Map of smoke from wildfires, morning of Aug. 25, 2015, AIRNow,gov
Areas of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana have “unhealthy” air quality advisories, due to wildfire smoke. AIRNow.gov forecasts show that areas along the Idaho, Washington and Oregon border are expected to reach the “very unhealthy” level on Tuesday.
As of 8 a.m. MDT, Washington is the only state with Red Flag Warnings. These 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.
Air quality affected by wildfire smoke. AIRNow.gov
To see the most current smoke reports on Wildfire Today, visit the articles tagged “smoke” at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/
Structure protection on the Okanogan Complex of Fires, August 21, 2015. InciWeb photo.
Western wildfires by the numbers:
49 — Incident Management Teams assigned.
3 — Area Command Teams assigned.
79 — Uncontained large fires. Some are “complexes” comprised of numerous fires.
232 — Large fires.
6 — Military C-130s (MAFFS) activated with slip-in retardant tanks.
671 — Hand Crews assigned.
1,885 — Fire engines working on fires.
217 — Helicopters on fires.
32,318 — Personnel committed to fires.
34 (at least) — Large air tankers and scoopers from the U.S. working on fires. Dozens of smaller single-engine air tankers are also working.
4 (at least) — Large air tankers and scoopers borrowed from Canada.
Heat detected by a satellite, in Washington, Northern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana in the 24 hours before 7:45 p.m. PT August 24, 2015. (click to enlarge)
Captain Tran Sugai (second from right) briefs his platoon leaders as three crews of the Army’s Task Force First Round prepared to spend their first day on an active fire.
Tom Story, who is in Washington documenting some of the wildfire activity, has been spending time with some of the 200 soldiers that were trained last week to assist on the fires. These are his photos, and below is his report.
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Three crews from the freshly fire-trained Army Task Force First Round, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, made their first trip to the fireline August 24, 2015 when they traveled north of the Kaniksu Complex’s Tower Fire in eastern Washington to the 300-acre Onata Fire. The Incident Management Team welcomed the additional help and gave the soldiers two tasks for the day: put in some hand line and help plumb, or install fire hose, on the bottom edge of the fire along a road the team wanted to use to halt the fire’s spread.
Like most things in fire, the plans changed on the scene and the hand line assignment was cancelled and the crews were put to work putting in a 1,500 foot hose lay in preparation for a burnout. Not only did the crew haul and lay a bunch of hose, they tied in with the Forest Service’s McKenzie River Hand Crew who were doing chain saw work, prepping for the burnout, lending a hand with swamping the cut material.
Part of the Army’s assignment on the Onata Fire was to assist putting in a hose lay as part of preparation for a planned burnout. Robert “Hippie” Horn (left) of North Dakota Forest Service hands rolls of hose to soldiers to distribute along a road.Members of the Army’s Task Force First Round swamp behind the McKenzie River Hand Crew’s Sawyers in prep for a future burnout operation.Following the sawyers of the McKenzie River Hand Crew, Penn Woolridge and other crew members move the cut material across the road and onto the green side of the planned burnout area.
Crescent Fire, Aug 13. Photo by Lucinda Nolan, PIO.
Firefighters have closed the north entrance road to Crater Lake National Park in southwest Oregon due to activity on the Crescent Fire. The blaze is part of the National Creek Complex that also includes the National Fire on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
Both fires started during a series of lightning strikes on August 1, 2015. They are being managed under a full suppression strategy although the tactics may differ between the Park and Forest.
The red dots represent heat detected on the Crescent Fire at 1:10 p.m. PT, August 24, 2015. The yellow dots are from the previous six days. We are looking south. Crater Lake can be seen beyond the fire. (click to enlarge)
Below is the witness list for a field hearing that will be held before the Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. PDT in the Pigott Auditorium of Seattle University (located at Su Campus Walk). The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on opportunities to improve the organizational response of the Federal agencies in the management of wildland fires.
Division Supervisor Jay Walter starts a burnout deep in the forest, firing Quickfire Hotshot flares (nicknamed “sausages”) that burn like fireworks when they land. Photo by Mark Thiessen for National Geographic, used with permission.
