Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response: challenges ahead & invasive weeds

The Soda Fire burned tens of thousands of acres of sagebrush. Sagebrush is the habitat for the Sage Grouse, see my November 27th article to learn more about the Sage Grouse and U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell's secretarial order 3336 -- Rangeland Fire Prevention, Management and Restoration. Invasive plants (or weeds) pose a very real challenge to the post-fire recovery. With the loss of so much sagebrush from the Soda Fire, if nothing is done, the loss of so much sagebrush could give invasive weeds a foothold before the sagebrush and other natural vegetation have a chance to grow back. The Sage Grouse, a magnificent bird, needs sagebrush. Among the treatments under the Soda Fire ESR Plan are treatments aimed at preventing invasive weeds such as cheatgrass and medusahead from taking over.

In the video below, you will learn a little about more about the challenges facing the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation. This will be the first test of secretarial order 3336.


Direct link to video from Idaho Statesmen on Youtube

The second video is also from the Idaho Statesmen and you will listen to learn a little about the strategy for protecting and restoring the sagebrush steepe environment from invasive weeds, go here to watch the video.

Here are a few more articles on the Soda Fire ES&R from last August and the visit of BLM Director Neil Kornze:

• Idaho Statesmen, August 17th, rehab starting before fire contained
• Idaho Statesmen, Letters from the West, Neil Kornze visit, August 27, 2015
• KBOI news 2, August 26th, Neil Kornze visit
• Idaho Statesmen, September 22nd, Sage Grouse decision, Fish & Wildlife Service decision that Sage Grouse can survive without endangered species status.

The BLM has a nice webpage on the 2015 Soda Fire Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation that may be found here, with links to more documents and maps (See the article that I wrote on November 25th for a short discussion on some of these documents. I'll be referring to some of the maps in later articles.

Here is a map that I obtained from the  Soda Post-Fire Rehabilitation Inciweb maps page on November 19, 2015. According to the description on the Soda Post-Fire Rehabilitation Inciweb maps page, this is a"Fire map showing Sage Grouse habitat posted on August 22, 2015 at 7:44 PM."

"2015_08_22-19.44.49.188-CDT" obtained on November 19, 2015 from http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/maps/4546/

I am still working on the remaining articles in this series, so stay tuned. I'll be posting the next article in this series on December 2nd. 

Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response - Intro (3 of 3)

My final post in my three-part introduction to the Soda Fire (2015) Burned Area Emergency Response concerns Secretarial Order 3336. A friend told me about Secretarial Order 3336 that applies to the ES&R treatments. Not knowing much other than it applies to the ES&R at the Soda Fire, I did a quick internet search. Fortunately, the first link that I came was a news release on the main NIFC page. I don’t know how to link to this, fortunately, the summary on the implementation of Secretarial Order 3336 — Rangeland Fire Prevention, Management and Restoration should still be on the main page. This is what NIFC has to say about Secretarial Order 3336:

This Implementation Plan (“Plan”) is the roadmap to accomplish the objectives of Secretarial Order 336 — Rangeland Fire Prevention, Management, and Restoration (“Order’) signed by Secretary Jewell on January 5, 2015. The plan provides a short background describing the importance of the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem and why the Order was issued.

Go here  for more information where you will see a discussion of the importance of the sage-steppe rangeland ecosystem as a breeding habit for the sage-grouse. One of the habitats for the sage-grouse is the area that was burned in the 2015 Soda Fire. As I understand it, one of the objectives of the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization & Rehabilitation (ES&R) treatments referred to in the Soda Fire ES&R planning document is to restore the grasses and vegetation that the sage-grouse depends on.

I found more information for you on conserving the Sage-Grouse Habitat that may be found on this webpage from the BLM. Finally, I have never seen a Sage-Grouse, I enjoyed the two videos that I am embedding below and I hope that you do as well.

Direct link to video by Bob Wick, BLM

Direct link to video from BLM National

Next week I will continue with writing about the Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response by writing about some of the ES&R treatments.

Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response - Intro (2 of 3)

My introduction to the Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response has morphed into three parts. (Part 1 may be found here) Next week I will write more about some of the treatments and activities that are included in the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (Soda Fire ES&R). But first, I am going to spend a little time in this article giving a brief description of the Soda Fire ES&R planning document and a couple of documents tied into Federal and State regulations (discussed below). I will be referring to these documents in later articles so it is appropriate to provide this brief introduction. I will be posting my final introductory article (part 3) on November 27th on Secretarial Order 3336.

Before I go any further, for those of you who might want to bypass my brief description of the documents I discuss below and get right to learning more about the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation, please go to the Idaho BLM page on the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation and/or the Soda Fire (2015) Facebook Page (should be available to public without a Facebook account).

One of the many pieces of Federal and State Legislation and Regulations that those who prepared the Soda Fire ESR Plan (released on September 30, 2015) had to consider and be in compliance with is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). See the Soda Fire ESR Final Decision (p. 4-5) for a full listing of Federal and State legislation and regulations as well as Land Use Plans that the Soda Fire ESR Plan conforms with.

NEPA and the various types of documents that NEPA requires are somewhat complicated. In searching for a simple explanation of NEPA, I came upon a nice webpage from the Colorado Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that briefly describes how the BLM uses NEPA. They refer to the Colorado BLM but I believe that their description applies to the Idaho and Oregon BLM:

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assures that the BLM (and other federal agencies) will consider the impact of an action on the human environment before decisions are made and the action is taken. It requires that NEPA documents concentrate on issues that are significant to the action in question. The NEPA process is intended to help public officials make better decisions based on an understanding of environmental consequences, and take actions that protect, restore, and enhance the human environment.

When an activity or action is proposed on BLM administered public lands in Colorado, we conduct an interdisciplinary review of the environmental effects of the proposal so that the relevant environmental information is available to citizens and public officials. (obtained on November 24, 2015 from the Colorado Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

In regards to NEPA and the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation, I believe that the other activity or action referred to above is the the Soda Fire ES&R planning document.

The first step in preparing the ES&R planning document is that an Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ES&R) team (aka the Soda Fire Interdisciplinary Team) started field work on or about August 20th. Recall that the Soda Fire was contained on August 23rd. The ES&R team did five days of field work, finishing on or about August 25, 2015. See these two news releases for more information:

• Soda Fire ES&R field work begins 
• Soda Fire ES&R field work ends

Public participation is an important part of this process. According to the news releases on the Inciweb Soda Fire Post Rehab news release page the ES&R team met with various members of the public including but not limited to Ranchers and other private landowners, the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, and representatives of nearby State and Local agencies. The Soda Fire ESR Plan was released on September 30, 2015 (see below).

Note, the Inciweb Soda Fire Post Rehab page is still available as I write this, but is no longer being updated.

If you go to the document page for the Soda Fire ESR/BAER Plan there are three documents listed as of November 25, 2015. I will be referring to some or all of these documents in later documents.

• Soda Fire ESR Plan (released September 30, 2015) The ESR plan outlines costs and treatments under the Soda Fire ES&R Plan for Oregon and Idaho.
• Soda Fire ESR Plan Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) (released October 19, 2015) "documents that previously prepared NEPA documents adequately describe the environmental consequences of a newly proposed action" (obtained on November 24, 2015 from http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Information/nepa/definitions.html#documentation_of_nepa_adequacy. In our case, I believe that the newly proposed action is the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan.
• Soda Fire ESR Final Decision (released October 19, 2015). This is a notice of the BLM Manager’s Final Decision regarding the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan. That is, the Boise ID BLM District  and the Vale OR District determined that the an Environmental Impact Statement is not required (see this NEPA definition page from the Colorado BLM for a very brief defintion of an Environmental Impact Statement). Both Managers say: "With completion of DOI-BLM-ID-B030-2015-0016-DNA, I have determined that implementing proposed Soda Fire ESR treatments identified in this decision would have similar or the same effects as described in the NEPA documents identified above and does not constitute as a major Federal action that will not adversely impact the human environment.  Therefore the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required" (Soda Fire ESR Final Decision, p. 6 and p 21).

tanker pilots playing some tunes

Well, I was hoping to make my next post in my series on the Soda Fire Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation today, recall that I my first post last Wednesday, November 18th. Now I really to have a draft of this article, but at this point in my day I would be posting a half-baked article, and I don't want to do that. Rather, I am going to take a little more time to do the necessary tweaks and the like. Hopefully I will be able post this tomorrow.  I will be posting this on November 25.

In the meantime have some fun watching a couple of tanker pilots play some tunes.


Direct link to video

Civilian meteorologists receive purple heart 73 years later

I am taking a time out from writing about the Burned Area Emergency Response for the 2015 Soda Fire to honor four civilian meteorologists who gave their lives in service to their country during World War II. Four meteorologists were serving as volunteers on the Muskeget, a U.S. Coast Guard ship that was patrolling the Atlantic during the Battle of the Atlantic in September 1942. The meteorologists were collecting and transmitting weather observations to aid American ships in the North Atlantic. The Muskeget was on its way to southern Greenland when a German U-Boat struck and sank the Muskeget. There were 121 men on board the Muskeget including the four meteorologists. While those in the military who were on board the Muskeget received Purple Heart, the civilian meteorologists did not. There were provisions to award Purple Hearts to civilians but this slipped through the cracks. It was through the efforts of a Purple Heart historian, Robert Pendleton to bring the oversight to light making the award of these four Purple Hearts possible.

Lester S. Fodor (27), weather observer from Cleveland, Ohio
Luthor H. Brady (27), assistant weather observer from Atlanta, Georgia
George F. Kubach (24), assistant weather observer from Sandusky, Ohio
Edward Weber (24), junior weather observer from Brooklyn, New York

May you rest in peace.

Here is a direct link transcript of the report (with audio version) from NPR

I first read about the four meteorologists in a November 18th Washington Post article.

Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response - Intro (1 of 3)

The Soda Fire, probably caused by lightning on or about August 10th of this year, burned 279,144 acres before it was controlled on August 25th. The fire was declared "out" on September 9th. See the Inciweb page for the Soda Fire and the Soda Fire 2015 Facebook Page for more information. If you are arriving on this page some time after I first posted this article, I am not quite sure how long either the Inciweb page for the 2015 Soda Fire or the Soda Fire 2015 Facebook page, probably for several months.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today did a great job reporting on the Soda Fire in this post (scroll to bottom for earliest information) and he shared a video of a fire whirl shot by Graig Fluer on August 17th.

Here is some footage of the Soda Fire shot on August 20th


Direct link to video

And a 48 hour time lapse of the fire (August 12th to August 14th)


Direct link to video

Shortly after the fire was contained planning begain for the burned area emergency response. I'll be writing a couple of articles on the plans for the emergency stabilization and rehabilitation of the burned area starting on November 20th. In the meantime, if you want to see my earlier posts on Burned Area Emergency Response, go to this link (posts tagged BAER).

Before leaving, here is some aerial footage of the burned area shot on August 18th.


Direct link to video

Fall 2015 wildfire season continues

The fall 2015 wildfire season continues. Here are some, but not all, smaller wildfires that I have heard about.

Hawaii - 220 acres (Friday November 13, 2015)
KHON2 220 acre brush fire in pasture land burned on Friday November 13th. A helicopter assisted the firefighters on the ground with bucket drops.

Melbourne, Florida (Monday November 16, 2015)
Florida Today A small brush fire was brought under control by the Melbourne and Brevard County Fire Departments today (Monday November 16th).

Carthadge, Missouri (reported on Monday November 16, 2015)
The Carthadge Press Last Wednesday, November 11, 2015) a wind-driven grass fire burned near a hospital in Carthadge, Missouri. There were some power failures. Fortunately the firefighters stopped the progress of the fire before it reached the hospital.

Fairview, North Carolina (reported on Saturday November 14, 2015)
Citizen Times A brush fire was first reported about 2 PM on Friday, November 13th in Fairview, North Carolina burned 30 acres before being contained just before midnight.

Staten Island, New York City, New York (November 13, 2015)
New York Magazine - Daily Intelligencer amd SILiveA brush fire was reported on Staten Island last Friday, November 13th. At least 200 firefighters fought the fire.

Tanker history - Conair DC-6 T-48 circa 1990

In my wonderings on Youtube just now I was reminded of this video. from 1990, of Conair DC-6 T-48 getting a load of retardant and then working a fire the Thunder Fire near La Ronge, Saskatchewan in June 1990. This may be a rerun from about four years ago. I enjoyed seeing this video again, and I hope that you do as well. Enjoy.


Direct link to video on Youtube

Wildfire season not over yet - November 12

Wildfire season is not over yet. Today I am focusing on a sampling of wild fires, brush fires, and grass fires that I have read about yesterday and today. Many of the smaller fires in the Eastern United States that I report on here are related to dry conditions in the east. A reminder that the fall fire season is still very much with a factor in much of the east.

Peabody, Massachusetts

Thirteen acres burned near an apple orchard on Tuesday, Nov. 10th. This brush fire came after some smaller nearby brush fires on Sunday and Monday. The Massachusetts State Forestry Department and local firefighters worked the fire. Massachusetts like other East-coast States has seen dry conditions this fall, contributing to the brush fire danger.

Peabody MA Patch

Itemlive

Cape Ann, Massachusetts

A brush fire of unknown size in Manchester, MA damaged an electric transformer on Tuesday, November 10th leading to outages. 

Gloucester Times

New Hampshire

Dry conditions across New Hampshire contributed to several brush fires across New Hampshire this past weekend (November 7th and 8th).

Union Leader

Lebanon, Pennsylvania

A brush fire of unknown size in Lebanon, PA on Sunday, November 8th.

ldnews- Nov 9th police log (scroll down for story)

Mentor Township, Ohio

On Tuesday, November 10th, A five acre fire burned in a marsh in Mentor Township, Ohio 

Fireengineering

Pembroke Pines, Florida

On Monday, November 9th there was a small brush fire (size unknown). 

NBC Miami

And wildfire season is still going in other areas of the United States, for example . . .

Oklahoma and Kansas

Strong winds are fueling grass fires across the Oklahoma Plains. A large grass fire near Woodward, OK is under control.

Newson6

OkcFox

Wind driven wildfires continued in Oklahoma on November 11th

News.Mic - Woodward County OK

Stillwater News Press

A wind-driven grass fire on the Butler-Cowley county line in Kansas burned on November 11th. Red flag warnings are in place for much of the Kansas City area in Kansas on Thursday, November 12th.

Kansas City Star

KAKE (video and photos)

California

Is there ever not a fire season in Southern California? Southern California, which is bone dry after four years of drought, is again facing an elevated risk of wildfires due to Santa Ana winds and rising temperatures.

LA Times

______________________________________

A note about the media sources: I accessed all these sites today. Some sites offer only a limted number of free articles per month if you are not a subscriber or the articles may only be freely available for 7 to 10 days. Over the air media usually keep their stories up longer, but eventually the link to the story may be removed.

Happy Veterans Day - thanks for your service

I want to take a time out today to remember all of our veterans who served my country, the United States of America, and those veterans from outside the U.S. who have served your country. As I have grown older, I have my respect and admiration for your service in the military (past or present) has also grown. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all veterans from around the world.

There are some of you who are able to spend time in service to your country at military units in your own country and perhaps close to your home, if you are lucky. In today's day and age, you often have deployments to military bases overseas, away from your home, family, and friends. While the internet may make keeping in touch with your loved ones easier than it was 40 years ago, it is not the same as being there.

I am not a veteran and have never been in the miltary. My Dad served stateside after the Koren War ended. No, I don't have a clue what it is like to serve in areas where there is a conflict. Please know that your service and your sacrifice mattered.

Over the years that I have been writing this blog, I know that there are some wildland firefighters both in the air and on the ground who have spent some time in the military. And here you are serving your country once again as wildland firefighters.

Brush fire - Mt. Tom - Holyoke MA and B-17 crew remembered

I have a few websites that I monitor just about every day to get an idea of current news relating to wildfires. As I was reading the news late this morning I came across a newsclip about a brush fire on Mt. Tom in Holyoke MA. I'll get to the eighteen acre brush fire in a moment.

The reason the article on the brush fire on Mt. Tom caught my eye is because Mt. Tom is one of those natural landmarks that stood out to me on many trips up I-91 in Massachusetts on my way to northern New England. It is a ski and recreation area, so there were a couple of bill boards advertising Mt. Tom.  Not only that, but she was a mountain that I always noticed. I regret that I have not yet stopped to visit her. Hopefully there is time for that on a later trip, I'll have to make time.

As I was reading the Wikipedia article on Mt. Tom, I noted that the mention of a crash of converted B-17 bomber in 1946 on Mt. Tom in 1946 killing all 25 on board. Small pieces of the wreckage are still on the mountain and a momument was erected at the site in 1946. For those who are interested, here is a copy of the July 10, 1946 Fitchberg Sentinal article reporting on the crash. They were returning from overseas, going home. They never quite made it. I know that all who died in that crash are flying in favorable tail winds. May you continue to rest in peace.

Back to the wildfire. According to news reports, the brush fire began at about 7 PM on Sunday night, November 8th. Darkness meant that firefighters pulled out to resume fighting the brush fire this morning. The fire, which burned approximately 18 acres is now contained. Speaking of I-91, smoke was visible from I-91 during the morning commute. I am reminded that it is fall here in the east with a lot of leaf litter on the ground with more to come, and it was breezy yesterday. Hopefully all the hotspots are or will soon be out so that fallen leaves will not be a problem. Firefighters from the Massachusetts Forest Fire Control and near by Holyoke worked the fire

News reports on the brush fire on Mt. Tom

• mass live, 10:44 AM on Nov 9th - with some must see photos of wildland firefighters working the fire
• 22News WWLP (with a couple of photos and a video report)
• boston dot com, 9 AM on Nov 9th - a couple of short videos 

Wildfires in Indonesia - update

The Indonesian wildfires that I first reported on October 12, 2015 continue to burn. I am going to share a few links about these wildfires. Respitory problems continue. Schools and businesses are closed. Residents are evacuated from their homes.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today writes on November 4, 2015 that the United States sent “more than 21 metric tons of wildland firefighting equipment arrived in Indonesia from the United States to assist firefighters who are dealing with what has been described as ‘almost certainly the greatest environmental disaster of the 21st century.' He also provides a good summary of some of the other effects of these wildfires in Indonesia, including the detrimental effects of smoke.

Most of the Indonesian wildfires may be attributed to plantation companies clear land by burning in order to plant timber trees and palm trees. A Huffington Post Australia (11/2/15) article goes into more detail about how this works and elaborating on what was done differently this year:

The companies have cut canals and dried out the peat, the decaying vegetation matter on or under the forest floor, turning a valuable part of the ecosystem into a veritable tinderbox for fire. Coupled with El Nino climate factors, the fires met with the dried peat to spark a firestorm the likes of which have not been seen in Indonesia for some 20 years. The fires have also gone underground, burning and smouldering in the subterranean peat; these fires are all but impossible to extinguish and will burn almost endlessly, unable to be reached by rains or monsoon.

 The Huffington Post Australia article also includes some good photographs, a couple of videos, a map, and some recent satellite images of the wildfires that continue to burn in Indonesia.

More articles:

VoxyNZ (11/5/2015) Wellington Zoo in New Zealand donating $2000 from their conservation fund to help Indonesia fight the wildfires. The article also speaks to all the wildlife that is affected by these wildfires.

UPI (11/5/15) A good article and video from UPI on the closure of Mt. Merapi National Park because of smoke, school and businesses being forced to close and thousands of evacuations, ecological costs.

CAL FIRE crews in action

Updated on November 13, 2015

The video that I had originally embedded here on CAL FIRE's inmate wildland firefighting crews has been taken down. Keeping to the overall theme of CAL FIRE crews, I am offering another video (from 2009) for your viewing pleasure.


Direct link to video

Brazil: wildland fire in Amazon threatens "uncontacted" tribe

Recently I have been working on finding additional sources of news affecting the wildland firefighting both in the United States and Internationally. I don’t know about you but while change does not always come easily, it can be a good thing. A good things because I find myself paying closer attention to things that I may have only giving a cursory glance, if that, a short time ago. Such is the case with a news item I saw just this morning about a forest fire that has been burning for over two months in the Amazon in the State of Maranhao in Brazil.

I don’t know much about Brazil, so I am going to take you along as I learn more about this wildfire and how the wildfire could affect the people who inhabit the region burned by the wildfire. Before I get to the wildfire itself, I’d like to ask you to read this short 2013 article and watch the accompanying seven-minute video about fighting wildland fires in Brazil: Brazil's fight against forest fires (from dw.com).

What drew my attention to this particular wildfire is that the burned area is home to an isolated Brazilian tribe, known as the Awá, that has had no contact with “outsiders.” The fire has burned over 730 square miles of a region known as the Arariboia Indigenous Territory. According to Toby Nicholas who reports for Survival International:

“This designated territory is home to Awá people who have no contact with the outside world. Like all uncontacted peoples, they are extremely vulnerable to exposure to violence or disease inflicted by outsiders,” writes Nicholas (obtained on November 2, 2015 from http://ens-newswire.com/2015/11/01/raging-amazon-forest-fire-menaces-uncontacted-tribe/)

I’d like to draw your attention to two news sources where you can learn more about this wildfire and how the Awá people could be affected. I learned something from reading these articles and I hope that you do as well.

• Environment News Service: Raging Forest Fire Menaces Uncontacted Tribe
• The Guardian (US Edition): Vast Amazon Wildfire Destroys Forest in Brazil and Threatens Uuncontacted Tribe (with a short video).