1,300 firefighters are working on 35 uncontained bushfires in New South Wales

Above: Satellite view of the bushfires in New South Wales, Australia. Impressive zoom of the @CopernicusEU#Sentinel3 OLCI instrument. Via @tonyveco, posted on Twitter November 14, 2019 U.S. time.

 

So far in this fire season in New South Wales (NSW) Australia, which  officially runs from October 1 to March 31, six people have lost their lives, four in the last week or so. The NSW Rural Fire Service reports that 259 homes have been destroyed in the state since last Friday, but more than 2,100 in the direct path of the fire were saved.

As of early Friday morning local time, more than 1,300 firefighters are working on 35 uncontained bushfires in NSW, with five being at the Watch and Act alert level. The fire danger in the province is elevated on Friday with winds expected to reach 60 to 75 kph.

Late Wednesday night (U.S. Time) Air Tanker 911, a DC-10, was over the Pacific Ocean on the way to Australia when it had to return to its base in Albuquerque due to a problem with a radio. About 50 minutes after departing from San Bernardino the pilots discovered that the High Frequency radio used on long range international flights was not working, even though it appeared to have passed earlier tests on the ground. There had been no need for the HF radio on T-911 since its last international assignment approximately seven years ago. The radio was repaired by connecting the antenna cable and the new ETA at RAAF Richmond in New South Wales is Saturday morning, local time. (more information at FireAviation.com)

Australia beefs up their air tanker fleet

New South Wales has been experiencing hot, dry weather for several days, resulting in numerous bushfires that have burned more than 100 homes

Above: DC-10 Tanker 911 on the Robbers Fire in California July 15, 2012. Photo by David Wilson.

This article first appeared at FireAviation.com

Due to an unusually high level of bushfire activity Australia has contracted for two additional air tankers to assist firefighters on the ground. Richard Alder, the General Manager of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC), said the aircraft were added using the NAFC’s system of Enhanced Call When Needed (EWCN) contracts.

On November 12, U.S. time, Tanker 911, a DC-10, was loading spare parts onto the aircraft and is expected to be fire-ready in Richmond, New South Wales on November 16. It is supplied by Agair/10 Tanker. The DC-10 is considered a Very Large Air Tanker and can carry up to 9,400 gallons (35,582 liters).

The other EWCN air tanker added to the fleet is a Coulson C-130Q with an enter on duty date of November 29, also at Richmond. It usually carries around 3,500 gallons (13,248 liters).

Australia's large and very large air tanker fleet
Australia’s fleet of large and very large air tankers, updated November 13, 2019. The dates are DD/MM. Information provided by NAFC.

There are also changes on the rotor wing side. One of the most significant additions is a ECWN contract for a Blackhawk with long line bucket based at Toowoomba in Queensland.  The helicopter is suppled through Kestrel Aviation (who are partnered with BHI2/Brainerd).

Recent additions bring the total number of firebombing aircraft in Australia to 63 fixed wing and 45 rotor wing. There are an additional 51 aircraft used for other fire-related missions.

Due to fire conditions NSW Premier says “Stay away from bush lands tomorrow”

Fire danger in New South Wales predicted for Nov. 12 is being described by officials as “horrendous” and “catastrophic”

UPDATED at 1:31 p.m. PST November 11, 2019


5:47 p.m. PST November 10, 2019

Satellite photo smoke bush fires New South Wales
Satellite photo shows smoke from bush fires in New South Wales. Processed by Dakota Smith (Approximate date Nov. 8, 2019)

New South Wales has been experiencing hot, dry weather for several days, resulting in numerous bushfires that have burned more than 100 homes. On Monday November 11 local time there were 65 active fires in NSW with about half of those being uncontained, while 10 have risen to the “Watch and Act” alert level.

“We are in uncharted territory,” said NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons. “We have never seen this many fires concurrently at emergency warning level.”

Weather forecast for Sydney, NSW
Weather forecast for Sydney, NSW, created Nov. 11, 2019 local time. Weatherzone. On Tuesday at 3 pm:  98F degrees, 24 mph winds, and relative humidity in the low teens.

Conditions are going to get even worse. The weather forecast for Tuesday, November 12 predicts fire danger that according to the NSW Rural Fire Service will be at the “catastrophic” level. Residents in some areas are being advised to evacuate before the extreme conditions hit even if there are no fires nearby.

On January 8, 2013 the bush fire danger in NSW ranged from Severe to Catastrophic, and  reached the Catastrophic level in Queensland November 28, 2018.

Many of the currently active fires are across the north coast and northern NSW areas and will not be contained by the time the extreme fire weather strikes on Tuesday. Under these conditions, the fires will spread quickly, threatening homes and lives. The fire danger will be as bad, if not worse, than that experienced on Friday as it will be across a much broader area including large population centers like Sydney.

New South Wales bushfire danger November 12, 2019
New South Wales bushfire danger for November 12, 2019. NSW RFS.

At a Monday press conference Premier Gladys Berejiklian said, “Stay away from bush lands tomorrow”. Due to the dangerous fire risk and extreme conditions she said she had declared a state of emergency. It is the first state of emergency in NSW since October, 2013, when major bushfires swept the state during similar weather conditions.

Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons
Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons at the Monday press conference.

“Tomorrow we are facing horrendous conditions, life is at risk when it comes to catastrophic conditions,” said Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons at the press conference. “We cannot guarantee a fire truck at every home. We cannot guarantee an aircraft will be overhead when a fire is impacting on your property. We cannot guarantee that someone will knock on your door and give you a warning that there’s fires nearby. And we certainly cannot guarantee that despite our best efforts the technological tools available will deliver you a message in time.

“We know the fires on the north coast are not going to be contained ahead of [Tuesday’s] weather which means those fires are going to spread, they are going to spread quickly, and they are going to spread aggressively,” the Commissioner continued. “The risk is real to pretty much any community in or around the proximity of all those fires burning on the north areas of New South Wales particularly given the forecast of hot temperatures and dry winds dominating out of the west or northwesterly areas. You can pretty much guarantee anybody to the east or southeast as a predominant pattern will certainly be at risk from the fires on the north coast tomorrow.”

100 homes destroyed in New South Wales bush fires

Above: The Suomi Joint Polar Satellite System captured this photo of smoke from bush fires in New South Wales, Australia, November 8, 2019. The red areas represent heat.

Large, rapidly spreading bushfires that swept through areas in Australia Friday are being described as “unprecedented”. Saturday morning, local time, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service  (NSW RFS) said at least 100 homes have recently burned in 42 fires that are still uncontained across the state. More than 30 people have been injured.

Saturday morning the NWS RFS said, “Fire activity has eased across some firegrounds. Nine fires are now at Emergency Warning and nine are at Watch and Act. We are still seeing erratic and dangerous fire behaviour across the remainder of fire grounds, which continues to pose a threat to homes.”

Queensland is also experiencing fires. Evacuation notices were issued Friday night for Lower Beechmont in the Gold Coast hinterland, Noosa North, and Thornton, west of Brisbane.

Australia/United States joint panel discussion about a woman’s career in fire

Simultaneously live streamed from both Sydney and Albuquerque

One of the more interesting events at the International Association of Wildland Fire’s (IAWF) Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference this week was that some speakers were being live streamed from Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sydney, Australia; and Marseille, France. At times presenters were contributing to one event simultaneously from two continents.

An example was the joint panel discussion live streamed from Albuquerque and Sydney Wednesday afternoon. Each site had three or four panelists discussing A Life and a Career in Fire, from a woman’s viewpoint.

women in wildland fire panel discussion
The stream from Sydney. New South Wales Rural Fire Service photo.
women in wildland fire panel discussion
The stream from Albuquerque. Bill Gabbert Photo.

women in wildland fire panel discussion

The panelists talked about how a woman’s career in a male-dominated work force can be different from a man’s, the challenges they faced, and how they reacted or dealt with the issues.

One notable comment was from Deanne Shulman, the first female smokejumper, now retired. She referred to Michelle Obama’s method for handling down in the dirt political campaigning, “When they go low, we go high”. Ms. Shulman said her tactic when harassed by males was somewhat different, “When they go low, I go lower.” Then she laughed.

The IAWF deserves a commendation for working out the logistics, electronics, and timing on both continents. In a previous life one of my duties was to arrange two-hour conference calls with participants in the US, Europe, and Australia. Choosing a time often meant some participants had to call in early in the morning or late at night.

Impressive fire whirl in Australia

fire whirl
A still image from the video below of a fire whirl in New South Wales, Australia, February, 2019.

This video, below, of extreme fire behavior was posted by Shane Fitzsimmons, the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia. It shows a fire whirl, sometimes incorrectly called a fire tornado. Fire tornados exist, but they are much, much larger and can last for up to an hour or so and average 100 to 1,000 feet in diameter with rotational velocities up to 90 MPH.