Wildfire smoke map, September 4, 2015. AirNow. The circular brown icons represent the locations of large fires.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches for areas in Nevada, California, Utah, and Idaho.
The Red Flag map was current as of 9:15 a.m. MDT on Friday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts and maps. For the most current data visit this NWS site or this NWS site.
To see the most current smoke reports on Wildfire Today, visit the articles tagged “smoke” at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/
To see the most current smoke reports on Wildfire Today, visit the articles tagged “smoke” at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/
Below is an excerpt from an article at Kare11, a tv station in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The website also has a video featuring the Ashcraft family:
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“HASTINGS, Minn — The widow of a fallen Arizona hotshot firefighter stopped in Minnesota with her four children as part of a nationwide tour to say thank you to the thousands of people who donated to her family in a time of need.
Juliann Ashcraft, 30, of Queen Creek, Arizona, embarked on the “Be Better” journey last spring in honor of her husband’s legacy and to personally thank the strangers who donated and kept her family afloat after the tragedy.
Andrew Ashcraft, 29, was among the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters who died in Yarnell Hill wildfire two years ago. His silicone wristband, inscribed with the words “Be Better” was recovered in the ashes. Charred and intact, it was one of the few things recovered on Yarnell Hill.
“It liquefied his watch and we didn’t get to see him,” said Ashcraft. “To me, it was a small miracle and tender mercy that the band survived the fire, and it started this desire in me to go ahead and spread that message to be better.”
And that’s when Andrew Ashcraft’s favorite phrase took a stronghold. The “Be Better”, not bitter, motto is now carried for miles as the family’s tour bus, a renovated 1938 Greyhound, stops in all 50 states. Every stop during the nine month journey brings a personal thank you, like the recent visit to the Minneapolis’ Homes for Heroes program,a Minnesota organization that donated to support the firefighter’s families…”
Rough Fire. Undated, uncredited photo from InciWeb.
The Rough Fire east of Fresno, after burning for more than a month, will be transitioning from a Type 1 incident management team to a National Incident Management Team (NIMO) from Boise (Reinarz) and a Type 3 team. This new organization “will manage the entire incident”, according to South Zone News and Notes. Pechota’s Type 1 IMT “will be transitioning into command [Friday]” on the south part of the fire, South Zone News and Notes reported on Thursday.
The fire is being staffed by 1,901 personnel and has grown to 81,549 acres. The Team is calling it 25 percent contained.
Map of the Rough Fire. The red line was the perimeter on September 2, 2015 and was provided by the incident management team. The yellow line is the perimeter from August 31. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite Wendesday night. The location of the heat could indicate strategic burning out ahead of the fire to stop the forward progress. (click to enlarge)
Below is an excerpt from an update on the fire, provided by the incident management team the evening of September 2, 2015:
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“The SCSIIMT (Cooper) will be transitioning to a Sierra National Forest Type Three Organization who will be assuming responsibility for the continuing fire suppression and support activities. In addition, a National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) will arrive during this transition.
Fire crews continue to gain ground on the fire in the Crown Valley trailhead area. Containment lines are being established in conjunction with mop up operations along the fire line. Fire suppression repair work is underway on some of the fire affected areas. This work will help with possible soil erosion in case of a water event.
The Wildland Fire Modules are finishing their backfiring operations in the John Muir Wilderness supported by a pack string of mules to limit helicopter flights in the wilderness. In addition, the High Sierra OHV crew continues to support fire personnel with deliveries and removal of hose and tools in difficult terrain.
Weather during the morning and early afternoon prevented firing operations from taking place in the south zone. Crews continued to reinforce lines in the Hoist Ridge and Buck Rock areas in preparation for burn operations tonight, weather permitting.
The fire has continued to push east along the north side of Highway 180. It is currently about two miles from Cedar Grove. Vulnerable structures in this area have been wrapped, and hose lines placed in preparation for the approaching fire. Crews are working to bring the fire north toward Stag Dome in an effort to keep it away from the lodge area.”
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Related:
Fire Aviation has a video in which Bill Monahan, an Air Operations Branch Director, describes the management of aviation assets on a large wildland fire. He was working with California Interagency Incident Management Team 3 on the Rough Fire.
(Originally published at 8:04 a.m. MT, Sept. 3, 2015; updated at 10:56 a.m. MT, Sept 3, 2015)
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Wildfire Smoke, morning of September 3, 2015. AirNow. The circular brown icons represent the locations of large fires.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches for areas in Nevada. With the passage of a cold front, areas in Wyoming may have some hazardous weather over the next two days, including possible rain, snow, and strong winds.
Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches, September 3, 2015. NOAA.
The Red Flag map was current as of 7:45 a.m. MDT on Thursday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts and maps. For the most current data visit this NWS site or this NWS site.
To see the most current smoke reports on Wildfire Today, visit the articles tagged “smoke” at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/
The three firefighters killed in a wildfire near Twisp, Okanogan County, last week died from smoke inhalation and “thermal injuries,” or burns, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said Friday.
The firefighters were driving up a steep gravel road and crashed down a 40-foot embankment, where the fire consumed them. The manner of death was classified as accidental.
Those killed Aug. 19 were Richard Wheeler, 31, Andrew Zajac, 26, and Tom Zbyszewski, 20.
A portion of the last edition of the NPS’ Morning Report, published August 31, 2015.
The National Park Service is discontinuing what became an institution over the last several decades. Their “Morning Report”, produced every week day, published its last edition on August 31, 2015. Many NPS employees, retirees, and people from outside the agency read it religiously.
For almost 30 years it was a summary of all kinds of incidents in the parks, and especially concentrated on storm impacts, major law enforcement actions, injured or killed park visitors, and fires on NPS lands.
It will be replaced by a list of news releases. The NPS explains that is an improvement because it is searchable.
The Morning Report was created, edited, and nurtured tirelessly by Bill Halainen, who early every morning combed through numerous incident reports and edited them into a very readable format. At one point, in the summer Mr. Halainen was providing a recurring chart that showed trends of firefighting resources that were committed nationally to fires — something the NIFC National Situation Report does not do.
An excerpt from the August 16, 2012 NPS Morning Report.
There are at least three reasons why the NPS is killing the Morning Report. Mr. Halainen is retiring — a second time. He first retired from the NPS in 2007, but continued writing the Morning Report on a contract basis until two days ago. But in September he retired for real. Another reason is, we have been told that the number of incident reports available to the Morning Report have decreased by 50 percent compared to how many were submitted in the 1990s. And thirdly, the NPS is not interested in funding an editor for the report.
Below is an excerpt from the April 24, 2015 Morning Report, breaking the news about the Halainens’ retirements:
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“Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (PA) Cathy And Bill Halainen To Retire
Cathy Halainen, budget technician for the resource management division at Delaware Water Gap NRA, and Bill Halainen, a retired NPS employee who edits InsideNPS and the Morning Report, will both be retiring in September.
Cathy will bring to a close 20 years with the park’s Division of Resource Management and Science, where she has been responsible for almost all administrative functions for divisional staff. Before working for the National Park Service, she worked in a similar capacity for several colleges (the University of Massachusetts, Brandeis, and William and Mary) and government contractors, principally McDonnell-Douglas.
Bill worked as an interpretive and protection ranger, program manager and management assistant in various parks and offices from 1974 to 2007, during which time he created and edited the NPS Morning Report. He also became editor of InsideNPS in 2002, and continued editing both publications via contract after his retirement from the Service in 2007. He’s edited and published about 6,900 editions of the Morning Report since 1986 and about 3,000 editions of InsideNPS.
They will continue to reside in northeast Pennsylvania for now, but are considering a move to western Massachusetts.
(Editor’s note: In light of Bill Halainen’s “second” retirement, a transition plan will be developed in regards to the InsideNPS homepage and the Morning Report. Additional information will be forthcoming early this summer.)”
