News and opinion about wildland fire
If you’re not keeping up with the status of the West Fork Fire in south-central Colorado which has forced the entire town of South Fork to evacuate, you have missed seeing these very impressive photos taken by the Colorado-based Pike Hotshots. If you’d like to comment on the photos or the fire, please do so at the main West Fork Fire article which is updated as conditions change.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized14 Comments on Map of active fires in Colorado, June 21, 2013 
On the map above showing the active wildfires in Colorado, the green dots represent fires that are not being fully suppressed, while the red dots are fires that ARE being fully suppressed. The base map, with the dots, was provided by the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center; we added the fire names and acres.
(UPDATE at 9:10 a.m. MDT, June 30, 2013)
For the last several days the weather has been in favor of the firefighters. Saturday brought rain over most of the Complex, with accumulations of 0.02 to 0.20 inches, however in some areas it did not penetrate tree canopies in areas with heavy timber. Smoke prevented most aerial firefighting Saturday but helicopters and air tankers will be in the air Sunday if they are needed and weather permits. Thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next few days. Winds on Sunday will be out of the Northwest at 5-15 mph, with a 60% chance of rain actually hitting the ground.
The Incident Management Team reports the fire is two percent contained and the three fires in the complex have burned 95,775 acres: Windy Pass 1,415, Papoose 34,836, and West Fork 59,524 acres.
Resources on the fire include 8 Type 1 hand crews, 20 Type 2 hand crews, 109 engines, 5 dozers, and 11 water tenders, for a total of 1,502 personnel.
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(UPDATE at 9:20 a.m. MDT, June 28, 2013)
The Papoose Fire, pushed by 30 to 40 mph northwest winds out of a thunderstorm, ran for about four miles on the east side Thursday, southwest of Antelope Park. Adding approximately 6,000 acres, it became established in Trout Creek and threatened to spread up the east side of the drainage. The fire spread through beetle-killed Englemann Spruce spotting one mile to one and a half miles ahead, according to the Incident Management Team spokesperson, who reported that firefighters burned around some structures to remove the fuel before the fire hit those areas — here were no reports that any burned.
The West Fork Fire was much quieter than the Papoose Fire, but it was somewhat active near Elk Mountain and on the southeast side.
The incident Management Team reports the three fires in the Complex have burned a total of 90,056 acres.
The weather forecast for the Antelope Park area south of Creede calls for 78 degrees, relative humidity in the mid-20s, about a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms, and winds out of the southwest at 8 to 15 mph.
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(UPDATE at 10:50 a.m. MDT, June 27, 2013)
More information has become available about the West Fork Complex:
The Papoose Fire was active Wednesday night and moved into Crooked Creek and towards Rio Grande Dam. It moved past structures near Workman Creek along Highway 149 but there was no report of damage to structures. Firefighters worked through the night to reinforce firelines, protect structures, and conduct firing operations along Squaw Creek to remove fuels in front of the fire.
The West Fork Fire has been active on the northeast flank near Elk Mountain. Structure protection, including sprinklers, is in place along Highways 149 and 160.
Portable fire retardant plants have been set up near the Papoose Fire and on the east side of the West Fork Fire. These will be used for refilling buckets and tanks on helicopters. Dropping fire retardant will be more effective than using plain water.
Current acreage for the whole Complex: Total 83,004; Windy Pass 1,403; Papoose 26,483; West Fork 55,118.
Shortly after 9 a.m. today two military MAFFS C-130 air tankers were dispatched to the West Fork Fire from their base at Colorado Springs where another portable fire retardant base has been established.
The Incident Management Team is now putting various types of information in at least four different places: Google Drive (which I can’t get to work), Facebook, Photo Bucket, and Inciweb. Apparently this IMTeam has said goodbye to the concept of putting all information about a fire in one place, possibly due in part to the dysfunctional InciWeb.
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(UPDATE at 7:20 a.m. MDT, June 27, 2013)
The satellite that passed over the West Fork Complex twice in the last 24 hours has not found as many heat sources as in previous days. But the instruments can only detect areas of heat that are at least 30 meters by 30 meters.
Dozers have finished constructing a fireline between the fire and the town of South Fork and fire crews are continuing to work around the structures on Highway 149. Not much other new information is available, other than the Incident Management Team reported that they held some internal meetings and briefings. The fire’s InciWeb page has not been updated since Wednesday morning.
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(UPDATE at 10:40 p.m. MDT, June 25, 2013)
The West Fork Fire has been burning for 20 days, and on day 20 a usable map of the fire was posted on InciWeb by an Incident Management Team running the fire. And instead of placing photos of the fire on InciWeb, they are putting them on something called “Photo Bucket” under West Fork Complex, according to a message sent out by the team. In addition the IMTeam is posting some information on Facebook, “dedicated to thank yous to the firefighters working on the fire line” according to a Tweet the Information Officer published. Of course, InciWeb is virtually unusable, so they can hardly be blamed for partially abandoning it and only updating InciWeb rarely. Apparently this IMTeam has said goodbye to the concept of putting all information about a fire in one place.
As the weather moderates, the IMTeam expects the fire to become more fuel (or vegetation)-driven, rather than wind-driven as has been for the last one to two weeks. On Tuesday an increase in humidity caused the fire to spread more slowly and allowed firefighters to make more progress than they have been used to, especially on the west side.
The Papoose Fire still remains south of highway 149 and Creede has not been evacuated, in spite of reports to the contrary. One of the DC-10 air tankers dropped retardant on the west side of the fire today, at a rate of 11,600 gallons per sortie.
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(UPDATE at 8:25 a.m. MDT, June 25 2013)
There was not much change in the perimeters of the Papoose, West Fork, and Windy Gap fires over the last 24 hours. Each of them grew a bit, but there was no major change in acreage. The West Fork Fire is still about four miles from the intersection of Highways 160 and 149.
The Incident Management Team this morning said: “Current acreage per infrared flight last night: West Fork 54,222; Papoose 23,605; Windy Pass 1,355 TOTAL for complex, 79,182”
Continue reading “Colorado: West Fork Complex”
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized8 Comments on Lime Gulch Fire causing evacuations southwest of Denver The Lime Gulch Fire, formerly called Chair Rock, is causing evacuations south of Denver.
(UPDATE at 11:30 a.m. MDT, June 20, 2013)
On Wednesday the Lime Gulch Fire near Foxton, Colorado grew quickly, throwing out spot fires causing firefighters to have to withdraw for their own safety. Today the size is estimated at 500 acres with no containment.
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(The name of this fire was changed from Chair Rock to Lime Gulch.)
(UPDATE at 6:45 p.m. MDT, June 19, 2013)
A tweet from the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center:
NEW: Lime Gulch (CO-PSF) 8 miles south of Conifer, CO. (39.25 30N 105.13 48W). RMA IMT2 Team B (Dallas) has been assigned.
— Predictive Services (@RMACCNewsNotes) June 20, 2013
Dan Dallas’ IMTeam will assume command at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Radio traffic from the online scanner at about 4 p.m. said the fire is 150 acres and they will transition to a local Type 3 Incident Management Team tonight.
A military C-130 MAFFS air tanker was over the fire at 3:40 p.m. A Single Engine Air Tanker may have dropped on the fire earlier. A helicopter is also dropping water on the fire.
Jefferson County Sheriffs’ office has posted evacuation information HERE.
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Colorado has another fire that is causing evacuations. The Lime Gulch fire is 7 miles southeast of Conifer and 13 miles southwest of Columbine in the southern part of Jefferson County.
The map of the Lime Gulch fire above shows heat detected by a satellite at 1:49 p.m. MDT, June 19, 2013. The locations of the red squares can be as much as a mile in error.
Just before 2 p.m. the Sheriff ordered immediate evacuations for a 3-mile radius around the intersection of Foxton and Platte River roads. Calls went out to 401 phones in the area.
At least one helicopter is on scene dropping water, and other aircraft have been ordered.
SKY9 was streaming live video of the fire at 3:06 p.m. Wednesday, but that could end any time.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized25 Comments on Firefighter suffers cardiac arrest on Big Meadows Fire 
A firefighter on the Horseshoe Meadow Hotshot crew working on the Big Meadows Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park northwest of Denver suffered a cardiac arrest June 16 but was successfully resuscitated with CPR and an Automated External Defibrillator.
The incident occurred in the morning as the Horseshoe Meadow Hotshot crew was hiking with the Arrowhead Hotshots to their assignment in a remote area of the Park. Luther E. Larkin, Sr., 51, a member of the crew which is based on the Sequoia National Forest in California, began having difficulty breathing and experienced chest pains. An EMT with the crews evaluated him and detected no pulse, then started CPR. A paramedic that was on the fireline arrived within 5 minutes, carrying an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). After approximately 10 to 14 minutes with no pulse and applying one “shock” from the AED, Mr. Larkin was resuscitated.
Meanwhile back at the Incident Command Post as well as on the fireline, personnel were being reassigned to manage the incident-within-an-incident. A Flight for Life medivac helicopter was ordered and a helicopter assigned to the fire transported additional personnel to the scene, including two additional paramedics.
Shane Del Grosso’s Type 2 Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, working closely with Rocky Mountain National Park, had planned carefully for the medical treatment and extraction of firefighters on the fire. They had even swapped helicopters so that they had a National Guard ship with a hoist if that became the most expedient method to obtain treatment for a victim within the “golden hour”.
After packaging the patient, personnel on the two crews, working at an elevation of 9,000 to 10,000 feet, carried him about one-quarter mile to a helispot, arriving about the same time the medivac ship arrived. One hour and 4 minutes after he collapsed on the fireline, they loaded Mr. Larken onto the helicopter which then flew him to a hospital in Denver.
Incident Commander Shane Del Grosso said the planning paid off and the treatment and extraction worked out very well. He said the “prognosis looks very good” for Mr. Larkin, and he is “sitting up in bed and recognizing fellow crew members”.
As they frequently do, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation is providing assistance to Mr. Larkin and his family in several ways, including helping with lodging and other expenses while they are in Denver.
The presence of an AED and the availability of advanced medical care on the fireline was critical to reviving him and obtaining a pulse, the Incident Management Team said in a conference call today.
Lessons learned following the tragic death of firefighter Andrew Palmer in 2008 may have saved this firefighter’s life. It took three hours and twenty minutes after Mr. Palmer was injured by a falling tree to get him from the fireline to the airport in Redding, California where he was pronounced dead. Mr. Palmer died from excessive blood loss.
The Larkin family granted permission for this information to be released and requests that their privacy be respected.
The worst wildfires
The Mother Nature Network has assembled what they call “10 of the Worst Wildfires in U.S. History”. Check it out to see if you agree with their list.
Furloughs cancelled for NWS
As wildfire season heats up the National Weather Service has cancelled their plans to force their employees to take four days off without pay before September 30. While a memo to all 12,000 NWS employees did not mention fire weather forecasts or Incident Meteorologists, it did refer to the tornadoes that plowed through Midwestern states last month. The Las Cruces Sun-News has more details.
Photos and videos of the 747 Supertanker, and a new CWN contract for the 20,000-gallon beast
Fire Aviation has some photos and videos of Evergreen’s 747 Supertanker that is receiving a new call when needed contract from the U.S. Forest Service. When you see the two photos of the 747 dropping on a fire in Mexico, compare them to this photo of a P2V dropping on a fire in the San Diego area Monday.
Denver post on the shortage of air tankers
The Denver Post has an article about the shortage of large air tankers in the United States and how that may have affected the early stages of the recent fires in Colorado. They also quote a very reliable source about the number of Unable to Fill (UTF) requests for air tankers.
Aspen Fire on Mount Lemmon, 10 years ago
It was 10 years ago today that the Aspen Fire ripped across the top of Mount Lemmon in Arizona, destroying nearly 340 homes and burning 84,000 acres.
Birds start fires in California and Nevada
A deluded conspiracy theorist might assume that terrorists have trained birds to fly into power lines and start fires, since over the last two days it happened in Chico, California and in Reno, Nevada. But in spite of the tin foil hat I’m wearing, I don’t think this quite meets the threshold for our Animal Arson series, since it is fairly common.
