News and opinion about wildland fire
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized3 Comments on Still more photos of WhoopUp fire near Newcastle I have had some requests to see more of the photos of the WhoopUp fire that I took southeast of Newcastle, Wyoming on July 18, 2011…. so, I put a bunch of them in a slide show.
Originally we posted photos HERE and HERE. Articles about the WhoopUp fire are HERE.
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Eagle fire
The Eagle fire on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation and the Anza Borrego Desert State Park in northern San Diego County has grown to 11,000 acres. The fire grew by only a few hundred acres today due in part to overcast skies and a relative humidity between 51% and 60%, recorded at the Ranchita RAWS weather station 3.5 miles south of the fire.
National Guard helicopters are assisting with crew shuttles, inserting over 100 firefighters into the remote area west of Borrego Springs, California. Assigned to the fire are 1,120 personnel, 63 engines, 74 hand crews, 19 helicopters, and 8 dozers. Sunday evening the fire was 40% contained.
A Borrego Springs resident posted a few photos of the fire.
Something for your trivia file: the 600,000-acre Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California; and after New York’s Adirondack Park it’s the second largest state park in the contiguous 48 states.
Injured hiker starts signal fire
A 35-year old man hiking near Buckeye, Arizona injured his leg, and becoming dehydrated, set a signal fire hoping someone would find him. Here is an excerpt from KPHO:
The man’s fire was initially spotted by a local farmer who called for help. When deputies arrived they heard the injured hiker calling for help. Firefighters were able to get the man out by foot and to a waiting helicopter that took him to a nearby hospital in Goodyear.
The Buckeye Valley Fire Department was able to put out the brush fire, quickly keeping it to a small area. However, because of the remote area they are keeping an eye on it to make sure it is completely out.
Firefighters said they never recommend starting a fire, but in this case it worked out for the best.
“You got to take what he had. If he did not have a phone or any other way to make contact with anybody and he got to the point where he could not make it out of here himself, yes I would say he did the right thing we found him and got him out,” said Preston Hundley, of the Buckeye Valley Fire Dept.
Single engine air tankers in Arkansas
The Arkansas Forestry Commission is bringing on two single engine air tankers a week earlier than previously planned due to the heat and a recent drought.
“Arkansas is in drought conditions and fuels are dry, especially across the south half of the state,” said Don McBride, Assistant State Forester-Protection. “Areas in the state have not received any significant rainfall for a couple of months. With the dry conditions and 100 degree temperatures, conditions are very dangerous for our firefighters. We need to do anything possible to slow these wildfires and cool them down to help suppression crews.”
Firefighters discover historic cabin
Firefighters on the Lion fire in California’s Sequoia National Forest discovered an historic cabin Saturday. Here is a news release from the USFS:
Historic Cabin Discovered on Lion Wildfire
SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST Helicopter crew members spotted an old cabin in the forest’s wilderness while completing aerial ignitions yesterday.
Crew members halted ignitions and ensured that the cabin was protected from the fire. This cabin was undocumented by forest officials, so this is a special find for the forest.
“It’s exciting to have discovered an historic structure that we were unaware of in this fire response,” said Priscilla Summers, Western Divide District Ranger. “Efforts are underway by forest staff to determine how this cabin fits into the historical story of the area. The forest thanks the firefighters who saw this cabin and made the efforts to protect it from the fire.”
Please visit http://inciweb.org/incident/2400/ for information about the Lion Wildfire.
WhoopUp fire 100% contained
The 10,675-acre WhoopUp fire straddling the Wyoming/South Dakota border is 100% contained as of 7:00 p.m. July 24. Transfer of command to a local Type III organization will take place Monday, July 25th at 7:00 pm.
“I am extremely proud of the work done on the Whoopup Fire,” said Deputy Incident Commander Jay Esperance. “To get to 100 percent containment without injuries or structural loss is due to the hard work achieved by all incident personnel.”
An account of an epic rescue
If you have ever wondered what it’s like to be struck by lighting, check out an article at trib.com about how numerous people were struck by lightning last year on a mountain in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Three groups of climbers, for a total of 17 people, had to be rescued when an unexpected storm moved in. The article is very interesting; here is an excerpt:
Continue reading “Wildfire news, July 24, 2011”
UPDATE at 12:30 a.m. July 19, 2011:
WildCAD reports that the Whoopup fire southeast of Newcastle, Wyoming has burned 2,500 acres.
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I had the opportunity to take some photos at the Whoopup fire that started Monday morning southeast of Newcastle, Wyoming near the South Dakota/Wyoming state line. At about 4 p.m. the fire had burned an estimated 1,000 acres, according to firefighters at the scene. WildCAD shows that it was reported at 1:45 a.m. on Monday, July 18. I have not heard what the cause was, but another fire a few miles farther east was started by lightning.
The photo above shows air tanker 07, a P2V, making a drop to protect some structures in Ferguson Canyon. The lead plane kept making low passes from every direction, trying to figure out a way to get in there (and out of there) amid the smoke. Finally two air tankers showed up, 07 and 45, and following the lead plane one at a time, made it look easy.
In cooperation with the fire managers, deputies from the Weston County Sheriffs office evacuated approximately 14 homes in Ferguson Canyon. When I left the area at 7:30 p.m. the fire had spotted into and across the canyon and was burning along the road at the east end of the canyon. The fire also threatened the fire lookout tower on Elk Mountain, causing the Forest Service employee there to evacuate to the USFS office in Newcastle.
The fire name comes from a nearby creek, Whoopup Creek, which is near the first report of the fire.
The main factors driving the fire are standing snags and fallen trees left over from a previous fire in the area, grass and herbaceous vegetation in the old burn scar, and the temperature on Monday which reached 100 degrees according to the trusty thermometer in my truck. The wind was moderate on Monday afternoon, estimated at 4-6 mph with occasional stronger gusts, mostly out of the southwest. The RAWS weather station in Red Canyon 24 miles southeast of the fire recorded a high temperature of 101 degrees at 5:00 p.m. on Monday and winds at 3-8 with gusts in the low teens. The low relative humidity was 24% — not extreme weather at all, except for the temperature.
The weather forecast for Tuesday afternoon in the area of the fire will be about the same as Monday, with a high temperature of 97, relative humidity of 24%, and winds at 5-7 out of the southwest, west, and northwest.
Below is a map showing the approximate location of the Whoopup fire.
Continue reading “Whoopup fire near Newcastle WY”
Neptune Aviation has been putting their jet-powered BAe-146 air tanker through a second round of drop tests over the last week at the Missoula, Montana airport. The video below was shot by Bill Moss on July 11, 2011. To watch it, your best bet is to select “full screen”.
About the most recent tests, Mr. Moss told us:
The water drops were multiple passes testing each of the 4 drop tanks separate and then later they did combination drops using pairs of the 4 tanks. During the winter modification were made to the delivery outlets to improve the pattern coverage.
The design of Neptune’s tank system, including the number of tanks and the method for discharging the retardant through the nozzles has not been confirmed. As a point of reference, check out the photos we posted July 30, 2009 of Evergreen’s 747 Supertanker, showing the four external nozzles, and the interior, with the numerous retardant tanks.
The BAe-145, serial number E2049, first showed up at Neptune’s facilities in the spring of 2010. A Canadian company, Tronos, converted the jetliner to an air tanker, and Neptune conducted drop tests of the aircraft in July of 2010. Here is one of the photos that Bill Moss took of that first series of Neptune’s tests.
During the formal drop tests with retardant in 2010, Neptune’s BAe-146 did not meet the Interagency Air Tanker Board’s standards, being unable to obtain adequate line lengths for the higher coverage levels.
We were not able to find anything about the BAe-146 on Neptune’s web site, but there was this:
Our impeccably maintained Lockheed P2V fleet provides our customer with a safe, useful, and effective firefighting tool while we transition into a modern platform.
Minden
Minden Air, based at Minden, Nevada, has purchased three BAe-146 jets. One of them, serial #E2033, was scrapped, another, serial #E2106 according to Planespotters is “stored”, and the third, serial #E2111 is being converted into an air tanker. Here is an excerpt from a blog on Minden’s web site which also has some photos of the conversion process:
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
January 31, 2011
The BAE-146 Air Tanker project is moving along at a steady pace. Making certain the job is done right, everyone is ensuring the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. Minden Air Corp is not just focused on the goal, but also highly dedicated to the proper processes. This attention to detail, and determination will ultimately be rewarded with a stellar product to provide to the US Forest Service and the World.
A brief description of the BAe-146 air tanker from Minden’s site:
The BAE-146 Air Tanker is the next generation initial attack aerial firefighter, fully capable of operating in today’s infrastructure with greater capability, speed, and range. Simply put, the BAE-146 will lead the Air Tanker industry into the future while refining the product. Key attributes of the BAE-146 Air Tanker include:
GPS interactive, 3000 US Gallon, Constant Flow tank
- Proven jet reliability
- Low speed maneuverability
- Great airfield performance
- Superior steep approach capabilities
- Excellent initial attack range and speed
- Small noise footprint
To aid in protection of natural resources and the public, today’s wildland firefighting environment demands a new aircraft with great qualities that can fit within a established system. The BAE-146 is that aircraft…the aircraft Minden Air Corp will use to navigate the industry’s future.
According to a list maintained by NIFC, in 2010 Minden had two conventional P2V air tankers under exclusive use contracts with the federal government. Neptune had nine P2V’s and Aero Union had eight P-3A’s under contract. This is a total of 19 large air tankers, compared to the 44 we had in 2002.
Thanks go out to Bill for the video and photos.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CalFire, recently suffered a $34 million budget cut due to the severe financial crisis affecting the state. Some of the effects of the cuts include:
CalFire said they will still have the same number of operational engines statewide, just with 25 percent fewer firefighters on each one. The agency will have 3,300 full-time firefighters and 2,300 seasonals this fire season.
On June 30 CalFire cancelled the last year of the 3-year exclusive use contract for the DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker which carries about four times more retardant than conventional Large Air Tankers — 11,600 gallons compared to 3,000 for the “Large” air tankers. A spokesperson for CalFire said cutting the DC-10 will save the agency $7 million. CalFire intends to put both DC-10s on Call When Needed (CWN) contracts. However, if they later decide to hire the aircraft on a CWN contract during a major fire bust, it will cost substantially more per hour than if it were on a long term availability contract.
The operator of the DC-10, 10 Tanker Air Carrier, has two DC-10s that have been converted to drop fire retardant, but as of this date, they have no exclusive use contracts for either of them. The U. S. Forest Service is not interested in exclusive use contracts for any Very Large Air Tankers and has refused to issue them to 10 Tanker Air Carrier, or to Evergreen for their 747 “Supertanker”. They offered Evergreen an opportunity to bid on a CWN contract, but the company turned it down because they can’t afford to have a very expensive single-purpose aircraft sitting around unused for most of the year. If 10 Tanker is left with only CWN contracts for their two DC-10s, they will have difficulty justifying keeping them sitting around as well.
It is conceivable that all three Very Large Air Tankers could be scrapped this year, or at least put into long-term storage.
The U. S. Forest Service, after reducing the fleet of large air tankers from 44 in 2002 to 19 this year due to crashes of two of the 40 to 60 year old aircraft, still has not released a plan for replacing the aging fleet of large air tankers. Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of Agriculture, said recently that a new report about their replacement strategy, at least the third similar report since 2002, would not be completed until August.
The CalFire Air Tanker Base at Victorville, the home of the DC-10 air tankers, is being shut down. Here is the text of an email sent by the Chief of CalFire’s San Bernardino Unit on June 30, 2011 to employees of the Unit:
From: McClelland, Tim
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 19:50
To: BDU; BDU Chief Officers; BDU Fire Stations; BDU Camps
Subject: Victorville Air Tanker Base
The department received direction late today that the Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) contract with 10 Tanker Corporation will not be funded for the new fiscal year that begins at midnight tonight.
As a result of a lack of funding, the Unit was directed to un-staff the Victorville Air Tanker Base operation effective immediately. The on duty CAL FIRE employees were notified this evening that they are to begin the process of removing all state equipment and property from the facility.
With support from CSR Executive, all assigned CAL FIRE employees will be retained within BDU and re-assigned within the Unit. Chief Feldman will be working with the Field assigned BC’s to determine work locations for those employees currently assigned to the Victorville ATB operation.
Please understand that this change is due to the very challenging fiscal environment the State of California is currently experiencing and not as a result of any philosophical change in position as it relates to the viability of the VLAT program. Thank you for your continued patience and professionalism as the Department works through this process.
Tim McClelland
Unit Chief
CAL FIRE
Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino Unit
From reading the report that came out of the Aerial Firefighting Conference held in Washington, DC May 25-26, it must have been a very interesting gathering. Organized by Tangent Link, it assembled many of the movers and shakers in the field that work in the United States.
Discussion topics on the agenda included:
Confirmed Speakers included:
Here are some excerpts from the “Conference Chairman’s Report” that was posted at Verticalmag.com. Similar information was in a second article at Vertical Magazine.
Continue reading “Report from the Aerial Firefighting Conference held in Washington, DC, May 25-26”
