For all the Blue Angels Fans

Yes, I am a Blue Angels fan and one of these days I'll get to see them in person. Anyway, enjoy this eight minute video of a Blue Angels flight shot from the cockpit. You will hear the commander of the Blue Angels (at the time the video was made and uploaded) share about what they do. Thanks to USA Today for making this video available on Youtube.


direct link to video

Air Tractor 602 doing Ag spraying in South Africa

direct link to video

Some of you may have heard about a wildfire in Ventura County, California last Saturday as well as a brush fire in Victoria, Australia that burned 116 homes. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today writes about:

The brush fire in Victoria, Australia on December 27th
The wildfire in Ventura County, CA in two posts on December 26th - about the wildfire and a family records fire as they drive by the fire

Happy and safe holidays

My holiday tradition is to share Frederick Forsyth''s The Shepard with you as read by Alan Maitland. I'd like to thank a friend of mine who first told me about The Shepard six years abo.



direct link to video

SEATs - Conair AT-802 Fireboss (amphibious)

Enjoy this 13 minute video of four Conair AT-802 FireBoss (amphibious) tankers in action fighting the Sitkum Creek / Duhamel Creek Forest Fire near Nelson, British Columbia. Video was uploaded on July 12, 2015.


Direct link to video

SEATs - Spain (2012)

For your viewing pleasure, I will be sharing (embedding) some videos on various SEAT operations as well as some  videos showing Ag Aviation operations over the next several days. You may recall that some types of aircraft (Air Tractor is one example) are used in Ag Aviation operations and aerial firefighting.

Todays video is from Spain and you will see AT-802F's and the AT-802F Fireboss (amphibious) in action.


Direct link to video

Australia - Maddens Plains Bush Fire, NSW (Dec 11, 2015)

Thanks to my friends at B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page who shared a wonderful video of fire footage last on their videos of the week page (videos change every Friday). I wanted to find some information to share with you about the video that you see below. I was pretty sure that this bush fire was in New South Wales (NSW), Australia so I looked at some of bookmarks. I found some information from the NSW Rural Fire Service that they shared on their Facebook page on December 12th, go here for photos and information.  The fire was south of Sydney Australia in an areaknown as Maddens Plains (near Bulli). I don't know how large he fire was, but it was contained on or before December 12th. Tankers Thor (Conair's T-132, a L-382G, civilian version of a C-130) and Southern Belle (DC-10) worked the fire.


Direct link to video

Australia - Pinery Fire (11/25/15) - South Australia

Late last month a friend of mine, who is currently living near Adelaide in South Australia told me about the Pinery Fire which started on or about November 25th and burned approximately 82,000 hectres (or 202,625 acres). The last advice message from the South Australian Country Fire Service was issued on December 2nd saying that the threat from the Pinery Fire is reduced. I could not find any containment information. Two people died in the fire.

I was interested in this fire and found a few short videos to share with you. You will see SEATs dropping in one of the videos.  The last video shows some of the damage from the Pinery Fire. One of the videos may contain some colorful language.



Direct link to video


Direct link to video


Direct link to video

Tankers from U.S. working fires in Australia

I am continuing my ongoing project of researching and reading about the Rim Fire post-fire recovery. One way or the other, I plan on having something to share with you sometime after the first of the year. Please be patient, and I promise to get back to you. In the meantime, this blog goes on. Today I thought I'd share with you a few videos that I came across in my wonderings on the internet showing airtankers from the United States working fires in Australia. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation wrote an excellent article in early September about North American air tankers under contract in New South Wales, Australia this summer (our winter): a DC-10 tanker (dubbed "Southern Belle", and Conair's T-132 (a L382-G, civilian version of a C-130 dubbed "Thor").

In the first video you will see Thor dropping on a fire in New South Wales, Bill Gabbert shared this video in Fire Aviation on December 14th. I'd also like to thank a friend who alerted me to this video.


direct link to video

And three videos showing "Southern Belle" doing what she does best.


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Rim Fire - Yosemite - On the role of fire management

Yesterday I was visiting the Yosemite National Park website and I went to one of their multimedia pages called Yosemite Presents where I saw their video on the Rim Fire, also available on Youtube under Yosemite Presents. It turned out that I had bookmarked the video and I think that I first learned about the video from Wildfire Today (January 12, 2015).

I watched the video again yesterday, in fact I watched the video a couple of times and since I am in the process of researching the Rim Fire Post-Fire Recovery, I thought I'd share the video with you today. What I like about this video is that they talk about the role that controlled burns (including prescribed burns) can play to reduce the damage done by wildfires. I like the  explanation that accompanies Yosemite's Rim Fire Video:

As these unnaturally large fires become more commonplace due to previous fire suppression and climate change, Yosemite National Park is seeing the benefits of carefully allowing smaller, controlled fires on the landscape.

You will hear Deputy Fire Chief Taro Pusina talk about the firing operations his crew did during the Rim Fire with the aim of stopping the fire before it reached the Merced River drainage and two giant sequoia groves. They also talk about the role of prescribed burns in helping wildfires such as the Rim Fire from not burning quite as hot as it could, slowing down and cooling fires such as the Rim Fire.

A peek into wildland firefighting in Alberta, Canada

It is my intention to write about the Rim Fire Post-Fire Recovery. Some of you might recall that I wrote about the long-term effects of the Rim Fire in an article that I posted on December 7th. I have a lot of documents related to the Rim Fire Post-Fire Recovery from Stanislaus National Forest to go through and have just made contact with someone from Stanislaus. It is going to take some time to do my reading and to talk with Stansilaus. I expect that this process will take until after the first of the year. However, if I find some pertinent information about the Rim Fire or the Rim Fire Post-Fire Recovery in my wonderings on the internet, I'll post it here.

Updated on September 16, 2016: as sometimes happens, it turns out that I spoke to soon when I first wrote this article on December 9, 2015. I do remain interested in the Rim Fire Post-Fire Recovery, but make no promises on what I will be able to do in the future.

In the meantime, I thought that you might enjoy these two videos that I am embedding where you will get a peek into wildland firefighting in Alberta, Canada. Both videos are under two minutes long.


Direct link to video on Youtube


Direct link to video on Youtube

Rim Fire - Long Term Effects

I spent much of this afternoon going through many documents relating to the Rim Fire - Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER)  and Long Term Recovery. Recall that the Rim Fire started in August 2013. Before it was contained two months later, it grew to be the third largest in California history burning 257,314 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest (154,530 acres), Yosemite National Park (78.895 acres), Bureau of Land Management (129 acres), and private lands (23,760 acres) [Rim Fire Reforestation Draft Environmental Impact Statement, U.S. Forest Service, Stanislaus National Forest, R5-MB-279, November 2015, p. 1-2, obtained on December 7, 2015 from http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=45612).

Obtained on December 7, 2015 from http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/CASTF/2013-08-17-1950-Rim/picts/2013_09_17-09.40.14.506-CDT.jpeg where you may get high resolution version

You may recall that I wrote about the Rim Fire - BAER on November 6 and  November 11 2013, with another article on August 21, 2014.

In my wonderings this afternoon I came upon  The Sierra Nevada Conservancy's webpage devoted to the Rim Fire (with links). I learned about two videos that I want to share with you. The first video is a before and after (Rim Fire) video of the area burned by the Rim Fire posted on the Sierra Nevada Conservancy's Facebook page. Unfortunately, I could not get the embed code to work, that happens sometimes. Please go here to watch the 2 minute video, it is very striking.

Finally, here is a nice video from California State Association of Counties (CSAC) looking at some of the long-term effects of the Rim Fire on the region, both environmentally and economically. Michael Sweet wrote this blog article of his visit to the Rim Fire burn area.


Direct link to video on youtube

Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response: more maps & reflections

I have been writing about the Soda Fire Burned Area Emergency Response of late. I know that there are stabilization treatments ongoing at the Soda Fire burn area that I have not written about. Should you so desire, these treatments along with a time schedule are described in the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization And Rehabilitation (ES&R) Plan. I'll post some other links a little later where you might find updates. I am hoping that this post is not my last post on the subject, but this may be my last post for awhile. With winter coming on, if it hasn’t already arrived at the Soda Fire burn area, I’m not sure how much more active emergency stabilization and rehabilitation treatments that they can do this winter. But what do I know? Perhaps there are things that they can do in the winter. Time will tell.

In the meantime, I will keep reading some of the documents that I talked about last week as well as doing my best to keep my eyes out for media reports and report back here.

I don’t know about you, but I have learned a lot about the lands that were burned in the Soda Fire as well as the all important Burned Area Emergency Response. I have grown to appreciate the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. And of course, there is that magnificent bird, the sage grouse. Through the documents that are available (see the link above), the various photos and videos, and media reports, this little corner of a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem has come alive. I know that the ecosystem is hurting after the fire and I am very glad to know something about the Soda Fire Burned Area Emergency Response Plan that will be ongoing for the next five years. 

I am delighted that there have been a lot of media attention on the Soda Fire Burned Area Emergency Response as well as good information available through the Bureau of Land Management. As I write this the Facebook page is updated at least every few days with photos and links to local media reports.

• BLM Idaho Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation
• Soda Fire 2015 -- Facebook
• Soda Fire November 10th Drill Seeding photos & Videos on Flickr

I have been promising to focus a little on some of the Soda Fire ES&R maps available to the public that may be found here. Each map is about 18 MB and is in a pdf file. I love maps and is this case it gives me an idea of what areas are being treated. I was especially interested in two maps which I downloaded and converted to smaller graphic files (jpeg) that I am sharing here. These are the map showing all vegetation treatments and 2015 drill seeding that I referred to on November 30th and December 2nd. The images below are not high resolution, if you want higher resolution files you will want to go the links in the preceding sentence and download them.

Obtained on December 2, 2015 from BLM Idaho -- https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/mapset_view.do?projectId=52963&currentPageId=68942&documentId=64055

Obtained on December 2, 2015 from BLM Idaho -- https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/mapset_view.do?projectId=52963&currentPageId=68942&documentId=64060

Soda Fire (2015): Burned Area Emergency Response: Drill Seeding

On November 30th I wrote about the challenges that invasive weeds pose after the loss of so much natural vegetation such as sagebrush that burned in the recent Soda Fire. If my understanding is correct, there may already be some established invasive weeds such as medusahead and cheatgrass. The concern here is how to prevent invasive weeds such as cheatgrass and medusahead from spreading to the sagebrush-steepe ecosystem that was burned in the Soda Fire. 

The BLM has recently begun to the crucial phase of emergency stabilization. The Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ES&R) Plan encompasses treatments for many threats, one of which is the threat posed by invasive weeds.  The treatment that I will discuss here involves seeding perennial grasses to prevent invasive weeds from taking over. Seeding will be done on the ground by drill seeding as well as aerial seeding from aircraft. Timing is crucial, the hope is that the perennial grass seeding that is being done this fall and early winter will germinate in the spring and thus prevent the invasive weeds from taking over. Perennial Grasses also make for good sage grouse habitat. Follow along as I share a few sources with you on the drill seeding treatment component of the Soda Fire ES&R. I don’t want to leave out aerial seeding operations which I understand are also going on, but I have no videos at the moment about the aerial seeding operations. If my understanding is correct, drill and aerial seeding will be going on for a total of five years including this year.

In the video from BLM Idaho that I am embedding below you will be introduced to the use of what are known as rangeland drills to begin to stabilize the burned areas to both stabilize the soil and prevent invasive weeds. As I understand it, the rangeland drills that the BLM is using are standard rangeland drills used in farming that are modified for use in this habitat. Rangeland drills prepare the land for seeding as well as spreading seed at appropriate depth.

Direct link to video from BLM Idaho on Youtube

BLM Idaho has a nice Flickr page with photos and a few short videos showing rangeland drills working on November 10th in the Soda Fire burn area.

On November 10th, at least two Idaho broadcast media outlets ran stories on reseeding areas burned in the Soda Fire, 7-KTVB and KIVI-TV6. I am never certain how long these links will be available, so if you are arriving at this post sometime later and these links are dead you will know why.  In the story from kivi-tv6 story and video from Kivi on drill seeding (video embedded below) Robert Bennett, a range technician for the BLM says:

When an area becomes dominated by invasive annuals, it does tend to burn more often. They are very fire prone.

And Cindy Fritz, a natural resource specialist for the BLM speaks about the Fall 2015 the drill seeding operations which are laying out perennial grasses in the burned area:

We’re putting them out this late in the year which is ideal. We want them to go through the winter and when they wake up and germinate in the spring, they are in perfect conditions.

Fritz goes on to speak to the fact that it will take 15 to 20 years to get back to the conditions that existed before the Soda Fire.

Here us a nice story with video from KIVI-TV6 about the BLM's emergency stabilization post Soda Fire.

In a report (with video) on drill seeding from 7KTVB,  Robert Bennet spaces about the threats to the sage grouse and how these threats are being addressed by the ES&R:

The two biggest threats for sage grouse are increase fire return and invasive annual grasses, which play into your fire return interval. So putting desirable plants out here to compete with invasive annuals will send this on a trajectory toward improved sage grouse habitat, or recovering the safe grouse habitat.

In addition to the sources that I have linked to above, you might also enjoy BLM Idaho's page devoted to the Soda Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation and the 2015 Soda Fire Facebook Page (with pictures and comments about the Soda Fire ES&R efforts this fall.

I do hope to write more about the Soda Fire Burned Area Emergency Response this coming Friday, December 4th. Stay tuned.