Wildfire Today

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Wildfire Today

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Critical fire weather and Red Flag Warnings predicted for much of California Monday and Tuesday

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Critical fire weather and Red Flag Warnings predicted for much of California Monday and Tuesday

Strong winds and low humidity to begin Sunday night

6:35 p.m. PDT Oct. 10, 2021

Forecast for wind gusts, Sunday night through Tuesday, California
Forecast for wind gusts, Sunday night through Tuesday, Northern California. NWS Sacramento, at 1 p.m. PDT Oct. 10, 2021.

Much of California between Los Angeles and Redding will be under elevated fire danger or Red Flag Warnings Monday and Tuesday. Strong north winds are predicted to begin Sunday night, peak on Monday, and last through Tuesday. Temperatures will not be as high as is seen in typical Santa Ana wind events, but they will be higher than normal and relative humidities will be low.

In the North Bay, for example, winds will develop late Sunday evening from the north at 30 to 40 mph, and will be locally higher near favored gaps, canyons, and in the Valley. Minimum humidity will drop to 10 to 25 percent Monday and slightly lower on Tuesday. Overnight recovery will be 25 to 50 percent.

Any fires that develop could spread rapidly.

Storm Prediction Center outlook for critical fire weather
Storm Prediction Center outlook for critical fire weather, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. Updated at 11:46 a.m. PDT Oct. 10, 2021.

We will update this article on Monday Oct. 11 as this event develops.

Red Flag Warnings in effect for the Great Plains Saturday

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Strong winds and low humidity expected Monday and Tuesday in portions of California

Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches
Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches at 10 a.m. PDT October 9, 2021. NWS/Google.

Red Flag Warnings are in effect Saturday for areas in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma for warm, dry, windy weather. The relative humidity could be as low as 14 percent, wind gusts to 45 mph, and temperatures in the 80s; however, these numbers could vary over this large area.

Critical fire weather for California
Critical fire weather for California, Monday Oct. 11, 2021.

Fire Weather Watches have been posted in California for critical fire weather. North wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph, locally higher, will develop late Sunday night and continue into Tuesday across the Central Valley and Coast Range. Strongest winds are expected along the west side of the Valley and in the Delta on Monday. North to northeast wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph, locally higher near favored gaps and canyons, will develop Monday and continue Tuesday over the foothills and mountains. The humidity will be in the 15 to 25 percent range Monday, and slightly lower Tuesday.

These weather conditions could cause wildfires to spread rapidly.

The map below shows the precipitation in California and Nevada during the 72-hour period that ended at 9 a.m. PDT October 9, 2021.

Precipitation ini the 72-hour period
Precipitation in the 72-hour period ending at 9 a.m. PDT Oct. 9, 2021. NOAA.

Examining how fuel treatments affected suppression of the Caldor Fire in California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 8 Comments on Examining how fuel treatments affected suppression of the Caldor Fire in California
Backfire illustration
Illustration of ignition of a backfire, from the US Forest Service video below.

The U.S. Forest Service has released a video — the second in the Forest News: California National Forests series. In this episode the agency examines how fuel treatment areas on National Forest System lands changed the intensity of the Caldor Fire and provided opportunities for community defense. The blaze burned more than 221,000 acres near South Lake Tahoe in August and September.

The video was written, directed, and narrated by Joe Flannery, the Acting Regional Fire Communications Team Lead in the Forest Service’s California region.

A study evaluated the cultural safety of indigenous wildland firefighters in Canada

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 1 Comment on A study evaluated the cultural safety of indigenous wildland firefighters in Canada

From a recently completed study in Canada:

Funded by Natural Resources Canada, a project provided preliminary data on cultural safety and occupational health and safety that is necessary to improve the understanding of Indigenous perspectives on wildland firefighting and wildland fire operations across what is now called Canada.

Wildland firefighting is a unique occupation. For decades, Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) firefighters and fire operations staff have been engaged in wildland fire suppression activities, formally and informally. They are increasingly being called upon by their communities and the broader wildfire management agency community in Canada to engage and deploy in various wildfire suppression and related duties. In the past decade, we have seen an increase in wildfire activity and the number of communities put at risk or impacted by high-intensity wildfire events. Due to the nature of this work, Indigenous Peoples engaged in wildland fire suppression activities routinely work in hazardous situations and stressful environments – impacting their physical, mental, and spiritual/cultural well-being.

Giving Voice to Cultural Safety of Indigenous Wildland Firefighters in Canada was a multidisciplinary, collaborative team-based project.

From January – July 2021, the Turtle Island Consulting Services Inc. (TICS Inc.) Project Team explored the following set of questions:

  • What are Indigenous wildland firefighters’ and wildland fire operations staff’s experiences regarding accident/injury rates, sickness presenteeism/absenteeism, chronic illness, close calls, racism/ discrimination/harassment?
  • What is currently working on the fireline and fire operation centres to promote cultural safety of Indigenous wildland firefighting personnel?
  • What are the priority needs/issues and recommendations for enhancing cultural safety for Indigenous wildland firefighting personnel?

The TICS Inc. Project Team developed an online survey and virtual circles were conducted specifically for individuals who self-identified as Indigenous and worked in wildland firefighting and/or fire operations for at least one fire season in Canada. These participant selection criteria supported the sharing of Indigenous Peoples’ voices in culturally safe spaces to help (i) increase the understanding of their jobs, (ii) enhance overall satisfaction from a cross-cultural perspective during this important work, and (iii) aid in making the future of wildland firefighting more enjoyable, safer, and culturally inviting.

For more information about Project findings, please view the following reports.

The Executive Summary is immediately below. Farther down you can click to download it or view it online .

[pdf-embedder url=”https://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Summary-Giving-Voice-to-Cultural-Safety-of-Indigenous-Wildland-updated-Oct-2021.pdf” title=”Giving Voice to Cultural Safety of Indigenous Wildland Firefighters in Canada”]

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Marty.

Smoke from California wildfires increases doctor visits and blocks sun from crops

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Smoke from California wildfires increases doctor visits and blocks sun from crops

Study shows N95 masks can reduce hospital visits for smoke inhalation by up to 40 percent

Smoke on the Monument Fire
Smoke on the Monument Fire, Sept. 18, 2021. Photo by NRIMT2-FBAN.

Recent articles on MSN.com pointed out three different wildfire smoke related issues.

Smoke in California’s Central Valley increased doctor visits (Oct. 3 2021)

Dr. Praveen Buddiga, a local allergy and immunology specialist, says he saw an increase in patient visits on Friday due to the smoke sitting in the Valley.

“Today I’ve been seeing a lot of patients with cough, congestion, difficulty breathing and this is directly related to the air,” said Dr. Buddiga.

Dr. Buddiga said many of his patients have difficulty breathing, which is not surprising considering the smoke is even visible in satellite images taken from space.

Some masks can protect against wildfire smoke (Sept. 30, 2021)

Researchers found that N95 masks often used for protection from COVID-19, are effective in reducing the inhalation of wildfire smoke particles, and could reduce hospital visits for wildfire smoke inhalation by up to 40 percent. They found that surgical masks, primarily designed to keep sneeze and cough droplets from emerging in the air, do not not protect the wearer against a dangerous environment. Cloth masks used alone are also ineffective. While surgical masks by themselves were ineffective, combining them with a cloth mask to compensate for the surgical mask’s loose fit was about as effective as an N95 as long as the seal around mouth and nose was good.

Wildfire smoke is blocking Central Valley crops from the sun (Oct. 6, 2021)

…This smoke could cause some damage to the raisin and almond crops that are still drying out in the fields.

“Those two crops specifically need mother nature, as in the sun, to dry those crops out in the field, and that drying time is essentially eliminated right now with the smoke layer that we have,” said Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, “We’re just not seeing it, we aren’t seeing any drying taking place and that becomes very problematic especially for raisins because if they don’t dry they’re going to sit there and rot in the field. So, we’re hoping that this weather change we’re going to see take place in the next couple of days hopefully blows this smoke out of there and returns the sun to help us finish off this crop year.”

Jacobsen says the Farm Bureau’s other priority is the health and safety of farmworkers. For their protection, the bureau has been providing N95 respirators to agricultural employers.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jim.

USFS approves new fire retardant product to be applied from the ground

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 20 Comments on USFS approves new fire retardant product to be applied from the ground
PHOS-CHEK FORTIFY
PHOS-CHEK FORTIFY being applied from an ATV. Perimeter Solutions photo.

The US Forest Service has given approval to a new formulation of fire retardant specifically designed to be applied from the ground. Perimeter Solutions, the maker of PHOS-CHEK long term fire retardant, has added PHOS-CHEK FORTIFY to its inventory of products, saying that “it is the only highly-durable fire retardant that has been approved by USDA Forest Service for preventative application on U.S. federal lands.”

FORTIFY is based on a hydrogel platform and polymer technology to provide enhanced durability to weathering as well as adherence to vegetation. It can be applied on flammable vegetation and cellulosic material early in the fire season before a wildfire approaches and provides ongoing protection, remaining effective until a significant rain event of one inch or more. Unlike retardant dropped from aircraft, which is colored to help pilots track where the retardant is dropped during active wildfires, the durable FORTIFY fire retardant is uncolored and is precision applied from the ground.

Perimeter Solutions says the product was developed in 2018 and over the past three years utilities, railroads, insurance companies, homeowners, and other industries have adopted it as a solution to prevent wildfire ignitions and proactively protect their property from wildfires.

PHOS-CHEK FORTIFY
PHOS-CHEK FORTIFY being applied from a water tender. Perimeter Solutions photo.