A fire in California that reportedly had a great deal of potential was stopped at 100 acres Tuesday by an aggressive initial attack. The Oak Fire northeast of Sonora was reported at 1:23 p.m. and was attacked quickly by troops on the ground, S-2s that were 10 minutes away at Columbia Air Attack Base, a very large air tanker, and a C-130. The Oak Fire and another fire nearby, the Hill Fire, burned together which then was only referred to as the Oak Fire.
KCRA reported that firefighters attending training at a nearby conference center had to be evacuated.
The Tenaya Fire in Yosemite National Park in California slowed on Wednesday due to the efforts of aviation assets and troops on the ground. In fact the mapped size of 431 acres is a decrease from the estimated 500-acre figure the park released earlier.
The park reports that firefighter efforts at the heel of the fire are holding and good progress is being made on the flanks.
The NPS says this is a “suppression fire” even though three other fires in the park, all currently less than 50 acres, are not being fully suppressed. A Wednesday evening statement from the park said:
Although the use air tankers were initially discouraged, the use of retardant was necessary due to active and rapid rate of fire spread. Key reasons include firefighter and visitor safety, and risks to and closing the Tioga Road, negatively affecting the local communities that rely on park visitation, including the communities include Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes, Groveland and Mariposa.
Map of the Tenaya Fire, Sept 9, 2015. NPS.
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(Originally published at 7:47 a.m. PT, September 9, 2015)
Tenaya Fire, September 8, 2015. NPS photo.
The Tenaya Fire started September 7 in California’s Yosemite National Park between Yosemite Valley and Tioga Road (Highway 120). It is burning along both sides of the Lehamite Creek Trail from the north rim of the Valley to Tioga Road. (See the map below.)
The Park Service reports that full suppression efforts began on September 8 which included approximately 60 firefighters, six air tankers, and three helicopters. Additional resources will arrive on the fire September 9.
3-D map of Tenaya Fire, showing heat detected by a satellite at 1:47 a.m. September 9, 2015. Looking northwest. (Click to enlarge.)
No structures are currently threatened and as of Tuesday night there was no containment on the fire. The cause is under investigation.
Fire hose was transported back to the incident base on the Mad River Complex in northern California after being deployed on the fireline. Before it is used again it will be tested, cleaned, and rolled.
These photos are samples of those being uploaded by incident management teams to InciWeb over the last few weeks. If no date or photographer’s credit is listed, it means they were not provided on InciWeb.
Air tanker drop on the Buck Horn Fire in Montana, August 13.Snow on the Grizzly Bear Complex, Oregon, September 5. Credit: WIIMT #4.Incident Command Post at the Omak Fire in Washington.
The Rough Fire has grown by almost 20,000 acres in the last three days and is now listed at 138,053 acres.
Below is an excerpt from an update by the incident management team Monday morning:
Firefighting efforts are being made during day and night shifts on the Rough Fire to further the containment lines, which have now reached 40% over the whole fire.
Crews and Engines continue to patrol Grant Grove checking for any escaped embers with potential to start a spot fire. Structure defense crews are in place around residential areas near the fireline including, Sequoia Lake, Hume Lake, and Cedar Grove. These firelines are holding well and being monitored closely.
Weather will be slightly cooler today through Wednesday with areas of dense smoke thinning by the afternoon, making aerial firefighting efforts more productive.
The red line was the perimeter of the Rough Fire at 8 p.m. PT, 9-13-2015. The white line was the perimeter on 9-10-2015.
At about 11:30 a.m. Monday the on-scene incident meteorologist said light rain was falling over some portions of the fire.
Radar showing light rain moving in to the area of the Rough Fire at 11:32 a.m. PT, 9-14-2015.
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(UPDATED at 9 a.m. PT, September 11, 2015)
New evacuations were ordered at 6 a.m. Friday near the Rough Fire for some locations south of Highway 180 and west of Highway 245. The details can be found at InciWeb, where they also have a difficult to read map unless you are able to zoom in.
The red dots on this map of the Rough Fire were detected by a satellite at 2:36 a.m. PT, Sept. 11, 2015. The red line representing the perimeter was provided by the incident management team on September 10. (click to enlarge)
The fire has burned 119,069 acres 32 miles east of Fresno, California and continues to spread on the southwest side. Thursday night firefighters began a burnout along Highway 180 from Indian Basin south toward Cherry Gap working toward the northwest portion of Grants Grove, which has already been evacuated. Friday morning they described it as successful with containment lines reaching 400 to 500 feet wide in some places.
The eastern portion of the fire remains active near Cedar Grove and is expected to continue to spread to the east and northeast.
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(UPDATED at 10:27 a.m. PT, September 10, 2015)
Satellite photo showing heat (red dots) and smoke created by the Tenaya Fire in Yosemite National Park and the Rough Fire east of Fresno. September 9, 2015. (click to enlarge)
The Rough Fire east of Fresno, California was very active Wednesday and continues to spread on the east and southwest sides. It has grown to 110,134 acres, crossing the 100,000-acre threshold to become a “megafire”.
Tuesday night the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department issued additional evacuation notices for homes west of the fire. Thursday morning the National Park Service issued an evacuation order to park visitors, park employees, concessions staff, and residents of Wilsonia in the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park. The NPS is working with the Sheriffs’ Departments of both Fresno County and Tulare County to provide the evacuation notifications.
Highway 180 is closed at the Big Stump Entrance Station. The Generals Highway, sometimes referred to as Hwy. 198, is closed at the Red Fir gate, which is west of Wuksachi Village. Sequoia National Park remains open and visitors can still use the Ash Mountain Entrance Station. Vehicles longer than 22 feet (including trailers) are not advised between Potwisha and Giant Forest Museum.
Very little information about the fire has been released by the incident management team since Wednesday morning.
Map of the Rough Fire east of Fresno, California. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 1:28 a.m. PT on September 10, 2015. The red line, supplied by the incident management team, was the perimeter three days before on September 7. (click to enlarge)
Two Napa County firefighters were injured Saturday morning [September 5] when the engine in which they were riding swerved off Wooden Valley Road east of Napa and rolled down an embankment.
Cal Fire spokesman Joe Fletcher said the engine was en route to a reported motorcycle accident around 11:30 a.m. when dispatchers cancelled the call. As the engine was returning to its station, it rolled off the edge of the road and came to rest in a creek bed about 100 feet below the pavement.
One firefighter was able to extricate himself from the wreck; the other had to be helped out by other firefighters arriving at the scene, Fletcher said in a news release. Both were treated for minor injuries.
NWS photo by Ryan Walbrun, the Incident Meteorologist at the Elevenmile Fire.
The National Weather Service in Pocatello, Idaho reports that Friday morning snow fell at the Elevenmile Fire between Bonanza and Challis.
Due to a forecast that included rain and snow, firefighters were removed from high elevation spike camps on the fire Thursday.
The lightning-caused fire discovered on August 24 has burned over 10,300 acres.
Cyclist who started fire by burning his toilet paper may be on the hook for large dollars
The bicyclist who accidentally started a fire near Boise on July 22 by burning his soiled toilet paper may have to pay a fine as well as a portion of the suppression costs. The Idaho Statesman reported that BLM spokesperson Carrie Bilbao said the costs are likely to be between $50,000 and $75,000 which includes the use of four air tankers and three helicopters. The fire was stopped before it approached homes after burning 73 acres.
Scooping air tankers drop 182,000 gallons on a fire in Montana
Below are excerpts from an article at KPAX about firefighting aircraft working out of Helena, Montana this summer:
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“In an average year we have 15 to 20 aircraft that come through in a season,” says Helena National Forest public affairs officer Kathy Bushnell. “So far this year, we’ve had 20-plus different aircraft come through.”
Thanks to its location, aircraft staged here can reach many parts of central Montana quickly. The Aviation Center serves multiple aircraft.
“Helicopters, we have air tankers, single-engine air tankers, heavy air tankers that’ll come in depending on what is ordered for the fires,” Bushnell said.
This week, firefighters are also getting an assist from visitors from Canada, CL-415 water bombers.
“We requested some additional aircraft to come out to help us with the fires here in Montana, Idaho, and Washington,” said Bushnell.
The bomber scoops water from lakes into huge tanks – 1,600 gallons in 12 seconds.
The water bombers arrived in town Monday. On Tuesday, they were hard at work on the Bray Fire burning north of Holter Lake.
“They worked about six flight hours,” according to Bushnell. “They were able to do 112 loads which equates to about 182,000 gallons of water that was used on the fire.”
Health warning in California due to wildfire smoke
The Rough Fire east of Fresno, California has prompted the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to issue a health warning to people headed to the mountains and foothills of Tulare and Fresno counties this weekend.
The district says children and the elderly are especially vulnerable.
