Above: A spot fire at the north end of the Detwiler Fire July 27, 2017 between the main fire and Lake McClure. CAL FIRE photo.
(Originally published at 12:35 p.m. PDT July 28, 2017)
The Detwiler Fire south of Coulterville, California had been relatively quiet for several days, until Thursday when a spot fire took off outside the fireline near Lake McClure. It burned about 100 acres before firefighters could stop the spread. This brought the total size up to 81,650 acres.
Map showing the location of the spot fire at the northern end of the Detwiler Fire, July 27, 2017.
These photos were provided by CAL FIRE. The helicopters were stationed at the helibase near Highway 49 north of Mariposa.
USFS Air Tanker 116 sprays retardant on the spot fire on the north end of the Detwiler Fire, July 27, 2017. CAL FIRE photo.
All articles about the Detwiler Fire on Wildfire Today can be found here, with the most recent being at the top.
12 Incident Management Teams and no Area Command Teams are assigned.
The National Incident Management Situation Report (IMSR) shows 28 large fires in the Northern Rockies Geographic Area (NRCC), which is comprised of Montana, Northern Idaho, and portions of North Dakota and South Dakota. The screengrab below from the IMSR shows 18 of the 28 fires.
The IMSR and the NRCC web site have different criteria for reporting their statistics, but according to the NRCC they have the following 12 Incident Management Teams committed:
Type 1: Four
Type 2: Five
Type 3: Three
Wildfires on the Lolo National Forest listed on Inciweb at 10:43 a.m. MST July 28, 2017.
As you can see in the image above, the Lolo National Forest alone, which sprawls out in three directions from Missoula, has six fires larger than 1,000 acres plus three others. The workload on the fire management staff managing all those fires, procuring and allocating resources, and supervising the incident management teams has to be overwhelming.
In spite of this intense fire activity, no Area Command Teams have been assigned according to today’s IMSR. This is consistent with how the teams have rarely been used in recent years. In 2015 the number of teams was reduced from four to three.
Above: Safety Officer Breck Hudson speaks at the Sunrise Fire operational period briefing. Undated photo by Jennifer Russell.
(Originally published at 10:33 a.m. MDT July 28,2017)
The Sunrise Fire in Western Montana has continued to spread over the last two days at a moderate pace, eating up another 500 to 1,000 acres each day 39 miles northwest of Missoula and 6 miles south of Riverbend.
At the time of the last mapping flight Thursday night it had grown by about 600 acres in the previous 24 hours to a total of approximately 4,300 acres. As on previous days, most of the spread was on the east side where it is now about 2 miles west of the Clark Fork River. In that area the fire at times has been exhibiting extreme fire behavior with long-range spotting taking place.
It has the highest priority ranking of the 28 large fires in the Northern Rockies Geographic Area, which means Shawn Pearson’s Northern Rockies Type 2 Incident Management Team would be at the top of the list to obtain the firefighting resources they need. As of Thursday evening the resources assigned included 13 hand crews, 12 fire engines, and 4 helicopters for a total of 443 personnel.
Map of the Sunrise Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 10:30 p.m. MDT July 27, 2017. The white line was the perimeter about 48 hours earlier. Click to enlarge.
Not a great deal of information is available about the fire, but as of mid-day on Thursday an evacuation was in effect for Quartz Flats, and the Quartz Flats Campgrounds off Interstate 90 Eastbound and Westbound are either closed or under evacuation orders.
Friday’s weather forecast for the fire area calls for 87 degrees, 21 percent relative humidity, and northwest winds of 5 to 7 mph. About the same conditions are predicted for Saturday.
All articles about the Sunrise Fire can be found HERE, with the most recent at the top of the page.
The communities of Quartz Flats and Sunrise northwest of Missoula are affected by the order, according to the Mineral County Sheriff’s office.
Above: Map showing the perimeter of the Sunrise Fire, at 11:30 p.m. MDT July 26, 2017.
(Originally published at 9:06 a.m. MDT July 27, 2017)
Most of the wildfires in Western Montana within 70 miles of Missoula that we wrote about Tuesday were relatively quiet Wednesday night. The exception was the Sunrise Fire 39 miles northwest of Missoula and 6 miles south of Riverbend.
At the time of an 11:30 p.m. MDT mapping flight the fire was very active on the northeast side and had added 948 acres during the previous 24 hours to bring the total number of acres burned up to 3,686. The fire is threatening about 60 homes and cabins.
Wednesday afternoon the Mineral County Sheriff’s office ordered the evacuation “in an orderly manner” of Sunrise and Quartz Flats.
On Thursday firefighters are working on dozer lines around structures in the Sunrise Creek subdivision and plan to improve the structure protection in Quartz Creek, Quartz Flat, and Sunrise Creek.
The video below was shot Wednesday evening by KECI, apparently from the Incident Command Post.
An executive order signed by the Governor of Montana Sunday will enable the state to mobilize National Guard helicopters (Blackhawks and CH47), some firefighters, and kitchens. It also makes it possible for local governments to access the Governor’s emergency fund if they have enacted their own 2 mil levy.
All articles about the Sunrise Fire can be found HERE, with the most recent at the top of the page.
Above: Satellite photo showing smoke created by a fire in France, July 26, 2017. The red dots represent heat.
(Originally published at 8 p.m. MDT [UTC -6] July 26, 2017)
(Revised at 9:36 a.m. MDT July 27, 2017)
Wildfires in France and Portugal are disrupting the lives of thousands of residents and tourists. Each country has multiple large fires, but one of the largest in France is near the Mediterranean coast 77 km (48 miles) east of Marseille between La Londe-les-Maures and Le Lavandou and has forced the evacuation of about 12,000 people.
Mistral winds spread the fires quickly causing 60 people to be evacuated by boat while others spent the night in gyms, public places, or on the beach.
There was also a 2,000-hectare (4,950-acre) fire on the French island of Corsica.
More than 1,000 firefighters are working on wildfires throughout the country.
Satellite photo of smoke created by a fire in Portugal, July 26, 2017. The red dots represent heat. Click to enlarge.
Portugal is also struggling to contain a group of fires about 152 km (94 miles) northeast of Lisbon. It was just five weeks ago that a wildfire southeast of Coimbra, Portugal killed at least 62 people, most of whom were attempting to escape in their vehicles. Those fires were about 63 km northwest of the current blazes that are south of Perdigao burning in dense pine and in some cases non-native eucalyptus plantations. Many areas around the world grow eucalyptus in order to harvest the wood, leaves, and oil to make paper and medicine. But wildfires burn rapidly under them and through the tree crowns. Earlier this year we took this photo after a fire in Chile spread through a plantation.
The aftermath of a wildfire that burned through a eucalyptus plantation in Chile, February 2, 2017.
About 2,000 firefighters with 700 vehicles are battling wildfires around Portugal. As in France, the fires are being pushed by strong winds.
Portugal’s fire season usually begins after July 1 but it got an early start this year.
(Originally published at 11:29 a.m. PDT July 26, 2017)
Firefighters on the Modoc National Forest in Northeastern California are dealing with the aftermath of lightning activity that left, at last count, approximately 51 fires. The actual number is a little nebulous because they have not been able to locate all that have been reported and it is likely that others will be discovered in coming days.
All of the articles about the Modoc July Complex of fires can be found here, with the most recent at the top.
The responsibility to manage 25 to 30 of the fires has been delegated to the Northern California Interagency Incident Management Team II which assumed command Tuesday of fires within a specific geographic area. The team will handle the fires north and east of Highway 139 and north and west of Highways 299 and 395.
The map below shows the location of fires within the team’s responsibility area that were large and hot enough to be detected during a 1:30 a.m. PDT mapping flight Wednesday morning.
Map showing the location of some of the larger wildfires on the Modoc National Forest at 1:30 a.m. PDT July 26, 2017.
Rain Tuesday night slowed activity on many of the fires, but there is a Red Flag Warning in effect until 11 p.m. Wednesday predicting abundant lightning which will be followed by warmer weather on Thursday and through the weekend.
Red Flag Warning areas for Wednesday, July 26, 2017.
