Wildland Firefighters: About Smokejumping

I embedded a short video about smokejumping in Alaska last Friday  and want to spend a little more time on the important role that smokejumpers play in fighting wildland fires. Rather than reinvent the wheel so to speak, I am going to embed two videos about smokejumping that I first embedded over three years ago (July 2009) in a series on smokejumpers.

direct link to video, that I first shared on July 17, 2009. Note, you will see some footage of the DC-3 used in Missoula for smokejumping. One DC-3 smokejumping aircraft was retired this past October, see this article on Wildfire Today for more info. I believe that the DC-3 smokejumping aircraft based in Missoula will be flying again this coming season.

direct link to video, that I first shared on July 20, 2009.

Wildland Firefighting: smokejumper training in AK

direct link to video

Wildland Firefighters: Crews battle 2007 fire near Prescott, AZ

direct link to video Click on the about link when you get to youtube for more information on the wildfire that you see in the video. This fire that burned on June 28, 2007 came very near to some houses before being stopped by the wildfire crews. 

Remember that the airtankers and helicopters do what they do to support the crews on the ground. I am going to continue posting about the wildland fire crews on the ground over the next week to 10 days, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, stay safe everyone.

The Shepard

direct link to video on youtube, click on about for links to more information about The Shepard and Alan Maitland

A good friend of mine first told me about The Shepard about three years ago now. I love this story. Some of you may already be familiar with this story, others of you may be hearing this for the first time. Enjoy!

Stay safe!

Happy holidays everyone!

Wildland firefighters: Slide Mt. Hand Crew (2007)

direct link to video

Wildland firefighters: hotshot crews (2 of 2)

And continuing with hotshot crews, this video is about  a 2008 hotshot crew from Idaho City.

direct link to video

Wildland Firefighters: Hotshot Crews 1 of 2

In the next few articles, I'll be using some videos to let you into the world of wildland firefighters on the ground. This video is about the Dela Rosa Hotshots, the oldest hotshot crew in the U.S. You will also see some footage of air tankers and helos working in support of the crews on the ground. For a description of the different type of wildland firefighting ground crews (U.S. Federal Government), including type 1 interagency hotshot crews, see this webpage.

direct link to video

Esperanza Fire (2006, CA) Entrapment

This copyrighted video from Photo1Productions is about the 2006 Esperanza Fire where five USFS Firefighters lost their lives in a wind driven burn over. May we always remember: Pablo Cerda, Mark Loutzenhiser, Jason McKay, Jess McLean and Daniel Najera.

  direct link to video, please read the info about the video

To read more about the Esperanza Fire you will want to read the Oct. 26, 2012 article from CAL FIRE News. In addition, the WLF Always Remember Website has a page devoted to the 2006 Esperanza Entrapment.

Wildland Firefighters: staying safe - fire shelters

Aerial wildland firefighters do what they do in order to help and support the wildland firefighters on the ground (aka ground pounders) contain and control the wildfire. They do this by putting the retardant or water/foam where the ground pounders need it most. From time to time I want to remind myself and those of you who find your way to this blog about the important work that wildland firefighters on the ground do to keep us safe. My intent in this article is to talk a little about what I have learned about one specific piece of safety equipment that wildland firefighters carry, the fire shelter.

After I first got interested in wildland firefighting in the Fall of 2008, it did not take me long to learn about fire shelters that wildland firefighters carry, these shelters are only deployed as a last resort. I wrote and article on this blog about fire shelters on Aug. 10, 2009, I urge you to take a few moments and review some of the information in that article. I believe that much of the information in that article is still applicable and you might want to take a look at the video of the Santiago Fire Shelter Deployment (with a happy ending).

A few months later, in May 2010, I posted an article here, with a video showing some of the training that wildland firefighters do with their shelters. I understand that the video makes it look a lot easier than it is.

I'm not sure that there is much more about fire shelters that I can say at this time, except to stress that a wildland fire fighter's fire shelter may be the most important piece of equipment that they carry. I did find a nice, but albeit long video (25 minutes plus) about the new generation fire shelter. I think the video is meant to be a training video, however I learned a lot from watching this video. I thought that some of you might enjoy watching this 25 minute video. 

Direct link to video.

Wildland Firefighters: Staying Safe - Personal Protective Equipment

Aerial wildland firefighters do what they do in order to help and support the wildland firefighters on the ground (aka ground pounders) contain and control the wildfire. They do this by putting the retardant or water/foam where the ground pounders need it most. From time to time I want to remind myself and those of you who find your way to this blog about the important work that wildland firefighters on the ground do to keep us safe. My intent in this article is to talk a little about what I have learned about one specific aspect of what the ground pounders do, in this case personal protective equipment.

An important aspect of how wildland firefighters on the ground (aka ground pounders) stay safe is because of the type of clothing, helmets, gloves, boots, etc. that they wear. A few years ago, NOVA did an episode called the Fire Wars, the website that went with the program is still up and they have a page devoted to what wildland fighters wear and carry in their packs, for those of you who have a flash plug-in for your browser, there is a flash version. You will see that wildland firefighters also carry a fire shelter, which I'll get to in a later post.

The clothing, boots, gloves, helmets, boots, etc that wildland firefighters wear are also known as personal protective equipment or PPE. PPE must be worn properly, the video below goes into some detail about what happens when PPE is not worn or used properly. I believe that the intended audience for the video is probably wildland firefighters. However, I learned something from watching the video and I thought that some of you might enjoy the video.

direct link to video on youtube from the National Interagency Fire Center.

Note:

If you are interested in a federal wildland firefighting job, you might want to go to the jobs page of wildland fire dot com.  A brief discussion of what is involved in applying for federal and/or state/local wildland fire crews, may be found on this webpage from the National Wildfire Coordinatiing Group . Most states have state wildland firefighting agencies, a partial listing of (U.S.) State Wildland Fire Agencies by the folk at Wildland Fire dot cam may be found here.

Wildland Firefighters (ground pounders) 10 and 18

It was not all that long after I I first wrote about wildland firefighting in the summer of 2008 that I first heard about the 10 Standard Fire Orders and the 18 Watch Out Situations (go here to read this article). Before I began focusing first on wildland firefighting and then on aerial wildland firefighting I had a vague idea that safety is of the utmost importance to any emergency responder. A while back, one of my friends was an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in New Jersey. If memory serves, she told me once that they were trained not to put their own lives in jeopardy when responding to a call. 

As I began to learn more about wildland firefighting both on the ground and in the air, I the importance that wildland firefighters put on staying safe had an increasingly profound impact on me. As I read various remarks, comments and forum posts by wildland firefighters (ground pounders) and those engaged in aerial wildland firefighting I observed that they would often their remarks with "stay safe."

When I thought about how to start this series of posts about wildland firefighting I knew that I had to begin by writing about the tools that wildland firefighters  (aka groundpounders) use to stay safe. And one of these "tools", if you will, are words in the form of the 10 Standard Fire Orders and 18 Watch Out Situations.

direct link to video

This is another nice short video from the National Interagency Fire Center on the 10 Standard Fire Orders that all wildland firefighters follow. In addition there are list of 18 situations that all wildland firefighters watch out for, aka the 18 Watch Out Situations:

1. Fire not scouted and sized up.
2. In country not seen in daylight.
3. Safety zones and escape routes not identified.
4. Unfamiliar with weather and local factors influencing fire behavior
5. Uninformed on strategy, tactics, and hazards.
6. Instructions and assignments not clear.
7. No communication link between crewmembers and supervisors.
8. Constructing line without safe anchor point.
9. Building line downhill with fire below.
10. Attempting frontal assault on fire.
11. Unburned fuel between you and the fire.
12. Cannot see main fire, not in contact with anyone who can.
13. On a hillside where rolling material can ignite fuel below.
14. Weather gets hotter and drier.
15. Wind increases and/or changes direction.
16. Getting frequent spot fires across line.
17. Terrain or fuels make escape to safety zones

18. Feel like taking a nap near fire line

(obtained from http://www.nifc.gov/safety/safety_10ord_18sit.html on Dec. 5, 2012)

Over the last four years that I have writing the blog on aerial wildland firefighting, I have often referred to what is commonly known as the "Red Book" (revised annually) outlining standards for wildland firefighting here in the U.S. Chapter 7 of the Red Book is on safety, a link may be found here. For a listing of each chapter in the Red Book, as well as a link to a single PDF file for the latest Red Book, go here.

Aerial Wildland Firefighters fly to support the groundpounders.

Wildland Firefighters love what they do

Direct link to video

I want to spend sometime over the next few posts revisiting what wildland firefighting crews on the ground do. I am still thinking through how to go about this without rehashing what I have already done. I found the video this video in a group of videos from the National Interagency Fire Center on youtube. I expect that I'll be using some of these videos in the coming days as appropriate. In the meantime enjoy the video.

A Tribute to all wildland firefighters in the air and on the groud

Direct Link to Video

This video by 664 Freedom was done in 2008 and expresses in photos my heartfelt gratitude for all that you in the wildland firefighting community do to keep us safe. You will see groundpounders, smokejumpers, helos, and airtankers of various sizes. Remember that the airtankers and helos work to support the firefighters on the ground by putting the retardant or the water where it is needed.

About wildland firefighting airspace

Here is a nice video about wildland firefighting airspace from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. I'd like to thank my friends from Section B-10 of the NJ Forest Fire Service for bringing this to my attention. I enjoyed the video and hope that you do as well. A direct link to the video may be found here.

Dozers and helos work a wildfire

When I saw this video taken from inside a dozer working a remote wildfire I was reminded of the important work that all the men and women on the ground do to put out wildfires. You will want to read the info provided by judgegixxer who posted the video, here. There is some nice footage of a couple of helos at the beginning of the video including some shots from inside a helo. I enjoyed watching the footage taken from inside a dozer cutting line. Stay safe out there.

more wildfire activity in the southeast and enhanced fire Wx in NJ on 11/24

I continue to be interested in wildfire activity here this fall here on the east coast. Some of you may know that the National Weather Service issued a warning for enhanced fire weather on Saturday, Nov. 24, thanks to my friends at the National Weather Service I found an NWS website for archived statements, warnings, watches, advisories and the like issued by the NWS. An archive of the enhanced fire weather warning for Nov. 24 issued by the Mt. Holly office should be found here (I hope). I would hope that if there was any major fire activity on the 24th that I might have gotten wind of it by now, but I have heard of no such activity. However, I still have my ears open for such news and will post an update on this page if I hear of anything.

In the meantime, I continue to be interested in wildfire activity in the southeastern portion of the U.S., especially in Tennessee. Thanks to Mike Archer's good work on his fire publications blog where I just now read today's article (Nov. 26), I saw that he included articles about wildfires in Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia. Rather than repost Mike's links, I'll let you go the article Mike wrote today (Nov. 26) and read what you are interested in.

updated on July 18, 2013: video that I had embedded here is no longer available. :-(

I'll continue to monitor wildfire activity in the eastern and southern regions in the U.S. and will report back here about significant activities.

I am reminded that wildfire season is not necessarily ever over. . .

updated on October 12, 2015 to remove dead links.

OK family lost home in wildfires giving thanks

I was touched by the story of the Spencers of Mannford OK. The Spencers lost their home in the wildfires that burned in Oklahoma last summer. While it is a couple of days after Thanksgiving here in the U.S., it is still the season. And giving thanks is always timely. 

I thank Mike Archer of the Firebomber Publication Blog who included the story of the Spencers in his posting on November 23.

Unfortunately, the story and video from Fox23 is no longer available.

Revised on October 12, 2015 to removed a dead link.

Fall fire season still with us in some parts of U.S.

Reading Mike Archer's Firebomber's Publications today I saw a few articles on mostly smaller wildfires that are still burning or have burned in the southeastern U.S. I am reminded that the fall wildfire season is still with us in some portions of the country. With thanks to Mike Archer for bringing these articles to my attention, I share them with you now.

Unfortunately, the links to many of the stories that I referred to when I originally wrote this article have expired and the links have been removed.  

Wildfires in East Tennessee

Knoxnews report on wildfires

The url to the report from WATE is no longer available.

Wildfire in Hawkins County, Tennessee

Unfortunately the story and video from WBIR on this fire is no longer available.

Cherokee, NC

When I wrote this article there was a report from Fox Carolina on a 100 acre fire in Smoky Mt. National Park that was recently contained. This article is no longer available.

Small wildfire in Osceola National Forest in Baker County, FL

The link to the article from ActionNewsJax on heavy smoke from a fire in the Osceola National Forest is no longer available. 

Red Flag Warnings

Meanwhile, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported here on Red Flag conditions in portions of Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and Florida.

Revised on October 12, 2015 to remove dead links.

Catching up with wildland fire news, sort of

As some of you already know I had articles set to post during the almost two weeks that I was without power thanks to Superstorm Sandy and just last week I posted a couple of articles here and here. 

I have given some thought to how I will transition back to writing about aerial wildland firefighting. There were things that I did not know. For example, I did not know that there were a few wildland firefighting crews working in NY and NJ in the aftermath of Sandy. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today writes these crews who were helping in the Sandy recovery on Nov. 6 and wrote another article with pictures on Nov 7. Thanks to all of you who came to help us out, words can not adequately express my gratitude.

When I was online at wireless hotspots during Sandy, I did get wind of the Devore Fire in San Bernardino CA that has since been contained. I'm not quite sure how many of the P-2 and the BAe-146 tankers are still on contract. I suspect that most of them are off contract by now, but I'm not certain. 

When I checked my e-mail, I was able to read headlines of wildland fire news thanks to Mike Archers Fire Publications Blog. It is not the details that were important to me, rather the Fire Publications Blog was a connection to the world of wildland firefighting and firebombers, a sign of normalcy if you during a time when there was much in my life that was abnormal. I'm not even going to try to play catch-up on what at this time is three weeks worth of firebomber news, I'll leave you to your devices if you are so inclined. 

Finally, I am aware that while wildland firefighting season is winding down in some parts of the United States, there continue to be smaller wildfires around the country. And wildfire season is cranking up down under in Australia.

I have to say that I missed being able to keep up with current news affecting aerial wildland firefighting. And I am glad to be back. 

Blackburn Fire (CA) Footage

direct link

I may be making one or two more posts regarding post Super Storm Sandy recovery, but I do intend to return to focusing on aerial wildland firefighting, hopefully on Monday. In the meantime, enjoy this video from Nick Mitchell on aerial operations over the Blackburn Fire in CA.

Superstorm Sandy Recovery -- Out of State Utility Crews in NJ

I want to take a few moments and thank the many out of state utility crews who came from around the United States and Canada to help us out here in the mid-atlantic. Words can not adequately express my gratitude. I am going to focus on NJ, because it is where I live. First, I was able to get a few pictures in the last few days of a three out of state utility crews.

Utility worker from Intren (Union IL) at staging area awaiting his next work order

Crew from Robert Henry Corp (South Bend IN) replaced a transformer

Crew from Robert Henry Corp (South Bend IN) replaced a transformer

Crew from Penelec (NW PA) replacing wire

Crew from Penelec (NW PA) replacing wire

Here is a list of out of state utility crews that I saw in my town and in adjoining towns in NJ:

Pike Electric, I believe that it was a Pike Electric Crew that restored power to our neighborhood on Nov. 9th, thanks guys!! Some of the Pike crews were from Alabama
Henkels and McCoy Intren (IL) PenElec (Northwest PA)
Robert Henry Corp

Elliot Electric Contractors

Duke Energy (NC)

Georgia Power

Here is a video from the Asbury Park Press that I thought you might enjoy showing a couple of the tent cities set up in Ocean County NJ, for the out of state crews. Ocean County's barrier islands were among those hard hit by Superstorm Sandy. For more info see this Asbury Park Press article (also includes link to video).



Finally, a couple of articles and a photo gallery: Asbury Park Press - Nebraska Power workers going home.
Star Ledger -- Utility workers come to NJ's aid
Star Ledger photo gallery out of state utility crews

Superstorm Sandy recovery: thank-you tree crews

Most of you have no doubt heard that there were a lot of trees down here in New Jersey and in other regions impacted by Superstorm Sandy. When trees come down and bring down electric wires with them, tree crews that specialize in doing utility work have to come in before the utility crews can restring the electric wires.

Yesterday morning, one of these tree crews from Asplundh were doing some work on my street. In this case, they were coming through my street after having already cleared out trees that were entangled in wires. Specifically, they were trimming trees along the electric line. I was glad to see them do this work.

As it was easy for me to do, I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of this crew, from West Virginia, doing there work. In the preceding two weeks, I saw many Asplundh trucks in my town and adjoining towns clearing trees.

I start out this series of photographs with some photos on a street near me where there were a large number of trees entangled with wires. Asplundh came through last Thursday and Friday to clear out the trees from the wires in advance to the utility restoring power on that street Saturday night an Sunday. I took these photos of piles of cut trees yesterday morning. Imagine, if you will, these same trees entangled with wires. It was a mess.

Following the photos of the cut trees you will see some photos of the Asplundh bucket trucks. Thanks to my friends from Asplundh for helping us out.

SuperStorm Sandy: these trees were cut on Nov. 8 & 9th, power restored on Nov. 10/11/12.

SuperStorm Sandy: these trees were cut on Nov. 8 & 9th, power restored on Nov. 10/11/12.

SuperStorm Sandy: these trees were cut on Nov. 8 & 9th, power restored on Nov. 10/11/12.

Thanks Asplundh and other tree contractors for sending your tree crews to help us out!

Thanks Asplundh and other tree contractors for sending your tree crews to help us out!

Thanks Asplundh and other tree contractors for sending your tree crews to help us out!

Thanks Asplundh and other tree contractors for sending your tree crews to help us out!

Thanks Asplundh and other tree contractors for sending your tree crews to help us out!

Superstorm Sandy -- I'm back

I got my electric power back early evening on Friday, Nov 9. Eleven days without power. All that happened to me was some minor property damage that has since been repaired. A tree down that did no damage to utility wires or house. I am lucky. As I said to a friend this morning, all that happened to me was losing power. So many in NJ and elsewhere on the mid-atlantic coast and New England lost everything. The images that I saw in my newspaper of the devastation to the barrier islands of NJ and elsewhere do not do justice to the devastation. For them the recovery will take months, if not longer.

My arborist spent the better part of ten days just removing trees from roofs. Others lost much of their roof shingles during the storm, we only lost two or three and they have been replaced. Again, I am so fortunate,

I do want to take a couple of posts to thank the tree crews and the utility crews from around the country and from our friends in Canada who have been in NJ for two weeks or longer helping us get power back. Some of these crews arrived a couple of days before the storm to be ready to help us. I do have some pictures that I'll be posting as well. I'll be writing to thank the tree crews tomorrow, Nov. 13 and will write to thank the utility crews on Nov. 14.

Blue Angels at Miramar 2012 pt 1

direct link

Air Tractor 802F

direct link to video

Enjoy!

Superstorm Sandy -- 10 days later

A lot of folk here in NJ and elsewhere in the tri-state area (NY and CT) have been hit much worse by Superstorm Sandy than I have. All things considered while I am a tad uncomfortable at times on day 10 without power, I am grateful. Only minor damage to my house which was prepared prior to the nor'easter that hit yesterday. We only had a trace amount of snow in my area, other areas especially the shore counties of Monmouth and Ocean got 6 to 12 inches. One more cold night ahead then a tad warmer for four days. I'll take it.

The County and Township Office of Emergency Management are staffed by wonderful people and I feel cared for by both.

I am currently at a hotspot provided by the Lowes near my house, and they are getting to know me.

To all the out of state utility crews, forestry workers, structure firefighters, policeman, relief workers, etc., etc. I thank all of you for helping us out.

I don't know when I'll get my power back, and perhaps when I do I won't have the internet. If that is the case, I won't complain. I've posted articles through Nov. 14 on a MWF schedule.

Be safe everyone!

Fifty years of Air Tractor - Leland Snow

direct link to video

Enjoy! 

Superstorm Sandy - one week later

It is now one week after "Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey. I am sure that most, if not all of you, have heard some of the media coverage of this event. It is not my intent to rehash that coverage here. Rather, I am checking in to tell all of you that I am in day 7 without power. Our power went out within 30 minutes after Sandy made landfall in southern NJ.

I am hanging in, A little cold at times. Minimal property damage, We are lucky. I have good neighbors, and some powered friends nearby who have been a big help doing things like recharged the back-up battery for the sump pump in the basement, showers, hot coffee, refilling jugs of water, etc. The nearest town is mostly powered by now with grocery stores, restaurants, home improvement stores, other stores, gas stations (albeit with lines at times), recharging and wifi stations, free water and ice.

I am not quite sure how much longer our power will be out. And it is possible that we will get power restored and still not have internet service. So, I'll post back here where when my power and internet is restored.

I am writing this from a warm place with wifi access although the wifi is somewhat intermittent. If I am able, I'll try to post another couple of articles that will automatically post the week of Nov 12.

In the meantime, I want to take a few moments to thank all the utility crews, both in state and out of state who are working very hard to restore power to all of us in NJ. I'd especially like to thank the crew from Sarasota FL who was on my street last night who was doing assessments of the probable cause of my outage in advance of bucket crews coming through.

Lee Brothers (Cranberries), Speedwell NJ

The second cranberry grower that I visited was Lee Brothers with 130 acres.

updated on July 18, 2013: video that I had embedded here  about the Lee Brothers operation is no longer available. :-(

I got an opportunity to see a little of the Lee Brother's cranberry harvest when I visited. I understand that the Lee Brothers uses different harvesting techniques from Pine Island. I got to see them deploy the yellow crane-boom, it is on the large spool you will see being pulled by the green tractor. The harvest crew rakes the cranberries with the aid of a large blower into the crane-boom in one corner of the bog.

It was pretty cool to watch them work. I would like to thank the Lee family for taking a few moments out of their busy day to describe what I was seeing.

Enjoy these photos that I took the day of my visit to the Lee Brothers.

Lee Brothers Cranberry Bog

Lee Brothers Cranberry Bog

Cran-boom is on the large spool behind the tractor

Tractor with blower

Cran-boom being deployed

Raking cranberries

Cran-boom being deployed, tractor is moving.

Cran-boom being deployed, tractor is moving.

Cran-boom being deployed, tractor is moving.

Cran-boom being deployed, tractor is moving.

Raking and blowing

Raking and blowing

Blowing cranberries

Pine Island Cranberry - Pt 2 of 2 - Packing House

I got to see one of Pine Island Cranberry's packing houses when I was with my friends from Downstown several days ago. Please take a few moments to read an article on the Pine Island packing house in the Pine island Scoop. Pine Island (PI) is a member of the Ocean Spray Cooperative as are the Lee Brothers whom I will write about in my next post. The truck load of cranberries that you see in one of the photos is being taken to the Ocean Spray receiving facility in Chatsworth. From the receiving facility the cranberries are trucked to one of two other Ocean Spray facilities in NJ, in Pemberton or Vineland.

Harvested cranberries in Cranberry Boxes waiting to washed and sorted. PI makes the cranberry boxes

Cranberry box lifted by fork lift to be dumped into washing, spraying, and sorting equipment

Cranberries before leaves are sorted out. Leaves are sold as mulch to blueberry growers

Cranberries after being washed, sprayed, and sorted getting ready to be conveyered into trucks

Cranberries being conveyered in truck

Truck full of cranberries on its way to the Ocean Spray Receiving Facility in Chatsworth

Pine Island Cranberry Bogs 1 of 2

Pine Island Cranberries has 1,400 acres of cranberry bogs and has been in busy for over 100 years. You have already seen some pictures of the bog when I posted some still photo and video compilations of a Downstown Air Tractor 602 and on October 29 I wrote about one of Downstown's Ag Cats applying dry fertilizer to Pine Island Cranberry Bogs. I want to include some information on Pine Island's Cranberry harvest by linking to some of their blog articles, known as the Pine Island Scoop.

Before I do that, I should say that as I write this we in NJ are waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy and whatever she will bring to the Mid-Atlantic. In early September, Hurricane Issac brushed southern NJ bringing 18 inches of rain to Pine Island Cranberry Bogs. They wrote about the clean-up and repairs in articles on September 7 and September 14.

I thought that you might be interested in reading about about Pine Island's Cranberry harvest in the words of Pine Island's blogger(s):

harvest begins
harvest is about teamwork
water harvesting
gathering

I am writing this article ahead of time for automatic posting on October 31 in case power and/or internet outages keep me from posting. If you are reading this then I am unable to get on the internet and make any revisions to the article to reflect current events. as pertains to Hurricane Sandy.

Next up: Pine Island's packing houses

Monday morning - Sandy is almost upon us

I just set up articles for automatic posting through Friday, Nov. 9 on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.

Hurricane Sandy or what is left of her as she soon transition into what is known as extra- or post-tropical will impact a large area of the Mid-Atlantic, New England and into eastern Canada. I hope that every one living in one of those areas is staying safe.

As I write this we have had 4/10th of inch of rain since the rain arrived in my neck of the woods sometime after 7 AM. The latest wind observation was 8 mph sustained with gusts up to 29 mph. Areas in south Jersey have already seen over 3 inches of rain as it started raining there Sunday afternoon with winds gusting in excess of 40 mph. NJ's barrier islands are under a mandatory evacuation order since 4PM yesterday afternoon. The next high tide is due this evening along with our full moon and the arrival of Sandy late tonight.

If any of you are so inclined, I was just checking out the Press of Atlantic City website, they have a page devoted to Sandy with a live camera at Atlantic City along with other stories that may be found on this Press of Atlantic City webpage.

I'll report back when I am able. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy the articles that I have set up for automatic posting through Friday, November 9.

Stay safe everyone!

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: Ag Cats in action

direct link to video

Enjoy this short compilation I did of one of Downstown's Ag Cat applying dry fertilizer on the Pine Island Cranberry Bogs near Chatsworth, NJ.

Next up: A little more about Pine Island Cranberry

Sandy coming to mid-atlantic

Obtained from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ on 10/27/12 @ 11 PM EDT

I suspect that by know most of you know that what is now known as Hurricane Sandy is due to make landfall Monday evening, perhaps as a tropical storm. At the time I write this the National Hurricane Center is call for Sandy to make landfall in southern NJ. But this could change between now and Monday evening.

There is not much more I am going to say about Sandy at the moment. But I do want to say that I am in the process of preparing some articles that I hope will automatically post on this blog for the coming week and perhaps into the first part of the following week in the event that I am without power and internet access for several days. I am continuing the series of articles that I have been writing out of my visit last week to Chatsworth NJ to see my friends at Downstown do some aerial applications of dry fertilizer to some cranberry bogs. I also got a chance to visit a couple of cranberry bogs. I have two articles prepared for automatic posting on 10/29 and 10/31(I hope), and two more that I will do tomorrow for automatic posting on 11/2 and 11/5. What I won't get a chance to do this weekend is to do some of finishing touches on these articles, that will have to come later. Nor will I attempt to do the final two or three articles in this series. Those too will have to come later.

If I am able, I will post here next week to let you know how I made out.

Red Flag and High Wind Warnings for Southern California

Obtained from http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/FXC/wxstory.php?wfo=lox on 10/26/12

While I've been spending a great deal of my time of late working on aerial applications in NJ's cranberry bogs and related reading, I have been trying to pay attention to what is going on wildfire wise elsewhere. To that end, I did notice that red flag warnings and high wind warnings due to Santa Anna winds are in effect through Saturday, October 27 in Southern California. Related articles on these warnings may be found on weather dot com and CBS Los Angeles. I found this graphic on the website for the NWS LosAngeles-Oxnard Office a short time before I wrote this article on Friday, Oct. 26.

I will admit to being somewhat preoccupied with my own preparations for Hurricane Sandy due to make landfall this coming Monday somewhere on the east coast between the Mid-Atlantic and New England. That being said, if I'll do my best to keep you informed should any larger wildfires break out in southern California.

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: Air Tractor 602 in action

direct link to video on youtube

This is a compilation of stills and video that I shot last week when I was near Chatsworth NJ watching Downstown's aerial application operations. That day they were applied dry fertilizer to 700 acres of Pine Island Cranberry bogs in three hours using two Ag Cats and an Air Tractor 602.

The video starts out with a couple of stills in the loading area of the air strip near Pine Island followed by a video of the AT-602 taking off. You will then see a series of stills as the Air Tractor completes her take-off roll, lift offs, and then we move to the cranberry bog for the rest of the stills.

The pilot of the Air Tractor did a great job that day, and I got some great shots with my camera and telephoto lens.

Aerial Navigation - Precision Navigation using GPS

direct link to youtube video

My friends at Downstown thought that the best way to explain how they navigate when making their aerial application runs would be to show this video. The GPS system that they use is similar to the one that you will in this video.

Enjoy.

Next up on October 26: Downstown Air Tractor 602 in action

Aerial Applications - Getting Ready

The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) video that I am embedding below is just under 5 minutes. While the title of the video is called "Getting Ready To Spray", much of what is described in the video applies to both spraying (liquid aerial applications) as well as dry aerial applications. I saw dry aerial applications last week. Downstown does both liquid and dry aerial applications.

NAAA: Getting Ready to Spray


direct link to video on youtube

Next up: GPS in agricultural aviation

National Agricultural Aviation Association

Last Friday I wrote about the loading of dry fertilizer into Downstown's agricultural aircraft. I want to take a step back and to introduce you to the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) . The NAAA is the voice of the aerial application industry. To read about the NAAA go to the About NAAA webpage, the NAAA has a short description on About Agricultural Aviation, and a set of FAQs.

The short video that I am embedding below is an introduction to Agricultural Aviation from the NAAA. As you will see in this video, aerial wildland firefighting operations fall under Agricultural Aviation (Agricultural aircraft operations in the U.S. including all or most aerial wildland firefighting operations are regulated under Federal Aviation Regulations Chapter 14 part 137).



direct link to video

Upcoming articles:

October 23: Aerial Applications in NJ: Getting Ready for Aerial Applications
October 24: Aerial Applications in NJ: GPS and Ag Aviation
October 26: Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry bogs: Downstown's AT-602 in action

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: Loading dry fertilizer

The pictures that I am posting show the steps involved in loading the dry fertilizer into Downstown's Ag Planes. On this day, Oct. 17, 2012, two of Downstown's Ag Cats and one Downstown AT-602 applied dry fertilizer to 700 acres of Pine Island's Cranberry bogs over three hours. Pine Island has approximately 1,400 acres of cranberry bogs near Chatsworth NJ in the NJ Pine Barrens. I'll be writing more about Pine Island in a later post, so stay tuned. Downstown will fertilize the remainder of Pine Island's bogs via aerial application before election day in early November. If things work out, I'll be going down to Chatsworth to see this last aerial application of the season, so stay tuned.

The bags of dry fertilizer are stored in the Dry Area, a building on the Air Strip (Haines Air Strip) that Downstown uses located near the Pine Island cranberry bogs. A forklift takes pallets of fertilizer from the building out to the pad in front of the building. Each bag is lifted by the forklift over the loader bin, where one of the crew opens the bag so the dry fertilizer is dumped into the loader. Finally, the loader is moved into position next to the Ag Plane, in this case the AT-602, where the dry fertilizer is conveyered into the hopper of the Ag Plane.

I did not time the loading operation from start to finish, but I'd say that an Ag Plane is loaded in the matter of a couple of minutes. Bags of dry fertilizer are on the pad ready to go for the next Ag Plane that has to be loaded. The loader is moved back to the pad for its new load of dry fertilizer ready for the next Ag Plane to be loaded.

I need to point out what I am writing about here and in the next few posts involve aerial applications of dry fertilizer. Liquid aerial spraying is very different from the mixing of the materials to the loading to the actual aerial application (aka spraying). Another building on the Air strip known as the "wet area" is used to prepare these liquid materials. Av gas and jet a fuel is also stored in the wet area. I hope to be able to observe liquid aerial applications next year when Downstown applies liquid fungicide to the cranberry bogs.

Bags of fertilizer in dry area

0-0-50 (dry) fertilizer used in this aerial application

Bags of fertilizer on pad waiting to be loaded into loader, forklift on left, loader on right in front of pad

Loader untying bag of fertilizer over bin on loader

Bin on loader filled, waiting to be loaded into AT-602. Building in background is "wet area"used to prepare and load liquids for spraying, note water tanks.  Jet  A Fuel  and Av Gas are stored in the wet area building.

Dry 0-0-50 fertilizer being loaded into AT-602

Dry 0-0-50 fertilizer being loaded into AT-602, Ag Cat on left waiting to be loaded.

AT-602 loaded with 0-0-50 dry fertilizer on take-off roll to apply fertilizer to the cranberry bog

Bye! She'll be back soon for another load

Next up: behind the scenes in aerial applicationsNational Agricultural Aviation Association

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: part 1

I had a wonderful morning with my friends from Downstown Aero Crop Services observing their operations as they applied fertilizer to cranberry bogs in the NJ Pine Barrens Two Ag Cats and one Air Tractor 602 fertlized 700 acres of cranberry bogs in three hours. I will be writing much more about my trip in future posts. For now, I am offering a preview of things to come by posting a few photos of today's operations. These photos are taken at an air strip not from the cranberry bogs.

I have a lot more pictures that I am just beginning to go through. More will come, I promise.

Each bag of fertilizer weighs 1,600 pounds.

This is the fertilizer that Downstown applied today

Fertilizer on dock outside "dry area" The runway of the air strip is in the background

Air Tractor 602 taxiing for take-off for aerial application run

Air Tractor just after lift-off

Ag Cat taxiing for take-off for aerial application run

Ag Cat just after lift off from air strip

Ag Cat applying fertilizer on cranberry bog in the NJ Pine Barrens

Air Tractor 602 applying fertilizer on cranberry bog in the NJ Pine Barrens