Wildfire Today

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Wildfire Today

Tag: South Dakota

Ranchers donate hay to victims of escaped prescribed fire

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Ranchers in western North Dakota will be donating hay to their fellow ranchers whose grazing lands burned April 3 after a prescribed fire escaped on the Grand River Ranger District of the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands in South Dakota. The prescribed fire conducted by the U.S. Forest Service was supposed to have been a 130-acre project, but it escaped control on a windy day and burned 10,800 acres southwest of Lemmon, South Dakota.

Some of the ranchers who will be donating hay received similar donations after a massive 1999 wildfire in McKenzie County and have not forgotten that kindness. They are also making arrangements to help rebuild some of the 64 miles of fence that was damaged in the fire.

Here is an excerpt from an article at FarmAndRanchGuide:

…There were 11 ranchers affected by the fire, some more than others and one who lost all his grass.

Frank Carroll, a retired Forest Service employee who specializes in filing damage claims, met with them this week to get the process started. The Forest Service has said it’s up to ranchers to pay their own damages and then file claims, a process that will take up to two years.

Carroll said one rancher lost 26 calves because cows had to be pushed from a burned hay yard out on to stubble, though other losses were less dramatic. He said fence damages alone tallies around $1.4 million and replacement hay and feed will be another cost.

The Grand River Grazing Association paid Carroll to spend Thursday and Friday with affected ranchers as a group and one on one, said secretary Cathy Evans.

Revised schedule for the DC-10 air tanker visits

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , ,
DC-10_air_tanker
DC-10 air tanker Captains Jack Maxey (left) and Kevin Hopf will pilot the aircraft to four cities in the United States this week. (Photographed for TheAge by Paul Rovere in Victoria, Australia, December, 2009.)

The schedule for the visits of Air Tanker 910 to airports in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Montana that Wildfire Today told you about last week has been revised due to snow at Rapid City. (An air tanker should not have to suffer the indignity of de-icing.)

The revised schedule for the DC-10 operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier is as follows, but keep in mind that the times are approximate, subject to change, and could vary by up to 30 minutes or so. All times are local.

Tuesday, April 23

  • Brainerd, Minnesota, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Rapid City, South Dakota, 2 p.m., and departing the next morning

Wednesday, April 24

  • Billings, Montana, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Missoula, Montana, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

At this time there are no planned tours for the public, but they may be able to see the DC-10 through a fence or from other locations.

South Dakota fire headquarters to move

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags

The South Dakota Division of Wildfire Suppression will be moving from their headquarters at the Rapid City Regional Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is forcing them to move after they spent $1.8 million in 2003 to retrofit the old unused passenger terminal at the airport to serve as their headquarters and home for the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Dispatch Center. The FAA began the eviction process in 2006 saying they were not aware until then that there was a new tenant at the airport.

In 2009 the U.S. Congress earmarked approximately $2 million for a new dispatch facility  located south of Rapid City adjacent to the new Black Hills National Forest Mystic Ranger District office at 8123 South Highway 16, Rapid City, SD 57702. They moved into the new building January 9, 2012. (More information and photos of the new dispatch center.)

NGP Dispatch
The new Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center. Photo by Bill Gabbert

The State fire offices will also be moving. Recently the South Dakota legislature passed and the governor signed a bill providing funds to remodel an old state fire facility on the west side of Rapid City, not far from the coffee shop that produces the Goodness, Gracious Great Beans of Fire custom blended coffee for Jay Esperance’s Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C.

Incident Management Team coffee

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 3 Comments on Incident Management Team coffee

Team C coffeeOne of the Type 2 Incident Management Teams in the Rocky Mountain Geographic Area has developed their own coffee. Jay Esperance’s Rocky Mountain Team C voted on a custom blend of beans (dark roast) and then worked with Absolute Java in Rapid City, South Dakota which blends, roasts, packages, and labels the bags. The label was created by the talented staff at Absolute Java.

The Team held a competition to choose a name. Some of the runners-up included: Monday Morning Mop-up, Grounds for Safety, In the Black Blend, and Smoky Ridge Roast. The winner was Goodness, Gracious Great Beans of Fire.

Jeni Lawver, a spokesperson for the South Dakota Division of Wildfire Suppression, the agency for which Mr. Esperance works, told us that anyone can purchase Goodness, Gracious Great Beans of Fire from Absolute Java, but it might take a while for them to blend, roast, and print up the label for the coffee.

Ms. Lawver said:

It’s been a fun, team bonding experience and we’re looking forward to brewing our locally roasted, good quality custom blend at ICP!

 

Wildfire news, April 9, 2013

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , ,

200 fires near Mayo, Ireland

Firefighters have responded to approximately 200 wildfires near Mayo in Ireland in the last ten days. The worst of the gorse fires in recent days have been at Shanwar, Foxford; Killawalla, Westport; and Treanagleragh, Kiltimagh.

Distress flare causes wildfire

Some rocket scientists boaters in Virginia have been charged with misdemeanors after they started a wildfire by discharging a flare distress signal from a boat on Smith Mountain Lake. The fire burned about a quarter-acre and one round hay bale. There was no emergency that precipitated the discharge of the flare.  Someone witnessed the incident and called 9-1-1. The Smith Mountain Lake Marine Volunteer Fire & Rescue responded and quickly extinguished the fire.

Wildfire across from Indiana Fire Department

Two rocket scientists males, in an effort to burn the insulation off (probably stolen) copper wire across from the Porter Fire Department in Indiana at 2 a.m. Friday morning, accidentally allowed the fire to escape, igniting nearby vegetation. The Fire Department responded and put out the fire. One of the males escaped, while the other was transported to the Porter County Jail.

A wildfire followed by winter storm in Colorado

Yesterday Wildfire Today told you about the Red Flag Warning and Winter Storm Warning for Colorado, both happening on the same day. One of the areas not covered by the Red Flag Warning, Sterling County in the northeast corner of the state, had a 2,600-acre wildfire yesterday. Firefighters were no doubt thankful for the snow storm that followed a few hours later. Here is the forecast for Sterling today:

Snow with widespread blowing snow. High near 20. Wind chill values as low as -10. Windy, with a north wind 26 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Wildfire leaders in the Black Hills discuss the coming fire season

KEVN TV in Rapid City interviewed two wildfire honchos in the Black Hills of South Dakota, asking them about the outlook for this fire season. KEVN’s video and article are HERE, but below are some excerpts:

Jay Esperance, Director of South Dakota Division of Wildland Fire:

It’s looking like it will be at least an above average fire season. The southern Black Hills I’m really worried about.

Todd Pechota, Fire Management Officer for the Black Hills National Forest:

From all indications that we are hearing from fire weather forecasters, we’re preparing as if we are going to have another very active fire season in 2013.

If the current drought continues and if the weather this summer is hot and dry, it could be a busy fire season in portions of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. Below is the Drought Monitor for ND, SD, NE, KS, WY, and CO.

Drought Monitor, April 4, 2012

Red Flag Warning and Winter Storm Warning the same day for Colorado

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , ,

Weather forecast map 4-8-2013

The weather forecast for the western United States is complicated today. Portions of western Colorado are under both Red Flag Warnings AND Winter Storm Warnings. The southwest and west central part of the state should experience strong southwest winds this afternoon with gusts of 30 to 40 mph with low humidities and isolated thunderstorms. Then after 6 p.m. all that changes, with some areas expecting to receive 10 to 20 inches of snow accompanied by 20 to 30 mph winds with gusts close to 50 mph.

Spring season prescribed fires in the Black Hills of South Dakota are on hold since a Winter Storm Warning is in effect through Wednesday morning. The forecast calls for snow accumulations of 9 to 16 inches with a 100 percent probability of precipitation through Tuesday night. The last time I remember it being 100 percent was a couple of months ago when we got zero precipitation in the southern Black Hills.

The National Weather Service prediction for Tuesday is for up to half an inch to one inch of precipitation in some areas of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas, while other Red Flag Warnings are in effect for portions of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.