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Vegetation buried by lava produces methane burning with blue flame

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Above: Blue flames can be visible when vegetation buried by hot lava produces methane which vents and is then ignited. Screenshot from USGS video.

What’s happening on Hawaii’s big island as the eruption of the Kilauea volcano enters its fourth week seems like it is from another world — huge mounds of red-hot lava rumbling in slow motion over homes and forests as it makes it to the sea. Where it enters the cold water it produces what is called “laze,” hydrochloric acid steam that pours into the air along with fine particles of glass. Laze can cause lung, eye, and skin irritation and caused the deaths of two people in 2000.

Since it is the wet season in Hawaii brush fires caused by the eruption are not a big concern, but the lava finds a way to burn the vegetation regardless. The USGS explains:

When hot lava buries plants and shrubs, methane gas is produced as a byproduct of burning vegetation. Methane gas can seep into subsurface voids and explode when heated, or as shown in this video, emerge from cracks in the ground several feet away from the lava. When ignited, the methane produces a blue flame. Intermittent short bursts of methane are visible in the center area of the video. Lava fountaining is visible to the right and left sides of the video.

Interview with Kari Greer about her photography exhibit in Missoula

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 6 Comments on Interview with Kari Greer about her photography exhibit in Missoula

Above: Kari Greer, wildfire photographer, at a reception for the opening of her exhibit at the University of Montana May 21, 2018.

Tuesday we had an opportunity to interview Kari Greer about her “Facing the Inferno” exhibit of wildfire photography. It is on display for three days, May 21-23, during the Fire Continuum Conference at the University of Montana in Missoula in the University Center, room 227.

The photos in the exhibit are borrowed from the main venue showing her photography which was at the Prichard Art Gallery on the campus of the University of Idaho until April 14, 2018.

Kari is a very well respected and skilled wildland fire photographer who has specialized in the field for years.

Teen who started Eagle Creek Fire ordered to pay $36.6 million in restitution

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 5 Comments on Teen who started Eagle Creek Fire ordered to pay $36.6 million in restitution

Above: 3-D map of the Eagle Creek Fire looking southeast, showing the perimeter at 7:30 p.m. PDT September 5, 2017.

A judge has ordered the teen who started the Eagle Creek Fire last summer to pay restitution totaling $36.6 million.

After a complaint from the teen’s attorney that the judgement was “absurd” District Judge John Olson said during the hearing on Monday that it was “clearly proportionate to the offense”.

Eagle Creek Fire
Firefighters protect the Multnomah Lodge at the Eagle Creek Fire, September 5, 2017. Inciweb.

The fire burned 48,831 acres in the Columbia River Gorge in September, 2017. Most of the fire was on the Oregon side of the river but a burning ember started a spot fire on the Washington side which was quickly extinguished.  The fire required the extended closure of Interstate 84, forced hundreds to evacuate, and poured smoke into Portland.

The judge acknowledged that the teen will have trouble coming up with $36.6 million and allowed him to establish a payment plan. If he completes probation and does not have any additional offenses, after 10 years the court may  grant a full or partial halt of the restitution.

A new app to predict wildland fire behavior

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , ,

Wildfire Analyst Pocket appTechnosylva has released a new free app for smart phones that can help predict fire behavior. It is called Wildfire Analyst Pocket and is available for Android phones. It will soon be on the Apple app store as well.

In a video filmed May 21, 2018, the president of the company, Joaquin Ramirez, introduces us to the app.

Technosylva is one of the companies that produce systems available now that could lead toward the Holy Grail of Wildland Firefighter Safety, tracking in real time the location of firefighters and a wildfire.

Fire Continuum Conference begins at Missoula

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Above: Vicki Christiansen, interim Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, addresses the participants at the Fire Continuum conference in Missoula, May 21, 2018.

A fire conference with an unusual name began Monday in Missoula. The “Fire Continuum Conference” is organized by the International Association of Wildland Fire and the Association for Fire Ecology with a theme of preparing for the future of wildland fire. It has drawn 655 participants from approximately 20 countries who are faced this week with the difficult task of choosing from 400 workshops, presentations, and field trips.fire continuum conference missoula

It kicked off Monday with a keynote address by Vicki Christiansen, the interim Chief of the U.S. Forest Service who talked about four “gnarly challenges”– drought, fuel buildup, growth in the wildland-urban interface, and fire exclusion compounded by climate change. It is not often that we hear someone from the present administration talk about climate change.

Ms. Christiansen said that since 1910 there have been more than 1,000 deaths on wildland fires and the fatality rate is rising, with almost a quarter of those, 255, having occurred in the last 15 years. According to the U.S Fire Administration, wildland firefighters, she said, “are killed at a rate six times higher than structural firefighters”.

She also refuted the “narrative that has formed for some that the Forest Service firefighting is not aggressive enough”. She said “We will commit firefighters only under conditions where they can actually have a chance of succeeding in protecting important values at risk”.

The conference wraps up Thursday. We will have a number of articles on Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation about the happenings in Missoula.

The video below is just to give you a quick look to see which organizations were exhibiting at the no host social event, the first night at the Fire Continuum Conference, May 21, 2018.

Below are photos of other speakers at the conference .

Alen Slijepcevic, President, International Association of Wildland Fire
Alen Slijepcevic, President, International Association of Wildland Fire
Chris Dicus, President, Association for Fire Ecology
Chris Dicus, President, Association for Fire Ecology
Mark Finney
Mark Finney, Research Forester, USDA Forest Service, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory
Tom Zimmerm
Tom Zimmerman, immediate past President of the International Association of Wildland Fire
Dave Calkin
Dave Calkin, Research Forester, Human Dimensions Program, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

fire continuum conference missoula

Lava causes brush fire in Hawaii

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 2 Comments on Lava causes brush fire in Hawaii

The eruption and lava flow from the volcano on Hawaii’s big island has ignited vegetation, causing a fire and forcing additional evacuations.

Below is an update from Hawaii County Civil Defense issued Saturday evening:

This is a Civil Defense Message for Saturday, May 19 at 9:00 in the evening.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to monitor active flows.  The flow originating from fissure 20 has again split into two lobes, both are currently heading in the general direction of the 13 mile marker on Highway 137.  Flow front #1 is approximately 630 meters from Highway 137 and moving about a 100 meters per hour.  Flow front #2 is approximately 750 meters from Highway 137 and moving about the same speed.  At the current rate, the lava flow may cross the highway within the next five to seven hours.

Highway 137 is closed between Kamaili Road and Pohoiki Road.  Kamaili Road is closed between Highway 130 and Highway 137 due to a brush fire. Residents in the area have been evacuated.

lava volcano brush fire
Photo from Twitter user Kimberly @kimberlyaliceMT:
Just for a little bit of scale and a reality check… The two circled white specks are @USGSVolcanoes workers going down to collect lava samples earlier today.