Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Category: Wildfire

Unplanned vegetation fires

New Mexico: Trigo Fire

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags

A news release from the Trigo fire on the Cibola National Forest southeast of Albuquerque at 8:00 AM today:

The Trigo Fire refuses to lay down. Firefighters on the swing shift stayed out much of the night fighting active fire behavior on the north side, below Capilla Peak. Crews managed to catch a couple of small slopovers and a few spot fires that tried to escape during the night. Fire management officials say firefighters on the ground and in the air have done an excellent job, but they can’t let up yet.

Today will be a critical day in maintaining control of the Trigo Fire. Extreme wind conditions are expected between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., with gusts up to 40 miles per hour.

The east and west extremities of the fire have cooled down and rehabilitation efforts are underway in those areas. The area below Capilla Peak however, continues to provide resistance.

Aircraft will fly today as wind conditions permit, monitoring fire lines. Air tankers and helicopters will drop retardant and water as needed.

Fire Facts:

Containment: 46% Acres: 4,600

Fire Personnel: 506

Hot Shot Crews: 6

Type II Crews: 11

Engines: 18

Aircraft Available: 5 helicopters, 4 air tankers, 1 lead plane

Cost to date: $3,800,000

Vegetation fire in the UK destroys 5,000…..

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags

I was reading a story online about a vegetation fire in Scotland that destroyed 5,000… and I was thinking… ACRES? In Scotland? But no, it destroyed 5,000 small trees on 10 acres. The fire occurred a year ago on land managed by the Woodland Trust, the story said, but recently six small fires have been started intentionally in the Carnmoney Hill area northeast of Belfast.

“No doubt those starting the fires consider it some sort of joke. The grim reality is that they’re actually putting people’s lives, including their own, at risk,” said Gregor Fulton, Woodland Officer with the Trust.

“A forest fire can cause total devastation to nature, resulting in the loss of trees, plants and animals. We’re appealing to those responsible to stop and think about the consequences of their actions,” he added.

Photo and quote courtesy of the Newton Abbey Times.

NY: Minnewaska state park fire update

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags

The fire activity on the 3,000 acre fire in Minnewaska state park 40 miles northwest of New York City has decreased significantly over the last two days. Cooler temperatures, higher humidities, and fog have worked in favor of the firefighters.

They have the use of four water-dropping helicopters–two from the NY National Guard and two from the state police, each carrying 100-500 gallons. Personnel and equipment from 30 fire agencies have been assigned to the fire which is 75-80% contained.
The map shows heat sources as detected by satellites within the last 24 hours. This shows much less heat than the map 24 hours earlier.


UPDATE: April 22
The fire acreage has increased to 3,500, primarily due to a 400-acre burnout the firefighters conducted. But other than the burnout, the fire is not increasing in size. They are putting in dozer lines, sometimes up to 100 feet wide on the west side. Today firefighters are calling the fire 100% contained.

NY: Minnewaska state park

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags

Two days ago a 30-acre fire about 40 miles northwest of New York City was reported to be under control, but today it spread to over 3,000 acres. Most of the fire is in Minnewaska state park. This is the largest fire in the state park in the last 50 years. Approximately 250 firefighters from 27 local and volunteer departments are working on the fire.

More information from the Daily Freeman:

The 20,000-acre park and part of U.S. Route 44/state Route 55 have remained closed, and over 245 personnel from various state and local agencies were on the scene Saturday, trying to beat back the blaze.

The forest fire is almost entirely contained within the boundaries of the park, but residents of the small Kerhonkson Heights community, which has about 40 homes, were told to prepare for evacuation if necessary, according to Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman Yancey Roy. Although no evacuation order has been issued, firefighters are taking precautions to protect residents.

“We have virtually a fire truck in every driveway,” Roy said.

The fire began Thursday afternoon, and was reportedly contained at about 30 acres that night. But the flames continued to spread, reaching 200 acres Friday afternoon, 1,000 acres Friday night, and 2,300 acres by Saturday morning, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

 

The map shows heat sources as detected by thermal satellites.

 

Fire in Connecticut

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags 1 Comment on Fire in Connecticut

You don’t often hear about wildland fires in Connecticut, and you would not have heard about this one-acre fire near Wilton, except the report I saw included a photo of a fire boat. OK, most people would not call this a boat…. it’s an amphibious ATV outfitted with a pump and hose.


These amphibious ATVs can be useful for suppressing fires in cattails. Cattails grow in water, and when they are cured out, burn like brush. It’s next to impossible to stop a cattail fire when it’s moving above the water… unless you can get out ahead of it with a boat or ATV like this and drive back and forth knocking down the cattails so they are mostly underwater. Cattails don’t spot very often, so a fairly narrow line can stop the fire.

The tricky part is being out in front of a fast-moving fire in a boat, pushing through cattails and hoping the motor does not stall or you get stuck.

Fire Near Albuquerque

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags

KOB.com has some information about a new fire southeast of Albuquerque, and east of Belen. It is the Trigo fire, and is reported to be about 100 acres; normally not national news, but it’s slow this week and the fire is well documented with a live camera, video footage, and still photos.

The above image is from a “live” camera at the Albuquerque airport. It normally is pointed to the west, but I think they turned it to the east to capture images from this fire. This should be a live feed from the camera’s site, showing the latest image when you refresh this page.


Check out the video footage and the other photos at the KOB.com site.

From KOB.com:

“A wildfire that began Tuesday morning on the western slope of the Manzano Mountains east of Belen had jumped from about 10 acres at noon to roughly 100 acres by 2:00.

Arlene Perea of the Mountainair Ranger District says the biggest problem facing firefighters is the strong wind, which is whipping the flames and has grounded air tankers that were dropping fire retardant on the fire.

Perea says that four hotshot crews are en route to the so-called trigo Fire and two more have been ordered. An inmate work crew and two fire engines also are being marshaled.

Dan Ware of the state forestry division says the Trigo Fire is burning near Capilla Peak. He says that no structures are currently threatened but there are communications towers in the area.

Ware says that the fire is burning in rugged terrain about eight or nine miles north of where the Ojo Peak Fire consumed nearly 7,000 acres last November.”