Chief of the International Falls, MN Fire Department, Adam Mannausau, displaying an illegal sky lantern that landed on the roof of his house. Photo: International Falls FD.
When the Chief of the International Falls Fire Department was backing out of his driveway last week in Minnesota he spotted something on his roof that was not supposed to be there. Chief Adam Mannausau discovered it was a charred sky lantern.
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
The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag Warnings for areas in New Mexico and Texas.
The Red Flag Warning map was current at 7:47 a.m. MDT on Friday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts.
(Originally published at 6:24 p.m. PDT April 19, 2018)
A fire that started Thursday afternoon grew to approximately 300 acres five miles north of Lone Pine, California. The fire is east of Highway 395 which for a while was closed in both directions. Later it was open but with escorts.
Lone Pine is 100 air miles northeast of Bakersfield, California.
The name of the fire was originally “Spillway”.
Map of the Moffet Fire at 1:51 p.m. April 19, 2018.
Firefighters have slowed the spread of the 41,000-acre “MM 117 Fire” between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The name comes from the mile marker on Interstate 25 near the point of origin.
The early reports indicated that 10 structures had burned, but officials have revised that to 23 residences, with 7 of them being unoccupied.
The state requested the Rocky Mountain Area Type 2 Incident Management Team Black, with Incident Commander Mark Hatcher, to manage the fire. They assumed command at 6 a.m. today (Thursday).
When the fire started Tuesday the wind was far too strong for any aircraft to assist firefighters, but Wednesday brought more favorable conditions allowing several contract air tankers and military helicopters to drop retardant and water.
This is a time-lapse of wildfires in southeast Colorado detected by the fire temperature sensor on the GOES 16 satellite between 1700 UTC April 17 and 0400 UTC April 18. The fire near the arrow is the 117 Fire between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. At the lower right a fire can be seen burning from Colorado into Stanton and Morton counties in Kansas. Several other fires can also be seen. The fires were pushed by very strong winds that stirred up clouds of dust.
The sheriff’s office reports 10 structures have burned
Above: satellite photo showing the location of the 117 fire south of Colorado Springs. The red dots on the map represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:30 p.m. MDT April 17, 2018.
(UPDATED at 11:33 a.m. MDT April 18, 2018)
A more accurate estimate of the size of the 117 Fire between Colorado Springs and Pueblo puts it at 41,000 acres. Military helicopters, Chinook and Blackhawks, are assisting firefighters by dropping water.
A deputy sheriff said he was driving at 35 mph near the fire Tuesday and it was moving faster than he was.
Map of the 117 Fire, at 8 a.m. MDT April 18, 2018
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(UPDATED at 7:15 a.m. MDT April 18, 2018)
The El Paso County Sheriff’s office reported Wednesday morning that the 117 Fire between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colorado has burned an estimated 60,000 acres. The fire is still active in El Paso and Pueblo Counties but the wind speeds recorded at Fort Carson and Pueblo have decreased Wednesday morning — calm to five mph, compared to gusts of 50 to 80 mph Tuesday afternoon.
The wind on Tuesday was too strong for helicopters, air tankers, or Colorado’s Multi-Mission Aircraft to fight or even map the fire, but officials hope to get the MMA into the air this morning to give firefighters a better idea of the scope of the blaze.
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(Originally published at 9:38 p.m. MDT April 17, 2018)
The 117 Fire has burned at least 4,000 acres about halfway between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colorado. The sheriff’s office reports 10 structures have burned. The fire started Tuesday along the Interstate 25 corridor about halfway between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. It spread quickly pushed by very strong winds.
There are few public weather stations near the fire but a station north of Pueblo recorded sustained wind speeds between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. of 45 to 60 mph gusting at more than 80 mph. The minimum relative humidity was four percent. A weather station at Fort Carson south of Colorado Springs had winds of 30 to 40 gusting above 50 mph during the same period.
Until about 2 p.m. the wind was out of the southwest. The extreme speed created a very narrow fire that grew seven miles to the northeast by 2:30 p.m. Monday. Later in the afternoon the wind shifted to come out of the south and then the southeast and east. The shifting direction could cause firefighters to be caught unexpectedly near a rapidly advancing flank or head of the fire.
There are reports that a law enforcement patrol vehicle burned and a fire engine was damaged by the quickly spreading fire.
The county declared the fire a disaster and they are in negotiations with the state to take over the fire.
The area was under a Red Flag Warning Monday and Monday evening. The forecast for the 117 Fire area Monday night calls for 20 mph winds gusting to 30-40 decreasing to 7 mph by 8 a.m. Tuesday. The high temperature Tuesday should be 59 degrees with 13 percent relative humidity along with much calmer winds.
The wind on Monday was far too strong to allow any helicopters or air tankers to take suppression action on the fire, but that will probably change on Tuesday.
And here’s another night-time look at the #117Fire. As you can see (& hear), the winds & flames really haven’t let up at all @KOAApic.twitter.com/llYwy2mCi6
Denver International Airport stopped all incoming and outgoing flights Tuesday afternoon due to strong winds and blowing dust. #COwxhttps://t.co/KcFN4L2Prz
