UPDATED July 20; we added this time-lapse video that was shot by Christopher Redmond Thursday near Highway 385 just north of Pringle, SD. Here is how he described it:
First day of the Myrtle Fire southwest of Rapid City and east of Pringle, SD as it explodes. Fire was pretty much plume dominated until winds shifted out of the east in the late evening. Several large bursts in fire activity caused some pyrocumulus to redevelop during the last gasp of daylight.
Myrtle Fire at 4:12 p.m., about 3 hours after it started on July 19. The photo looks north across Wind Cave National Park. Photo by Bill Gabbert
UPDATED at 11:20 p.m., July 19, 2012
The Myrtle Fire that was reported Thursday at 1:30 p.m. has already burned 1,200 to 1,500 acres and is causing evacuations between Pringle and Hot Springs in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The fire started about 3 miles east of the small town of Pringle between US Highway 385 and Beaver Creek Road.
A wind shift in the late afternoon made things difficult for firefighters. As you can see in the photo above which looks toward the north, the fire was pushed by a west wind when the picture was taken at 4:12 p.m. At around 5 or 6 p.m., when the temperature at the nearby Elk Mountain weather station was 104 degrees and the relative humidity was 9 percent, the wind died and then began blowing out of the north and northeast. This caused spotting across Highway 385 as the fire spread rapidly to the west and south. By 10 p.m. it was approaching Shirt Tail Road and at 10:45 the Hot Springs Fire Department was toned out to assist with evacuations in the “Argyle Road West” area, which is south of Pringle and north of Hot Springs. Some areas north of Argyle Road and south of Wind Cave National Park are affected by the evacuations.
Myrtle fire. Map showing heat detected by a satellite at 10:18 p.m., July 19, 2012. Click to enlarge.
InciWeb should have more information about the fire on Friday.
The first heavy air tankers were requested at about 3:40 p.m., and two were dispatched from Montana, the dispatcher told the Incident Commander. About an hour later two additional large air tankers were requested. The first one, a P2V, arrived at 7:14 p.m., almost six hours after the fire was reported. The second arrived before 8 p.m. As far as I know the additional two that were ordered did not arrive at all on Thursday.
Air tanker 07 dropping on the Myrtle Fire at 8:24 p.m. July 19, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert
What’s wrong with this picture: the first air tankers arrived at the fire AFTER a Type 1 Incident Management Team (Hahnenberg) was ordered, which is used for managing the largest, most complex wildfires. Who knows, the IMTeam, with an ETA of 6 p.m. Friday, may arrive before the third and fourth air tankers show up.
Fire south of Cascade, SD, July 16, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert
Monday night there was a shitload of lightning in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota, which may have been the cause of a fire burning a couple of miles west of Cascade. This fire had probably burned a few dozen acres when I arrived, but it slowed down when a few sprinkles hit it. The lightning did not slow down, however.
Fire south of Cascade, SD. Photo by Bill GabbertFire south of Cascade, SD, July 16, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert
K-MAX helicopter, N161KA, at Custer, SD, July 8, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert
I stopped by the Custer, South Dakota airport the other day and talked with the helitack crew and checked out the firefighting helicopters on the ramp.
The K-MAX in the photos is operated by Swanson Group Aviation and is assigned to Custer as one of the 34 Type 1 helicopters on national contracts this year. It can be a little rare to see a Type 1 ship actually parked at their “assigned” station, since as a national resource they move around frequently. This one and the AStar below had just returned from working on fires in Colorado.
K-MAX at Custer, SD. Photo by Bill Gabbert
These photos look like they are distorted — no helicopter can look like this, right? But they are unedited except for cropping. Kaman Aircraft only built 38 of them between 1991 and 2003, and 25 are still flying. Eight of those 25 are on exclusive use contracts with the U.S. Forest Service for firefighting. My theory is that the USFS likes the K-MAX because it is much less expensive than the other five models of Type 1 helicopters on contract, but they can still count it as a Type 1, even though it may be about 20 gallons short of being able to carry the 700-gallons of water required as the minimum for a Type 1. The K-MAX has about 25 percent of the capacity of an Aircrane and the cost is also about 25 percent. The USFS pays $1,924 per flight hour for a K-MAX K-1200 compared to $7,718 for an Aircrane which can carry 2,650 gallons of water.
The most striking feature — well there are several, actually — are the two counter-rotating main rotors. Since they rotate in opposite directions, the torque is balanced, leading to striking feature number two — there is no need for a tail rotor. Striking feature number three is the extraordinarily thin width of the ship when viewed from the front. It looks like there is barely enough room for one pilot to squeeze into the cockpit.
The K-MAX is one of the few helicopters specifically designed to do nothing but carry external loads. Kaman made no compromises. There is no room for a passenger, very little room for internal cargo, and no wasted space or weight.
Eurocopter AS 350 B3, N357TA, at Custer, SD, July 8, 2012. Photo by Bill Gabbert
The second helicopter at Custer was a Eurocopter AS 350 B3, usually called an AStar. This one is operated by Roberts Helicopters out of Cheyenne, WY.
It’s nice that the two helicopter vendors got together and coordinated the paint schemes.
AStar and K-MAX helicopters. Photo by Bill Gabbert
A little trivia about the AS 350 B3: it was first helicopter model to land on the summit of Mt. Everest, 29,030 feet above sea level.
The C-130 military air tanker that crashed while helping to suppress the White Draw fire near Edgemont, South Dakota on July 1 was based in Charlotte, North Carolina with the state’s National Guard. The Charlotte Observer has been running one or two articles a day about the tragedy, and yesterday columnist Mark Washburn, after visiting Edgemont and the fire’s Incident Command Post, posted a particularly interesting article that you should read. Here is an excerpt:
…I got there on the Fourth of July. Main Street was vacant. I was reading fire advisories posted on the window of the city hall when Tami Habeck, the town’s finance officer, stopped and got out of her car.
“You look sort of lost. Can I help you?” she said.
People out here never got the memo on Stranger Danger. They are friendly beyond measure, even to newspaper reporters.
She directed me to the Fall River County Fairgrounds a few blocks away. It is there a brigade of nearly 400 firefighters drawn from as far away as Michigan are based to battle the White Draw Fire, which has consumed 9,000 acres of parched prairie and pine and imperiled Craven Canyon.
I wasn’t there long when Edgemont Mayor Jim Turner pulled in. He’d already heard I was in his town of nearly 800, where news travels fast.
He said he’d already sent a letter to the Observer hoping it would be printed to express condolences on behalf of the citizens of Edgemont for the fallen airmen from the 145th Airlift Wing of the N.C. National Guard.
“Please tell people back there how terribly sorry we all are,” he said. “It was a heroic act for those guys for a community and people they don’t even know.”
A comment that Katy Kassian left at the bottom of the article on the newspaper’s site is not really about the fire, but it’s about Edgemont:
We have been to Edgemont many times. I agree.Incredibly friendly…The first time we were there it was a fluke. We stopped to eat at the bar/cafe downtown. Next thing you know it’s sun up and hubby’s still chatting with the ‘guys’. We made it a point to go there to ‘get away’ when we needed a break. We also were part of BIkers and Bulls. What a great time the city put on! The Hog Catch was definately a highlight and still much talked about!
We are a little late getting this to you, but the day after the North Carolina Air National Guard C-130 MAFFS air tanker crashed in South Dakota, killing four crew members and injuring two, President Obama released this statement:
Yesterday (Sunday), a military C-130 from the North Carolina Air National Guard crashed while supporting firefighting efforts in South Dakota. The full details are still under investigation, but the crew of this flight – along with their families and loved ones – are in our thoughts and prayers.
The men and women battling these terrible fires across the West put their lives on the line every day for their fellow Americans. The airmen who attack these fires from above repeatedly confront dangerous conditions in an effort to give firefighters on the ground a chance to contain these wildfires – to save homes, businesses, schools, and entire communities. They are heroes who deserve the appreciation of a grateful nation.
I know Americans across the country share my concern for the well-being of the surviving members of the crew and my deep condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. And I know that Americans join me in expressing my deepest gratitude for the selfless determination they and thousands of men and women involved in this fight in states across the country demonstrate every day.
