Random Ramblings: Aerial Wildland Firefighting

I have blogged about aerial wildland firefighting since 2009. I am not a firefighter and am not a pilot, just an interested bystander who wants to learn more and share what I learn here. Join me here as I blog on the aircraft and the pilots who fight wildland fires from the air in support of crews on the ground. I also blog on concerns affecting fire crews on the ground as well as other aviation and meteorology issues. Learn what it takes to do jobs that are staffed by the best of the best.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

2019 wildfire season: Sheep Fire burns near Idaho National Labs

I was perusing Bill Gabbert's Wildfre Today site earlier this morning where I came upon his very good article (with a map) on July 23rd reporting on the Sheep Fire that has burned 90,000 acres near Idaho National Labs (about 24 miles north of Idaho Falls). Idaho National Labs (INL) engages in nuclear energy research and development. The Sheep Fire started from a lightning strike about 6:30 PM local time on Monday, July 22nd. INL's emergency operations center was activated a short time later on the 22nd. As Bill has reported and confirmed by INL's Emergency Operations press releases:

non-essential employees have been evacuated from several INL facilities,
INL is anticipating a loss of commercial electrical power and have back-up plans,
INL continues to do radiation monitoring and levels are within normal parameters.

I understand from the INL Emergency Operations press release that firefighters from INL and the Bureau of Land Management responded to the wildfire. To follow the latest from the Sheep Fire, go to the INL Emergency Operations page where at the time I write this, they have a series of press releases, at the time I am writing this post, no injuries have been reported, winds continue to be a challenge, and air quality testing is ongoing. As always, if you are arriving here later, the information at the link I provided might be different.

Idaho National Labs had a press conference on the afternoon of July 23rd, a summary of this press conference was posted to their Youtube Channel, and I am embedding it below. I did have some trouble with some of the audio, I could not hear some of the Q&As. But they did provide information on fighting the wildfire in the first few minutes of the video. For example, there has been airsupport including 1 very large airtanker, 3 large airtankers and a few SEATs. I believe that wildland firefighters through mutual aid from fire companies in and perhaps outside of Idaho have been helping local wildland firefighters fight the fire.