update (Aug 17th) on western USA wildfires

August 17th at 4:40 PM EDT

Thanks to Mike Archers "Wildfire News of the Day" for August 17th (go here to subscribe, it is worth it!) , here are a couple of more links for you:

NBC News (August 17th) report on western wildfires (with video)
CAL Fire Chief of Public Information, Daniel Berlant August 17th update on 19 active California wildfires

Finally Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation wrote a nice report on August 16th: USFS has 34 large air tankers currently activated. He has a list of the active air tankers that you might want to check out. This may be summarized as follows: 14 air tankers on multi-year exclusive use contracts, nine on call when needed contracts, six on loan from Canada (thank-you friends from Canada), 4 MAFFs C-130s, and one CL-415 "scooper" from Aero-Flite on federal contract. Gabbert goes on to explain that the US Forest Service does not count the CL-415 as an air tanker. They call the CL-415 a "scooper", which it is. Gabbert counts the CL-415 when arriving at 34 air tankers. What ever you call the CL-415, what is important is that she is out there in the air helping the crews on the ground.

August 17th at 11:55 AM EDT
I don't quite know what to say about the extent and impact of the many wildfires that are burning in the western USA. Fortunately there are places that you can turn to if you desire more specific coverage of these fires.

See for example:

Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today Blog and his Fire Aviation Blog. Bill does an excellant job covering current wildfires in the USA and elsewhere. If you are checking these sites on or about August 17, 2015, just scroll down a bit and you'll find his reports on the current wildfires. If you are coming here later, check out the links on the side of his webpage and you should find a listing of his archives by month.

Mike Arcrhers e-mail newsletter (every day except Sunday) "Wildfire News of the Day" chock full of media and other reports on current wildfire news. You may subscribe to Wildfire News of the Day here.

Inciweb (US) national incidents (on the upper right hand corner, you can search by state or for a particular incident) Many or most wildfires on national forest and/or national park lands are listed here.

National Geographic Coordination Center (portal for coordination centers for each area in the country)

CAL FIRE incident page

Many local news outlets (broadcast and other online media outlets) cover wildfires in their area. If you are familiar with the area where the fire is burning you may know media outlets that you can turn to. Or if you are not familiar with the area, I either do an internet search by the name of the fire. Or perhaps a search for news outlets near the fire.

I do feel compeled to write something today, hopefully focusing on something from a national point of view. To that end:

CNN report (last updated Sunday Aug 16th) on the western wildfires with a video

CBS This Morning - August 17th report and video

To all of wildland firefighting friends on the ground and in the air and those who support you, stay safe. Thanks to all from around the US and out of country who are sending wildland firefighters and equipment to help fight the wildland fires. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you who live in or near areas affected by the wildfires, stay safe.