A Union Pacific firefighting train on the Delta Fire. Screenshot from footage filmed by Dan Ryant.
Firefighting trains have been around for well over 100 years — the first ones were pulled by steam locomotives, but you rarely see them since they are used in remote areas near a fire that has limited access by the public. The apparatus usually consists of one or more tank cars that each hold more than 10,000 gallons of water and a high-volume pump that can support a master stream and additional hand-held hose lines.
The concept is to protect the railroad infrastructure, keeping the right of way open for trains. And sometimes the railroad will serve as a fire line — the application of water could keep the fire from crossing to the other side.
The videos below of a Union Pacific firefighting train were shot at the Delta Fire, the 63,000-acre blaze north of Redding, California. The first one is from ABC news, featuring fire photographer Dan Ryant. The one after that is raw footage shot by Mr. Ryant mostly from the top of the train.
The fire is 24 miles north of Redding, California. Interstate 5 is now open, one lane in each direction
A Sikorsky Air-Crane working on the Delta Fire. USFS photo.
(UPDATED at 2:37 p.m. PDT September 10, 2018)
Interstate 5 is now open. Officials reopened the highway Monday morning, with one lane available in each direction through the fire area. The lane restriction is in effect for 17 miles between Antlers Bridge in Lakehead and Flume Creek Road, south of Dunsmuir, Caltrans said in a statement.
(UPDATED at 8:52 a.m. PDT September 10, 2018)
Firefighters are making progress, slowly, on the 46,150-acre Delta Fire which has forced the closure of Interstate 5 north of Redding, California. Some of the challenges they are facing include very steep, remote terrain and inversions that trap smoke making aerial support difficult or impossible at times.
One of their goals is to contain the spread near the Interstate so that the very important transportation corridor can be reopened. But in addition to that, thousands of hazardous trees near the highway have be evaluated and mitigated and guard rails destroyed by the fire have to be replaced.
On the southeast side of the fire east of the Interstate crews firing out along a dozer line had a setback when the fire spotted across, requiring them to back off and come up with a modified plan. The firing operation along a dozer line on the north side of the fire west of I-5 appears to be going well, but slowly due to unfavorable winds.
Map of the Delta Fire showing the perimeter (in red) at 12:30 a.m. PDT September 10, 2018. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before. The red shaded areas represent intense heat detected by the sensor on the fixed wing mapping aircraft. Click to enlarge.
(UPDATED at 9:55 a.m. PDT September 9, 2018)
Daily inversions have been restricting the growth of the Delta Fire 24 miles north of Redding, California. This atmospheric condition can trap smoke, reduce the visibility for aircraft attempting to drop water or retardant on the fire, keep the relative humidity higher than normal, and prevent direct sunlight and strong winds from influencing the fire.
But in spite of the inversion the fire has continued to grow over the last two days along most of the perimeter, adding thousands of acres each day. A mapping flight Saturday night determined that almost 4,000 acres had burned since the previous night bringing the total up to 40,580.
A 3-D map of the Delta Fire looking north, showing the perimeter at 9 p.m. PDT September 8, 2018. Click to enlarge.
Firefighters are conducting at least two large firing operations. One of them is 2 miles west of I-5 on the north side of the fire along a 5-mile long dozer line stretching from the Interstate west up to a 6,500-foot ridge. At 9 p.m. Saturday about three-quarters of a mile had been completed on this project.
The other large firing operation is on the southeast side between I-5 and the Hirz Fire. This is proceeding down a dozer line constructed as a contingency line during the battle to contain the Hirz Fire. The dozer line can be seen in black on the map below and the one above.
A 3-D map of the Delta Fire looking west, showing the perimeter at 9 p.m. PDT September 8, 2018. Click to enlarge.
Two spot fires have been growing slowly on the northwest side of the fire southeast of Pond Lily Lake above 5,000′ elevation. They are most likely low priority to deal with, considering that stopping the spread of the fire along Interstate 5 so it can be reopened has to be near the top of the Things To Do list. There is no word on when this major highway will be open to traffic again. About 45 miles of the Interstate are closed.
Evacuations are still in effect for the communities of Delta, Lamoine, Pollard Flat, Sims and Castella. The Trinity County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page has the most current evacuation information.
Two structures have been destroyed, but officials have not specified if they were residences or out buildings. Approximately 2,132 personnel are assigned to the fire.
(UPDATED at 1:14 a.m. PDT September 8, 2018)
The Delta Fire 24 miles north of Redding, California on Friday added another 12,000 acres moving north, south, east, and west through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Overnight mapping determined that the fire has burned almost 37,000 acres.
Shortly after it started on September 5 it crossed and forced the closure of Interstate 5, the main north-south highway in Northern California. It continued to spread east and has merged with the 46,000-acre Hirz Fire. The two fires now share a two-mile long section of their perimeters. Unless the weather changes, that sharing is likely to increase especially on the southeast side of the Delta Fire north of Lakehead where there is the potential to have another 5 miles of common fire edge.
DO NOT ENTER. InciWeb photo.
Multiple commercial vehicles and several structures have been damaged or destroyed.
The blaze north of Redding, California has grown to 24,558 acres
Delta Fire. Map by Incident Management Team, released Friday morning, Sept. 7. Click to enlarge.
Fire officials said Friday morning that the Delta Fire 24 miles north of Redding, California has grown to 24,558 acres, an increase of more than 2,000 acres since Thursday.
While the fire is steadily growing, it is moving at a much slower rate than it did the day it started, Wednesday, when it burned over 15,000 acres in the first nine hours.
On Thursday firefighters were working on a firing operation on the east side of the fire that would tie it in with the 46,000-acre Hirz Fire, checking the spread on the east side of Interstate 5 and keep it from moving farther north in that area. At 2:24 a.m Friday a satellite detected a lot of heat in that area, so it is uncertain if they were successful.
The map above was released by the incident management team Friday morning; the date and time of the data used to map the perimeter is unknown. The satellite passing 200 miles above the fire at 2:24 a.m Friday detected heat one or two miles farther north along both sides of Interstate 5, which is still closed, reaching almost as far north as the off ramp at Fisher (see the map below).
Map of the Delta Fire. The red line was the perimeter mapped by a fixed wing aircraft at 10 p.m. MDT Sept. 5. The yellow line is the APPROXIMATE growth since then based on heat detected by satellites at 2:24 a.m. PDT September 7 (the red dots) and before. Click to enlarge.
There was no overnight mapping by a fixed wing aircraft Thursday night. One of the two U.S. Forest Service infrared scanning planes was down with mechanical difficulties, which could be the reason for the “unable to fill”. It was smoky over the fire during the night but that usually does not prevent imaging the fire, unlike clouds which prevent the infrared light from reaching the sensor on the aircraft. The ability to “see” through smoke is one of the primary attributes of infrared sensing technology. However an intense convection column containing smoke, ash, and burning embers can be confused with heat on the ground.
During the large vegetation fires in southern California in 2003 some of the convection columns were so powerful that the windshields on six air tankers were cracked by chunks of debris that were being hurled into the air (page D-6 in 2003 California Governor’s Blue Ribbon Report; huge 20 Mb file). One pilot saw a four by eight sheet of plywood sail past at 1,500 feet.
Crews have worked to anchor the south end of the fire along Dog Creek. To stop the fire’s northern spread and protect structures firefighters have started a backfiring operation east of Interstate 5 from Pollard Flats to the western side of the Hirz Fire near Salt Creek Road. Many of the contingency firelines on the eastern side of the Hirz Fire may be used in the efforts to control the Delta Fire.
Evacuations are being managed by the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
The maps below show the perimeter of the Delta Fire. The red lines were the edge of the fire at 10 p.m. PDT on September 5 as mapped by a fixed wing aircraft. The white lines represent the APPROXIMATE location of additional growth between then and 2:04 p.m. PDT on September 6, based on heat detected by a satellite.
The red lines were the edge of the fire at 10 p.m. PDT on September 5 as mapped by a fixed wing aircraft. The white lines represent the APPROXIMATE location of additional growth between then and 2:04 p.m. PDT on September 6, based on heat detected by a satellite.3-D map. The red lines were the edge of the fire at 10 p.m. PDT on September 5 as mapped by a fixed wing aircraft. The white lines represent the APPROXIMATE location of additional growth between then and 2:04 p.m. PDT on September 6, based on heat detected by a satellite.
— Kempter’s Fire Wire (@KempterFireWire) September 7, 2018
(Originally published at 6:17 a.m. PDT September 6, 2018)
The Delta Fire has closed Interstate 5 and is causing evacuations 24 miles north of Redding, California. Nine hours after it was reported at 12:51 p.m. PDT on September 5 a mapping flight found that it had burned 15,294 acres. A heat-detecting satellite four hours later saw an additional 4,000 acres on the northwest and northeast sides of the fire.
The red lines on the map were the perimeters of the Delta Fire and the Hirz Fire at 10 p.m. PDT September 5, 2018. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:42 a.m. PDT September 6. The red shaded area was intense heat. Click to enlarge.
Interstate 5, the primary north/south highway in Northern California, is closed from 10 miles north of Redding at Fawndale Road to 3 miles south of Mount Shasta at Mott Road. The fire is burning on both sides of the Interstate along a five-mile stretch.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office conducted evacuations on both sides of I-5 north of Lakehead to the Shasta/Siskiyou county line. An evacuation center is at the Mt. Shasta Community Center, 629 Alder St. in Mt. Shasta.
Vicinity map showing the location of the Delta, Hirz, and Carr fires. The red lines were the perimeters at 10 p.m. PDT September 5, 2018. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:42 a.m. PDT September 6.
California Interagency Incident Management Team 5 (CIIMT5) is now managing the Delta Fire in addition to the nearby Hirz Fire which was winding down. On Wednesday 466 personnel were demobilized from the 46,000-acre Hirz Fire 2 miles east of the Delta Fire, leaving about 1,400 on the Hirz Fire. The heat detected by a satellite at 2:42 a.m. PDT on Thursday indicates that the two fires may have already merged.
Delta Fire, September 5, 2018. Photo by Mark Thibideau.
Initially reported as three fires, they merged into one, exhibiting extreme fire behavior with rapid rates of spread up to one mile per hour. Wednesday evening the fire front was more than three miles wide on the northern side with 300-foot flame lengths.
