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Update on fires in northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota

Bill GabbertSeptember 1, 2012August 25, 2019UncategorizedDC-10, Nebraska, South Dakota2 Comments

Northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota fires, 10:01 pm MT, August 31, 2012 (click to enlarge)

UPDATE at 11:47 a.m. MT, September 1, 2012:

What we thought were four major fires in the northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota areas are actually three. The large fire near east of Chadron, northwest of Pine Ridge, and south of Oglala, named Wellnitz, is just one VERY large fire that burned from Nebraska into South Dakota. If you notice the gap in the heat icons at the white SD/NE state line southwest of Pine Ridge, the fire must have burned very quickly through some light vegetation and burned out, between passes of the heat-sensing satellite. The MODIS satellite passes over most areas of the world two to three times a day on an irregular schedule.

The two fires nearest Crawford are part of the Region 23 Complex. Here is an update from InciWeb, which was updated at about 12:30 p.m. MT today:

More than 68,689 acres have burned in the Region 23 Complex fire in northwest Nebraska accordingto Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C officials.

The complex consists of two fires the West Ash Fire near Chadron and the Douthit Fire near Crawford. The fires started by lightning, Aug. 28. Containment of the fires is estimated at 25 percent. West Ash accounts for 44,354 acres and the Douthit fire has burned 24,335 acres. The fires did not grow overnight.

The fires are in rugged inaccessible terrain burning ponderosapine and grass. Red flag warning is expected to continue,possibly for the next three days. Fire fighters worked through the night preparing areas of the fire likely to be affected by potential high winds over the next couple of days.

The InciWeb site also has information about evacuations.

Five Nebraska National Guard helicopters are assisting with the fires. Models being used include CH-47 Chinook, UH-72 Lakota, and UH-60 Blackhawk.

The weather in the area is very conducive to rapid fire spread. A weather station south of Chadron at 11:22 a.m. today recorded a temperature of 89, relative humidity of 13 percent and a wind speed of 21 gusting to 40 mph.

One of the DC-10 very large air tankers dropped retardant on the fires today and yesterday, and is most likely reloading at Casper, Wyoming with 10,600 gallons of retardant with each flight. Casper is 133 miles from the fire near Harrison, not a long flight when cruising at more than 500 mph. The aircraft dropped three loads of retardant Friday and Saturday on the West Ash fire, totaling approximately 34,000 gallons.

Neptune’s Tanker 40, a jet-powered BAe-146, filed a flight plan to travel from Missoula to Rapid City, and is expected to arrive there at about 3:30 MT today. It is likely that it will also be working on these fires. Maybe someone will send us a photo of it or the DC-10 assisting the firefighters on the ground.

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Originally posted at 4:06 a.m. MT, September 1, 2012

We will write more about this later, but now there are four major wildfires burning in northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota. The MODIS heat sensing satellite is showing detections in a new area in South Dakota, south of Oglala and northwest of Pine Ridge.

We had more information about the Nebraska fires earlier, including a fatality that may be related to the fires, and Inciweb has information about evacuations.

Woman dies during evacuation ahead of Nebraska fire

Kelly AnderssonAugust 31, 2012August 25, 2019Uncategorizedfatality, Nebraska

A 64-year-old Chadron woman died Wednesday during evacuations ahead of the West Ash Creek Fire in northwest Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reported that Chadron dispatch logged a call from a neighbor, who discovered the woman with breathing difficulties when they went to check on her during the evacuation. The sheriff’s department and an ambulance responded; she was pronounced dead at the hospital. Preliminary reports are that the cause of death was a heart attack.

The sheriff’s department evacuated about 150 Dawes County residents and closed Chadron State Park. The sheriff has since issued a mandatory evacuation for residents in the west and south of the Metcalf Wildlife Area north of Hays Springs, because of a third fire in that area.

The Region 23 Complex fires have burned nearly 69,000 acres; the complex comprises two fires, the West Ash Fire near Chadron, and the Douthit Fire near Crawford. Containment this morning is estimated at 25 percent.

The fires were estimated at only 1,300 acres on Wednesday, but grew quickly as hot winds pushed flames through the dry timber and grasslands. Smoke forced additional road closures on Sand Creek, Cottonwood Road, and Highway 20 west of Fort Robinson. Sections of Table Road near Willow Creek Church are closed because of increased fire activity in the area. Highway 385 is open, but controlled in areas with one-lane traffic and pilot car.

The Lincoln Journal-Star reported that the two fires in Dawes County were started by lightning Tuesday. One is south of Chadron and the other’s burning between the smaller towns of Harrison and Crawford. State officials also were responding to fires in Sheridan and Sioux counties, all in the Nebraska Panhandle. Gov. Dave Heineman on Thursday dispatched the state’s mobile operations center to the region.

Fires in Nebraska blacken more than 25,000 acres

Bill GabbertAugust 30, 2012August 25, 2019UncategorizedNebraska

Northwest Nebraska fires, 10:54 p.m. MT, August 30, 2012. MODIS/Google (click to see enlarged version)

UPDATE at 11:47 a.m. MT, August 31 2012:

Below is another update from Beth Hermanson:

Fire officials report progress on the Region 23 Fire Complex, now 25% contained with portions of the Douthit fire northwest of Crawford possibly moving into mop-up status. Progress was also made on the West Ash fire southwest of Chadron to secure more lines to help with structure and property protection. Fire crews plan to make the most of calm early morning conditions, anticipating mid-morning changes.

A Red Flag Fire Weather Warning is the primary challenge facing fire crews on the combined 68,689 acre Region 23 Complex, with today being the first of a possible three-day warning. Forecasters anticipate a warm front moving into the area mid-morning that will shift winds to the south and bring higher temperatures with drier conditions. The southerly winds may become strong with gusts up to 30 mph or more.

Safety will be the highest priority today, knowing conditions are changing. Ed Wagonner, Operations Section Chief of the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C stated, “Today is critical for these fires because it’s the first of three possible Red Flag Days, and we really don’t know how the fires will respond to the winds.”

One of our loyal web site visitors in Custer, South Dakota told us that they heard radio traffic indicating that a very large air tanker was ordered for the fire, with an ETA of around 4-5 p.m.

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UPDATE, 2:37 a.m. MT, August 31, 2012:

We have an updated map, above, showing heat detected by a satellite at 10:54 p.m. August 30, 2012.

Here is new information about two of the three fires from Beth Hermanson, a public information officer with the Incident Management Team:

More than 68,689 acres have burned in the Region 23 Complex fire in northwest Nebraska according to Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C officials.

The complex consists of two fires — the West Ash Fire near Chadron and the Douthit Fire near Crawford. The fires started by lightning, Aug. 28. Containment of the fires is estimated at 10 percent. West Ash accounts for 44,354 acres and the Douthit fire has burned 24,335 acres.

The fires are in rugged inaccessible terrain burning ponderosa pine and grass. Fire fighters focused on fire suppression today as well as evaluation of the fire perimeter. Red flag warning is expected to continue, possibly for the next three days. Fire fighters are working through the night preparing areas of the fire likely to be affected by potential high winds over the next several days.

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(originally posted at 8:50 p.m. MT, August 30, 2012)

Fires in northwest Nebraska have burned more than 25,000 acres since lightning ignited the blazes on Tuesday.

The map of the fires above shows heat detected by a satellite at 1:31 p.m. MT on August 30, with the red color being the most recently mapped.

A Type 2 Incident Management Team with Joe Lowe as Incident Commander assumed control of two of the fires Thursday morning. The Douthit Fire between Crawford and Harrison and the West Ash Creek Fire between Chadron and Crawford are zero percent contained.

Spokesperson Beth Hermanson said some structures have been lost but did not know the exact number.

Information about current evacuations can be found at InciWeb.

Timber fire in Nebraska

Bill GabbertJune 18, 2012September 12, 2012UncategorizedNebraska

There is not a lot of forested land in Nebraska, so when it burns it’s kind of a big deal. The Cottonwood fire in the northwest corner of the state was reported Sunday morning on a pine ridge about 15 miles northwest of Crawford, possibly started from lightning Friday night. With the wind cranking on Sunday at 20 to 25 mph with gusts in the high 30s, the fire raced about four miles through those valuable pine trees and prairies.

Map Cottonwood fire 6-18-2012 — Map Cottonwood fire, northwest of Crawford, Nebraska, June 18, 2012

The spot weather forecast for Monday was almost as severe, predicting 15 to 20 mph winds with gusts to 35, along with 91 degrees and 10 percent relative humidity. Knowing it had burned thousands of acres on Sunday, I drove down to the fire on Monday thinking I could photograph some active fire behavior and very busy firefighters.

I was wrong. When I got there at about 3 p.m., there was virtually no wind, the sky was mostly covered by clouds, the humidity was fairly high, and since most of the fire had dozer and grader lines around it, there was not a lot for the firefighters to do other than mop up. But based on Sunday’s fire behavior and the predicted weather for Monday, they had plenty of resources on hand, including two National Guard Blackhawk helicopters with water buckets and firefighters from across much of the state’s panhandle. The estimated size of the fire is 2,500 acres.

(more photos are below)
Continue reading “Timber fire in Nebraska”

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