If you sent us an email in the last two months and you expected a reply but did not receive it, please send it again. We are having some issues with email sent to us through the Contact Wildfire Today page. We frequently receive emails through that page, but over the last 24 hours we have received bursts of messages that were initiated 2 to 60 days ago that we did not receive until yesterday or today.
So, we’re sorry if we seemed to ignore your email. You can always send us an email directly by sending it to bill dott wildfiretoday att gmail dott com. Hopefully you can figure that out, and the spam bots cannot.
One of our readers was on his way home from working on the Honey Prairie fire in Georgia and saw this video report on WSAV-TV — a ladder truck being used to put out a small brush fire. I am pretty sure that is not a three gallon-per-minute Forester fog nozzle.
We received the following information from David Caraway, Founder & CEO of ForceReadiness.com:
We would like to announce that we have created a free iPhone app for the New Generation Fire Shelter. It integrates several documents and videos on both the fire shelter, and entrapment avoidance. This app will remain a free app. The iRPG [Incident Response Pocket Guide] iPhone app has been downloaded 3,000 times, and we hope that this app is able to find its way into the hands of as many firefighters.
As always, we welcome any feedback we can receive from the firefighter community on how to make the app better.
We don’t have an iPhone, but have gone Android instead. Would anyone like to submit a review of the app? There is only one review of it in the app store.
“LR” told us about an unusual aviation incident that occurred on the Monument fire in southern Arizona on June 25. Here is an excerpt from a “June 26, 2011 – Evening Update” that was on InciWeb:
Yesterday, a highly unusual incident occurred involving a Heli-tanker assigned to the incident, when a snorkel swung into the chin bubble on the co-pilot’s side of the aircraft, breaking the plexiglass bubble. The helicopter landed safely and there were no injuries.
We searched for that update on InciWeb and found lots of other updates, but had no luck finding that one, leading us to believe it has been removed. But, diligent searching found at least two copies of it on other sites, HERE and HERE. In case it disappears again, here is a copy of it from KBRP radio. Click it to enlarge:
Click to enlarge. A portion of a screen shot from the KPRP site.
We were not able to find either on SAFENET or SAFECOM a report that fit this description.
In 2009 we posted a good annotated photo of an Erickson Air-Crane that has a view of the “chin” and the snorkle. The only way we can think of that a snorkle would swing up and break a window on the helicopter would be for the pilot to hit the “brakes” really hard, decelerating rapidly. Maybe a pilot can give us some more insight into how this could occur.
The photo of the heli-tanker below was taken June 22, 2011 on the Monument fire. It appears to be a highly unusual drop onto the vertical face of a cliff as the helicopter probably made a sharp, banking turn. A video or series of still photos of that maneuver would be priceless. It makes you wonder if the broken chin bubble occurred three days later on this helicopter.
Heli-tanker drop, 6-22-11 Monument fire, at the Reef in Carr Canyon. Photo: Jim Herrewig on InciWeb
On June 22, 2011 on the same fire an incident involving a heli-tanker and an air tanker resulted in a SAFECOM being filed. It concerned a heli-tanker being in the general area where an air tanker was about to make a drop. The heli-tanker was actually ABOVE the flight path of the air tanker. It was not a close call, apparently, but the heli-tanker pilot had to be told to stay the frack out of the way of the air tanker.
Hmmm. Three, uh, unusual incidents on the Monument fire within a four-day period involving one or more heli-tankers. Hopefully a fourth incident, if it occurs, will also be injury-free.
Map showing the Las Conchas and Pacheco fires near Santa Fe, NM. Data current at 3:25 a.m. July 1, 2011
Update at 12:40 p.m. MT, July 1, 2011:
The incident management team provided some updated information on the Las Conchas fire northwest of Santa Fe, NM, including:
Size: increased from 93,678 acres to 103,842, making it the largest fire in the history of New Mexico, surpassing the Dry Lakes fire which burned more than 94,000 acres of the Gila National Forest in 2003.
Equipment and aircraft: 4 dozers, 52 engines, 9 helicopters.
Personnel: 1,201
Containment: 3%
And this:
North Zone Fire Update
Winds will be lighter today and are projected to push the fire eastward. We expect the fire to become active with extreme fire behavior where winds and slope align. Precipitation from yesterday will only improve fuel moistures in the fine dead fuels until the afternoon when fuel moistures will return to conditions seen in previous days. Heavy fuels held the fire overnight; however, mop-up efforts are needed to prevent additional growth. The fire may become plume dominated, with the potential for erratic spreading and spotting in all directions.
North – The fire may continue to progress north and east beyond the 144 road and may align with terrain in the gap between the South Fork and Cerro Grande burn scars. The lighter fuels in these areas will reduce the fire’s intensity but remain receptive to spotting. Firefighters plan to conduct burnout operations in the area.
East – Firefighters will continue burnout operations along the Pajarito Ski Area to reduce the likelihood for spotting. Firefighters will be completing line around Los Alamos and looking for opportunities to check the fire’s spread in the old Cerro Grande burn.
South side of north zone – Firefighters will be monitoring the area, checking the fire’s spread as needed, and ensuring heavy fuels are well mopped-up to prevent embers blowing across the line.
West – Firefighters will work on a direct fire line from 4 Road to Valles Caldera 2 Road and prepare the Valles Caldera 4 Road for burnout to help confine the fire’s spread.
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9:00 a.m. MT, July 1, 2011
The Las Conchas fire in northern New Mexico continued marching toward the north and northeast on Thursday, coming to within one-half mile of New Mexico State Highway 565. The last size of the fire that was posted by the incident management team on Thursday listed it at 93,678 acres, but it is probably over 100,000 acres now, Friday morning.
We will post more information as it becomes available. Evacuation information can be found on InciWeb.
Scroll down to see more information and detailed maps of the fire.
The incident management team provided some updated information, increasing the number of personnel assigned to the fire from 452 to 752, and also the number of acres, from 69,555 to “approximately 92,735”. There are no changes in the number of helicopters, dozers, or engines. They are still not specifying how many air tankers are being used or are available.
Air-Crane helicopter drafting water out of heli-well at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Photo: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Below is the “point” weather forecast for Los Alamos, NM, from 1:00 p.m. MT, June 30 until noon on Saturday, July 2. The 18-20 mph winds out of the southwest on Thursday afternoon will keep firefighters busy around Los Alamos and on the north end of the fire. However the 61% cloud cover may moderate the fire behavior a bit. The relative humidity, in the mid-teens on Thursday, will not be as extreme as it was earlier in the week when it was in the single digits. Friday calls for lower RH’s and decreasing winds.
Click the forecast below to enlarge it.
Clilck to enlarge. Weather forecast Los Alamos, current as of 12:01 p.m., 6-30-2011. The wind “barbs” point in the direction the wind will be FROM.
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Las Conchas fire map showing heat detected by satellites at 2:45 a.m. MT, 6-30-2011. The red areas were actively burning at that time, while the yellow was within the last 12 hours, and the black was within the last 24 hours. MODISClick to enlarge. Zoomed in map of the Las Conchas fire in the Los Alamos area, 11:30 p.m., 6-29-2011. USFS/Google Earth
The Las Conchas fire near Los Alamos, New Mexico was very active Wednesday afternoon as you can see from the maps, spreading an additional four miles farther north, crossing from Sandoval County into Rio Arriba County. The fire moved toward the east becoming a little closer to the town of Los Alamos. It was also active on the southwest side.
