IMETs in Action: What they do and August 27th through 29th Deployments

I like to post periodically about the great work that National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) do, see for example my August 10th post.

I have shared the video below before, but it bears repeating. Hear NWS Incident Meteorologist Jeremy Wolfe discuss what he does on a wildfire assignment.



direct link to video

For more on IMETs do, check out my post of July 21, 2017 on IMET training, my post of post August 15, 2016 about how IMETs use weather balloons. For a general overview of what IMETs do, see this article, Eyes on the Sky: A Day in the Life of an Incident Meteorologist. Safety is the number one mission of an IMET, see this August 18th post by the US National Weather Service IMET Facebook Page

Recent IMET balloon launch
US NWS Glasgow, Montana IMET and US NWS Anchorage, Alaska IMET write up with photos about balloon launch on the Goldstone Fire in Montana, video of balloon launch (As I write this the Gladstone Fire has burned 9,337 acres and is at 22 percent containment).

Now I want to share some IMET deployments since August 27th as posted on the US National Weather Service IMET Facebook Page.

August 27th Deployments

• US NWS Grand Junction Colorado IMET to the Wapiti Fire near Stanley, Oregon (5,490 acres, 13 percent containment)
• US NWS Fort Worth Texas IMET to the Rabbit Foot Fire near Salmon, Idaho (35,271 acres, 10 percent containment).

August 28th and 29th Deployments

• US NWS Ohio River Forecast Center IMET to the Crescent Mountain Fire near Winthrop, Washington (43,484 acres, 35 percent containment).
• US NWS North Platte Nebraska IMET to the Britania Mountain Fire near Wheatland, Wyoming (no fire information available on inciweb)
• US NWS Marquette, Michigan IMET trainee to the Klondike Fire near Selma Oregon (98,539 acres, 40 percent containment). US NWS Western Region HQ was deployed to the Klondike Fire on August 15th, I assume s/he is still there, or else another IMET in their place. IMET trainees work under an IMET.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engine deployments (Aug 27th): update

The two New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Type-4 engines, B45 and T9 continue to be assigned to the Stone Fire where they are engaged in mop-up,  patrol containment lines, and suppressing spot fires. The Stone Fire has burned 39,387 acres and is at 72 percent containment as I write this. My friends at the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page have posted two updates on their Facebook page that you might be interested, an update from earlier this morning, August 27th and on August 24th they shared some photos and a video of the Stone Fire, the camp, and a nice shot of a nearby train. Photos and video courtesy of Kenny Lunden Jr.

Meanwhile, NJFFS type-4 engines, A29 and T5, were demobilized from the Sheep Creek Fire on Sunday, August 26th and reassigned to initial attack at the County Line Fire (5 miles south of Carlin, Nevada). As I write this, the County Line Fire has burned 12,833 acres and is at 50 percent containment. See this August 26th update from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association for more information on this deployment.

On August 27th, the Sheep Creek Fire had burned 59,789 acres and was at 100 percent containment.

2018 Hurricane Season: Hurricane Lane

As Hurricane Lane heads towards the Hawaiian Islands, see this public advisory (#40A) from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)  with sustained winds of 105 mph (category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, my prayers are with the Hawaiian Islands. I found out the last Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance flight was on Wednesday August 22 local time (mission 12 into Lane, AF 307), see this page showing reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Lane from tropicaleastpacfic and an archive of 2018 hurricane hunter flights may be found here. Mission 12 was the last reconnaissance flight into Lane, the last flight into Lane was the Gulfstream (G-IV), NOAA 9, mission 13. This was in order to have enough lead time to safely evacuate all personnel, aircraft and equipment, see this notice for more information. AF307 is a C130 from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. What the men and women who crew the various hurricane hunter aircraft is very dangerous, they do this to protect us. I can not adequately say how proud all those who crew the various hurricane hunter aircraft, and their support team on the ground. I am very proud of them.

August 25, 2018 12:30 EDT update: Lane has been downgraded to a tropical storm, see this August 24th update from the US National Weather Service Honolulu & Central Pacific Hurricane Center Facebook Page. Alternatively, you can go to the latest public advisory (#45) from the CPHC

I don't have a video of a hurricane hunter reconnaissance mission into Lane to share with you, but I did find one from July 18th from U.S. Military Generation of a flight of a C130 from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flying into tropical storm Chris.


Direct link to video on Youtube

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engine deployments (Aug 22th): new assignments

Thanks to my friends at the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page who have been posting updates on where the four New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) type-4 engines are currently deployed along with pictures and fire summaries.

On Monday August 20th, the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association shared that the two engines (A29 and T5) that are assigned to Elko District of the Bureau of Land Management where assigned to the Sheep Creek Fire about 15 miles northeast of Battle Mountain, Nevada (go here for the August 20th Facebook Post from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association). According to their August 22nd post, the Sheep Creek Fire is at 59,789 acres with 70 percent containment. The inciweb incident page for the Sheep Creek Fire may be found here with some photos, a map and other information. According to an update on the Sheep Creek Fire available on their inciweb page there are three helicopters work the fire. The Elko Daily Free Press ---- thanks NJFFS A2 Firefighters Assoc for the link to the article -- has a nice article about the Sheep Creek Fire, burning in Landers County, published on August 21st.

On Monday August 20th I shared some photos taken by one of the crew of the two NJFFS service engines (B45 and T9) that were then deployed as a part of strike team on the Carr Fire. According to the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association in an August 21st Facebook post engines B45 and T9 were released from the Carr Fire and deployed to the Stone Fire, and they posted an update on August 22nd about the Stone Fire. There is an inciweb page for the Stone Fire, as of today's update on inciweb, the Stone Fire has burned 29,504 acres at 20 percent containment with four helicopters working the fire and air tankers as needed.

I continue to be so very proud of the engine crews and their support vehicles for all the good work they are doing helping with the wildfires out west. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engine deployment (Aug 20th): Carr Fire

Two type-4 engines from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) continue to be assigned to the Carr Fire (near Redding and Shasta/Trinity California). As I write this the Carr Fire, burning in and near the National Park Service Whiskeytown National Recreation area. As I write this the Carr Fire has burned 229,651 acres and is at 88 percent containment. According to post on Facebook from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association on August 19th, the two NJFFS type-4 engines are a part of strike team with engine crews from: New Jersey, Oregon, Arizona, Michigan, Colorado, and a firefighter from New Zealand.  I thank all of the members of this strike team for the work you are doing fighting the Carr Fire. 

My friend, Ed Seifert from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for sending me several great photos from the NJFFS engine crew. All the photos are courtesy of Kenny Lunden.  I believe that the photos were taken on or about August 18th. These are great photos and will take you inside and up close to the Carr Fire as seen by the NJFFS engine crews. Thanks to Kenny for the great photos. Thank-you Ed Seifert from sending me these photos so that I can share them with you here.

I am so very proud of the whole strike team with a special shout out to the the NJFFS wildland firefighters from New Jersey. Thank-you for your service and stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engines deployed (Aug 17th)

As I write this post, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) continues to have four type-4 engines and two support vehicles deployed out west.

NJFFS engines A29 and T5 along with car 37 are assigned to the Wells Fire Station in the Elko District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). I understand from a post that the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association made on their Facebook Page on August 16th that these two engines were deployed to the Thousand Springs Fire north of Wells, Nevada on August 15th along with an airtanker. As of yesterday afternoon, the Thousand Springs Fire had burned 31.99 acres. Containment information is not known. More photos are available at an August 15th Facebook post by the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association.

I understand that NJFFS engines B45 and T9 continue to be assigned to the Carr Fire (217,598 acres burned at 75 percent containment) burning near Redding California.

Thank-you to all of the NJFFS crew of the engines and support vehicles working out west. Stay safe. We appreciate what you are doing to help crew out west fight wildfires.

2018 California Wildfires: firefighter fatalities

I suspect that many of you know that as of the date I am writing this post that six firefighters have died fighting wildfires in California so far this fire season.


Transcript available here.

The identity of the sixth fire fighter was not known at the time of the NPR report, he was later identified as Matthew Burchett (42) from Utah, a battalion chief with the Draper City Fire Department, see this August 14th report from KQED for more information.

Please pause for a moment and offer your thoughts, meditations, prayers, and reflections for the following firefighters and their family, friends, colleagues and all who love them.

• Braden Varney, killed in the Ferguson Fire.
• Brian Hughes, killed in the Ferguson Fire.
• Andrew Brake, killed in auto accident on way to Carr Fire.
• Don Ray Smith, killed in the Carr Fire.
• Jeremy Stoke, killed in the Carr Fire.
• Matthew Burchett, killed in the Mendocino Complex Fire.

May your rest in peace Braden, Brian, Andrew, Don, Jeremy, and Matthew. Your service and sacrifice won't be forgotten. I pray especially for all of your loved ones who are mourning your passing.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 NJS #2 crew is home & engines still deployed (August 13)

The 20 person crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) that was deployed to the Red Canyon Fire in Colorado ended ended their service on or about August 11th and flew home on Sunday (see this post on the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page. Before flying home, the crew visited the Storm King Mountain Memorial site where 14 firefighters died on Storm King Mountain fighting the South Canyon Fire in 1994 (see the post from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page on August 11th for some photos). Thank-you for your service on the Red Canyon Fire. Enjoy a well deserved rest and time with your friends and family.

The NJFFS type 4 engines and two support cars continue to be deployed out west. Engines A29 and T5 along with car 37 continue to be available for initial attack out of Wells Fire Station in the BLM Elko Nevada District. The arrived at the Wells Fire Station on or about August 4th, I understand from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook page (go here and here) that the two engines were deployed to work initial attack this morning on an 1/10th of an acre fire in the Elko district along with an air attack plane, putting the fire out an hour or so after they were deployed to the fire. This is just the incident that I know about, I expect that they have worked initial attack since they arrived at Wells Fire Station last week. Thank-you for your service.

Engines B45 and T9 and an unknown support car continue to work the Carr Fire near Redding California (202,976 acres at 61 percent containment). They arrived at the Carr Fire on or about July 30th. Thank-you for your service.

IMETs in action: August 10th

We are in the height of the summer wildfire season in the western United States, so the NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) have been busy this week. Before I get to that, I want to share a couple of Facebook posts on what IMETs do from the NWS IMET Facebook Page.

On August 10th the NWS IMET on Facebook shared a nice informational post with a graphic and a couple of photos on what IMETs do. Among the things that IMETs do are: issuing weather watches and forecasts, doing crew briefings, radio updates, assisting with weather stations, media interviews and public meetings. If you have been following my blog posts on IMETs, then you know about weather balloon launches done by IMETs, here is a Facebook post from US Forest Service Sierra National Forest Facebook page that I found on the NWS IMET Facebook page recently, it is a short video where you learn about weather balloon launches and how an IMET uses the data gathered from the balloon launch.

There have been several IMETs deployed to wildfires since August 6th. In the interest of time and accuracy, I am only linking to the deployment post from the NWS IMET Facebook Page, if you want more information about the specific wildfire you may follow the links in the post on the NWS IMET Facebook Page.

August 6th deployments
NWS Columbia South Carolina IMET to the Rattlesnake Creek Fire near Riggins, Idaho.
NWS San Francisco Bay IMET to the Carr Fire near Redding, California.
NWS Southern Region HQ IMET to Medocino Complex near Potter Valley, California.
NWS Spokane Washington IMET to Crescent Mountain Fire near Winthrop, Washington.
NWS Las Vagas Nevada IMET to Donnell Fire near Dardanelle, California.

August 7th deployments
NWS Western Region HQ IMET to Coal Hollow Fire near Price, Utah.
NWS Eureka California IMET to Mendocino Complex near Potter Valley, California

August 9th deployments
NWS Blacksburg Virginia IMET enroute to South Umpqua Complex near Days Creek, Oregon.
NWS Medford Oregon IMET Trainee enroute to Carr Fire near Redding, California.
NWS Portland Oregon IMET enroute to Maple Fire near Hoodsort, Washington.

IMETs save lives. Thanks to all the IMETs who are currently working wildfires to give important weather forecasts, briefings, etc to wildland firefighters. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 crews and engine deployment (Aug 8th)

For the past few days I have been posting about the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) crews and type 4 enginse that are deployed in the western United States, see for example my August 4th update, my update on August 6th on NJS#2, and my update on August 6th about the two type-4 engines at BLM Elko Nevada Wells Fire Station. To the best of my knowledge the status of these resources are unchanged.

• NJS#2 continues to work the Red Canyon Fire (5,766 acres at 88 percent containment) that is burning 30 miles south of Rangely, Colorado. This crew was deployed on July 27th. Rains over the weekend helped to increase the containment of this fire.
• To the best of my knowledge, NJFFS type 4 engines A29 and T5 and car 37 continue to be staged at the Wells Fire Station in the BLM Elko (Nevada) District. I think but am not sure that they do not have an assignment as I write this and may be working initial attack out of the the Elko Interagency Dispatch Center (see this August 7th post from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page
• NJFFS type 4 engines B45 and T9 and an unknown support vehicle continue to work the Carr Fire burning near Redding, California (173,522 acres at 47 percent containment). I am sure that many of you have seen various media reports about this fire, here are two links I thought you might enjoy, one is a video and slide show from express.co.uk in the United Kingdom and the second are some photos of the California wildfires from space (Space.com)

For all of my friends from the NJFFS who are working these fires or working initial attack at Elko, thank-you for all you do. I am glad that you are helping out. That is what mutual aid is all about. While New Jersey has not recently had any fires requiring mutual aid from out of state, we have had several weather events that lead to massive power failures, where utility crews came from across the United States to help us.  

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engine deployment (Aug 6th): Engines at BLM Elko Wells Fire Station

Those of you who have been following along on the travels and staging of two New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Type 4 engines may recall from my August 4th post that engines A29, T5 and car 37 arrived in Idaho last Friday, August 3rd and were released from the Sharps Fire. The were deployed to the Wells Fire Station in the BLM Elko Nevada district. I believe that they are still staged at the Wells Fire Station. My friend from the NJFFS Division A sent along some photos from the engines staged at the Wells Fire Station. I believe that the photos were taken sometime over the weekend. These photos are courtesy of Eric Weber, NJFFS Section Warden A3. Beautiful country.

I am very glad that you are in Nevada helping out with any wildfires near Elko, Nevada. I am so proud of you. You represent New Jersey well. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 crew deployment (Aug 6th): NJS#2 at Red Canyon Fire

The NJS#2 (New Jersey Forest Fire Service) crew continues to work the Red Canyon Fire (5,766 acres, 74 percent containment), 30 miles south of Rangely, Colorado. According to today's Interagency Resource Representative Crew Report from the Eastern Area Coordination Center they are assigned to Division G doing hotspotting; digging, securing, and holding line. A friend of mine from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS), Division A was kind enough to send me some photos from the Red Canyon Fire and the Spike Camp where NJS#2 is staying while not on the fireline. The photos are courtesy of Roger Kirchner, NJFFS Division A District Fire Warden.

Thank-you NJS#2 crew for working the Red Canyon Fire, you honor New Jersey with your service and I am proud of you. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engines deployed in western U.S.: Aug 4th update

I am writing a brief follow-up to the post I made on August 3rd about New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Engines currently on deployed to fight wildfires in the western United States. To the best of my knowledge, two type 4 engines from the NJFFS continue to be assigned to the Carr Fire near Redding California (141,825 acres burned at 41 percent containment).

I understand from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page in a post to their page on August 4th that NJFFS engines A29 and T5 along with car 37 were released from the Sharps fire in Idaho late in the afternoon or early evening of August 3rd. Recall that they arrived at the incident command post for the Sharps Fire around mid-day on August 3rd. They are currently staged at the Bureau of Land Management Office in Elko, Nevada awaiting assignment. Here is a nice post, also from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association on their Facebook page earlier this morning with a thank-you note thanking them for all they do.

I'd like to thank a friend who sent me a link to an article from the Press of Atlantic City reporting on NJFFS wildland firefighters from southern New Jersey who are currently on deployed out west working wildfires out west, including but not limited to the Carr Fire, the article may be found here (there is a paywall, you have a limited number of free views each month).

Thank-you NJFFS engines, support vehicles and crews for doing a great job representing New Jersey as you work wildfires out west or are awaiting assignment. Thank-you to all the crews working these wildfires, some of you have traveled from other states or countries to work these wildfires. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 about engines deployed in western U.S.

On August 1st, I wrote about the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) crews and engines that are deployed in the Western United States. To the best of my knowledge the NJFFS crew, aka NJS#2, is still working the Red Canyon Fire (5,766 acres burned). For those of you who are interested, here is a video update posted on Inciweb (August 3rd, midday). According to the latest Eastern Area Interagency Resources Representative (IARR) for the Eastern Area Coordination Center (link to current IARR on main page) the NJS#2 crew is doing "hotspotting, digging, securing, and holding control lines."

I want to write a little about the engines that NJFFS sent out west. Recall that two type 4 engines from the NJFSS arrived in California on July 30th and are currently assigned to the Carr Fire near Redding CA (131,896 acres burned at 39 percent containment, 1,067 residence destroyed, two firefighters and four civilians dead). The two NJFFS type 4 engines that left New Jersey on July 31st for Idaho to work the Sharps Fire near Bellevue Idaho (57,253 acres, 29 percent containment) arrived at the incident command past for the Sharpes Fire shortly after noon local time.

I asked a friend from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for a little more information on the four engines sent out west and what is their usual assignment in New Jersey. For a little geography the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is divided in three divisions, you may see the map here.

Assigned to the Carr Fire: two type 4 engines: B45 from Division B (central NJ), and T9 from Division C (southern NJ). B-45 carries 900 gallons of water and T9 carries 1,000 gallons of water. For those that are interested, both have a 2011 Freightliner chassis.  There is a picture of T9 from NorCal Fire Weather shared by NJFFS Section A2 Fire Association on Facebook the other day that may be found here. In addition there is a support vehicle, probably a pick-up truck that traveled with B45 and T9, I don't have any further information.

Assigned to the Sharps Fire: two type 4 engines: A29 from Division A (northern NJ, I live in Division A), and T9 from Division C (southern NJ). Both are type 4 engines with 1,000 gallon tanks. Like the two type 4 engines assigned to the Carr Fire, they have a 2011 Freightliner chassis. The crews that traveled out west sent along photos to the NJFFS Section A2 Fire Association on Facebook, here is a nice photo shot at a the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument east of Laramie Wyoming on August 2nd of the two engines and their support vehicle, car 37 (2017 Chevy Pick-up, 4 door, 4x4).

Some of you may be interested in reading more about wildland fire engines such as the NJFFS Type 4 engines. I asked my friend from the NJFFS for some more information to share with you about their engines, and he sent me along a link to Chapter 14 from the latest (2018) Redbook (Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations) on Firefighting Equipment, you may find a chart describing the different engine types on the third page of that chapter. You may read about other equipment in this nine-page chapter.

In addition, my friend sent along a second link (42 pages) from the USDA Forest Service of Apparatus Body Only Specifications for Type 4 Fire Apparatus, found here. This document may be more information than you want to know, but some of you might be interested in looking through this document. This link was current at the time I posted this article.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 crew and engine deployment (Aug. 1st)

I am still interested in following New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews and engines deployed to wildfires in the Western United States. I was aware, thanks to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page and the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page (NJFFS A2) (see for example this post on the crew deployed to the Red Canyon Fire in Colorado and a post about two more engines currently enroute to Idaho).

Knowing that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has crews and engines deployed or on their way to work wildfires out west, I was looking for one place where I could find information to share with you. I poked around on the Eastern Area Coordination Center website and found a resource summary (dated August 1st) that lists all crews and engines from the eastern area that are committed to wildfires outside the eastern area. I suspect that this page is updated daily while resources are deployed outside the area, so what you see may be different. Engines and crews from New Jersey deployed outside the eastern area are:

• NJS#2 crew currently working the Red Canyon Fire 30 miles south of Rangely CO, 3,075 acres (pictures and August 1st update from NJFFS A2)
• Two Type 4 engines and crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service arrived in California sometime on July 30th and are assigned to the Carr Fire (near Redding CA), for a photo taken of one of the NJFFS engines see this post August 1st post from the NJFFS A2. 115,538 acres burned at 35 percent containment. Structures destroyed: 1,018 residences, 12 commercial, and 435 outbuildings. Evacuations remain in place. Two firefighters and four civilians have died.
• Finally, there are two more type 4 engines from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service that left New Jersey on July 31st to work the Sharps Fire near Bellevue, Idaho (38,360 acres at 21 percent containment). As of early afternoon on August 1st they were in Elkhard, Indiana refueling (from NJFFS A2).

I am honored that these wonderful men and women from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, and their engines (as applicable) are helping fight these wildfires out west. I am proud of all of you. Stay safe.