Wildfire Today

Tractor plows are heavily used in the southeast, but many firefighters in other parts of the country are not familiar with this type of equipment. A plow can rapidly construct a fireline 6-8′ wide in almost all fuel conditions as long as it is not steep or rocky–which eliminates much of the western United States. Some plows are mounted on the front of a dozer, but many are rear-mounted.

And then there is the substantial disturbance to the ground with which many jurisdictions have a problem. It can be difficult to rehab a tractor plow fireline. It’s not exactly a “light hand on the land”.

Here are a couple of photos I took while assigned to the Blackjack Bay fire on the Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia and Florida in 2002.

The photo below show a rear-mounted unit that has wheels which can be raised when plowing operations begin.

The front of the plow. Those tires look like they lead a hard life.

Tractor plows have not changed a lot in the last 50 years. Here is drawing for patent #2990632 filed in 1958.

A 395-acre fire 31 miles south of Berlin is burning at a military base that was first established by the Prussian government in 1870. It was used as a training area for the Nazis, and later, Soviet tanks and airplanes, from 1935 until 1994. Unexploded munitions in the area require that all firefighting be done from roads or the air.

It reminds me of when we used to go to “fire school” for live fire training at Camp Pendleton in southern California. Instructors would light fires in grass or brush and then dispatch engines and hot shot crews to suppress them. The area was also used by the marines for training, and it was common for the fire to cause M-16 ammunition to explode. We were told that they were all blanks, but the empty cartridges whizzing past your head were, at best, extremely distracting while you were fighting a vegetation fire.

The fire in eastern North Carolina continues to spread to the north and east. It is now 35,691 acres and has moved into the “Hollow Ground Swamp” in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. But just judging from the heat detected by satellites, the swamp must be fairly dry, since the fire has burned quite a few acres within it.

The temperature at the fire today should be in the mid 90’s, the RH in the low 40’s, with the wind 7-11 out of the south and southwest.

The map below shows heat detected by satellites last night. Click on the images to see larger versions.

The map below is provided by the Incident Management Team and shows the fire progression.

In the photo below, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Manager Howard Phillips (far right) looks over high-volume pumping operation while George Constantino (back to camera) discusses the Water Handling Operations with the Rowan County Assistant District Forester.

In Florida yesterday, in Sarasota county, a sheriff’s department helicopter helped keep an entrapped Division of Forestry tractor from being burned over in a fire. The operator made it to safety while the helicopter saved the $100,000 tractor by dropping four bucket-loads of water on it. The fire was contained at 480 acres.

Here are some photos of the fire in eastern North Carolina supplied by the Incident Management team.

From the Missoulian:

MISSOULA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer says that creating healthier forests, possibly by having the state take over management of some federal timberland, is the best way to combat the infestation of bark beetles in the West.

In a speech, Schweitzer suggested that instead of spending $50 million to $200 million annually to fight wildfires, the state should budget $75 million each year for treating its forests before they’re burned or killed by beetles. The governor made the comments at the University of Montana during a conference to discuss the beetle infestation.

“We propose the federal government manage like we do after a fire n complete timber sales in six to eight months after a fire,” he said. “When we have dead or dying trees, we harvest them, but our neighbor doesn’t do a dang thing, in their checkerboard fashion.”

Schweitzer said leaders could propose a plan to manage 10 percent of federal timberland.