Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Tag: Hawaii

Wildfire briefing, November 11, 2014

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , ,

Lightning injures three people in Australia

Lightning in Western Australia struck and injured three people, including a person near his home who was believed to be a volunteer firefighter. According to a neighbor the man later walked to an ambulance but was holding his arm. A spokesperson for the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said the man fell to the ground after being hit.

“He had an initial check and was cleared, suffering a little anxiety, and was transported to hospital,” the spokesman said.

Firefighters in Victoria contained the spread of a fire that came within 250 meters of properties in the state’s north-east on Monday.

U.S. Representative activated with the National Guard in response to volcano lava flow in Hawaii

Tulsi Gabbard national guard
Tulsi Gabbard working in the Command Cell at Joint Task Force Response in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Photo: SSG Katie Gray/DVIDS)

The lava from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii continues to spread and ignite vegetation that it contacts, but for now the threat of significant wildfire has decreased

U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard completed her State Active Duty orders with the Hawaii Army National Guard last week in response to the lava flow.

The Congresswoman served as a military police captain in the command cell at Joint Task Force Response in Pahoa, assisting with personnel and logistics.

Gabbard worked with approximately 80 other National Guard soldiers and airmen working to patrol the area and assist the Hawaii Police Department with traffic control points.

Planes: Fire and Rescue released on DVD

planes fire and rescue

DisneyToon Studios has released the animated film Planes: Fire and Rescue on DVD. The movie about fire aviation hit theaters in July and had a domestic and overseas box office of $219 million. It was in the top five highest-grossing family films of the summer.

Wildfire briefing, January 3, 2014

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , , , ,

Drought Monitor

The Drought Monitor shows that most of California, Nevada, and southern Idaho are in either a severe or extreme drought. This could be an interesting winter fire season if it continues.

Drought Monitor 12-31-2013

Arizona State Forestry Division wants to almost double budget

The state organization responsible for managing the Yarnell Hill Fire is requesting a budget for the Arizona State Forestry Division that is nearly double what they received in the fiscal year that ends June 30. According to an article at Azcentral, State Forester Scott Hunt wants to add $6.2 million to this year’s budget of $7.3 million. The additional funds would be used to hire 15 additional staffers, replace firefighting and communications equipment, and allocate $2 million to remove hazardous vegetation on state and private lands. The budget request was filed in October, after 19 firefighters died on the Yarnell Hill Fire but before the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued their report on the fire and recommended a $550,000 fine be imposed on the Arizona State Forestry Division as a result of the fatalities on the fire.

Retired smokejumper interviewed on Montana Public Radio

Retired smokejumper Wayne Williams is featured in an interview on Montana Public Radio. In the 11-minute recording Mr. Williams speaks eloquently from his decades of experience. It is refreshing to hear someone interviewed about wildland fire in the media who knows the subject matter. The audio is HERE, and a short article with his photo is HERE.

Army attempts to prevent wildfires at Schofield Barracks

Raising the berm at Schofield Barracks
A soldier with 2nd Platoon, 523rd Engineer Company, 84th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, uses a D7 bulldozer to increase the size of the berm so it is a 20 feet by 20 feet dimension. (U.S. Army photo by: 1st Lt. Lucian Myers, 2nd Platoon, 523rd Engineer Company, 84th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command)

In October and November two wildfires started at a range used for controlled detonations to dispose of unexploded ordnance at Schofield Barracks west of Honolulu, Hawaii. The fire that started October 15 burned more than 250 acres. It was fought for five days, then two days later rekindled and was finally extinguished October 28. Another fire in November burned about 30 acres.

In order to reduce the chances of vegetation fires igniting from the explosions, soldiers are using dozers to increase the height of the dirt berm surrounding the range from 7 feet to 22 feet. During the project, which was conducted 24 hours a day between December 9 and 13, they moved 5,800 cubic yards of dirt.

Wildfire Tweets

Below are a couple of messages on Twitter that had photos of fires — at Valparaiso, Chile and Lake Tahoe, California (which may be a prescribed fire).

 

Thanks and a hat tip go out to Dick and Chris

Fire on the Garden Island

Author Kelly AnderssonPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

A 2,000-acre fire on the island of Kauai is about 50 percent contained today, but dry conditions and high winds are challenging containment efforts. Koke’e residents are under a voluntary evacuation because of a power outage, and the Waimea Canyon drive was closed.

KHON2 News reported that the fire started early Friday on the northwest portion of Kauai, which is the northernmost and almost westernmost of the Hawaiian islands. Firefighters from at least four agencies are working the fire, which is burning near the island’s Kekaha game management area.

“Most of it is a very steep terrain and we can’t put hand crews on it; we have to let it run up to a defensible space like a roadway,” said Robert Westerman with the Kauai Fire Department. Three helicopters, including one from the U.S. Navy, are dropping water on the fire.

The Garden Island reported today that firefighters made good progress along the Poki‘i, Paua, and Waiaka ridges.

Wildfire in Hawaii closes freeway

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags
Hawaii fire
Hawaii fire. Photo by Gardner Kaipo Chung

Police closed a section of the H-3 freeway north of Honolulu on Tuesday when a 350-acre wildfire burned an area behind Kalaheo High School (map) on the north side of the island. The fire reached the ridge above the high school and worked its way down the other side.

Pushed by winds gusting up to 25 mph, it started about 1 p.m. and was mostly contained by 9:30 p.m., coming within 25 yards of some homes.

The fire was fought by eight engines, two water tenders, and two helicopters.
Thanks go out to Dietra

Large fire in hawaii

Author BillPosted on Categories WildfireTags

From the Honolulu Advertiser:

HILO, Hawai’i — A brush fire that started Saturday under suspicious circumstances in the Mana Road area of the Big Island has burned an estimated 2,600 acres, and federal, state and county fire crews are working to contain the blaze.

Big Island Deputy Fire Chief Glen Honda said four helicopters were dumping water on the fire in an inaccessible area on the slopes of Mauna Kea today, with fire officials are focusing efforts this afternoon on protecting a single cabin in the isolated area.

A total of 35 firefighters and four helicopters are battling the blaze, which was first reported as two separate brushfires at 2:10 p.m. Saturday in Hakalau near Mana Road.

The fires later merged with one another to form a single 20-acre blaze, and grew to burn about 600 acres by Sunday evening. Most or all of the pasture land involved is state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Honda said.

Crews used bulldozers to cut fire breaks and conducted backburning along Mana Road to contain the fire and keep it from moving makai, but the fire continued to grow. It is burning mauka of Mana Road this afternoon.

County fire crews were working with a crew from the Pohakuloa training Area and staff from the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife to try to contain the blaze, Honda said.