Canyon Fire (Orange County CA) - some aerial operations

While I did not blog on the Canyon Fire that was first reported on September 25th, I did know about it in large part because of Bill Gabbert's coverage on Wildfire Today (see for example Bill's September 27th article) as well as Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day e-mail newsletters during this past week. According to the September 29th 7:01 AM PDT update from the Orange County (CA) Fire Authority (page may be updated when you access) the wildfire has burned 2,662 acres and is at 75 percent containment. Evacuation orders in place earlier this week have been lifted and six structures have been damaged.

I'd like to share some videos that I found of some of the aerial operations earlier this week over the Canyon Fire.


Direct link to video from CBS SF Bay Area


Direct link to video from Mark Giradeau


Direct link to video from wakebrdr94

Enhanced Risk of Wildfires

When I was out and about this afternoon, I noted that it was a bit windy and dry. While I enjoy the less humid weather, it does mean a lower relative humidity. All this means that I was wondering about enhanced fire danger. So, I just checked the NWS WFO Mt Holly and saw this special weather statement:

Special Weather Statement

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
956 AM EDT Thu Sep 28 2017

NJZ009-010-012>027-PAZ070-071-101>106-290000-
Hunterdon-Somerset-Middlesex-Western Monmouth-Eastern Monmouth-
Mercer-Salem-Gloucester-Camden-Northwestern Burlington-Ocean-
Cumberland-Atlantic-Cape May-Atlantic Coastal Cape May-
Coastal Atlantic-Coastal Ocean-Southeastern Burlington-Delaware-
Philadelphia-Western Chester-Eastern Chester-Western Montgomery-
Eastern Montgomery-Upper Bucks-Lower Bucks-
Including the cities of Flemington, Somerville, New Brunswick,
Freehold, Sandy Hook, Trenton, Pennsville, Glassboro, Camden,
Cherry Hill, Moorestown, Mount Holly, Jackson, Millville,
Hammonton, Cape May Court House, Ocean City, Atlantic City,
Long Beach Island, Wharton State Forest, Media, Philadelphia,
Honey Brook, Oxford, West Chester, Kennett Square, Collegeville,
Pottstown, Norristown, Lansdale, Chalfont, Perkasie, Morrisville,
and Doylestown
956 AM EDT Thu Sep 28 2017

...Enhanced Risk of Wildfire Spread this Afternoon...

Low afternoon relative humidity values, gusty winds, and dry fine
fuels will create an elevated risk for the spread of wildfires
across the area through early this evening.

For more information about wildfire danger, burn restrictions, and
wildfire prevention and education please visit your state forestry
or environmental protection website.

$$

SFJ


___________________________________________________

If I get wind of any wildfires I'll let you know.



Updated on September 29, 2017: I did not have a chance to listen to streams of New Jersey Forest Fire Service radio channels so I don't have any knowledge of wildfire activity yesterday. Nor was I able to find anything useful in checking out some New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia media. This doesn't mean that there was no wildfire activity in New Jersey and environs yesterday, only that I do not know of any wildfire activity. 

Wildland firefighters in San Diego County CA working a wildfire (9/24/17)

Thanks to todays' Wildfire News of the Day e-mail newsletter from Mike Archer who shared this video of wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air working a wildfire on September 24, 2017 near the San Diego River (near Friars Rd and I-5).  Mike shared a link to the Firehouse website where I watched the youtube that I am embedding below.



Direct link to video (you will want to click on "show more" to read the complete description of the wildfire.)

More from the Geronimo Hotshots (from 2014)

The Geronimo Hotshots from The Atlantic on Vimeo.

I have shared a few videos in years past showing the Geronimo Hotshots in action. They usually do a video at the end of the fire season. And since the 2017 fire season is still ongoing as I write this post, it is too early for the 2017 Geronimo Hotshot Crew video. However, in my wonderings just now I found the video from the Atlantic showing the Geronimo Hotshot crew in action, uploaded three years ago (2014). 

To the Geronimo Hotshot Crew, where ever you are as I share this -- be it working a fire, waiting for another wildfire assignment, or perhaps finishing up the season and preparing to go home to your families -- I hope that all are safe. Thank-you for what you do to keep us safe from wildfires.  I am reassured that if we in New Jersey and environs ever needed a hotshot crew and you got the call that you would come and help us.

And of course, the same goes for all Hotshot crews.

Thank-you Geronimo Hotshots, all hotshot crews, and all wildland fire crews (federal and state) for your service. Many of you spend months away from your friends and families. Working wildfires is dangerous work. Stay safe. Know that you are appreciated!

Images from recent wildfires in California and Canada

Here are some videos and images from recent wildfire activity in California and Western Canada.

First up a video shot from the cockpit of a C-130 MAFFS from the 146th Airlift Wing team. There was a nice short article on the Weather Nation about this C-130 MAFFS with a link to the video from the National Guard that I am embedding below. This is great footage of the view from the cockpit of working a fire.


Direct link to video on Youtube from the National Guard


CBS News had a nice report (with a photo gallery and videos) on wildfires in California and western Canada (go here for the September 13th report from CBS News). The video link in the report that says "wildfires rage in 8 western states (dated September 3rd) may lead you to another CBS News video, However I did find a direct link to this video. As always, I am never quite certain how link the embed code for videos from network news outlets will work. So if you arrive here later to find that the videos no longer play, you will know why. Before I share the videos, there is a great photo gallery of images from wildfires in the western USA and Canada included in this CBS news report on the western widlfires. As fate would have it, I had trouble with the embed code that CBS news supplied, that happens sometimes so here are direct links to the two videos included in the report:

• Wildfires rage in 8 states (September 3, 2017)
• Time-lapse video of Eagle Creek Fire-OR (September 6, 2017)

Perhaps you will find references and links to these videos and the CBS September 13th report on the wildfires on other websites that cover wildland firefighting. I  heard about these reports and videos from Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day e-mail newsletter for September 19, 2017. Mike does a great job with the Wildfire News of the Day (5 or 6 days a week). Thanks Mike!

Recent IMET assignments (September 2017)

It has been over a month since I posted about recent IMET (Incident Meteorologists) assignments. IMETs save lives. I am very thankful for the work you do to provide site specific weather forecasts on your wildfires so that all the crews have the best weather forecasts possible. You do this to keep everyone safe. IMETs save lives!

September 11th


September 13th









IMET enroute and IMET getting ready to launch a weather balloon!


A trainee assigned to a wildfire



September 16th



IMET enroute and photo of some weather instruments.

New Jersey Forest Service helping out in Montana

Sometime over the summer, I'm not quite sure when, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) sent an Engine Strike Team (comprised of three engines) plus crew to help fight wildfires in Montana. I am very proud of the engines and the crews who have been helping fight the wildfires in Montana. I would like to thank my friends at the NJFFS Section A2 for the great reporting that they did on their Facebook page. I am going back 1 month to provide you with some highlights of what the NJFFS Engine Strike Team has been doing in Montana. Links provided to Federal Fires listed on Inciweb where possible.

August 14, NJFFS Engine Strike Team released from the Trail Fire and released to Miles City Dispatch (Montana) for reassignment.

August 20, NJFFS Engine Strike Team is still at Miles City. 

August 24 NJFFS Engine Strike Team at Miles City, crews transitioning. One crew demobilizing, another crew on way

August 27th, NJDDS Engine Strike Team released from Maurer Mountain Fire and enroute to Mendenhall Fire (Sweetgrass County, 3 miles south of Springdale, Montana)

August 29: photos from the Mendenhall Fire were NJFFS Engine Strike Team was then assigned.

August 31 NJFFS Engine Strike released from Mendenhall Fire and assigned to Sartin Draw Fire in Powder River County, 35 miles northwest of Broads, MT.

September 1, NJFFS Engine Strike Team still at Sartin Draw Fire, photos.

September 5, NJFFS Engine Strike Team returns to Miles City Dispatch Center. Crews in process of transitioning

September 6, transition day.

September 7, NJFFS Engine Strike Team assigned to Hart Fire, Rosebud County

September 14, NJFFS Engine Strike Team assigned to Blacktail Fire, east of Loco Mountain in the Crazy Mountains. 

Updated on September 16th at 12:30 PM. NJFFS Engine Strike Team has been released from the Blacktail Fire, returned to Miles City and will be returning to New Jersey.

Military Aircraft in action providing Irma relief

I am embedding a couple of videos for you from  https://www.dvidshub.net (Hurricane Irma) showing aircraft and aircrews being deployed in support of Hurricane Irma relief missions.

In the first video by Staff Sgt. Traci Keller (60th Mobility Public Affairs) you will see  two C-17 Globemaster III's take off on September 11th with supplies in support of Hurricane Irma relief efforts. One Globemaster is from Joint Base Charleston SC and the other is from Travis Air Force Base, California. Both are taking off from Travis Airforce Base.



In the second video, by Master Sgt. Philip Speck (123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs), you will see twelve members of the Kentucky Air National Guard 123rd Airlift Wing evacuate U.S. citizens from the Dutch Caribbean Island of St. Maarten on September 9-10th. The Kentucky Air National Guard had two C-130 aircraft working with the New York Air Guards 106th Rescue Wing and the Puerto Rick Air Guards 156th Airlift wing evacuating over 1,028 U.S. Citizens from St. Maartens.



Here you will see some Seahawk Helicopters take off on September 11th from the USS Abraham Lincoln (which I believe was off the eastern Florida coast when this video was shot). The USS Abraham Lincoln is but one of the military assets working with the Department of Homeland Security providing Hurricane Irma relief missions. Video courtesy of Navy Media Content Services, video by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeff Sherman.



Finally, you will see a video shot from a Coast Guard Aircraft out of Air Station Clearwater (FL) flying over flooded Jacksonville FL on September 11th, providing rescues of those stranded by the flooding if required. Rainfall from Irma lead to the flooding in Jacksonville, FL on September 11th .

A little on aerial resources for Irma recovery

I am not here to blog on the recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma's destructive path through Florida. If you landed here in the immediate hours or days after Hurricane Irma hit Florida then I leave you to your devices to find local TV and newspaper coverage. This is not an extensive list, but over the last couple of days I have referred to:

• CBS Miami
• NBC Miami
• Miami Herald
• Tampa Bay Florida News
• WLRN South FL Public TV and Radio
• FL Keys News

My interest today is in the use of aerial resources to get to the Florida Keys, which as many of you may know from the media coverage many areas of the keys are without cell phone coverage, land line phones, water, sewage, and  electricity. As I write this, Monroe County officials have not opened the Overseas Highway (Route 1) to the public and it will be awhile before that highway is opened. Only first responders and other essential personnel, National Guard, and Utility workers are allowed down the highway. Yesterday, I wondered about the use of aerial resources as I knew that two ways into the Keys are by air and by sea.

Florida Governor, Rick Scott was on a C-130 to get his first look at the extensive damage to the Florida Keys according to this article from the FL Keys News. As I understand that middle and upper section of the keys had the most extensive damage.

I got my answer when I saw this article on the FL Keys News about massive airborne relief mission to the Keys using C-130s and helicopters, some from the Mississippi Air National Guard with personnel, equipment and supplies.

I know that this post is sketchy because I don't really have much more information on these aerial relief missions. I do know from this post from Monroe County (covers the Keys) Facebook page that the runways at Key West Naval Air Station and Boca Chica Field, Boca Chica Key about four miles from Key West, FL It seems that helicopters will be the first in followed by the Cargo Planes (C-130s later).

And yes, speaking of help from the sea, there will soon by a US Airforce carrier off of Key West followed by a couple of naval vessels to assist (see this post from Monroe County (covers the Keys) Facebook page for more information.

Updated Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 9 AM

Later last night I found some press releases from the U.S. Department of Defense News website. They had the three news stories, all dated September 11th that pertain to aerial relief missions to Florida and the Caribbean impacted by Irma.

US Army deploys almost 10,000 troops, trucks and generators and at least six aircraft
New York Guard sending Aircrews and Blackhawk Helicopters (some with with hoists)
U.S. Northern Command positions military assets including aircraft
DoD Special Report with photos on Irma relief missions (accessed on September 12th at 9AM)
Photos

September 12th, 3:15 PM

A DoD report incorrectly stated that there may be evacuations of 10,000 people from the Keys. That statement in the report (that I have hopefully since deleted) is not correct per Monroe County FL (covers the Keys).

Kudos (again) to Hurricane Hunters

As folk in Texas and Louisiana (and elsewhere) continue to recover from Hurricane Harvey that made landfall on the Texas Coast on August 25th, Florida and adjoining states on the Southeastern United States are preparing for Irma's landfall later this weekend. My thoughts and prayers are with all those in Irma's path.



I know that NOAA's Hurricane Hunters as all as Hurricane Hunters from the US Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the 403rd Wing have been flying Irma to provide meteorological data on Hurricane Irma. Before I go any further, I want to express my deep appreciation and thanks to the crew of all of our Hurricane Hunters! What they do is risky!

NOAA Flight Directer, Richard Henning on board NOAA42 (Kermit) on September 6th gave Fox News an interview on what NOAA 42 is doing, below is the report (allow 5 minutes) from Fox News.


Direct link to video on Youtube from FoxNews

Here is a short video from Nick Underwood of NOAA42 posted on the NOAA Hurricane Hunter Facebook Page flying the eyewall of Hurricane Irma on or about September 6th, a category 5 hurricane at the time this video was posted.

I finish with another short video of NOAA42, also posted on the NOAA Hurricane Hunter Facebook Page, flying Irma on September 4th, this time from Lt. Rob Mitchell of NOAA.

Reflections (sort of) on Aviation Weather

Regular readings of this blog know that I am a non-pilot aviation enthusiast as well as a weather enthusiast. Over the years, I have become acquainted with the NWS Aviation Weather Center website. I am grateful for the opportunity to sit in, as a non-pilot aviation enthusiast, to private pilot ground school a few years ago where I first learned the basics of the various aviation weather tools that pilots use. I augmented this with my own self study over the years. I appreciate that a good knowledge of aviation weather and the various tools available to pilots saves lives. But more than that, learning about aviation weather is somewhat complicated.

The origins of this post stems from reading an article on the AOPA website about a fly-in that the AOPA is hosting in Norman,  Oklahoma. Participants in this fly-in will have the privilege to tour the Aviation Weather Center for a small charge, and there is a two-day workshop, for more information go here. I would love to be in a position to go to any part of this event! But for various reasons, I can not.

I had decided when I first learned of this fly-in a few days ago on the AOPA website that I wanted to make a post about the Aviation Weather that both showed my respect for the staff of the NWC Aviation Weather Center and respected the complexity of Aviation Weather.

Knowing that AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI)  does good work on air safety for pilots, and knowing that they have a lot of videos on various issues of air safety on their Youtube channel, I decided to find one of the videos on aviation weather. It turns out the the ASI was an eight part series on aviation weather for pilots that they call Weather Wise, the link to all eight videos on Youtube may be found here (or at least it was as I write this article on September 6th).

I am sharing here the first video in ASI's eight part Weather Wise series, called Weather Wise Gathering Information. The video is aimed at pilots who should already have a good working knowledge of the NWS Aviation Weather Center as well as at least one of the various private Aviation Weather Platforms used by pilots that are available on the web. For those of you who are not pilots, I hope that your take away is how important pre-flight weather planning and briefings are to all pilots (private, commercial, airline pilots, military pilots, ag pilots, tanker pilots, etc. etc).

Happy Labor Day Holiday to all who celebrate

I wish all who celebrate a Happy Labor Day holiday here in the United States. I am taking the rest of the day off from my labors.

Reflections on CAL FIRE

I finished off my trip to the west coast of the USA by visiting family and friends in southern California for a long weekend, a trip I make every two or three years. I don't recall any moderate or large wildfires in the portion of the state where I visited last June.  I think, but am not certain, that there was not high fire danger or red flag warnings when I visited. Not so in 2014 when I spent a week in southern California on personal business. There were red flag warnings up for a portion of my stay. I kept informed by following fire weather alerts from the National Weather Service. Because I was busy and also unfamiliar with the geography, I asked one of my friends to let me know if I should be aware of any fire danger near where I was staying or traveling. At the same time, I knew from what I have learned about CAL FIRE over the eight plus years that I have been blogging on aerial wildland firefighting that CAL FIRE and their partner agencies would be working to keep myself and more importantly my family and friends safe. There were no wildfires that I knew of either near where I was staying that week or near where I had to travel.

I am very grateful and want to thank CAL Fire and their partner agencies (local and national) for keeping my family and friends in southern California safe!

CAL FIRE has a good collection of fact sheets available on all aspects of CAL FIRE operations at the CAL FIRE communications web page, including but not limited to several factsheets on their aviation program. I will leave you to your own devices to check out all their aviation related fact sheets, but to get you started you may want to read this overview on the CAL FIRE Aviation Program, and some information about their S2-T tankers. I wrote in early August that CAL FIRE hopes to replace their Super Huey Helicopters with Blackhawk Helicopters.

In the months after I started blogging on aerial wildland firefighting in early 2009 I learned a lot about ground and air wildland firefighting through following wildfires including but not limted to the Station Fire. I followed the aerial and ground operations on live stream from southern California TV station, learning a lot with the help of a couple of former tanker pilots who always patiently answered my questions (and they still do answer my questions and otherwise help me out!). Of course at the same time I was following other wildfires that there then burning elsewhere in the US. I was off on a great adventure as I continued to learn and blog about wildland firefighting in the air in support of firefighters on the ground.

As time went on I continued to blog on aerial and ground-based wildland firefighting. Somewhere around 2012, I began to blog more on other aviation and meteorological issues unrelated to wildland firefighting. But I do and will always have a special place and affection for aerial wildland firefighting in support of wildland firefighters on the ground. So, while I do sometimes blog on my interests in aviation and weather, I do always return to blog about aerial wildland firefighting. CAL FIRE continues to hold one of the special places in my heart for all that I learned about wildland firefighting in the first year or so of blogging on aerial wildland firefighting. And as I said earlier, my feeling for CAL FIRE are personal because of my family and friends in southern California.

Thank-you CAL FIRE!