Wildfire Archives - Page 2 of 151

Soaring Himalayan wildfires don’t have only climate change to blame

Hunter BasslerJune 15, 2024Wildfireclimate change, Himalayas, NepalLeave a comment

Nepal has already seen 5,000 wildfires in 2024, the second-most wildfires recorded in a single year since record-keeping began in 2002. The fires have killed more than 100 people and have for days engulfed Kathmandu in hazardous wildfire smog.

“There is no respite from fires — both forest fires and house fires — continue to wreak havoc across the country in recent days,” the Kathmandu Post reported in April. “Massive fires have been raging across hectares of forest lands in more than a dozen places.”

Smoke from fires in Nepal -- NASA photo — A satellite fire map by NASA shows fire hotspots dotted across the bottom of the Himalayas, with a few creeping up the mountains. Image acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites on March 28, showing the region near Kathmandu engulfed in smoke.

The newfound prevalence of wildfires in the country has spiked researchers’ interest. A study published in the Climate Change scientific journal in 2023 analyzed the aftermath of 2021, Nepal’s worst wildfire year on record with 6,300 wildfires.

“In spring 2021, Nepal underwent a record wildfire season in which active fires were detected at a rate 10 times greater than the 2002–2020 average,” the study reported. “Prior to these major wildfire events, the country experienced a prolonged precipitation deficit and extreme drought during the post-monsoon period.”

Researchers concluded that both climate variability and climate change-induced severe drought played a factor in the country’s explosive wildfire growth. However, an environmental scientist stationed in Kathmandu recently told the Nature scientific journal that the study didn’t tell the full story.

Uttam Babu Shrestha, stationed at Kathmandu’s Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, told Nature a large cause of increasing wildfires is the deterioration of Nepal’s relationship with its forests. A 1979 World Bank report warned that the nation was nearing an “ecological disaster” as a result of the country’s widespread deforestation and heavy reliance on agriculture. Nepal’s government listened and decentralized the management of its forests, resulting in the country’s forest cover nearly doubling in three decades. The abolition of the country’s monarchy and transition to a federal system, however, left forest management by the wayside.

“But this new political atmosphere didn’t prioritize the management of community forests like before,” Shrestha said. “With no clear benefits coming out of forests, the locals don’t feel the same ownership.”

A proposal to lessen both wildfire severity and forest management inaction was proposed by the lead researcher of the 2023 study. Binod Pokhrel, a climate scientist at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, found that Nepal’s 282 weather stations could work together to inform community members.

“By using weather station data, we could precisely forecast drought index up to a local ward level,” Pokhrel told Nature. “The lack of management of increasing forest cover can easily lead to another disaster.”

Pokhrel proposed that a smartphone-based fire forecast would reduce the chance of fires getting out of control — and save lives. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development uses a similar idea to update its wildfire-monitoring webpage, but Pokhrel told Nature that the Nepalese government must be involved to safeguard against future disastrous wildfires.

‘Let burn’ narrative put to the test on USFS lands

Hunter BasslerJune 6, 2024Uncategorized, Wildfirefull suppression, let-burn, resource benefit, wildland fire use14 Comments

Fires not fully suppressed but herded around and allowed to burn have allegedly been an unofficial USFS practice since the 1970s. A new study challenges whether that practice is as common as many believe.

The naming convention for the practice has reportedly changed repeatedly. They were originally called “let burn” fires, but forest managers soon dropped the term because a pervasive misunderstanding quickly arose that wildland firefighters were ignoring fires and letting them run amok. Even though other terms like “Natural Wildland Fires” and “Managed Fire” took the “let burn” term’s place, the incorrect view of the practice has persisted, being referenced as recently as in 2021’s Tamarack Fire.

That lightning-caused fire forced the evacuation of nearly 2,000 residents, destroyed 25 structures, and burned 67,000 acres in California and Nevada. Many members of the public blamed the fire’s negative outcomes on the supposed “let burn” practice, despite the policy’s not formally existing.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
Tamarack Fire lifts evacuation orders for nearly 2,000 residents

Researchers from the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station wanted to put the “let burn” narrative to the test — by quantifying the damage from consequential lightning-caused fires such as the Tamarack Fire.

The study, published in SpringerOpen Fire Ecology scientific journal, used multiple sources of fire-reporting data to identify numerous USFS fires from 2009 to 2020 using management strategies similar to those used during the Tamarack Fire. Of the 940 wildfires that burned within that time, the researchers found only 32 fires with characteristics similar to the Tamarack, nearly half of which ignited within wilderness areas.

Woodbury Fire Phoenix Roosevelt — The Superstition Wilderness inside the perimeter of the Woodbury Fire, June 22, 2019. InciWeb.

The researchers found that firefighter hazard mitigation was the primary driver on 26 of the 32 wildfires, with only six of the fires managed for “resource objectives” like the reported “let burn” fires. Risks posed to firefighters from terrain, snags, or inaccessibility were by and large what fire managers are concerned about during a wildfire — not how they can let the fire burn for potential ecological gains, or for the oft-alleged “treatment acreage quota.”

“Our results suggest that a ‘let burn’ strategy is not a predominant USFS management approach,” the researchers concluded. “A limited palette of strategic reporting categories may be partially responsible for the falsely premised ‘let burn’ narrative.”

Researchers theorized that a large reason for the pervasiveness of the “let burn” misconception is how fire managers fill out ICS-209 forms post-fire. Managers select one of four categories to classify the intent behind their decisions, including “monitoring,” “confine,” “point or zone protection,” or “full suppression.” The subtlety that’s lost on which option is chosen — any option other than full suppression — may be responsible for the spread of misinformation on the fire’s management.

“These categories may not capture enough of the nuance and complexity of the decision environments in which they are made,” said the Rocky Mountain Research Station. “In turn, this information gap may permit inaccurate explanations to dominate the conversation.”

Heatwave elevates fire danger across Western U.S., worsen already burning wildfires

Hunter BasslerJune 4, 2024Wildfireheat warning, NWS1 Comment

The National Weather Service is predicting the year’s first major heat wave will hit U.S. states in the West starting Tuesday.

NWS has forecasted temperatures at above normal from June 4 through at least June 17, according to its 8- to 14-day temperature outlook.

The heatwave will likely worsen wildfires in Arizona, New Mexico, and California. The temperature spike is expected to significantly affect crews currently fighting the Corral Fire near the city of Livermore outside of San Francisco. Numerous counties in the area are under excessive heat warnings and heat advisories. The fire has burned more than 14,000 acres as of Tuesday afternoon, has caused the evacuation of thousands, and sits at 90 percent containment.

“This morning is the calm before the warm as the first batch of Heat Advisories go into effect in the North and East Bay,” said the NWS San Francisco Bay Area office.

NWS map

The National Weather Service is predicting the year’s first major heat wave will hit U.S. states in the West starting Tuesday.

NWS has forecasted temperatures at above normal from June 4 through at least June 17, according to its 8- to 14-day temperature outlook.

New fire station in Blue River, Oregon

Kelly AnderssonJune 3, 2024Uncategorized, Wildfire2020 fires, Chief Rainbow, Holiday Farm, McKenzie1 Comment

The little community of Blue River, upstream in the McKenzie River valley from Eugene, Oregon, has a brand-new fire station up and running — almost four years after the Holiday Farm Fire in 2020 burned their station to the ground.

Station 2 in Blue River is part of the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire Protection District, featured in another of a series of stellar reports on KEZI by Noah Chavez. Christiana Rainbow Plews, the well-known and well-loved fire chief called “Chief Rainbow” by the locals, worked with the district both before and after the Holiday Farm Fire. She decided to retire as the chief, but only after the new fire station was fully operational.

She says the new station compared with the old one is just the difference between night and day. “It’s bigger and the building we had prior to the fire was really just a garage to house the trucks and equipment. It was not like a fire station,” she said. “It was really just a storage building, and the fact that we were able to build something as beautiful as this building with a day room and a kitchen and a chief’s office is just super exciting.”

Taylor Wickizer is one of the newest volunteers at Station 2. Born in Blue River, she and her family moved to Iowa, but Taylor returned after the Holiday Farm Fire. She said everyone in her family felt like they needed to come back to help the community and she has since become devoted to being a firefighter for the district — because of what the community has been through together, they are more than just neighbors.

“Up here it is not even like a community, it is like a family — I mean everybody is here for the people and especially the fire and emergency services,” she said.

Station 2 in Blue River is part of the Upper McKenzie Rural Fire Protection District, featured in another of a series of stellar reports on KEZI by Noah Chavez.

Corral Fire in northern California at 12,500 acres

Kelly AnderssonJune 2, 2024June 2, 2024WildfireCAL FIRE, Corral Fire, Lawrence Livermore Lab, Tracy3 Comments

Northern California’s first major fire of the year has burned 12,500 acres in San Joaquin County. The Corral Fire started Saturday afternoon near the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Site 300, and CNN reported that the fire started in the city of Tracy.

Two Alameda County firefighters were injured, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Josh Silveira told CNN on Sunday. They had minor to moderate injuries and were transported to a local hospital.

UPDATE:  14,170 acres Sunday evening; the Associated Press reported 50 percent containment and one home destroyed.

The fire was at 15 percent containment this morning, according to Cal Fire, and fire managers said the gusty winds and dry grass have made it difficult to contain. About 400 people are assigned on the fire 60 miles east of San Francisco. ABC10.com has aerial images.

San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services ordered residents to evacuate, as sfgate.com reported, and an evacuation map from the county is [HERE]. Interstate 580 is closed from 4.7 miles east of the junction of State Route 132 at Gaffery Road to the San Joaquin-Alameda county line; smoke has reduced visibility to “zero” according to Caltrans.

The Sacramento Bee reported this afternoon that both sides of I-580 had been re-opened. Caltrans officials said one eastbound lane would remain closed between I-205 and I-5 to buffer firefighting traffic; Highway 132 was also reopened after it was shut down for about 17 hours.

Freeway closures, CalTrans — quickmap.dot.ca.gov

The Corral Fire grew rapidly after 7 p.m. Saturday and Cal Fire said it was at 5,000 acres and 40 percent containment; a few hours later, containment dropped to 13 percent and the fire doubled in size.

Corral Fire outside of Tracy, California

The cause of the fire is unknown. The New York Times reported that residents were prohibited from burning anything on their own properties, and fire officials for the Santa Clara area announced that all burn permits in the region would be suspended beginning Monday. Lawrence Livermore National Lab said the fire started near the lab’s Site 300 but was not related to controlled burns conducted there.

“LLNL recently completed a series of controlled burns to eliminate dangerous dry grass areas and provide buffer zones around Site 300 buildings,” said Michael Padilla, deputy director of public and media relations. “There are no current threats to any Laboratory facilities and operations as the fire has moved away from the site. There was no on- or offsite contamination.”

Site 300 is a testing location at which researchers “formulate, fabricate, and test high-explosive assemblies to assess the performance of nonnuclear weapon prototypes and components.”

Cohesive Strategy Workshop registration opens

Kelly AnderssonJune 1, 2024WildfireCohesive Strategy, IAWF, workshopLeave a comment

In 2017 the first Cohesive Strategy Workshop in Reno, Nevada featured the theme of “All Hands All Lands: Implementation Rooted in Science.” It focused on the Cohesive Strategy — what it meant then and what early success looked like. Presentations and discussions emphasized the role of science in supporting the Cohesive Strategy and identified processes to ensure the integration of science in all planning for wildland fire management.

The Cohesive Strategy stands as the framework by which all stakeholders can address barriers and identify solutions for complex wildland fire issues.

The Cohesive Strategy Addendum Update [PDF] was released earlier this year and examines critical emphasis areas and implementation challenges that either were not addressed then or have surfaced in the 10 years since the original Cohesive Strategy framework.

This workshop will gather the collective voice of attendees to identify solutions and the issues that keep us from implementing the Cohesive Strategy at scale. The Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC) will pursue these actions after the Workshop to help overcome identified barriers and support implementation of the Cohesive Strategy.

Registration for the 2024 Workshop in Atlantic City includes:

- - - All on-site presentations and discussion, plus refreshments. There will be no virtual presentations.
    - Access to all workshop sessions (for full registration) or the session(s) you attend (for 1 or 2 days of registration).

Field Tour: New Jersey Pine Barrens

Wednesday, September 18 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Field tour, transportation, and lunch included in your registration fee.

Pinelands Alliance — PinelandsAlliance.org

The New Jersey Pine Barrens field tour will highlight the cooperation of multiple agencies in New Jersey to support goals and themes of the Cohesive Strategy. The tour includes stops at Batsto Historic Village, the U.S. Forest Service Silas Little Experimental Forest, New Jersey Forest Fire Service Coyle Field Airbase, and the Roosevelt City Fire-Adapted Community and firebreak project.

Special IAWF Member and Student rates are available.
Early-bird discounts for full workshop registrations before August 15.

⏩ Register here ⏪

Scholarships available:

IAWF offers need-based travel and registration scholarships to attend the workshop, to provide opportunity for those who may not be able to attend because of the cost. We hope to increase participation of underrepresented communities and geographic areas for networking and peer learning.

Applications will be accepted continuously until the workshop; we will begin reviewing applications and making awards on June 15. It includes free registration and/or $500 USD for travel expenses.
⏩ Submit a scholarship application ⏪

If you are selected, we will email your instructions on registering for the workshop, and you will receive travel reimbursement when you arrive at the workshop.