Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Tag: Arizona

Schultz fire, one day too early

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 3 Comments on Schultz fire, one day too early

In June the Schultz fire, started by an abandoned campfire, burned 15,000 acres north of Flagstaff, Arizona. As far as I know, the culprits have not yet been found but there was a reward offered by a local brewery of free beer for life for anyone with information leading to the campers who left the fire burning.

At a public meeting this week the Forest Supervisor of the Coconino National Forest discussed the fire restrictions which were not in place when the fire started. Here is an excerpt from the Arizona Daily Sun:

One question prompted the most audience applause Wednesday night at Coconino High: Why weren’t any fire restrictions in place before the fire began?

The Schultz Fire began this past summer after other major wildfires had already prompted evacuations, including the Hardy Fire and a fire in Spring Valley.

Coconino National Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart responded:

“Trying to come up with criterion as to when it’s best to close the forest is really, really difficult,” he said.

The agency has not opted to use certain dates of the year to set or remove fire restrictions, because sometimes those dates don’t match what’s been happening with the weather, he said.

Also, Stewart doesn’t want to close the forest to public access when it isn’t necessary, he said.

The Coconino tries to match its fire-restriction decisions to three other forests so that the public isn’t confused about what the rules are in various places, he said.

The decisions about whether to implement fire restrictions across these forests are made in Monday-morning phone calls during the spring and summer.

The Schultz fire started on a Sunday after a Saturday wildfire forced the evacuation of parts of southeast Flagstaff.

So it occurred before the Monday meeting used to discuss fire restrictions or closures.

“The reality was, in this case, the Schultz fire was 24 hours too early,” Stewart said. “We had not gotten into those discussions.”

Turn in Schultz fire suspects, get free beer for life

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Yep, that is what someone posted on the Flagstaff Brewing Company’s Twitter account:

free beer for life 2 whoever turns in the schultz campers w/ the 5 foot campfire @ 930 am on sunday. Our peaks mean more than $ & words.
about 14 hours ago [about 11:30 pm June 24] via Twitter for iPhone

We talked to Jeff Thorsett of Flagstaff Brewing Company to see if it was really true. The company sells their beer in 1/2 gallon containers, and he said if a tip results in the arrest and conviction of the person who started the fire, they will give the tipster 1/2 gallon of beer each week for the rest of their lives. Now THAT’S a REWARD!

Investigators have determined that the Schultz fire started from an abandoned campfire on June 20 at Schultz Tank and Elden Trail north of Flagstaff, AZ. In addition to “free beer for life” from the brewing company, the U.S. Forest Service is offering a more conventional $2,500 reward. USFS officials request that anyone having information concerning the abandoned campfire call the Coconino NF Supervisors’ Office at (928) 527-3508.

Description of the Schultz fire’s ICP

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Description of the Schultz fire’s ICP

It can be enlightning to see wildland firefighting described through the eyes of someone else. The Arizona Daily Sun has an article describing the Incident Command Post at the 14,800-acre Schultz fire north of Flagstaff, Arizona which burned about 5,000 acres in the first 8 hours. It is a well written story and is worth reading, but I could not help but notice two minor errors in this excerpt. Can you find them?

When the Schultz fire exploded into a raging wildfire Sunday afternoon and garnered the highest level of firefighting priority in the nation, hundreds of firefighters rushed to northern Arizona to battle the fast-moving blaze.

Behind that initial attack, and in just a matter of 24 hours, a mini-city of support assembled at Cromer Elementary School.

Welcome to ICC, or incident command center, where firefighters can eat scrambled eggs with green chili, reload on sunscreen and bug repellent, get a medical checkup, take a shower and shave, fill up on cookies and ice cream, check out the fire-tracking maps and then find a cot to crash on.

The command center serves as a base camp for the personnel — more than 950 strong (including up to 800 firefighters) — assigned to the Schultz fire. That total includes “overhead” or supervisory workers who support the firefighting effort mostly from the ground.

“There’s a tremendous amount of infrastructure to put in place,” said Troy Waskey, who is on staff with recreation, lands and minerals at the Tonto National Forest. “That’s the beauty of the ICC structure: You can put a team in place with the resources that are needed within 24 hours.”

AN ACTION PLAN

Run as tightly as a military operation, the world of wildfire fighting is full of acronyms and abbreviations, specific uniform requirements, and lots of rules and orders, many spelled out daily in the IAP, or incident action plan, passed out in booklet form to all concerned personnel during the morning briefing.

Arizona: Fuels and fire behavior advisory

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Posted at the Southwest Coordination Center web site:

Subject: Heavy Fine Fuel Loads Have Created the Potential for More Active Fire Behavior

Discussion: Above-average rains during the summers of 2006 and 2007 have created heavier than normal fine fuel loads in southern Arizona, especially in desert areas infested with Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare).

Many grassland areas in southeastern Arizona (above 3,500’) have had above average precipitation the past two summers, creating a heavy crop of grass. Historically, this situation has been followed by a year with large fires.

In addition, buffelgrass continues to increase in desert areas. Buffelgrass is a noxious, non-native grass that is roughly doubling each year in Pima County. Fuel loads can be 5-20 times greater than annual grasses like red brome. Because it is increasing so rapidly, firefighters may find thick grass in places that traditionally had little. Because the fuel load is so heavy, it can generate fireline intensity and flame length much more extreme than usual for the desert. Strategies and tactics normally used on desert fires may not succeed on buffelgrass fires.

Common denominators of tragedy fires are potentially present in deserts and grasslands: relatively small fires or deceptively quiet areas of large fires; relatively light fuels, such as grass, herbs, and light brush; unexpected shift in wind direction or in wind speed; fire responds to topographic conditions and runs uphill.

Concerns to Firefighters and the Public:

• Flame length in grass can exceed 4 feet at almost any time of year, exceeding capability of hand tools. Flame lengths can exceed 8 feet during fire season, exceeding the capability of light engines.

• Grass fuels can be continuous, creating wide flaming fronts.

• Greater fireline intensity can lead to increased torching of shrubs and increased spot fires.

• Anticipate fire whirls because of a combination of fuel loading, terrain, and unstable atmosphere.

• Heavier fuel load raises moisture of extinction, and active burning may occur throughout the night.

• Normally bare, rocky areas and steep, south-facing slopes may have enough grass to carry a fire.

• Washes and trails that formerly served as fuel breaks may no longer be effective.

• Retardant may be less effective at stopping fires where grass is thick.

• Greater fireline intensity and flame length increase threat to structures, power poles, and other improvements.

• Some Wildland Urban Interface areas are infested with buffelgrass. Increased fire behavior increases risk to structures, improvements, and public safety, and there is potential for more human-caused fires.

• Increased fuel loading increases radiant heat output, therefore increasing the risk of thermal burns.

• The outlook for April-June is for above average temperatures and below average rainfall, exacerbating the problem.

Mitigation Measures:

• Indirect tactics may have to be used more often.

• Maintain situational awareness of fuel conditions and fire behavior.

• Safety zone size may need to be larger than usual for the desert. Safety zones may be harder to find.

• Use of Nomex face shrouds helps protect the face and airways.

Area of Concern: Desert

 

Fires in CA and AZ

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Santa Anita fire near Sierra Madre, California:
It is now 584 acres and is 88% contained. All of the mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted. Here is an interesting quote from the Sierra Madre mayor:

“Early this morning the flames had raced to within a couple feet of our homes in the canyon and those brave firefighters … formed a perimeter with their bodies and their fire engines. It was a barricade of steel and water and human flesh and blood and they stopped the fire dead in its tracks.”

Just to be clear, there has been very little, if any, blood shed on the fire. They are reporting four minor injuries.

 

X fire:
This fire is just south of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. It started at noon yesterday, Tuesday, and quickly grew to 2,000 acres. The name of the fire came from the nearby Ten-X campground. The name alone makes this fire interesting.

Local media is reporting that it started from a campfire and that two individuals are being questioned. There is a red flag warning today for winds at 15-20 with gusts up to 40, and an 8% relative humidity. These southwest winds could push the fire into the national park. Reinarz’s Type 2 Incident Management Team should arrive today.

Click on the map of the X fire below to see a larger version. The map shows heat detected last night (the red and orange areas) by satellites. The green area on the map is the Kaibab National Forest, and the gray area north of the fire is Grand Canyon National Park.