Reflections on 10 years of blogging on wildfires: early explorations into the world of wildfires

June 29, 2018
Reflections on 10 years of blogging on wildfires: early explorations into the world of wildfires

After I first got interested in wildfires in July 2008, I recognized that I knew very little about wildland fires. By mid=August 2008, I had a couple of humbling and embarrassing conversations with folk in the business of fighting wildfires. These conversations demonstrated how much I did not know. I suspect that there are some things that I got wrong in my first few weeks of writing about wildfires, especially but not including what I wrote about the Basin Complex Fire (Los Padres National Forest, California. However, even though my ramblings at that time were those of someone who was very new to the world of wildland firefighting, I did care. Perhaps I was not then able to articulate my caring about wildland firefighters and those affected by wildfires in words. But I did care. And it was that caring which kept me going through those sometimes difficult period in the fall and early winter of 2008 to January 2009.

In the early fall of 2008, not quite knowing what else to do, but knowing that I wanted to learn more about fighting wildfires, I did a couple of things on my own. I also kept blogging about other things I was interested in.

The first and perhaps most important thing I did was to continue reading various books and articles I found on the internet about wildland firefighting. After reading Norman MacClean’s book, Young Men And Fire, on the smokejumpers who died in the 1949 Man Gulch Fire, I read about some historic wildfires, as well as other accounts of wildfires where firefighters died. I also read at least one book by a wildland firefighter. I enjoyed that first hand account. I did most of this reading quietly, taking in what I was learning and making notes of things that I wanted to learn more about.

I knew how to do research on the internet, and began to explore the internet for good information on wildland firefighting based in part on what I had been reading. Thanks to a now defunct wildland fire forum, wildlandfire dot com, I began to learn about wildland firefighting from folk who were on the frontline fighting wildfires and their friends. They had a links page, and I began to explore those links. I got interested in how wildland firefighters stay safe, and began reading up on safety. I did some blogging about what I learned, while at the same time trying to be careful of my sources.

I began to follow wildfires around the country, although I suspect that I may have had more of a focus on California. However, I also tried to pay attention to wildfires that burned closer to home, reading and then writing about a couple of late summer wildfires in New Jersey.

I continued to learn. I did enjoy the process of learning about wildland firefighting. I felt a new purpose for my writing after over four years of struggling with what and how I wanted to write about. At the time, I knew that I was only scraping the surface of the world of wildland firefighting. I kept going.

Ten years later, I’d like to think that I know a little more about wildland firefighting. At least as I can without being a wildland firefighter.  I do admit that sometimes I still feel like I am only scraping the surface of what there is to know about wildland firefighting. I keep going with this blog with some minor changes in the last ten years. Most important I continue to care, I care deeply. I feel a strong commitment to wildland firefighting; aerial, troops on the ground, various support staff, and other agencies providing support.

No drones in fire zones

It has been too long since I last posted about the dangers of flying drones, aka unmanned aircraft systems, in fire zones. See for example my post of April 13, 2016. I don't know about you, but I have continued to hear in various media accounts over the last two years of drone incursions into fire zones. Please, if you have a drone, keep your drone out of fire zones. You should keep your drone out of fire zones even if there are no flight restrictions over the fire zone. If a drone is flying in the fire zone tankers and helicopters are grounded for safety reasons. A collision with a drone can bring down an aircraft with fatal consequences. When these aerial resources are grounded then these aerial resources are unavailable to help ground based wildland firefighters. Fines and criminal charges are possible for drone operators over a wildfire.

Here is a video from ABC News 10 in San Diego, California about a drone grounding aerial resources when a drone was spotted over the wildfire.


Direct link to Youtube video from ABC News 10 in San Diego

Excessive rain and flooding on East Coast USA

While wildfires have been burning in the western United States, areas of the Eastern United States have seen excessive rainfall the last month or so. There is a nice overview of the excessive rainfall in the Eastern United States in this June 25th article from the Washington Post (limited free articles per month due to pay wall. I really liked the article and for this reason I am sharing the article here.The article, by Tim Craig and Angela Fritz provides a nice overview of the recent heavy rains, a map, some photos, and interviews with those affected. For those of you who do not subscribe to the Washington Post and have some free articles left, I hope that you take the time to read the article. For those of you who are unable to view the article, I apologize.

What is on my mind as I think about areas of the East Coast which have seen heavy rains is that while the East Coast is seeing a lot of rain, areas out west are seeing a drought, see the areas in red and dark red on the map below.

Wildfire season is underway out West and wildfire activity is starting to ramp up. See for example these articles by Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today: June 22nd on new fires in Oregon and June 25th on the Pawnee Fire in Lake County California; an ABC News video update on 52 wildfires burning in the USA and finally an NBC News report on preparations by various agencies to fight summer wildfires.

Back to the excessive rainfall in areas of the East Coast USA.

Knowing that I was sharing an article from the Washington Post with limited free views per month, I wanted to have some other information to share with you about the recent rains in areas of the East Coast. So I looked to the National Weather Service Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center. Here is today's Graphical Daily Briefing from the NWS Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center (MARFC). note the map (30 Day Rainfall Departures from average). The areas in purple (30 day rainfall greater than 75 percent above average) are in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. That is a lot of rain. I have heard various news reports over the last month of areas of flooding, mud slides, etc. I have been living on the East Coast USA my whole life, and this amount of rainfall is extraordinary.  Of course not all of the MARFC forecast area has shared in this excessive rainfall, some areas are close to average. Note the areas with less than average 30 day rainfall in extreme northern New Jersey, adjacent areas of New York, and northern Pennsylvania.

I called up my friends at the Middle Atlantic River Forecast and told them about the article that I am posting today. I asked my friend from MARFC for a representative River that has seen excessive flooding. First he made a point of telling me the Potomac River Basin had seen excessive rains recently, but not recent enough to show on their hydrographs (shows recent and forecast river levels as measured by a gage). The River he told me that had seen major flooding late last week is the Rapidan River near Culpepper Virginia.

There is a gage on the Rapidan near Culpepper Virginia, you may access information about the Rapidan near Culpepper including a hydrograph showing river levels measured by the gage for the last five days. I have copied today's hydrograph for you so that you may see the major flooding of last week, 23.7 feet above flood stage. Depending on when you are accessing this article, the hydrograph you see online will be different. Anyway. note in the graph below that the Rapidan started at about two feet late in the day on Wednesday, June 20th, rising to 23.7 feet by Friday, June 22nd. River levels had dropped below flood stage by Saturday June 23rd. If you look at historic crests on the Rapidan at Culpepper page from MARFC (click more information, not yet updated as I write this) you will see that the June 22nd flood of the Rapidan is in the top ten.

Finally, I wanted to give you an idea of rainfall that occurred in Virginia for the 24 hour period ending on June 22nd, so I went to the CoCoRaHS, Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. Volunteers from around the USA record rain, snow, and hail data and send it to CoCoRaHS daily around 7:30 AM. This precipitation data is used by the National Weather Service and others. I refer to CoCoRaHS data frequently to get an idea of rainfall in my State and other areas I am interested in. I found a nice map for you showing rainfall in Virginia on June 22nd. As I understand it, the rainfall is for the preceding 24 hours. A CoCoRaHS reporting station near Culpepper VA recorded 4.24 inches of rain with Madison VA, to the west of Culpepper recording over 6 inches of rain during the same period.

Helicopters in action: 1 acre Lake Murray (San Diego CA) brush fire

Thanks to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page who shared some wonderful footage from 911 Video News of two helicopters working what turned out to be a very small brush fire that burned near the Lake Murray Reservoir in or near San Diego California last week, see this short report from CBS News 8 in San Diego (with video). The footage of the two helicopters, one from the San Diego Fire Department and the other from the San Diego Sheriff is incredible. You will also see footage of the wildland firefighters on the ground working the brush fire and an interview at 10:26 with Battalion Chief Ted Moran of San Diego Fire and Rescue about the brush fire. Allow just under 12 minutes to watch the video. You won't be disappointed.

Great work by the crews in the air and on the ground containing the brush fire at about an acre. Homes were near by, there were no evacuations and no direct threats to homes.


Direct link to video from 911 Video News

Historic Wildfires: 1988 Yellowstone Wildfires

On June 14, 1988 lightning strikes started the first of the wildfires that were eventually to burn approximately 800,000  acres in Yellowstone National Park. I don't quite recall when I first became aware of these wildfires, but I do remember hearing about these wildfires that summer. An article from the National Park Service on the 1988 Yellowstone Fires may be found here. To see a National Park Service map of the areas and some more detail about the 1988 wildfires in Yellowstone burned go here.

In 2013 The New York Times did a Retro Report on the 1988 Yellowstone Wildfires (article and video). I am embedding this 11 minute video included in the Retro Report about the 1998 Yellowstone Wildfires below. They report on the history of the wildfire, the controversy in holding off on fighting the wildfire until late July, a debate about issues raised about the policies in place at the time about fighting wildfires, the role of the media, and the aftermath of the wildfire. Not only did the video remind me of some of the history of the fire, but it got me thinking. among other things, about the question of policies about when to fight wildfires


Direct link to video from the New York Times on Youtube

More on IMETs and the 416 Fire (CO)

I wrote about the deployment of National Weather Service (NWS) Incident Meteorologists (IMET) on June 11th, on of the IMET deployments was to the 416 Fire burning near Durango Colorado. As I write this the 416 Fire has burned 34,161 acres in the San Juan National Forest and is at 30 percent containment. Thanks to my friends on the NWS IMET Facebook Page, I found out about two articles on the IMET that was working the 416 Fire on or about June 14th. The first article with a video is from 9News Denver Colorado, you may have to disable any ad blockers you are using to read this content. I am embedding the News9 video report below. The video report is only a couple of minutes long, you will see the IMET, Jeff Colton, deploy a video, talk about the twice a day weather briefings he makes to the firefighters. Colton also talks about how he tracks storms and other dangerous weather that might affect the firefighters, and notifying firefighters of dangerous emergent weather conditions.

There is also an article on the Denver Post (you may have to disable your ad blocker on this site to view the report) about IMET Jeff Coltons work on the 416 Fire, go here to read the article. This article has a nice photo gallery along with a map of wildfires burning in the Western United States. The reporter who wrote this article, Kirk Mitchell, talked to Jamie Knight of the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team about the importance of IMET Colton's work providing weather forecasts and briefings for the firefighters:

Jamie Knight, spokeswoman for the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, said Colton’s work is all the more critical to firefighting efforts particularly with an approaching storm. 

Firefighters on the lines were cautioned about the storm, to take particular close attention to wind speed and directional changes. “We asked them to keep their heads up,” Knight said.

The storm could generate an unpredictable outflow wind gusting up to 40 mph, she said.“It increases the danger. To date, we’re pretty proud there have not been any houses lost or serious injury incidents,” Knight said.

There is a nice article about IMETs from the National Weather Service, "Eyes on the Sky: A Day in the Life of an Incident Meteorologist (IMET) on the Front Lines of a Wildfire", please take a few moments to read the article, with some photos and some comments from NWS IMETs about their experiences working wildfires.

Reflections on 10 years of blogging on wildfires: introduction - stumbling into wildfires

This reflection piece is what I hope will be the first of several periodic reflections on what I have learned in 10 years of blogging on wildfires. In this piece I am looking back on how I first got interested in wildland firefighting in July 2008 and how I got interested in aerial wildland firefighting in early 2009.

For those of you who don't know, I first got interested in blogging on wildfires on July 9, 2008 when I made a post on a wildfire that was then burning in southern California, the Basin Complex Fire. The post is still up but most of the links are all outdated, so I am not linking to that article. But it is easy enough for you to find if you scroll down to the right side of this blog and look under blog archives for July 2008, the post is called "Fires in CA." I was interested in the Basin Complex Fire because I had heard about the fire on the national news, and I had some acquaintances that lived near the area where the Basin Complex Fire burned. For those of you who might want to read more on the Basin Complex Fire, Big Sur Fire (provides fire, rescue, and EMS services to the Big Sur Community)  has a page devoted to the Basin Complex Fire with several links you can go to, most but not all of the links still work.

I will be the first to admit that I knew I had to lot to learn about wildfires. I am not sure that I fully understood how much I did not know. After a half year of knowing that I wanted to keep writing a blog, but not really knowing what I would write about,  I stumbled upon the Basin Complex Fire. Realizing that I had a lot to learn gave me the motivation to learn more. I began reading more about wildfires on the internet and a former grad school professor who knew something about fighting wildfires suggested that I start by reading Norman McClean's book, Young Men and Fire, on the smoke jumpers who died fighting the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949. After reading this book, I was hooked. I did some more reading on the internet and read some more books. During the fall of 2008 and early 2009. I blogged on what I was learning

Eventually with the help of a couple of now very good friends (retired and current air tanker and helicopter pilots), I (again) stumbled into the world of aerial wildland firefighting in early 2009. Those friends, took me by the hand so to speak, and helped me learn about the world of aerial wildland firefighting. I was again hooked. I have my Grandpa to thank for my passion for aviation. While he and I never talked much about airplanes until just before he died, I believe I got the aviation gene from him. He was an early aeronautical engineer. I know that he is pleased and smiles down at me.

As I began to blog on aerial wildland firefighting, I found a deep sense of purpose of what direction my writing and blogging would take. I had been searching for almost four years to find a purpose for my writing. In July 2008, it was as if someone left a door slightly ajar and I entered the world of wildland firefighting through the Basin Complex Fire. I had found that which I had been searching for for over four years. I was home.

2017 Wildfire Season: Old Cajon Year in Review

From San Bernadino Co. (CA) FFs, an 18 minute video highlighting their 2017 wildfire season.


Direct link to video on Youtube from San Bernadino Co. (CA) FFs

IMETs in action: June 11th

Wildfire activity is starting to ramp out in western portions of the United States, and this means more National Weather Service (NWS)  Incident Meteorologists (IMET) are being deploy to provide onsite weather support on wildfires including providing weather forecasts and briefings for the crews working the wildfire.

There is a nice photo essay showing scenes from IMET's working wildfires posted on June 7th on the NWS IMET Facebook Page.

Here is some information on IMET deployments for the last week, deployment information is from the NWS IMET Facebook Page for the relevant date:

• On June 6th, a NWS IMET from the US National Weather Service Southern Region HQ was deployed to the Scenic Loop Complex near Fort Davis Texas. This fire has burned 26,042 acres and is 80 percent contained on June 11th, helicopters and SEATs are working this fire. A NWS IMET Trainee from the US National Weather Service Houston-Galveston Texas traveled to the Scenic Loop fire on June 8th.
• On June 7th a NWS IMET from the US National Weather Service Grand Junction Colorado was deployed to the 416 Fire near Durango CO, as I write this the wildfire has burned 22,131 acres and is 10 percent contained, helicopters including at least one type-1 helicopter is or was working this fire.. In addition, a NWS IMET Trainee from the US National Weather Service Albuquerque New Mexico was deployed the 416 Fire on June 10th. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on this fire on June 8th (with a spectacular photo of 
• A NWS IMET from the US National Weather Service Flagstaff Arizona traveled to the Soldier Canyon Fire near Mescalero New Mexico (no information on Inciweb), but I did find a June 11th update on this fire from nmfireinfo reporting that this wildfire had burned 1,300 acres and was at 28 percent containment. Fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters are or were working this fire.

My thanks to the NWS IMETS for all that you are doing to keep those working on your assigned wildfires safe. Your briefings, forecasts, and other weather support services you are providing save lives! Stay safe.

Reflections: not enough firefighting air tankers and helicopters

If you have not been following Bill Gabbert’s articles on Fire Aviation about the decrease in the number of air tankers on an exclusive use (EU) contract with the USFS in 2018, I hope you take a few moments to read Bill's February16th article, "Air tankers to be cut by one-third in 2018", if not now the after you finish this article. Bill writes that there were 20 air tankers on an exclusive use contract with the USFS in 2017. In 2018 there will only be 13 heavy air tankers on exclusive use contracts with the United States Forest Service (USFS). There will be air tankers on call when needed (CWN) contracts with the USFS but at a higher cost.

And the decrease in aerial resources on exclusive use contracts does not stop with large air tankers. Bill reports that the number of type 1 helicopters on exclusive use contracts will be lower, I do not know if there will be any type 1 helicopters on CWN contracts. Exclusive use contracts for the two super scoopers are not being renewed, and the USFS program to convert USCG C-130s to aerial firefighting configuration may be discontinued.

I don’t know about you, but I find this quite alarming. Yes, as Bill reports, there will be air tankers on call when needed contracts with the USFS, but at an increased cost. I do not think that my concerns are original. But I want to express my concerns as a show of support to those in the business of flying wildfires under federal contracts.

Following up on Bill Gabbert’s comments on the higher costs and other concerns about the CWN contracts along with the reduction in available EU contracted aircraft, it is just a matter of time during this 2018 wildfire season when all EU contracted aircraft will be assigned to fires, so the call will go out for additional aircraft to work wildfires. So, the USFS asks those contractors on CWN contracts if they have available aircraft. As Bill points out in his February 21st article, the cost of aircraft under a CWN contract is higher than under an EU contract. It stands to reason that the contractors may try obtain other contracts for their CWN aircraft. Or perhaps, sadly, they haven’t other contracts, deciding that it costs too much to keep a CWN aircraft and crew ready to fly fires so the aircraft sits without a contract. What happens then?

Not only does the CWN contractor have to have available aircraft, they also have to have available crew and maintenance personal. What happens if that crew can not afford to sit around with no pay waiting for the call to fly? Perhaps they get other flying jobs in the meantime. What happens then?

Wildfire activity can occur any time of year. Perhaps a State has State-contracted aircraft to augment their State-owned aircraft during a spring, summer, or fall wildfire season (aka designated wildfire season). They may also have arrangements to use State-based National Guard aerial resources during times of high fire activity.  Sometimes these wildfires, even those that occur after the designated wildfire season, can be bought under control without needing put out a call for federal aviation resources. For example, in New Jersey, where I live, in recent years wildfires occurring outside of the designated wildfire season have been brought under control without the need to request USFS tankers or type 1 helicopters. It is just a matter of time before there will be a very large wildfire in New Jersey or elsewhere in the Northeast that “require” federal tankers and type 1 helicopters. The State could put out the call for such aircraft, it is likely that none will be available. What happens then?

Speaking of “State-owned” and State-contracted aircraft, what happens in States where for some reason there is a shortage of such aircraft used in firefighting. What happens then?

There are not enough heavy tankers and type 1 helicopters on EU contracts. As I write this, the status of the SEAT contracts are unknown. No scoopers, and perhaps the USFS program to convert CoastGuard C-130s to firefighting configuration will be discontinued. There are not enough aerial resources to fight wildfires. With the possibility of worsening droughts in parts  of the country, I am afraid of what I’ll happen. More wildfires and not enough aircraft?


Further reading, you will want to read the February 21st article and comment, Shrinking the Fleet on the Associated Aerial Firefighters website to read about the reduction in the number of air tankers on USFS exclusive use contracts.

D- Day remembrances

For Frank, you were there at D-Day. And for your wife Rose who stayed at home waiting for you. And you came home and had a long and happy life together.



Direct link to Youtube video from Time


Direct link to video from Sky News

2018 Hurricane Season - an early start 2 of 2

I wrote on Friday,  June 1st about the official start of the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season, where I discussed NOAA's hurricane hunter aircraft. Today I want to mention the C-130J hurricane hunter aircraft flown by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the 403rd Wing. You may want to read about their WC-130J Hercules Aircraft and the special equipment used on their WC-130Js.

Here is a 10 minute video about the WC-130J Hercules Hurricane Hunters, it is dear to my heart because they are talking about flying Super Storm Sandy.


Direct link to You Tube video from NYC Aviation TV

2018 Hurricane Season - an early start

Past readers of this blog know that I am interested in other uses of aircraft used in non-military reconnaissance missions, especially including but not limited to the aircraft operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I am especially interested in NOAA's Hurricane Hunter Aircraft. I'll get to these aircraft in a minute.

While today, June 1st, is the official start of the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season, I expect that many of you know that we got an early start to the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season with Tropical Storm Alberto that came ashore in the Florida Panhandle earlier this week, see this graphic from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to see Alberto's path. The last public advisory for Alberto from the NHC was issued on Tuesday, May 29th and may be found here. For those so inclined you can find a listing of all Alberto advisories issued by the NHC on this NHC web page. The National Hurricane Center has a good website with links to a variety of information about hurricanes including a map on their main page. You may switch between Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific to get a different map.

Many of you know that NOAA's Hurricane Hunters as well as the C130 Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" fly into hurricanes to collect data. You may go this link from NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations to learn more about NOAA's Hurricane Hunter aircraft. As I write this, there are four youtube videos on that page: NOAA Ocean Today on Hurricane Hunters, Views from Hermine, Hurricane Hunter in flight, and how the dropsonde is used.

If you are interested in tracking the Hurricane Hunters (NOAA's and those flown by the 53rd Weather Reconn Squadron) in real time, you may go this live recon page from tropicalatlantic dot com. Finally the NHC has an aircraft reconnaissance page that may be found here, where you will see the reconn reports from each flight, and they include a link where you may learn how to read the reports.

I do want to introduce you to NOAA's  Hurricane Hunter Aircraft before you go and read more about the Hurricane Hunters. Here is a short video from USA Today shot in May 2017 where you will meet the Hurricane Hunter Aircraft up and close and personal. I'll write more about the C-130s flown by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" in my next post.


Direct link to video from USA Today on Youtube