One source for informing the public and gathering information about mitigating the emergencies, providing relief, managing transportation corridors, electrical power grids, and evacuations
Continue readingWildfire history of California, interactive
We often hear, “It’s not IF an area will burn, but WHEN”.
Capital Public Radio has developed an interactive map showing the footprints of wildfires that have occurred in California since 1878. You can see all of the fires at once, or individual years, and the map is zoomable. (The map may not display well in all browsers. It seems to work best using Firefox.)
I may or may not have spent too much time looking at these maps.
Satellite photos of California wildfires
(Originally published at 6:43 p.m. PDT October 12, 2017)
These satellite photos show the growth of the wildfires in northern California. The photo above is from October 12, 2017. The red dots represent heat.
The next four photos are October 8 through October 11.
Below is a map showing heat detected on the fires over the last week.
Detwiler Fire spreads quickly, causes evacuation of Mariposa
Above: Map of the Detwiler Fire. The yellow line was the perimeter at 1 a.m. PDT Tuesday July 18, 2017. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 1:48 p.m. PDT July 18. The satellite detections can’t be relied upon to be 100 percent accurate. The very intense smoke plume over the fire on Tuesday may have contained enough heat to trip the sensors on the satellite, giving the impression that the fire was larger than it actually was.
(UPDATED at 9:13 p.m. PDT July 18, 2017)
(All articles on Wildfire Today about the Detwiler Fire are tagged “Detwiler Fire” and can be found here, with the most recent at the top.)
The Detwiler Fire continued to be very active Tuesday afternoon. CAL FIRE, the agency responsible for suppressing the blaze, estimated at 7 p.m. that the size had increased to about 25,000 acres, up from 19,601 at 1 a.m. on Tuesday. They reported that 8 structures have been destroyed, but did not specify if they were residences or outbuildings.
The CAL FIRE web site sometimes has information about evacuations.
The fire spread to the south Tuesday, pushed by a wind out of the north. Winds from the north are expected to continue through the night and into Wednesday morning at 6 to 9 mph, shifting to come out of the west in the afternoon. Wednesday’s temperature in the fire area will top out at 98 degrees, with the relative humidity hitting 14 percent in the afternoon.
3 hour #GOES16 loop w/ fire temp imaging shows the scale of the #DetwilerFire w/ pyrocumulus casting shadows. #CAwx #CAFire @CAL_FIRE pic.twitter.com/DIQFvVqg36
— Rob Mayeda (@RobMayeda) July 19, 2017
(UPDATED at 5:34 p.m. PDT July 18, 2017)
The Detwiler Fire has been very, very active Tuesday afternoon, spreading very quickly and putting up a huge smoke plume. For a while at mid-afternoon at least one air tanker working the fire, a DC-10, was diverted to a new fire 6 miles southeast of Redding. During that time the KCRA live video did not show any air tankers on the Detwiler Fire, but after a while there were two DC-10s, an MD-87, a C-130, and at least one S2T working the fire again.
The camera operator for KCRA has no trouble finding action to film — air tankers dropping, massive flames, or a towering convection column.
LiveCopter3 on the way to the #DetwilerFire . Mariposa has been evacuated. Coverage starts at 4 on KCRA3 pic.twitter.com/A8MVgjys61
— Mark Finan (@kcraFinan) July 18, 2017
(UPDATED at 1:24 p.m. PDT July 18, 2017)
The Detwiler Fire has grown explosively since it started less than 48 hours ago during the afternoon of July 16. At 1 a.m. PDT on July 18 it was mapped at 19,610 acres, an increase of 16,192 acres over the previous 24 hours.
The fire is 6 miles northwest of Mariposa.
The maps of the Detwiler Fire below were current at 1 a.m. PDT July 18, 2017.
It is already causing evacuations in areas of Mariposa County, according to the Sheriff’s office. At 12:30 p.m. PDT Tuesday CAL FIRE revised their information about the fire to indicate that the city of Mariposa is being evacuated, but by 1:18 p.m. PDT the Sheriff’s Office had not stated it like that on their web site. However, the Sheriff’s site lists about 19 locations that ARE evacuated, without providing a map, so it can be a little difficult to get the entire picture.
Highway 49 is closed. Power lines that supply electricity to Yosemite National Park, which is 19 air miles to the east, could be impacted.
The time-lapse video below was filmed by Toney Gorham between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. on Sunday July 16.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to JW.
Typos or errors, report them HERE.
Anderson Creek fire in Oklahoma and Kansas
(UPDATED at 11:30 a.m. March 25, 2016)
@KOCOdamonlane
****
(UPDATED at 12:15 a.m. CDT, March 25, 2016)
This map was provided by Oklahoma Forestry Services, along with the information that the fire had burned an estimated 397,420 acres and was 0% contained Thursday morning.
****
(UPDATED at 6:12 p.m. CDT March 24, 2016)
The video below is a recording of the briefing by public officials of Barber County Kansas the morning of March 24, 2016 about the very large fire insouthern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. It was originally broadcast on Periscope by Amy Bickel, but since recordings there are automatically deleted after 24 hours, we preserved it here. It was recorded off a computer monitor, so we apologize for the low quality.
In the briefing referenced above, the County Attorney said “397,420 acres have burned over the last couple of days”. He did not indicate if that was the size of the very large fire in our maps, or if the acreage includes multiple fires. He also said two homes were destroyed.
The map below shows heat detected by a satellite at 2:25 p.m. on March 24. The light vegetation in the area may sometimes ignite, burn up completely, and then cool before the next satellite overpass, which can be about 12 hours apart. In this case the mapped data may under-report the true extent of the fire.
Here is an excerpt from an article at WIBW, dated March 24 at 2:10 p.m.
Strong winds have thwarted efforts to contain a wildfire that has burned 620 square miles of rural land in Oklahoma and Kansas, and it’s now approaching populated areas.
Oklahoma Forestry Services spokesman Mark Goeller said Thursday that strong winds shifted the direction of the fire late Wednesday and overwhelmed existing containment lines.
Officials are now monitoring a part of the blaze 5 miles away from Alva, Oklahoma, where about 5,000 people live. No mandatory evacuations have been issued in Oklahoma, though Goeller says officials are forming contingency evacuation plans as crews work to slow the fire’s spread.
Goeller says wind conditions and humidity are expected to improve throughout the day, making progress on containment more likely…
Solimar Fire causes evacuations near Ventura, California
(UPDATE at 8 p.m. PST, December 26, 2015)
The Solimar Fire northwest of Ventura, California as of 5:40 p.m. PST had not grown appreciably since early Saturday morning, and was mapped at 1,236 acres. Approximately 403 firefighters were on scene at that time as well as one helicopter.
The 101 Freeway, which had been closed in both directions is now open and evacuations have been lifted.
The weather has changed from strong gusty winds Friday night to a Saturday night forecast of 7 mph north winds, 37 degrees, with 30 percent humidity.
Photo of Solina Fire courtesy of Ventura County Fire Department.****
(Originally published at 11:05 a.m. PST, December 26, 2015)
A vegetation fire has burned about 1,200 acres in southern California northwest of the city of Ventura. The Solimar Fire started at about 11 p.m. PST Christmas day and spread quickly, pushed by 50 mph winds.
The fire, burning on both sides of the 101 freeway near the Pacific coast, caused havoc among motorists when some of them made U-turns on the blocked divided highway, fleeing from the fire through opposing traffic, much to the surprise of the unaware oncoming drivers.
The 101 is closed and mandatory evacuations are still in place as this is written at 10:56 a.m. on Saturday.
The good news is that, again, the Pacific Ocean proved its value as a very adequate fuel break.
The video below was a 2 a.m. briefing by the Ventura County Fire Department.
Walker Fire, near Idaho City, ID
The Walker Fire has burned about 4,200 acres since it started on October 10, 5 miles southwest of Idaho City, 5 miles east of the Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area, and 14 miles northeast of Boise.
It is difficult to find much information about it since the National Interagency Fire Center no longer updates the national situation report daily and the Great Basin Coordination Center’s web site reports “No Large Fires in GBCC”.
Strong winds on the day it started spread it across 2,500 acres by the next morning on lands managed by the Idaho Department of Lands, Southwest Forest Protective District, and the Boise National Forest. It is burning on both sides of Grimes Creek Road. Three cabins and one outbuilding have been destroyed.
The fire was very active on the north side on Tuesday.
Evacuations have been ordered for residents in Macks Creek, Wolf Creek, and Pine Creek.
Smoke from the fire has caused air quality alerts in the Treasure Valley area.
California: Poinsettia Fire in Carlsbad
(UPDATED at 7:02 p.m. PDT, May 15, 2014)
All evacuation orders have been lifted for the 400-acre Poinsettia Fire in Carlsbad.
The fire is now considered a regional event. As of 12 p.m. today, CAL FIRE Team 4 has assumed unified command for the fires burning throughout the county. This now is being referred as the “San Diego Complex.”
A deceased person has been found inside the perimeter of the Poinsettia Fire.
The City announced today that during mopup of the 400-acre blaze, firefighters were alerted to a transient encampment in the area of Ambrosia and Calliandra. On checking the area, firefighters located a badly burned body. Further details about the deceased are unknown at this time and the investigation is ongoing. There have been no other reported injuries or fatalities.
****
(UPDATED at 5:31 p.m. PDT, May 14, 2014)
New numbers indicate # of homes burned is closer to 12….not 30.
— Shannon Handy (@ShannonCBS8) May 15, 2014
Due to still another fire, the Washitonia Fire west of Escondido, the campus of Cal State San Marcos has been evacuated. The City of San Marcos (@sanmarcoscity) reported at 4:35 p.m. that all neighborhoods south of San Marcos Blvd, including Lake San Marcos, are under a mandatory evacuation order.
The updated map below shows the spread of the Highway, Tomahawk, and Poinsettia Fires.
California: Rim Fire at Yosemite NP
(UPDATE at 9:45 a.m. PDT, September 10, 2012)
Firefighters have made some progress on the Rim Fire since our last update on September 4. As you can see in the map below, the fire has grown very little in the last six days, and most of the change in the fire perimeter is most likely a result of firefighters burning out the vegetation ahead of the fire.
The fire has burned 254,685 acres and the incident commander is calling it 80 percent contained. Over 3,000 personnel are assigned to the incident, down from more than 5,000 a week or so ago. Over the last 24 days since it started, the costs for suppressing the fire has grown to $100.4 million.
****
(UPDATE at 6:50 a.m. PDT, September 4, 2013)
As shown in the map below, the spread of the Rim Fire has slowed considerably over the last several days. Most of the acreage increases are a result of burnout operations out ahead of the fire, sometimes miles from the fire’s edge, in order to remove the fuel, eventually stopping the spread. The west and southwest sides of the fire have been very quiet for a few days. The only significant movement of the fire which may not be related to burnouts are on the east side, with most of it being in the Cherry Lake area. On the southeast flank firefighters have selected Highway 120/Tioga Road as their fireline and are burning out along the north side.
The fire has burned 237,341 acres and the incident commander is calling it 80 percent contained. Another 3,000 acres and it becomes the third largest fire in California history.
The strategy and tactics employed by the firefighters appear to be working. Instead of choosing the NEXT ridge for a fireline or burnout, they are selecting the BEST ridge, or sometimes a road, as the place to make their stand. This gives them enough time to execute what can be a miles-long burnout operation, and allows them some flexibility to conduct it at a time when the weather is favorable. These tactics have been used successfully on some very large fires on the Los Padres National Forest, including the Whitewater-Baldy, Basin Complex, Indians, Iron Alps, and Zaca fires.
There are currently no mandatory or advisory evacuation orders effective in Mariposa County. The evacuation advisory has been lifted for Ponderosa Hills and areas east, along the south side of Highway 108 up to Pinecrest. Highway 120 at the Yosemite National Park boundary west to Buck Meadows remains under evacuation.
California: Orleans and Salmon River fire complexes
Two complexes of fires in northern California, shown on the maps, are seven miles apart but are on different national forests, which could be one reason they have not been combined into just one complex.
Salmon River Complex
The Salmon River Complex on the Klamath National Forest consists of at least two fires that as of early Sunday morning were about a tenth of a mile apart, burning 6 miles northeast of Forks of the Salmon, 2 miles northwest of Sawyers Bar, and 64 miles northwest of Redding. The Type 1 California Interagency Incident Management Team One assumed command of the Complex at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Orleans Complex
The Orleans Complex comprises two fires on the Six Rivers National Forest. The Dance Fire is right at the community of Orleans and is burning on both sides of Highway 96. It started July 29 and is contained. The other is the Butler Fire 7 miles east of Orleans and about 49 miles northeast of Eureka. It was detected July 31, is listed at 3 percent containment, and has burned 1,463 acres. Northern California Interagency Team Two is managing the incident.
Salmon River Road, also known as Highway 93, is adjacent to three of these four fires and is closed.
Below is an update from the incident management team:
The fire reached the Morehouse Mine area, where structures are threatened. As of this morning, the fire lines are holding around those structures. The fire continues to burn mostly on the south side of the Salmon River in the area east of Butler Flat. Efforts to reach a spot fire on the north side of the river continue to be hampered by poor visibility and steep terrain. The fire was active around the perimeter yesterday and progressed across Lewis Creek (on the southern side) and into Grant Creek drainage (on the northeastern side). The fire is burning in the fire scars of the Hog Fire (1977). Difficult terrain, heavy vegetation, snags and poor access to the fire have continued to limit firefighting strategies. Crews are working today to open and utilize lines from the Somes Fire (2006).
Smoke issues
All of these fires are burning in an area that is infamous for long-duration fires subject to frequent inversions that trap wildfire smoke, sometimes creating air quality and health issues for sensitive residents. The incident management teams are referring residents to these websites for more information about the smoke:
- Current air quality at Yreka
- Centers for Disease Control, wildfire smoke
- North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District
On Saturday dense smoke limited the use of aircraft and the ability of fire managers to get an aerial view of the fires. A USFS fixed-wing aircraft using infrared equipment mapped the Salmon River Complex Saturday night.