Wildfire Today

Wildfire south of Kelowna, BC likely started by sky lantern

Bill GabbertMarch 18, 2021March 18, 2021WildfireBritish Columbia, Canada, sky lantern

Peachland, British Columbia sky lantern — Wildfire near a home in Peachland, British Columbia on March 16, 2021 likely started by a sky lantern. Photo by Kevin Tameling.

A flaming object that fell from the sky ignited a fire 10 to 15 feet from a home in Peachland, British Columbia on March 16. Firefighters responded quickly and suppressed the blaze, but after it had burned part of a homeowner’s deck and singed the siding.

Initially some residents thought it was space debris or a meteorite, but video indicates it was most likely a sky lantern.

At seven seconds in the video below several bright objects separate from a single bright object. Most of the new objects disappear but the largest is seen falling to the ground over the next 29 seconds.

This is consistent with what happens when the paper hot air balloon above a a sky lantern is ignited by the flames underneath. Depending on the altitude parts of the paper can burn completely or partially before they hit the ground, and the candle or burning oil may continue to burn as it falls, then possibly igniting any receptive fuel on the ground.

These dangerous devices use burning material to loft a small paper or plastic hot air balloon into the air. The perpetrator has no control over where it lands. Usually the fire goes out before it hits the ground, but not always. Sometimes the envelope catches fire while in flight. Numerous fires have been started on the ground by sky lanterns. Even if they don’t ignite a fire, they leave litter on the ground. Metal parts have been picked up by hay balers causing serious problems when fed to livestock

Sky lanterns are illegal in at least 30 states.

On December 31, 2019, New Years Eve, a sky lantern caused a fire in a zoo in Western Germany that killed more than 30 animals, including apes, monkeys, bats, and birds, authorities said.

In March of 2019 a sky lantern landing on the roof was the most likely cause of a fire that resulted in about $40,000 in damage to a business in Burlington, Vermont.

In October, 2018 surveillance camera footage in Goyang, Korea showed a sky lantern starting a fire in grass that spread to and destroyed a tank holding 2.66 million liters of gasoline, enough to fill 250 tank trucks.

In September, 2018 a sky lantern was suspected of causing a power outage on a railroad in Hong Kong, causing four trains to be disrupted for 25 minutes until repairs were made.

Here are a few other examples of damage from sky lanterns: a warehouse in the Philippines, an Olympic venue in Rio, 15 people injured and 4 homes destroyed in India, 4 homes and a boat dock in Michigan, a four-plex structure in California, and six million British pounds worth of damage to a recycling facility in England.

Sky Lantern poster — Volunteer Wildfire Service, South Africa.

Great Smoky Mountains NP completes two prescribed fires

Bill GabbertMarch 18, 2021March 18, 2021Prescribed FireGreat Smoky Mountains National Park, prescribed fire, Tennessee1 Comment

Near Wears Valley and Cades Cove

Prescribed fire in Great Smoky Mountains NP — Prescribed fire in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, March 9, 2021. NPS photo.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park successfully completed a 175-acre prescribed burn along a half-mile of the park boundary in Wears Valley on Tuesday, March 9. The objective of the project was to reduce the amount of flammable vegetation along the park’s boundary near homes, as well as maintaining an open woodland habitat for drought-tolerant trees like oak and pine.

“The wildland fire specialists did an outstanding job planning, prepping, and executing this prescribed burn in an ongoing effort to help communities along our boundary to create Firewise space between their homes and parklands,” said Chief Ranger Lisa Hendy.

Crews established a 3,000-ft hose lay for added protection around homes at the top of the ridge and along the boundary before implementing the prescribed burn. A small test burn was conducted to confirm fire behavior before the prescribed fire was allowed to burn slowly down the slope towards Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. As expected, smoke was visible throughout the operations across the Wears Valley area.

Flame lengths and fire behavior were within prescription throughout the operations as the low-intensity fire backed down the slope over a six-hour period until the burn reached the natural and manmade control lines at the bottom. Crews remained on scene overnight and continued to staff the area for several days to check control lines and monitor fire activity.

Crews from the Cherokee National Forest, Bureau of Indian Affairs in Cherokee, Townsend Volunteer Fire Department, Pittman Center Volunteer Fire Department, Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department, The Nature Conservancy, AmeriCorp, and employees from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Congaree National Park, and Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park provided assistance throughout the burn operations including site preparation and post-burn monitoring.

In preparation for the prescribed burn operation, crews spent several days clearing brush and leaf litter along the park boundary and Indian Camp Branch, which successfully served as fire control lines to keep the fire within its planned boundaries. The 175-acre unit was bounded by Wear Cove Gap Road, Indian Camp Branch, Little River, and the park boundary along Roundtop Trail.

In February the park conducted a prescribed burn in the Cades Cove area, 90 acres in the Rowans Branch unit along Sparks Lane and 338 acres of the Primitive Baptist Church unit along Hyatt Lane.

King Fire burns 10,000 acres southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas

Bill GabbertMarch 18, 2021March 18, 2021WildfireTexas4 Comments

The fire started on the King Ranch

Map King Fire Corpus Christi, Texas — Map showing the approximate location of the King Fire 70 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas at 2:42 a.m. CDT March 18, 2021.

The Texas Forest Service said a vegetation fire has burned about 10,000 acres as of 7:30 a.m. CDT Thursday, 70 miles southwest of Corpus Cristi, Texas in Brooks County. The fire started at the King Ranch east of Encino.

One structure has burned and others are threatened. There are two other smaller fires in the area, northwest and northeast of Encino, including the Butterfly 2 Fire which has burned about 300 acres.

Firefighters at the Butterfly 2 Fire. Photo by Texas Forest Service.

Texas Equipment arrives at the Brooks 2 Fire — Equipment arrives at the Butterfly 2 Fire in Brooks County, Texas, March 17, 2021. Photo by Texas Forest Service.

Thursday’s weather forecast calls for 13 mph northerly winds decreasing throughout the day to 5 mph by sunset, with relative humidities in the high teens.

Update: the #Butterfly2Fire in Brooks County is an estimated 300 acres and 70% contained. Crews worked until the early morning constructing containment line around large portions of the fire. #txfire pic.twitter.com/MBUflVGCsp

— Incident Information – Texas A&M Forest Service (@AllHazardsTFS) March 18, 2021

Kansas landowner dies while conducting controlled burn

Bill GabbertMarch 16, 2021March 16, 2021Wildfirefatality, Kansas

March 4, 2021 fire fatality in Kansas — The arrow points to the approximate location of the March 4, 2021 fatality in Kansas.

A report has surfaced showing that a property owner died while conducting a controlled burn on their property in Kansas.

It occurred March 4, 2021 on the “1400 and Julinn Road Fire” in Linn County about 8 miles north-northwest of Mound City.

An Incident Status Summary, ICS-209, for the fire completed March 15, 2021 shows that a report from the local Fire Department did not indicate if the person was killed directly by the fire or if there was a medical incident that led to the fatality.

Preliminary information from the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal said, “The victim was badly burned in the fire, and it was believed that he was [conducting the controlled burn], and the fire over took him…When he started the burning, winds were calm. They then [increased] with gusts to 24 MPH.”

The victim was found about two feet away from a shovel.

The weather at the time, according to the ICS-209, was 69 degrees, relative humidity 25 percent, with winds out of the southwest at 15 to 20 mph. The fire was burning in grass.

The name of the victim has not been released and the autopsy report has not been completed.

Wildfire burns office buildings in New Jersey

Bill GabbertMarch 15, 2021March 15, 2021WildfireNew Jersey5 Comments

Firefighter hospitalized, in critical condition

Fire near Lakewood, NJ. Screenshot from Jersey Shore Fire Response video.

The Airport Fire near Lakewood, New Jersey burned two office buildings Sunday afternoon as strong winds helped spread a vegetation fire quickly across 170 acres about 12 miles north of Toms River.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NFFS) said a firefighter is in critical condition at a nearby hospital. Channel 10 in Philadelphia reported the individual suffered a cardiac incident.

According to the NJFFS, the fire came close to homes, but none were “substantially damaged though some ancillary structures such as sheds were impacted.”

The cause of the fire has not been released, but an escaped prescribed fire has been ruled out, in spite of inaccurate reports online indicating otherwise according to the NJFFS.

The fire was reported at about 1:30 p.m. near Lakewood Airport and was pushed by strong winds across the Garden State Parkway which had to be closed.

Sunday afternoon a weather station west of the fire recorded 10 mph winds out of the west gusting at 20 to 35 mph while the relative humidity dropped to 16 percent. A Red Flag Warning is in effect for the area until 5 p.m. Monday for 10 to 20 mph hour northwest winds with relative humidity in the teens.

About 100 residents were evacuated to a nearby elementary school but were allowed to return at 7 p.m.

At least one water dropping helicopter, a single engine air tanker, and a tractor plow can be seen in the video below.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Tom, Jim, and Rick.

Park Service denies request for July 4 fireworks at Mount Rushmore

Bill GabbertMarch 14, 2021March 15, 2021Uncategorizedfireworks, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota12 Comments

“Potential risks to the park itself and to the health and safety of employees and visitors associated with the fireworks demonstration continue to be a concern and are still being evaluated as a result of the 2020 event,” said the National Park Service.

The National Park Service has denied a request from the State of South Dakota to hold a July 4 fireworks display at Mount Rushmore this year.

Last year under pressure from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and former President Trump, fireworks were shot from the heads of the four presidents on the sculpture for the first time since 2009. In the interim they had been banned for having started 27 fires, left carcinogens in the water, and the trash dropped by the exploding shells onto the Monument and the forest can never be completely picked up. Fireworks were exploded over the sculpture and the Ponderosa pine forest 11 times between 1998 and 2009.

NPS Regional Director Herbert Frost wrote in a letter to the head of the state’s tourism department, first reported by The Hill Friday, that the NPS is “unable to grant a request to have fireworks at the Memorial.”

“Potential risks to the park itself and to the health and safety of employees and visitors associated with the fireworks demonstration continue to be a concern and are still being evaluated as a result of the 2020 event,” Frost wrote. “In addition, the park’s many tribal partners expressly oppose fireworks at the Memorial.”

“These factors, compiled with the COVID-19 pandemic, do not allow a safe and responsible fireworks display to be held at this site,” he added.

Frost noted that although progress is being made in fighting the pandemic, the situation is still “dynamic” and said it is “only prudent to make plans based on the best available science and public health guidance available today.”

In a joint statement, three members of Congress, Representative Dusty Johnson, Senator John Thune, and Senator Mike Rounds said,

Let’s be clear, this decision is political, not evidence-based. President Biden just said himself that Americans can safely gather by July 4 – what’s changed in a day? Last year millions watched the celebration in awe, and it’s a shame the administration is denying Americans that opportunity this year.

On March 11 in his address to the nation President Biden said,

Because here’s the point, if we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4th, there’s a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn’t mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together.

According to Johns Hopkins University, of all the U.S. states, as of March 14, 2021 South Dakota has the third-highest number of positive COVID-19 cases per capita, and the sixth-lowest rate of testing per capita. The state has never implemented a mask mandate.

From Forbes, March 13, 2021:

Four days before the fireworks celebration in 2020, a local wildfire update reported that multiple fires had affected nearly 16,000 acres in the Black Hills, near Mount Rushmore. But wildfire experts’ objections to the 2020 celebration went unheeded.

“Burning debris, the burning embers and unexploded shells fall into a ponderosa pine forest and ponderosa pine is extremely flammable,” Bill Gabbert, former fire management officer for Mount Rushmore, told the Argus Leader last year. “Shooting fireworks over a ponderosa pine forest, or any flammable vegetation, is ill advised and should not be done. Period.”

In a break from what had been the standard practice for decades, when the Mine Draw Fire broke out six miles from Mount Rushmore just days before the fireworks were exploded in 2020, Governor Kristi Noem’s office took control of all official information about the fire, shutting down the fire professionals who had always provided information to the public and the media as part of their regular jobs.

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