Wildfire Today

Wildfire smoke to affect Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, and Montana on Sunday

Bill GabbertSeptember 15, 2019December 7, 2019WildfireRed Flag Warning, smoke1 Comment

Red Flag Warnings for areas in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming

forecast near surface smoke — Forecast for smoke near the Earth’s surface at 6 p.m. MDT September 15, 2019.

Smoke from wildfires are producing smoke that forecasters expect to affect large portions of Idaho, Montana, and Colorado on Sunday. The map above is the forecast for 6 p.m. MDT.

The largest producers of smoke today are:

Oregon: the 13,000-acre, largest ever prescribed fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest just east of Crater Lake National Park, south of Highway 138 and west of Highway 97.
Idaho: a wildfire in state-protected lands in the southwest corner of the state 77 miles southwest of Boise, ID and 32 miles south-southeast of Jordan Valley, OR.
California: The 53,148-acre Walker Fire 16 miles south of Susanville, CA.
Colorado: Decker Fire, 6 miles south of Salida, CO, a fire 36 miles southwest of Salida, and two fires 20 and 40 miles east of Durango.

Red Flag Warnings are in effect Sunday for areas of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming.

(Red Flag Warnings can be modified throughout the day as NWS offices around the country update and revise their weather forecasts.)

270 firefighters working out of remote spike camp on the South Fire

Bill GabbertSeptember 14, 2019December 7, 2019WildfireCalifornia, South Fire2 Comments

(9:26 a.m. PDT September 14, 2019)

South Fire California — Spike Camp on the South Fire, September 12, 2019. Inciweb.

The South Fire has burned 4,094 acres on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and state protected lands since it started from a lightning strike on September 5, 28 miles west of Red Bluff, California. (see map below)

It is burning in a very remote area with difficult access. About 270 firefighters are working out of a spike camp on a landing strip north of the fire in order to reduce travel times, but from there they still have an hour drive to get to their work assignments each day.

Below is information from the Incident Management Team on Friday:

“Firing operations on the northwest section of the fire were successful and will continue as weather permits. The fire south of Buck Camp and Hamilton Gultz had moderate fire activity and the southeast portion of the fire continues to hold within the containment lines. Fire in the Yolla-Bolly Wilderness continues to burn in a north / northwest direction towards the Syd Cabin Glade area.

“Firefighters will continue to construct direct fireline, which is the closest proximity to the fire, where they can and use natural barriers. Roads are being cleared of brush for easier access to the fire for the firefighters. Structure protection continues within and around the fire area.

“The main objective is to fully suppress the fire while providing for firefighter and public safety which is the highest priority. Firefighters continue to protect private and Forest Service infrastructure, along with natural and cultural resources, by limiting fire spread south of Cottonwood Creek and north of Nuisance Ridge and Ball Rock Road.”

map South Fire California — Map showing the location of the South Fire at 9:49 p.m. PDT September 13, 2019.

NIOSH is studying the health effects of fighting wildfires

Bill GabbertSeptember 14, 2019September 13, 2019Uncategorizedfirefighter health, research2 Comments

Screenshot from the firefighters health study video below.

This is the second year of a multi-year study that is following six crews and taking health data from them on fires as well as at the beginning and end of the fire seasons.

The video provides a brief overview of this new approach to examine the potential health effects that wildland firefighters may experience working on wildland fires. This effort is a collaboration between the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH), the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service. As you will see in the video, a NIOSH team actually goes into the field on a wildfire in Idaho to test members of the Sawtooth Interagency Hotshot Crew on potential impacts to their overall health, including effects to their hearts, lungs, kidneys, and hearing. As results of this effort are made available, the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center will share them.

Update on the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment

Bill GabbertSeptember 13, 2019Uncategorizedprescribed fire, research, Utah

fire Manning Creek burn — Manning Creek burn on June 20, 2019. (Photo by Roger Ottmar)

The Fire and Smoke Model Experiment (FASMEE) is a large, multi-agency effort funded by the Joint Fire Science Program and the U.S. Forest Service to identify and collect critical fuel, fire behavior, and other measurements that will be used to advance scientific understanding as well as operational and research modeling capabilities associated with wildland fire. The goal is to allow managers to increase the use of wildfire and prescribed fire.

On June 20, 2019, FASMEE completed data collection on Manning Creek, the first of two large, operational stand-replacement burns in a dense mixed conifer-aspen forest as part of FASMEE’s Phase 2 Southwest Campaign (Phase 1 was a planning phase and other campaigns are possible). The burn was conducted by the Richfield Ranger District located on the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. Over 40 scientists participated using ground sampling methods, drones carrying state of the art imagery and air quality sampling instrumentation, fire hardened video and still cameras, and LiDAR to collect a suite of data including fuel loading, fuel consumption, fire behavior, plume dynamics, and smoke data. Readers can view video and photographic imagery captured during the Manning Creek fire at https://fasmee.net/study-sites/manning-creek

Richfield Ranger District personnel will conduct a second stand replacement research fire this fall near Annabella Reservoir with over 120 scientists participating. In addition to the suite of instruments and sampling techniques deployed during the first research burn, two fixed wing aircraft including NASA/NOAA’s FIREX-AQ DC8 will be sampling plume smoke and heat release. Additional LiDAR and radar units have been acquired to better identify plume dynamics, with cameras and thermocouples added within the fire perimeter to capture data on soil heating and aspen regeneration.

drone fire Manning Creek burn — A wildland firefighter flies a drone over the Manning Creek burn on June 20, 2019. (Photo by Adam Watts)

Smoke from Whiskey Fire predicted to impact Flagstaff

Bill GabbertSeptember 13, 2019December 7, 2019WildfireArizona, smoke

smoke forecast Flagstaff Whiskey Fire — Near surface smoke forecast for 6 p.m. MDT September 13, 2019. Click to enlarge.

(9:52 a.m. MDT September 13, 2019)

Forecasts predict that smoke from the Whiskey Fire 10 miles southwest of the Flagstaff Airport will move into the city Friday afternoon. (see maps)

Thursday and Thursday night the wind from the east and northeast moved smoke from the fire off to the southwest but that direction is predicted to change shortly after noon Friday to come from the south and southwest, pushing the smoke into the Flagstaff area. If the fire activity continues on Saturday the smoke is expected to continue to impact the city.

The Whiskey Fire started September 2 on the Coconino National Forest and is being managed rather than completely suppressed. Thursday firefighters began conducting firing operations along Forest Road 231 to ensure the wildfire stays in its containment area. Today, Friday, the plan is to moderate but continue the firing operations through the weekend, according to information released by the Forest Service.

The agency said smoke may affect Flagstaff, Munds Park, Mountainaire, Kachina Village, Forest Highlands, Doney Park, Mormon Lake Village, Highway 89A Corridor, Sedona, Village of Oak Creek, and portions of Interstate 40.

The fire has burned 3,500 acres.