News and opinion about wildland fire
Many firefighters have seen Kari Greer on firelines in the western United States. She is a NIFC contract photographer with a Red Card which enables her to take assignments where she shadows firefighters as they work. These photos were taken within the last few weeks on fires near Lake Chelan, Washington. You can see more of the photos she has taken this summer here.
Articles on Wildfire Today tagged Kari Greer.
The above map shows precipitation during the seven days preceding September 5, 2015. Some areas in Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon received over an inch.
The map below is the observed precipitation today, September 5, 2015. This rainfall over the last week, and in some cases snow, probably will not put out the large fires, but will certainly slow them down.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized1 Comment on Coroner’s report for Twisp River Fire fatlities From the Seattle Times:
The three firefighters killed in a wildfire near Twisp, Okanogan County, last week died from smoke inhalation and “thermal injuries,” or burns, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said Friday.
The firefighters were driving up a steep gravel road and crashed down a 40-foot embankment, where the fire consumed them. The manner of death was classified as accidental.
Those killed Aug. 19 were Richard Wheeler, 31, Andrew Zajac, 26, and Tom Zbyszewski, 20.
This photo was posted on the Idaho Magazine’s Facebook page on August 31, and on September 1 Nickie Cronauer identified herself. Another post where the photo appears has received almost 2,000 likes.
Author BillPosted on Categories Uncategorized4 Comments on Google Earth flyover of Washington complex fires Kenji Kato has been posting daily Google Earth flyover updates on the Washington wildfires on his youtube.com channel. It’s a long video but worth the trip — using data from the U.S. Forest Service, Kato’s video looks at fire perimeters, hot spots, evacuation zones and homes burned among the series of large fires in Washington.
Tom Story, who is in Washington documenting some of the wildfire activity, spent time on Monday at the Hopps Helibase near Colville, WA. While in Washington, Tom also spent time with 200 U.S. Army soldiers who were training to assist in the firefighting effort.
Here is his dispatch from the Hopps Helibase on Aug. 25, 2015.
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Walker’s Area Command, based in Colville, WA, in August of the 2015 fire season, has setup a large helibase on farmland south of town. The property is owned by the Hopps family, thus giving the base it’s name. The facility allows both civilian contract helicopters a base and a location for military ships to stage until needed on the numerous fires in the area.
At Hopps this morning; August 25th, were a pair of Bell 205 A1++, two AStar A350s, one Bell 206 L4 as well as one of Columbia Helicopters Boeing Vertols joined by a couple of Blackhawks and a Chinook flying in from their overnight base at Fairchild A.F.B outside of Spokane.
The Federal Aviation Administration is operating a temporary tower at the helibase since up to 20 helicopters are anticipated to be using the base as the fire season continues in northeast Washington.
