As the sun begins to set on the west coast, gray smoke from wildfires can be easily distinguished from white clouds. In the photo, the largest smoke plume is coming from the the Dixie Fire in Northern California. Smoke from other fires was being generated in northeast Washington, Southern Oregon, British Columbia, Northern Idaho, and Western Montana. NOAA, GOES 17.
A reporter for CNN, Rachel Ramirez, wrote an “explainer” article about some of the phenomena associated with wildfires that are part of the common parlance among wildland firefighters, but might seem strange to normal people. Some of the topics covered are fire whirls, fire tornadoes, pyrocumulus clouds, and fires “creating their own weather.”
Ms. Ramirez has quotes from Janice Coen, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and at least one other name that will be familiar to our readers.
Here is a brief excerpt from the article:
And as climate change accelerates, these wind patterns will continue to shift.
“With the changing climate, the projected change is that the jet stream will shift towards the north,” Coen told CNN, which means that “we might see fewer of these events in California, and see more in Oregon and Washington if these wind events, the regional weather pattern, coincide with underlying dry periods in fortuitous ignitions.”
A wildland firefighter was killed in 2020 while working on the fire that burned more than 22,000 acres in Southern California
El Dorado Fire, photo by Jeff Zimmerman Sept. 5, 2020.
The couple that used a smoke bomb to indicate the gender of their unborn child has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and 29 other crimes, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday.
Investigators found that the El Dorado Firewas started by a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party at a park in Yucaipa, California September 5, 2020. A firefighter was killed on the fire that burned more than 22,000 acres and required the expenditure of nearly $40 million in suppression costs.
Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez pleaded not guilty Tuesday, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced at a news conference.
The couple was also charged with three felony counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, four felony counts of recklessly causing a fire to inhabited structures, and 22 misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing fire to property.
The judge released them on their own recognizance even though the prosecutor recommended they each be held on $50,000 bail.
Mr. Anderson said the couple could receive sentences ranging in years from the low teens to the low twenties.
Charles Morton, USFS photo.
The U.S. Forest Service reported that Charles Morton, a 14-year veteran firefighter, died September 17, 2020 as he was burned over while battling the El Dorado Fire.
Mr. Morton was a squad boss on the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Crew.
Another Big Bear crewmember disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the days following the death of Mr. Morton. Carlos Alexander Baltazar’s car was found abandoned on Highway 18 near Delta Avenue by the California Highway Patrol on September 20, about 75 yards from his backpack. He was reported missing by his family on September 24. His sister said on the driver’s seat was his ID, a money clip with $200, and on the passenger seat was a knife. His family said he was upset over the death of Mr. Morton, who they described as “his boss.”
As far as we can tell, Mr. Baltazar still has not been found.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to the folks who reported this story to us.
It’s not even August yet, and the National Interagency Coordination Center’s Incident Management Situation Report showed today that over 19,000 personnel are assigned to wildfires. On Sept. 19, 2020 there were 32,727, the highest number ever recorded.
Will the highest daily number this year be OVER or UNDER that record set last year?
Choose Over or Under in the poll below, then click on the hard to see VOTE button. The poll will close at the end of the day July 31, 2021.
Will the highest number of personnel mobilized at one time for fires this year be OVER or UNDER the record of 32,727 set in 2020?
A 911 caller said the suspect was attempting to steal a helicopter
Map, Shoshone County Airport. Wildfire Today / Google Earth.
On Saturday July 17, wildland firefighters at the Shoshone County Airport in Smelterville, Idaho 30 miles southeast of Coeur d’Alene, encountered a dangerous situation that is not covered in the dozens of training courses they take.
From the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office:
At approximately 5:52pm, Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) dispatch received a 911 call reporting an armed subject approaching fire personnel in their helicopter at the Shoshone County Airport in Smelterville Idaho. A second 911 caller reported the subject was attempting to steal a helicopter.
At the airport during this incident, there were between 30 to 70 fire fighter personnel present on scene due to the local active fires.
At approximately 5:57pm, a SCSO Deputy arrived on scene and quickly located the armed suspect (Oregon resident). The suspect then discharged a handgun several times into the ground and air as fire fighter personnel were fleeing the immediate area. The SCSO Deputy ordered the suspect to drop the weapon, he complied soon after and was taken into custody with the assistance of a 2nd SCSO Deputy and an Idaho State Police Trooper without further incident. Several other SCSO units and other law enforcement agencies arrived shortly after.
For clarification, NO law enforcement officers discharged a firearm and no one was injured during this incident.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information will be released at this time.
End of Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office report.
In the video below, the narrator says he’s at the Kellogg, Idaho airport. Kellogg is immediately east of Smelterville.
Vicinity map, Shoshone County Airport. Google Earth.
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