Map of smoke from wildfires, morning of August 24, 2015.
Areas in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California have “unhealthy” air quality, at least partially caused by smoke from wildfires.
Air quality affected by wildfire smoke. AirNow.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches for areas in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California.
The map was current as of 8 a.m. MDT on Monday. 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 general area of the fatalities, August 19 on the Twisp River Fire in Washington. The deceased firefighters were found 40 feet off Woods Canyon Road. The 3-D map is looking north. (click to enlarge)
On Sunday afternoon the U.S. Forest Service released additional information about the fatalities of the three wildland firefighters that occurred in the Twisp River Fire August 19 near Twisp, Washington.
The fire was reported at 12:30 p.m. PT, August 19, 2015. Between 2:45 and 3 p.m. the wind direction changed and the fire activity increased. At about 3 p.m. firefighters were entrapped by the fire, and around 4 p.m. fatalities and injuries were reported and one injured firefighter was airlifted to a hospital.
Engine 642, from the Okanogan/Wenatchee National Forest, was found upright 40 feet below Woods Canyon Road. It had been burned over and three deceased firefighters were inside. Two deployed fire shelters were in the general area, but at a press conference, the leader of the USFS investigation team, John Phipps, who currently serves as Station Director of the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colorado, said he did not know where they were found in relation to the firefighters.
The deceased have been identified as Tom Zbyszewki, 20, Andrew Zajac, 26 and Richard Wheeler, 31. One firefighter, Daniel Lyon, 25, of Puyallup, Washington, is in critical condition with third degree burns over over 60 to 65 percent of his body. Three other injured firefighters were treated at a hospital and released.
The investigation team is using the Coordinated Response Protocol which was developed in 2014. Part of that process is a Learning Review which, according to a four-page document released by the USFS last year, “is designed to produce at least two learning products, one for the field and one for organizational leadership”. When asked about the process during the news conference, Mr. Phipps appeared to be unfamiliar with the “learning products”, and said he did not know if they would both be released to the public.
At least six investigations are going on concurrently:
Coordinated Response Protocol/Learning Review;
Office of Inspector General ( as required by the Cantwell-Hastings legislation, Public Law Public Law 107-203);
OSHA;
Washington DNR investigation into injuries to two of their employees;
Luke Lanphear (left) and Rene Drew do the initial bucking of a 60′ hazard tree they had just dropped near one of the Kalispel tribal elders homes that the Army Task Force was doing Firewise work around as the last part of the military’s training prior to being deployed to the fireline. The professional fallers dropped the tree so the Army’s fledgling sawyers could finish bucking the tree so that the rest of the crew could stack it for fire wood.
The 200 U.S. Army Soldiers fromt the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington completed their firefighting training Sunday and will begin to perform actual fireline work Monday on the Tower Fire in eastern Washington near the Idaho border.
Tom Story took these photos for us on Sunday.
Michael Mora of the BLM (center) works with Crew 9 from the Army’s Task Force First Round as the soldiers put in some hand fireline behind the home of one of the elders of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. The tribe was hosting the Tower Fire Incident Command Post at their Pow Wow Grounds, across the river from Cusick, Washington.Vegas Valley Hand Crew Lead Chain Saw Jonathan Pilkerton (left) instructs Specialist Robert Sandoval in the specialized skills of fire line chain sawing as PFC Timothy Illig (cq) (right) stands by to swamp for the saw. Members of the Army’s Task Force First Round was finishing up their training August 23, 2015 on the Tower Fire in northeastern Washington. The Task Force was divided up into crews and were using the training opportunity do some Firewise work around the homes of some of the elders of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians.Russ Long, the Incident Management Teams Operations Section Chief, (center), talks with the Army’s Lt. Col. James Dunwoody (the Task Force First Round Commander), Command Sargent Major Tony Phelps and Major Tim Lynch (left to right) after the Tower Fire morning briefing on August 23, 2015.Members of Crew 10 clamber up a steep section of hand line they had just put in near a home on the Kalispel Tribe of Indians.
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watches for areas in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California.
The map was current as of 8 a.m. MDT on Sunday. 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.
Smoke from wildfires spreads further east. WeatherUnderground.
Smoke from wildfires in the Northwest and California is causing “unhealthy” air quality in much of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is also having an effect in the upper mid-west, the center of the United States, and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Much of the blame for “unhealthy” air quality in the northwest can be blamed on smoke from wildfires.
To see the most current smoke reports on Wildfire Today, visit the articles tagged “smoke” at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/
Jay Karle, center right, a wildland firefighter assigned to assist Soldiers of 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, points out boundaries to be used during wildland firefighting training near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Aug. 20, 2015. The “First Round” Soldiers have been activated to help suppress fires in the Pacific Northwest due to civilian resources running low. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Porch, 28th Public Affairs Detachment.)
Approximately 200 U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington have been activated to assist in the suppression of wildfires during a period when over 32,000 regular wildland firefighters are deployed but still more help is needed.
The Soldiers were trained at their base by wildland fire agency personnel, including the Bureau of Land Management Vegas Valley Crew comprised entirely of military veterans. They arrived at the Tower Fire in western Washington near the Idaho border late in the afternoon on August 22, where Tom Story captured some images.
Members of the Army’s Task Force First Round are briefed on the layout of the Incident Command Post after arriving at the Tower Fire, near Newport, Washington August 22, 2015. Photo by Tom Story.After a briefing on the layout of the Tower Fire Incident Command Post, The Army’s Task Force First Round joined the other firefighters in the dinner line. The Saturday evening meal was pasta with sausage meat sauce, veggies, salad and garlic bread. Photo by Tom Story.
