Below is a flyover of the Walker Fire via Google Earth. The red line was the perimeter mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 10:16 p.m. PDT September 9, 2019. The fire was 17 miles south of Susanville, California and had burned 47,340 acres.
The flyover begins at the southwest corner of the fire near the “Walker Fire” pin on the map below the video.
On the night of September 6 a Coast Guard helicopter conducted a hoist rescue of two firefighters that had been injured by a rolling rock while battling the Middle Fire in Northern California on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Press release from the Coast Guard:
The Coast Guard rescued two injured firefighters from a ridge near Canyon Creek in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area early Friday morning.
At 9:14 p.m. Thursday the U. S. Forest Service requested the Coast Guard’s assistance with the rescue of two injured firefighters. The firefighters had been hit by falling rocks and reportedly sustained serious head, back and leg injuries while working in steep terrain on the Middle Fire.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay. (Coast Guard file photo by Chief Petty Officer Brandyn Hill)
Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay launched an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter crew who flew to the area and located the injured firefighters within 10 yards of the fire line in a clearing that the fire crew on scene had cut in the forest to allow for an extraction. The helicopter crew approached the extraction zone and made a high-altitude, tree-top hoist from 240 feet, the helicopter’s maximum hoist range.
The injured firefighters were flown to Weaverville airport and transferred to emergency medical services.
“This rescue was extremely challenging due to the proximity to an active fire, the high elevation and the rugged terrain,” said Lieutenant Commander Derek Schramel, the pilot in command of the mission. “I’m very proud of how our crew worked together with our fire service and law enforcement partners in Trinity County to save these two men.”
Kymkemp.com reports that the two firefighters worked for GFP Enterprises, a company that provides contract fire crews. According to Paul Asher, spokesman for the company, “One had a broken femur [on his] right leg. The other one had an injury not as bad to the shoulder area.”
These two firefighters were lucky that the Coast Guard helicopter was available for a hoist rescue at night. Too often that is not the case. The federal and state agencies with major wildland fire programs need to develop this capability on their own, either by contracting for it or developing it in-house. Few U.S. Forest Service helicopters can fly at night and very few if any have hoists, although some can perform short-haul operations during daylight hours. CAL FIRE has installed hoists on all of their state-owned helicopters and the new Firehawks they are purchasing will also have hoists and most likely will have have night-flying capability. Kudos to CAL FIRE for setting the example.
A firefighter injured at night in a remote area during the day or night should not have to depend on luck. They deserve to have extraction services by air available within an hour.
The article was edited September 10, 2019 to include the fact that some U.S. Forest Service helicopters can perform short-haul operations during daylight hours.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Chad and Tom. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
The Walker Fire as seen from the Reno, Nevada area, 9-7-2019. InciWeb.
(UPDATED at 7:12 a.m. PDT September 10, 2019)
The Walker Fire grew Friday but not as much as as in previous days, adding 3,409 acres to bring the total up to 47,340. Part of the increase was a result of firing operations along County Road 176 and other roads on the north end of the fire, south and southeast of Antelope Lake.
The fire held on the north side and dozers continued building line to mitigate the spot fire on the northeast. Crews continued mop-up operations on the southeast flank of the fire north of Ingalls Peak utilizing aircraft and engine resources for water delivery. The west flank of the fire is holding along Wheeler Ridge. Containment lines held on Forest Road 25N42, Flournoy Road. Crews will continue structure defense, containment operations, and holding what’s in place through the night.
The map below only shows the north end of the fire where some of the firing operations are underway. Scroll down to see a map of the entire fire and the surrounding area.
Map of the north end of the Walker Fire. The red line was the perimeter mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 10:16 p.m. PDT September 9, 2019. The white line was the perimeter at 10:57 p.m. PDT September 8, 2019. Scroll down to see maps that show the entire fire.
Based on the weather forecast for Tuesday the fire activity should be slower than in recent days. There is a 60 to 70 percent chance of precipitation and the minimum relative humidity will be in the high 40s. The temperature will max out at 55 after plunging to 43 overnight at the Pierce weather station 5 miles north of the fire.
(UPDATED at 11:18 a.m. PDT September 9, 2019)
Map of the Walker Fire. The red line was the perimeter mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 10:57 p.m. PDT September 8, 2019. The white line was the perimeter at 7:35 p.m. PDT September 7, 2019.
The maps of the Walker Fire produced by data from the mapping aircraft Saturday and Sunday nights indicate that the fire grew incrementally along approximately 90 to 95 percent of the fire’s edge during that 27 hour period. This indicates that there is still a great deal of work left for the 660 personnel assigned — 12 hand crews, 51 fire engines, and 6 helicopters. The fire added another 5,882 acres to bring the total up to 43,931 acres.
There were no huge areas of fire growth like Saturday night when two large fingers, 2 and 4.5 miles long, raced off to the northeast. Generally on Sunday the fire spread in most areas less than a tenth of a mile, however there were some locations where it grew half a mile to a mile.
The Walker Fire is now 5 miles west of Highway 395, 15 miles northeast of Quincy, and 17 miles south of Susanville.
Here is information from a Monday morning update issued by the Incident Management Team:
The fire activity decreased last night over the fire area. Containment line that is in place held. On the east side of the fire, dozer line was constructed around the northeastern leading edge of the fire near Round Mountain and Stoney Creek. Hose lays will be installed to reinforce the containment lines. Dozers continued progress constructing dozer line advancing north from Ingalls Peak. Crews constructed line directly along the southeast-east edge of the fire which held as well. Firefighters constructed fireline around the structures on the southwest edge of the fire to further protect the structures. The fire is staying in place at the 25N42 road. Structure preparation is complete around structures to the west of Wheeler Peak drainage.
The weather forecast for the fire area for Monday calls for 61 degrees, 37 percent relative humidity, and west-southwest winds of 13 mph gusting to 22. This could encourage fire growth to the east-northeast. Tuesday will be cooler with higher humidity and a 53 percent chance of about 0.04 inch of rain, conditions less conducive to fire growth than on Monday.
There will be a transfer of command today from a Type 2 Incident Management Team to a Type 1 Team (California Team 4).
Screengrab from FirePhotoGirl’s Tenaja Fire video.
FirePhotoGirl, a prolific and very skilled photojournalist, captured some excellent video footage of the Tenaja Fire which burned 2,000 acres at Murrieta in Southern California September 4 and 5. Check it out below; it is used here with her permission.
The Northern California fire is 15 miles northeast of Quincy and 17 miles south of Susanville
Walker Fire. September 5, 2019. InciWeb.
(UPDATED at 7:40 a.m. PDT September 8, 2019)
After being slowed earlier by cloud cover, the Walker Fire south of Susanville, California was very active late in the day Saturday, spreading toward the northeast in two large fingers 2 and 4.5 miles long, coming to within 5 miles of US Highway 395. Spot fires occurred more than half a mile ahead. The fire grew to the north up Wheeler’s Peak drainage and east around the Antelope Fire scar. Murdock Crossing is between the two large fingers, and now has fire to the west, south, and east. At 7:35 p.m. Saturday the fire was one mile south of Antelope Lake.
A mapping flight at 7:35 p.m. MDT Saturday found that the fire had burned 38,049 acres. It is 15 miles northeast of Quincy and 17 miles south of Susanville.
The Incident Management Team reports that during the period of reduced fire activity firefighters made progress on the south side, assisted by Very Large Air Tankers, water-scooping air tankers, conventional large air tankers, and dozers.
Map of the Walker Fire. The red line was the perimeter mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 7:35 p.m. PDT September 7, 2019. The white line was the perimeter at 9:38 p.m. PDT September 6, 2019.
Resources assigned to the fire include 11 hand crews, 46 fire engines, and 6 helicopters for a total of 535 personnel.
The weather forecast for the Walker Fire area on Sunday calls for 67 degrees, relative humidity of 32 percent, clear skies, and winds out of the west-southwest at 8 to 13 mph gusting at 20 to 24.
(UPDATED at 8:43 a.m. PDT September 7, 2019)
The red line was the perimeter of the Walker Fire mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 9:38 p.m. PDT September 6, 2019. The shaded area represents intense heat.
A mapping flight Friday night showed that the Walker Fire in Northern California had grown to 24,040 acres, an increase of about 6,000 acres since the last reported size of 17,912. The fire spread approximately 4 miles to the north and 6 miles to the east since noon on September 6. (see map above)
The fire is 15 miles northeast of Quincy and 21 miles south of Susanville.
The Plumas County Sheriff’s Office ordered mandatory evacuations for the Genesee Valley road corridor, the Ward Creek area, and the Flournoy Bridge area (through CodeRED).
The red dots represent heat on the South and Red Bank Fires detected by a satellite at 2:54 a.m. PDT September 6, 2019. Some areas of the Red Bank Fire are burning in light vegetation which can burn and then cool quickly before the next satellite overflight and therefore are not detected by the sensors. This means the fire is probably larger than indicated here.
(UPDATED at 11 a.m. PDT September 6, 2019)
The Red Bank Fire that was reported at 8:19 a.m. on September 5 was active Thursday night according to heat detecting sensors during a satellite overflight at 2:54 a.m. PDT Friday morning. (see map above)
CAL FIRE, in their new shortened incident reporting format, said the fire had burned 6,500 acres. The Red Bank Fire is being suppressed by CAL FIRE, while another fire, the South Fire four miles to the southwest, is the responsibility of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Overnight at the Cannon Road weather station the relative humidity increased to 63 percent and recorded a minimum temperature of 64. Between 8 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday the wind was out of the southeast at 8 to 13 mph with gusts of 20 to 25, but then shifted to come out of the northwest at 1 to 3 mph, a 180-degree change in direction.
The weather forecast on Friday calls for 89 degrees and 22 percent RH. The slight northwest wind should continue until 11 a.m. when it will then be from the east-northeast at 5 mph. Beginning at 2 p.m. the wind should be out of the southeast at 8 mph.
Variable winds make it very difficult for firefighters to safely and effectively fight a fire.
(Originally published at 7:56 p.m. PDT September 5, 2019)
Map showing the location of the Red Bank Fire 20 miles west of Red Bluff, California at 2:36 p.m. PDT Sept. 5, 2019.
The Red Bank Fire spread quickly after it was reported Thursday afternoon 20 miles west of Red Bluff, California. (see map above) Another fire seven miles to the west was reported by aircraft working the fire. Both fires are east of the Mendocino National Forest and mandatory evacuations have been ordered.
Air Attack reported at about 7:45 p.m local time Thursday that the fire had spread 7 miles to the northwest from the fire’s location shown on the map above at 2:36 p.m.
The fire has approached structures in some places but due to the fire behavior, not as many aerial resources as they would like, and smoke limiting the visibility of aircraft, firefighters in some cases had to withdraw.
The Red Bank Fire as seen from the Nevada Seismo Lab Eagles Nest camera at 7:05 p.m. PDT September 5, 2019.
The Incident Commander has placed orders for a large number of ground and air resources, including eight air tankers for Friday.
Friday afternoon the Cannon Road weather station recorded a high temperature of 93 degrees, 17 percent relative humidity, and 10 to 13 mph winds out of the southeast gusting at 18 to 25 mph.
The weather forecast for the fire area on Friday calls for 88 degrees and 23 percent RH. The wind direction will be variable but will be 6 to 8 mph out of the southeast after 2 p.m.
