Wildfire 2022

[Meadow Skipper]

Good year to be a jumper in AK it looks like. More out on fires in there than available or committed in the entire lower 48.

I saw this picture/post yesterday on Facebook of the racks at FBK, only one jump suit hanging.

This is the standby shack at the Alaska Smokejumper base outside Fairbanks. The near empty suit up racks indicates how up to 150 smokejumpers (with help from jumpers from the lower 48), are deployed to some of the 100 fires now burning in Alaska.

[neufox47]

Rice Fire in Nevada County got going pretty good yesterday. Waiting on the morning report, hopefully this thing doesn’t burn until the fall.


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[Meadow Skipper]

Cool drop video on the Rice fire.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CfZdf5gpZC8/

[bodywhomper]

Big helicopter heading into the Rice Fire area just now. Glad there wasn’t much else going on yesterday. They were able to have a pretty big air attack yesterday…. And on the same day, Beale AFB completely a successful rx burn in grasslands maybe 20 miles away.

[neufox47]

They are making progress on the rice fire, it’s only up to 1000 acres and the weather looks much cooler. The terrain it is in looks awful though. Fingers crossed it goes to 100%.


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[bodywhomper]

They are repopulating some of the evacuation zones.

[frorider]

Definitely cooler last night. Fingers crossed.

Speaking of nighttime: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...ring-advantage

$8000/hr but worth it?

[oldnew_guy]

Definitely cooler last night. Fingers crossed.

Speaking of nighttime: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...ring-advantage

$8000/hr but worth it?

That’s the going rate for a large Type 1 helicopter:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/defaul...02018-2021.pdf


And yes, they are worth it.

[Meadow Skipper]

…And yes, they are worth it.

From two perspectives anyway - the boots on the ground (who admittedly aren’t paying the bills) and for the public that aren’t convinced anything good is happening unless they see huge helicopters and air tankers working.

[oldnew_guy]

It was incredible having a type 1 on a quick turn around supporting a crew. I was never a fan of their use “checking the fire” far away from crews, but it met someone’s objectives.

135 jumpers committed in Ak today.

[Meadow Skipper]

135 jumpers committed in Ak today.

With near-record setting wildfire activity, Alaska moves to Preparedness Level 5

[Meadow Skipper]

Some fallout from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire origins.
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/ne...5ca980909.html

tl;dr - the Santa Fe forest supervisor is getting sent to DC. My (armchair Monday morning quarterback) take: while the chain of command does give her some oversight responsibility for the fuckups that led to the largest fire in NM history, a lot more responsibility lies with the subordinate manager - the district ranger that (should have) signed off on the plan for the Hermits Peak Rx and approved the start - and the local fire program manager (district FMO).

[Meadow Skipper]

‘All that’s needed is a spark’: why the US may be headed for a summer of mega-fire

This quote caught my eye.

“The grind just never stops,” said Kelly Martin, the president of Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, a firefighter non-profit advocacy group. Crews who have been fighting the fires across the southwest are only just starting what will be a long and hard season, she said: “The incredible toll that it takes physically and mentally is excruciating and cumulative on wildland firefighters like we have never seen before. People are burned out. The pay is oppressive and the conditions are extraordinary.”

Wildland firefighters have carried the burden, and it has exacted a devastating toll, with high rates of suicide, substance abuse and divorce. Low-pay and poor working conditions have caused many to resign, especially at the federal level where salaries are the lowest. That’s left holes in crewing preventative treatments and on the biggest blazes.

[Svengali]

https://twitter.com/HotshotWake/stat...67768012603396

[old goat]

Arsonist started brush fire in Truckee yesterday. Fortunately it was stopped at 12 acres--helped that it was next to the airport. No homes in the area but if the fire had taken out the regional sewage plant--serves the Truckee North Tahoe area--it would have been bad.

[Meadow Skipper]

With near-record setting wildfire activity, Alaska moves to Preparedness Level 5

Fierce footy of the Clear Fire blowing up. Nice safety zone.

https://twitter.com/hotshotwake/stat...67768012603396

[bodywhomper]

Thats ^^ kinda big.

Using the new google map tool, there are a lot of fires in that area of AK!!

Witness smoke rolling into the Washoe Valley today. Feels too early this year

[bodywhomper]

It looks like wawona (Yosemite) could be fucked

[isisis]

Helicopter crashes into Salmon River while working on Moose Fire

https://wildfiretoday.com

[davjr96]

Oak fire just started in Mariposa county CA, 1800 acres in a few hours. I believe this is the 3rd fire in that county this month. Not looking great

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2022/7/22/oak-fire/

[frorider]

Yeah that Oak fire is already at 9000 acres. We were up on the rim trail today and saw major smoke down South but it was far away. Tonight it appears to have crept all the way to the edge of the basin.

[TBS]

It’s been fairly quiet so far in central OR
Our first incident - report is as of Friday mid PM

A wildfire that started shortly after 11 a.m. today is currently at 10-15 acres. Firefighters responding to the incident include 5 engines, 2 -20 person hand crews, the Redmond Hotshots, several single-engine airtankers, one large airtanker, and Central Oregon Task Force 1 for structural protection.
By 3 p.m. a Type 3 Incident Management Team had been assigned and the fire had been 100% lined with a dozer line on the west side of the fire and the dozer was moving toward the east side of the fire.

It’s grown to 25 acres and 95% contained
Is that a lot of resource to throw at 25 acres? There’s maybe three sheds in that area, and maybe a mile to real structures. Ground is pancake flat

[oldnew_guy]

It’s been fairly quiet so far in central OR
Our first incident - report is as of Friday mid PM


It’s grown to 25 acres and 95% contained
Is that a lot of resource to throw at 25 acres? There’s maybe three sheds in that area, and maybe a mile to real structures. Ground is pancake flat

Probably not. There are a lot of values at risk to the west and north. This isn’t a spot you want to lose a fire by taking a conservative approach. The weather forecast later this week is for really high temps and I’m sure they want to put this one to bed before the heat kicks in.

[Meadow Skipper]

Aftermath in NM.
Two found dead, third person missing in burn scar floodwaters

Deadly floodwaters feared by residents and public safety officials since the early start of the summer monsoon have struck the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon burn scar.

Two people were found dead Thursday afternoon in the Mineral Hill area northwest of Las Vegas, N.M., as the Tecolote River rose and breached its banks, said Chief Tim Nix of the Cabo Lucero Volunteer Fire Department.

His agency and others were still searching Friday for a third person who went missing during the storm.

[neufox47]

Oak fire looks bad, lat report was 14k acres, guessing it goes to 20 this next report.


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