Firefighters peel off the Apple fire

Apple fire, South Dakota
Apple fire, South Dakota. Photo, March 28, 2012 by Bill Gabbert

The Apple fire, 8 miles southeast of Custer, South Dakota, is winding down and firefighters are being released. The size is holding at 546 acres and the Incident Commander expects to call it 100% contained at the end of the operational period today.

Here is an update, posted on InciWeb at about 3:30 p.m. today:

Final Update: “Crews were able to get a good handle on the Apple Fire yesterday,” Lynn Kolund, Hell Canyon District Ranger said. By the end of the shift, 50% of the fire was contained. Kolund said if conditions warrant, they are expecting 100% containment tonight. Control lines held overnight and the fire acreage remained at 546 acres. “The wind helped to consume downed wood in the interior of the fire,” Kolund said. Air support did another fly over at 9:00AM this morning to assess the situation. A few small smokes remain within the fire.

Today many of the fire resources are traveling home. Remaining resources continue to mop up smokes and patrol the fire. Todd Pechota, Fire Management Officer, commended the firefighters for no injuries during the fire. “The safety record has been good, but it is not over until you are all safely home,” Pechota said.

 

Poll: how to improve the air tanker fleet

We have previously documented the current state of the federal air tanker fleet:

The air tanker fleet managed by the U.S. Forest Service, NPS, BIA, BLM, and USFWS, has deteriorated over the last 10 years from 44 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts to the 11 we have today. As the climate changes, fire seasons are getting longer. Last year there were records set in Arizona and New Mexico for the largest fires in the states’ histories. In March of this year fires burning in Colorado and South Dakota competed for scarce air and ground firefighting resources. The number of unfilled orders for air  tankers continues to increase. Congress regularly reduces the firefighting budgets of the land management agencies.

What do you recommend?

Mark as many options as you wish.

 

What changes would you make to the federal air tanker program in the United States?

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South Dakota: Firefighters gain upper hand on Apple fire

Apple fire
A firefighter on the Apple fire improves the fireline on March 28, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert

Firefighters on the Apple fire 8 miles southeast of Custer, South Dakota have completely lined the fire and burned out the indirect line we reported yesterday. The fire was first detected at about noon on Wednesday and started from a lighting strike on Monday.

Today the 132 firefighters will be mopping up, strengthening firelines, and mitigating the hazards from possible falling trees along Flynn Creek Road. The weather today and tomorrow will be challenging, with the relative humidity in the teens and 15 mph winds gusting up to 22 mph.

The two National Guard blackhawk helicopters have been released.

While the completed and burned-out fireline meets the definition of 100% containment, the Incident Commander is calling it only 15% contained. This has been a trend in recent years, with ICs confusing the terms control and contain.

The dispatch system has had to reach out far and wide to find resources for this 546-acre fire. We know of one engine crew in the Greater Yellowstone area that was dispatched Thursday night to the fire. Hand crews came from Montana and other states. Soon after it started on Wednesday, the IC requested two large Type 1 helicopters. One of the orders has been filled, and that was with a Kmax helicopter which barely (if that) qualifies as a Type 1. The other order was still unfilled as of Thursday night. The two large air tankers that arrived empty at Rapid City more than 6 hours after the first initial attack resources were dispatched had to be stolen from the Lower North Fork fire in Colorado. At the time that fire was reportedly “15% contained”, but as discussed above, containment percentages have become meaningless. The statistic can no longer be used for prioritizing fires.

One-liners, March 30, 2012

A Congressman says the U.S. Forest Service missed a deadline for making a decision about night-flying helicopters.

Video of arsonist starting wildfire in Spring Valley, Calif.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the reverse 911 system didn’t work as expected for the Lower North Fork fire in Colorado. The software company disagrees.

Activity on Colorado’s Lower North Fork fire is winding down.

Cousins plead guilty of starting largest fire in Arizona history

Hannagan Meadow Lodge
The Wallow Fire burns near the Meadow Lodge as firefighters protect the historic structures on June 11, 2011. Photo by Chris Francis, U.S. Forest Service

Two cousins pleaded guilty Tuesday of accidentally starting the Wallow fire which became the largest fire in the recorded history Arizona. Caleb Malboeuf of Benson and David Malboeuf of Tucson were camping in the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest last May and went for a hike. They said when they left, they thought their campfire was out since they did not see any flames or smoke. On their way back to the campsite they smelled and saw smoke in the area. Investigators found their possessions at the campsite where the fire started and their vehicle at a trailhead about two miles away.

The Wallow fire burned 538,000 acres, most of it in Arizona near Alpine, Nutrioso, and Springerville, but it also burned into New Mexico near Luna. It burned 32 homes and 4 cabins burned and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people. The fire started on May 29 and was contained on July 8. Wildfire Today covered the fire extensively.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 20. Due to a plea agreement, they are facing up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine, but their attorney is arguing for probation instead of jail time.

Update on Lower North Fork fire in Colorado, March 29

UPDATE at 7:56 p.m. MT, March 29

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has posted the much-requested “current verified list of structures damaged by the Lower North Fork fire”, as well as a map. All local home owners with confirmed damaged properties have been escorted to their property by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. There are two homeowners who have not made it back to their property because they are coming from out of the area.

There was no perimeter growth today. The size remains at 4,140 acres and they are calling it 45% contained.

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Original post, at 8:25 a.m. MT, March 29

As of Thursday morning, the Lower North Fork fire southeast of Conifer, Colorado is 15% contained and has burned 4,140 acres. The number of homes damaged or destroyed remains at 27. The owners of 26 of the structures have been notified. Rich Harvey’s Type 1 Incident Management Team assumed command of the fire at 6:00 a.m. today. The local Type 3 IMTeam will continue to work with the Type 1 team.

The map of the Lower North Fork fire below shows the perimeter (in red) as of 9:39 Wednesday night.

Map Lower North Fork Fire 2139 3-28-2012
Map of Lower North Fork Fire. The blue line is the evacuation zone. The red line is the fire perimeter at 9:39 p.m. 3-28-2012. Map provided by Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

On Wednesday there were two large air tankers assigned, P2Vs, Tankers #44 and #45, but they were removed from the fire late in the afternoon and redeployed to the Apple fire south of Custer, South Dakota. (We were at the Apple fire yesterday.) There will be four National Guard Blackhawk helicopters assigned to the Lower North Fork fire today. Four helicopters dropped 49,000 gallons of water yesterday.

Residents seeking information about the status of their property within the fire evacuation zone may come to the Conifer High School, but the school is closed to the general public.

With the apparent cause of the fire being an escaped prescribed fire that was managed by the Colorado Forest Service, on Wednesday Deputy State Forester Joe Duda issued a statement that reads in part:

We want to express our deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones and those who have lost property, and we hope for the safety of crews as they continue to fight the fire.

On Wednesday the governor of Colorado suspended the use of prescribed burns by state agencies.

It is very early in the year, and early in the wildfire season, but already firefighters are competing for aerial and hand crew resources. There are not enough to go around, and they are not deployed where the fires are occurring. This is due in part to the diminishing budgets of the firefighting agencies, translated as fewer firefighters, and mismanagement of the federal air tanker fleet.

Other articles on Wildfire Today about the Lower North Fork fire: