursday 15 miles west of Ely, Minnesota. The intent was to burn 78 acres north of Tamarack and Foss Lakes north of the 404 Road. By late afternoon the fire had been assigned a name, Foss Lake, and was creating a large convection column of smoke topped by a pyrocumulus cloud, an indication of fire intensity.
Thursday night the Forest Service was not able to provide a size estimate due to the smoke restricting visibility.
The fire was fought yesterday by firefighters on the ground assisted by eight aircraft.
Thursday before it escaped there were 10 hand crews prepositioned in Minnesota that were not assigned to fires. Presumably many of those are now working on the Foss Lake Fire.
Yesterday’s afternoon weather conditions near the fire were 74 degrees, 6 mph wind gusting to 19 mph, and 16 percent relative humidity. The forecast for Friday: 74 degrees, south wind at 6 mph, 51 percent cloud cover, and 22 percent relative humidity. There is no rain expected until Monday.
We will update this article as the situation develops.
Forest Service loses control of prescribed burn to the north and west of Foss Lake. pic.twitter.com/Kr1ZQLmk9T
— Ely Echo (@elyecho) May 19, 2016
Scenes from the Foss Lake wildfire from photographer Hailey Worth. Photo taken on Burntside Lake. #chinook pic.twitter.com/q5GT40ajv9
— Ely Echo (@elyecho) May 20, 2016
Pyrocumulus clouds form above Foss Lake area fire west of Ely today. via Kim Breimeier. #mnwx pic.twitter.com/YgQ7aL9XRH
— MPR Weather (@MPRweather) May 20, 2016
(UPDATED at 8:22 a.m. PDT May 20, 2016)
At 8 a.m. on Friday CAL FIRE reported the Mill Fire west of Mt. Shasta had burned 56 acres.
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(Originally published at 7 p.m. PDT May 19, 2016)
The Mill Fire was reported near Weed, California west of Mt. Shasta Thursday afternoon. At 7 p.m. PDT it was approximately 50 acres according to CAL FIRE.
Central Manitoba is in the eye of the smoke storm, again.
Articles on Wildfire Today tagged “smoke”.
The time-lapse video shows the Fort McMurray Fire (Horse River Fire) in Alberta burning up to the city’s airport. The fire has blackened over one million acres.
This article first appeared on Fire Aviation.
After a solicitation process that dragged on for almost two years, the U.S. Air Force has awarded the contract to build and install retardant delivery systems for up to seven of the seven HC-130H aircraft that are being transferred from the Coast Guard to the U.S. Forest Service.
The Coulson Group announced today that they received the contract. In one sense this is not unexpected because the company has installed and successfully operated two similar systems in C-130s — Tanker 131 and Tanker 132. In another sense, it is a surprise after the Government Accountability Office denied the company’s protest of the terms of the request for proposals in August of 2015.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to work with the United States Air Force to provide them with state of the art retardant aerial delivery systems (RADS) for their fleet of C-130s,” says Wayne Coulson, CEO and President of Coulson Aviation.
The 3,800-gallon retardant system will be gravity-based with retardant tanks that can be quickly removed, making it possible for the air tankers to also haul cargo or passengers.
One of the seven HC-130H aircraft began working out of McClellan Air Field near Sacramento last summer. Since it did not have a permanent retardant tank it borrowed one of the Forest Service’s eight Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems (MAFFS) that can be inserted into the cargo hold of a military C-130 to provide a surge capacity of air tankers during a time of heavy wildfire activity. The MAFFS pump the 3,000 gallons of retardant out of a pipe through the door using compressed air, rather than letting it drop out of the belly with the assistance of gravity as is done with conventional air tankers.
The Air Force is responsible for the retrofitting and performing the heavy maintenance that must be completed before the seven HC-130Hs are finally turned over to the USFS over the next three years. This contract is for the installation of one trial “kit”, one verification kit, and three production kits. There is an option for the installation of two additional production kits.
Coulson Aviation has 25 years of experience in aerial fire suppression and they operate both Type 1 helicopters and large fixed wing air tankers. Coulson is one of the few companies to hold multi-country aerial firefighting contracts, including Canada, the United States, and Australia.
