Above: Map showing the location of the Pinery Fire in Southeast Arizona. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:57 p.m. MDT May 11, 2018.
(Originally published at 8:17 p.m. MDT May 12, 2018)
A fire that started at 1:30 p.m. Saturday has forced the evacuation and closure of Chiricahua National Monument in Southeast Arizona. The cause is under investigation but it started on private land, moved onto the Chiricahua National Monument, and has since spread north onto the Coronado National Forest.
Our very unofficial estimate based on 3:57 p.m satellite data is that at that time it had burned approximately 400 acres. At 8 p.m. local time the National Park Service estimated the size at 675 acres.
Red Flag conditions on Saturday, including wind gusts up to 37 mph, are making containment difficult. The forecast for Sunday includes more Red Flag Warnings for the fire area with 86 degrees, 14 percent relative humidity, mostly sunny skies, and southwest winds of 13 to 25 mph with gusts up to 37 again.
The fire is under joint command of the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, the National Park Service, and the Coronado National Forest.
Multiple aircraft have been ordered, including 5 single engine air tankers, 4 large air tankers, and 3 helicopters. Seven engines, 2 initial attack crews, and 2 hotshot crews are working on the ground trying to stop forward progress. Additional resources have been ordered, including four more hotshot crews. The fire is 32 miles southeast of Willcox, 20 miles south of Interstate 10, 19 miles west of the Arizona/New Mexico border, and 44 miles north of the international border.
Above: Satellite photo taken August 2, 2017 showing smoke from some of the wildfires in British Columbia. The red dots represent heat detected by a sensor on the satellite
After the very large wildfires that burned across great swaths of the Northern Rockies last summer in the United States and Canada, firefighters are concerned about those that could have survived the snow-covered ground and be given a new life as the weather warms. Fires that burned extremely hot due to an accumulation of fuels or drier than normal ground cover, may hibernate in organic soils that provide a continuous supply of fuel.
Hot spots that outlive the snow and have access to warmer temperatures and more oxygen will often emerge to find themselves surrounded by thousands of acres of blackened forest. These are not a problem since they can’t spread, but the sudden appearance of smoke where there had not been any for more than half a year can be a distracting nuisance.
Of greater concern are the ones that materialize on the edge of a fire where there is abundant access to unburned vegetation. Firefighters want the public to report all smokes. Yes, there may be some false positives if they are in the middle of a fire from the previous year, but they desperately want to hear about potentially dangerous overwintering fires.
Above: Map showing heat on the Viewpoint Fire detected by a satellite at 1:40 p.m MDT May 11, 2018.
(UPDATED at 7:40 a.m. MDT May 12, 2018)
Firefighters were able to get forward progress stopped on the Viewpoint Fire around 4:30 p.m MDT, Friday. The fire burned 5,100 acres before crews knocked down the fast moving fire that destroyed two homes and possibly three to four more in the Poquito Valley area. Between 10 and 12 other structures also burned. Once the area is deemed safe officials can get in to better assess the damages. More than 250 fire personnel, along with a very large air tanker and other aircraft, assisted in fire suppression efforts.
UPDATE: Viewpoint Fire destroys 2 homes, chars 2,000-plus acres. Residents allowed to return to homes in Poquito Valley, Antelope Valley communities. #ViewpointFire
— The Daily Courier (@TheDailyCourier) May 12, 2018
****
(UPDATED at 7:13 MDT May 11, 2018)
Arizona State Forestry reports forward progress on the Viewpoint Fire has stopped. They estimate it has burned 2,500 acres.
**** (Originally published at 4:01 p.m. MDT May 11, 2018. Updated at 6:42 p.m. MDT May 11, 2018)
A fire reported at 1 p.m. Friday has burned thousands of acres in Arizona a few miles north of Prescott Valley. Pushed by very strong winds, it was moving through an area with houses Friday afternoon six miles southeast of Chino Valley.
Our very unofficial estimate based on satellite data shows that it has burned at least 2,400 acres.
Above: GOES 16 satellite image of the Mallard Fire at 3:22 p.m. CDT May 11, 2018.
(Updated at 8:08 p.m. CDT May 11, 2018)
The time-lapse video below is mesmerizing!!
Amazing Video! Time lapse we shot this afternoon of a massive wildfire burning near our house here in the #Texas Panhandle. Awe-inspiring and terrifying! Grateful for our firefighers and first responders! #wildfire#timelapse#mallardfirepic.twitter.com/crNo13qSvj
This video of the pyrocumulus cloud created by the #MallardFire in Armstrong County was taken by ABC 7 Chief Photographer Steve Douglass. pic.twitter.com/uHrf6jmr3J
(Originally published at 4:37 p.m. CDT May 11, 2018)
A large wildfire is moving through Armstrong County in the Texas panhandle 32 miles southeast of Amarillo and 18 miles southwest of Clarendon. Friday afternoon the Texas Forest Service said it had burned approximately 34,000 acres.
On Thursday the Summer Field Fire merged with the Mallard Fire. Large air tankers, SEATs, and helicopters have been working the fire since Wednesday. A very large air tanker was ordered Thursday.
Heat detected by a satellite over the Mallard Fire in the Texas panhandle. The most recent, the red dots, are from 3:13 a.m. CDT May 11, 2018.
#MallardFire in Armstrong County, Incident Command Post for the Mallard Fire is at Randall County Event Center, 1111 East Loop 335 south, Amarillo, Texas. Fire Information phone line is 432-558-8311 #txfirepic.twitter.com/BNxg0qWVlh
— Incident Information – Texas A&M Forest Service (@AllHazardsTFS) May 11, 2018
— Incident Information – Texas A&M Forest Service (@AllHazardsTFS) May 11, 2018
Below is a photo from Thursday:
Incident Update: #MallardFire in Armstrong County, extreme fire behavior, local volunteer fire departments and TFS ground and air resources including three large air tankers, three single-engine air tankers, air attack aircraft and large helicopter have been assisting. #txfirepic.twitter.com/GlE2oXJYkP
— Incident Information – Texas A&M Forest Service (@AllHazardsTFS) May 10, 2018
The fire is putting up a huge column of smoke and is creating a large pyrocumulus cloud blowing off to the east.
Looking at potential size sorting in #MallardFire plume, lightning from the pyroCb, wondering if they may be connected…got me feeling all pic.twitter.com/7WQJN8JPqj
Above: Honoring “unsung heroes” at the Department of Agriculture. USDA photo.
Yesterday the office of Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, distributed by Twitter the photo above, saying:
It’s #PublicServiceRecognitionWeek, an occasion to acknowledge the fine work our @USDA career employees do every week of the year. Happy to speak at a ceremony to honor our “Unsung Heroes.” They’re the ones who help fulfill our mission to Do Right and Feed Everyone.
One of the honorees was a firefighter on the Los Padres National Forest in California, Division Chief Peter Harris. On December 11, 2017 he was shot in the neck and ear while driving a USFS vehicle in Monterey County, California.
Here is how the USFS, @R5_Fire_News, in a series of five tweets on May 10 described the incident:
On Dec 11, 2017 @LosPadresNF Div Chief Peter Harris was shot in the head &back while driving back to his station after a fire response. Harris radioed law enforcement & a medi-vac helicopter for himself. Covered in blood, but not knowing the extent of his own injuries, Harris determined it may take as long as 30 min for help to arrive in such a remote area of the forest. Instead of driving from harm, Harris used his vehicle to block the road & prevent the public from entering the area of the shooter. Today, @USDA @SecretarySonny honored Division Chief Harris & others as part of the @USDA “Unsung Hero” awards in Washington, DC.
Several Senators and Representatives expressed concern that there would not be enough air tankers available this year.
Interim Chief of the Forest Service, Vicki Christiansen, briefs members of Congress about the 2018 wildfire season. Screenshot from the video below.
On Thursday the Departments of Interior and Agriculture briefed members of Congress about the outlook for wildfires in 2018.
There was a lot of talk about being more aggressive about attacking fires, firefighting aircraft, forest health, dead trees, logging, and reducing fuels in forests.
In response to a question by Washington Senator Maria Cantwell about expanding the use of drones on fires, the Secretaries of the two Departments announced that they would sign an agreement to more easily share resources and technology between the two Departments, including drones.
Washington Senator Maria Cantwell asks a question about expanding the use of drones on wildfires. Screenshot from the video below.
During her prepared remarks, Interim Chief of the Forest Service Vicki Christiansen said the Forest Service had “hundreds of aircraft ready to respond” to fires. The fact is, in addition to helicopters, in 2017 there were 20 large air tankers on exclusive use (EU) contracts. This year there are 13, with another 11 on call when needed (CWN) agreements plus one HC-130H Coast Guard aircraft outfitted with a temporary MAFFS tank. The Forest Service wants to get rid of the Coast Guard HC-130H currently being used and the other six that Congress directed them and the Air Force to convert to air tankers.
Randy Eardley, spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, told us today that no EU contracts for Single Engine Air Tankers have been awarded yet this year, but there is an existing CWN contract for SEATs which will be used. It is unlikely that an EU contract will be awarded, for the second year in a row. Before 2017 there were typically 33 SEATs on EU contracts every year. Approximately 10 have been working on a CWN basis in Texas and the Southwest during the last month or two.
A few of the politicians at the briefing criticized the reduction in the number of air tankers. At 16:00 in the video, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden expressed his concern.
Last week we were hearing in rural Oregon that there wouldn’t be enough air tankers on exclusive use contracts at the Forest Service…. What is the Service doing to ensure that the all call when needed air tankers are going to be there in terms of these fires.
Ms. Christiansen responded to the Senator:
Senator Wyden, I can assure you we will have the same number of large air tankers, 25, available to us on contract or agency operated. That’s in addition to the specialty that the Department of Interior provides in Single Engine Air Tankers and then we all have a selection of rotary helicopter resources. So we are confident in our ability to field the large air tankers and the other aviation assets. As I said before, we are always evaluating the mix of exclusive use and call when needed. Call when needed can be available within 30 minutes but often certainly within a couple of hours. And our predictive services I have great confidence in that we will bring those call when needed resources on as we anticipate the need expanding. It all happens out of our Interagency Fire Center in Boise.
Call when needed contracts for large air tankers specify that the aircraft should be able to be activated within 48 hours. And it is not as simple as a dispatcher making a phone call to the vendor, it must be handled by a contracting officer. But after being activated, they can remain in that status for an extended period of time, even if it is raining, and be subject to the same dispatch standards as exclusive use aircraft.
The quality of the video and audio below is very poor, but at least 90 percent of the audio is comprehensible.
The article was revised to clarify that while it is unlikely that an exclusive use contract will be awarded this year for SEATs, an existing call when needed contract can be used.
