CWN drone used to map Martin Fire

Silent Falcon drone

Above: File photo of a Silent Falcon drone poised for launch. Image credit: Silent Falcon UAS Technologies.

(Originally published at 6:48 p.m. MDT July 13, 2018)

The Department of the Interior continues to aggressively move toward the use of drones to provide information for land managers. The agency is purchasing dozens of them and recently issued Call When Needed (CWN) contracts for contractor operated and maintained drones to be used on fires.

On July 11 the Bureau of Land Management activated one of the new CWN drones to map the HUGE Martin Fire that has burned 435,000 acres in Northern Nevada. The company that got the call was Bridger Aerospace, an outfit that also had nine Aero Commanders under contract for Type 1 Air Attack services, used as a platform for coordinating airborne firefighting aircraft. Drones, for Bridger, is a new field, and they have partnered with Silent Falcon UAS Technologies for the use of their Silent Falcon drone.

Martin Fire progression map
July 7 was a big day on the Martin Fire.

During its first day on the fire, today, July 13, it has conducted four sorties for a total of 5.6 hours, according to Gill Dustin, the Unmanned Aerial Systems Manager for the BLM. The aircraft is being used to map unburned islands inside the perimeter, look for remaining heat on the fire and outside the fireline, and identify structures and other infrastructure to determine if they have been damaged or not. The company brought four aircraft to the fire, but so far are only using one at a time.

IR photo Martin Fire drone
Infrared photo taken by Silent Falcon UAS with Ascent Vision CM-100 Gimbal. Credit: Bridger Aerospace.
aerial photo Martin fire drone
Screen capture with incident map on the left. Camera keystone (field of view) is the red cone on the right side of the aircraft. Credit (Bridger Aerospace). Camera view is on the right.

The BLM has secured from the FAA an Emergency Course of Action (ECOA) to enable the aircraft to operate within the Temporary Flight Restriction. Kurt Friedemann, Vice President of Bridger Aerospace, said that on the Martin Fire it has been flying at 8,000 feet, which in that area is about 3,000 feet above the ground.

The Silent Falcon is powered by an electric motor drawing its power from a battery. But there are also solar panels on the wings which can add a small amount of additional power to the battery while in flight. With the fuselage made of carbon fiber, it is quite light and energy efficient. Mr. Friedemann said that occasionally the aircraft can take advantage of thermals, like a glider, to extend the amount of time it can loiter over a target. Normally they expect to get at least 5 hours of flight time out of the aircraft. It is launched on a spring-loaded catapult, and has no landing gear. It lands via parachute — upside down to protect the payload. The entire system can be transported in a pickup truck.

Silent Falcon drone
File photo of a Silent Falcon drone. Image credit: Silent Falcon UAS Technologies

The payload can be changed to meet the needs of the end user, but for this mission it has electro-optical and infrared sensors.

On the Martin fire, which is almost 60 miles long east to west, the Silent Falcon is operating out of line of sight, which puts it into a different certification category than your typical consumer drone.

To integrate the drone into the management of the incident there are two critical positions that are filled by the incident —  an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Manager and a Data Specialist. The manager helps to integrate the system into the Incident Management Team structure.  A drone, especially while live-streaming video, can generate a crap-ton of data. Managing that can be problematic if it’s not figured out in advance and carefully curated as it is collected.

Mr. Friedemann said that just 10 days ago they completed 7 days of training for personnel and carding for the aircraft in West Wendover, Nevada. And now they have their flight crew spiked out miles from the Incident Command Post in one of the most sparsely populated areas of the United States.

Martin Fire grows to almost 400,000 acres

Martin Fire pyrocumulus

Above: screenshot from the video of the Martin Fire.

(UPDATED at 8:58 a.m. MDT July 9, 2018)

A new map of the rapidly growing Martin Fire in Northern Nevada reveals that it has exploded to 399,429 acres, according to the Incident Management Team. During an overnight fixed wing mapping flight some areas of light vegetation burned and then cooled, again making it difficult to fill in some of the holes where no heat was detected by the sensors.

The Martin Fire is 57 miles long, west to east.

map martin fire nevada
Map showing heat detected on the Martin Fire. The most current data was collected at 1 a.m. MDT July 9, 2018.
DC-10 drop retardant Martin Fire
A DC-10 makes a retardant drop on the Martin Fire. Photo uploaded to InciWeb June 6, 2018.

(UPDATED at 6:30 a.m. MDT July 9, 2018)

The incident management team has posted an updated map of the Martin Fire on InciWeb.

(UPDATED  at 6:50 p.m. MDT July 8, 2018)

According to satellite data acquired at 1:54 p.m. MDT Sunday the Martin Fire in Northern Nevada was extremely active at that time. It may have progressed over 20 miles during the previous 24 hours, reaching a total length of approximately 54 miles, west to east. At 1:54 p.m. it was 13 miles west of highway 11/226. Our very, very unofficial guestimate of the size at that time was about 380,000 acres. This is difficult to determine, because much of the vegetation that is burning is light, and can burn and then cool before the next infrared-sensing satellite overflight, occurring about every 12 hours. Our guess involved assuming some of the “unburned” holes had actually burned, but were undetectable by the satellite.

The map below shows approximately the same area as the one farther down dated July 7.

Martin Fire, July 7, 2018
Martin Fire, July 7, 2018.

(UPDATED at 2:21 MDT July 8, 2018)

InciWeb is saying the Martin Fire has burned 164,000 acres but this map puts it at over 239,000 acres.

(Originally published at 1:45 p.m MDT July 8, 2018)

The robotic cameras operated by the Nevada Seismological Lab  have scored again, capturing some great time-lapse video of the Martin Fire in Northern Nevada as pyrocumulus clouds are being created. The video was shot from 6 to 7 p.m. on July 7, 2018.

The Martin Fire has burned 164,000 acres according to InciWeb, and on Saturday it spread from Humboldt County into Elko County.

Martin Fire map Fire perimeter produced by the Incident Management Team. Text notations by Wildfire Today.

Lake Mead National Park’s float plane

national park service aircraft

Lake Mead National Park (@lakemeadnps) distributed this photo yesterday via Twitter with a description:

Thanks to COL Paul Murray @99ABWCC and the team from @NellisAFB for hosting @lakemeadnps and the @NatlParkService at #AviationNation.
Happy 70th birthday @usairforce

12:29 PM – Nov 12, 2017 · Nellis Air Force Base, NV

The “N” number on the aircraft is clever.

A busy day at Reno Stead

Air tankers Reno Stead

The Great Basin Coordination Center distributed this photo on Twitter Monday at 6:50 p.m., saying “Busy day at Stead”.

I counted nine air tankers:

  • Four Neptune BAe-146’s
  • One Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87
  • One SEAT
  • One Aero-Flite RJ 85
  • Two Aero-Flite CL-415’s

I’m not sure what fires they are working on but the 83,000-acre Long Valley Fire is 16 miles north of the airport and there are several others 140 to 230 miles to the northeast but Battle Mountain tanker base is closer to those.

Below, a DC-10 drops on the Long Valley Fire.

Satellite view of four wildfires in Idaho and Nevada

smoke Roosters Comb fire Nevada Idaho

Above: Smoke from the Roosters Comb Fire was captured in a photo by the (non-operational) GOES-16 satellite at 7:30 p.m. MDT July 10, 2017.

(Originally published at 7:20 a.m. MDT July 11, 2017)

Four wildfires in northeast Nevada and southern Idaho are large enough that satellites are able, in some cases, to see the smoke and the blackened burned areas. These photos were taken late in the afternoon on Monday July 10.

The one putting up the most smoke Monday was the Roosters Comb Fire which as of Monday evening had burned approximately 25,000 acres in Nevada 17 miles northeast of Battle Mountain. It was reported at 9 p.m. Sunday July 9. The fire is spreading rapidly through grass, sagebrush, and pinyon-juniper.

smoke Roosters Comb fire Nevada Idaho
Four wildfires in Nevada and Idaho were photographed by a satellite Monday afternoon, July 10, 2017.

Farther to the east in Nevada is the Tabor Flats Fire 27 miles northeast of Elko close to Interstate 80. The reported size of this fire is also 25,000 acres. The fire behavior in the tall grass is described as “extreme, running, flanking, wind driven runs”.

In Idaho the Loveridge Fire has burned over 38,000 acres 18 miles south of Mountain Home. It was shown as contained in the Tuesday morning national situation report. The heat detected by the satellite in that area (shown as red dots) could either be from the Loveridge Fire or a new fire in the same area.

The Antelope Fire at Shoshone, Idaho just south of Interstate 84 has covered 29,500 acres. It is exhibiting extreme fire behavior with wind-driven runs.

Four wildfires in Reno area have burned about 115,000 acres

Limerick Fire
The Limerick Fire, 94 miles northeast of Reno. Photo posted to Inciweb July 5, 2017.

(Originally published at 10:09 a.m. MDT July 6, 2017)

Four large wildfires in the Reno/Sparks, Nevada area have burned a total of about 115,000 acres since the first ones started July 3.  Brook Chadwick’s Type 2 incident management team will be assuming command of the Earthstone, Truckee, and Winnemucca Ranch Fires.

Map four large wildfires Reno, Nevada
Map showing the four large wildfires in the Reno, Nevada Area, July 6, 2017. The red, yellow, and brown dots represent heat detected by a satellite. The red dots are the most recent. Click to enlarge.
wildfires Reno, Nevada area
Four large wildfires in the Reno, Nevada area. NIFC Situation Report July 6, 2017.

Earthstone Fire, 26,785 acres, just northeast of Reno/Sparks.

Information from Inciweb current as of about 8 p.m. MDT July 5, 2017:

“The Sierra Front Type 3 Incident Management Team assumed control of operations [presumably on Wednesday] and brought in additional resources, including two fire engine strike teams, to allow the releasing of some local fire crews to return to their home districts. A Type 2 Incident Management Team remains scheduled to assume command of the incident on Thursday morning.

Three additional fixed wing aircraft, including one Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT), made retardant drops today. Two Super Scooper air craft, requested from Alaska, are still on order and may arrive as early as Friday, bringing the total number of aircraft on the incident to 18.

Currently, there is no immediate threat to structures; however, residents of the Wadsworth area are encouraged to remain vigilant for the possibility of evacuation and complete their preparations as the head of the fire is now about 10 miles west of the town. Impacts to I-80 are expected in the vicinity of the USA Parkway within the next 24 hours.”

Truckee Fire, 70,546 acres, 28 miles northeast of Reno. Not much information is available, but it is exhibiting extreme fire behavior as it burns in brush and short grass in above normal temperatures and single-digit humidities.

Winnemucca Ranch Fire, 3,000 acres 8 miles north-northeast of Reno. Five structures have been destroyed on this fire and another 175 are threatened. Numerous animals and livestock have been evacuated along rural roads. The fire managers identified competition for firefighting resources as a problem.

Limerick Fire, 14,656 acres 94 miles northeast of Reno and 15 miles northeast of Lovelock. Two outbuildings have burned.

Information from Inciweb current as of about 9:40 a.m. MDT July 6, 2017:

“Firefighters stayed on the fire last night and were able to hold the fire line at the ridge to the south of Wright’s Canyon. Snow is still in the higher elevations and greener grass has helped keep the fire on the ridgetop.

Potential fire weather is predicted for the weekend and a structure protection group has been established as a contingency for active fire behavior.

Crews completed burn outs in the southeast corner of the fire yesterday and were able to connect containment lines to the dozer line near Golden Gate Hill. Crews will continue to secure fire line and begin mop up in the area near Couer Rochester Mine. Fire crews will continue to put in containment line on the eastern side of the fire working their way north.

Limerick Road is open to firefighter and mine traffic only.”

The maps below are forecasts for wildfire smoke at 5 p.m. MDT on Thursday.

wildfire smoke forecast
A forecast for wildfire smoke in the Pacific Southwest at 5 p.m. MDT July 6, 2017.

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wildfire smoke map
A forecast for wildfire smoke in the United States at 5 p.m. MDT July 6, 2017.

Videos of the first 5 hours of the Fairview Fire in Nevada

Above: Screen grab from the NVSeismoLab video.

The cameras operated by the Nevada Seismological Laboratory detected and recorded the ignition and spread of a wildfire near Fairview Peak south of U.S. 50 between Fallon and Austin in western Nevada. Below we have the time-lapse videos, each compressing about one hour to one minute.

According to KOLOTV the Fairview Fire burned at least 50 acres of Fallon Naval Air Station land.

Below the descriptions (provided by nvseismolab) are the applicable videos.

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Although the fire starts at 12:50 PM, it begins in earnest around 1 PM … First fire discovery for 2017! Starting to pick up speed by hour’s end.

Although early in the season, the fire still manages to expand and move uphill in plain sight of the Fairview Fire Camera. Time lapse covers from 2 PM to 3 PM.

Fairview Fire continues to grows as air resources begin to drop water on the fire …

4th hour time lapse of the Fairview Fire as more helicopter delivered buckets hit the flames.

This one hour long time lapse video starting at 8 PM shows continued wildfire activity. Near-IR filter is turned on 42 seconds (8:42 PM) …