AG-Cat crop dusting up close and personal

Being in the middle of what seems like our weekly line of thunder storms passing through my area of New Jersey this seems like a perfect time to share a video that I came across last week about flying a Turbine Ag-Cat for crop dusting. The video was uploaded by Scott Palmer who according to his Youtube channel is a pilot, professional skydiver, indoor sky diving coach and adventurer. In the video below, he takes us along for a day flying a turbine Ag-Cat crop dusting in Washington

Allow a little more than 15 minutes for the video. Thanks to my friends at NJFFS Section B10 for sharing this video in their video of the week page several days ago.

Hopefully I will be off before the I hear more thunder.


Direct link to video uploaded by Scott Palmer

2019 wildfire season: IMET deployments (July 22-26)

As wildfire season has ramped up in the western region of the lower 48 in the United States as well as in Alaska, there is an increase in deployments of National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists (METs) to wildfires over the last month. You may go and check on IMET deployments for yourself at the US National Weather Service IMET Facebook page, they also post educational materials such as this 55 minute video, Fire on the 5s on remote sensing and wildland fires. I have watched this video and learned a lot, I will probably watch it again soon.

By my unofficial count, IMETs have been deployed to at least nine different fires since July 10th: Alaska (3), Nevada (1), Arizona (2), Idaho (1), Oregon (1) and Washington (1). Sometimes more than one IMET will be deployed to a fire. Included in these figures are the following IMET deployments since July 22nd up to and including July 26th:

• July 22nd, NWS Flagstaff Arizona IMET deployed to Museum Fire near Flagstaff Arizona: 1,961 acres burned at 61percent containment.
• July 22nd, NWS Boise Idaho IMET deployed to Vader Fire near Stanley Idaho: 443 acres burned at 95 percent containment.
• July 26, NWS Medford OR IMET deployed to Milepost97 Fire near Canyonville Oregon: 11,668 acres burned at 10 percent containment.
• July 26, NWS Spokane WA IMET deployed to Left Hand Fire near Naches Washington: 2,500 acres at 8 percent containment.

Typically, IMETs serve a two-week deployment on a wildfire providing important weather forecasts for the area where the wildfire is burning, go read this NWS article about what IMETs do to learn more about what IMETs do. Remember IMETs save lives.

2019 wildfire season:NJ Forest Fire Service Crew nears end of two week deployment in Alaska

The NJS #1 crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is near the end of their two week deployment in Alaska. NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association has been doing a great job under difficult circumstances (no direct communications with crew due to remote location) providing updates on NJS #1 crew. Here is their July 24th update on the Grouse Creek Fire where the NJ# #1 crew has been assigned. The Grouse Creek Fire is located about six miles north of Rampart, Alaska.

The size is now estimated at 30,276.1 acres. Personnel assigned remains at 107. There is still no direct cell phone communications with NJFFS crew, due to the remote location. Report from the AICC SitRep - Numerous residences commercial facilities and infrastructure as well as many structures and out buildings are under threat from this fire. Protection efforts are needed as well as continued assessment of best strategy to work on this fire. Crews will continue notification and survey of community along with preparing structures as needed. Continue needs assessment and complete evacuation plan for Rampart Village.

Also on July 24th, NJFFS A2 shared a short video shot by wildland firefighters assigned to the Grouse Creek Fire. The fire was burning in Black Spruce along and near the Yukon River.

Finally, the NJFFS A2 just provided an update about an hour ago (July 26th), saying in part:

All indications are that the New Jersey crew will complete today's assignments and then begin the demob process. Information from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center this morning is vague, at best. "Prior to the morning hours on Thursday, the fire pushed in a northeast direction toward Troublesome Creek. Ongoing point protection work will continue with structures and allotments both up and downriver from Rampart. Hose lays and sprinklers will be tested. Mop up will continue." 

To the NJS #1 Crew, I am so very of you. You honor us here in New Jersey with your service helping out in Alaska. I am so very proud of you. Stay safe and safe travel home.

Updated on July 31 2019: the links to the Facebook posts from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association are no longer active. Other sources of information are the daily situation reports from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center (AICC), and Alaska Fire Info (daily updates during fire season). Updates about when the NJS #1 crew was released was also obtained from the Eastern Area Coordination Center's  Interagency Resource Representative Report (IARR), updated daily while Eastern Area crews are deployed.

2019 wildfire season: Sheep Fire at Idaho National Labs, late evening update

July 26, 2019 3:15 PM

Normal operations resumed at INL on Thursday, July 25. It is anticipated the Sheep Fire will be at 100 percent containment this evening. No INL structures were damaged, there were no injuries, and there were no radiation releases. At the time I am writing this, the INL Emergency Operations Page still has information on the Sheep Fire.


July 24, 2019 10:15 PM
I am writing to provide a late day update on the Sheep Fire that is burning on lands owned by the Idaho National Labs (INL), please see the article on the Sheep Fire that I wrote earlier this morning. I was out and about today enjoying a nice summer day in New Jersey. Even so, I found myself checking out the INL Emergency Operations Page as well as Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today. I was waiting for INL to post their July 24th afternoon press conference about the Sheep Fire and looking for any updates by Bill Gabbert. Bill did not disappoint as he updated his reporting on the Sheep Fire at 6:37 MDT. He has a good report and I hope that you take the time to review his updated article with links to photos and videos of the fire as well as some information about weather conditions impacting fire operations this afternoon. Finally, He shared the video of INL's afternoon press conference, I will get to that in a minute. Briefly, important take-aways from Bill's latest update confirmed by INL Emergency Operations are:

• INL continues to monitor radiation and air quality. There are no radiation releases. 
• Commercial power at INL is not affected by the Sheep Fire. Repairs are underway to electrical infrastructure damaged in the fire without affecting power to INL.
• Normal operations at INL are expected to resume on Thursday, July 25th.

As I was preparing to write this article I first went back to the  INL Emergency Operations Page and saw their latest update today at 7:17 MDT (on July 24th) with some updates to the information reported in their earlier press conference. That is, the fire has burned 113,000 an increase of 3,000 acres from the figure reported earlier, containment is estimated at 60 percent, and the fire is no longer a threat to INL research facilities.

So, keeping in mind that there is later information not referred to in INL's July 24th press conference, I am sharing the video for your convenience. Those of you who have already seen Bill's article may have already watched this video on his site. Careful listening reveals that they were hoping for 50 to 60 percent containment and that they were in the process of doing some mapping of the fire to ascertain acreage burned. The video is over 24 minutes long. In the first 7 minutes of the video you will hear from various INL personnel and contractors about their operations. The report from the INL fire chief about wildfire operations starts at about 7 minutes followed by a Q&A period.

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.

Direct link to July 23rd video from Idaho National Labs

Please see my late evening July 24th for an update on this fire.

2019 wildfire season: out of state crews working in Alaska

I had heard that were many United States based crews located outside Alaska that are working in Alaska. I got curious and went looking and am sharing this information with you. The information below is only U.S. based crews and does not reflect crews from Canada that may be helping in Alaska. The information below on U.S. Crews working wildfires in Alaska is from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center obtained from the  Situation Report for July 22, 2019 (updated daily). Out of State crews in red. Crews are usually 20 persons.

Part of Cornucopia Complex
1. Chandalar River, 1,000 acres
Type 1 IHC: American River (CA), Union (OR)

2. East Fork 143 acres
Type 2: AK

3. Frozen Calf 6,528 acres
Type 2 IA: AK

4. Hadweenzk River 54,953 acres
Type 1 IHC: Chena (AK), Eldorado (CA), Mad River (CA), Tallac (CA)
Type 2: AK
Type 2 IA: CA
Type 1 Modules : SD, CO 

5. Tony Slough, 4,937 acres
Type 2 IA: MT

Grouse Creek 13,498 acres
Type 1 Module, MT
Type 1 IHC: Prineville, OR
Type 2 IA: NJ, OH

Hess Creek 173,467 acres
Type 2 modules: AK, 3

Klutina River 126 acres
Type 1 IHC: Bitterroot, MT

Kobe 896 acres
Type 1 IHC: Midewin, IL
Type 2: AK, WA
Type 2 IA: MO (2), AK

Little Creek 135 acres
Type 1 IHC: Midnight Sun, AK

McCall Creek 3,384.5 acres
Type 1 IHC: Pioneer Peak, AK

Rainbow 2 15,000 acres
Type 1 Module: UT, ID
Type 2 IA: MT, WA

Shovel Creek 21,309 acres
Type 2: AK, 2
Type 2 IA: CA, WA, AK

Swan Lake 107,027 acres
Type 1 IHC: Flathead, MT
Type 2 IA: AK, 4
Type 1 Module: ID, CA
Type 2 Module: OR

2019 wildfire season: NJ Forest Fire Service Crew in Alaska (July 20th)

The crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, NJS Crew #1 continues their work near Rampart Alaska on the Grouse Creek and Twin Ponds Fires. I believe that they are at the end of their first week of a two week deployment. The last information I was able to find is that posted by the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association on July 19th, who wrote that the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center website is offline. I myself tried to access this site just now, and I was unable to. To the best of my knowledge what the A2 Firefighters Association posted on July 19th, information for July 18th, is the last available information. For those interested, I wrote about NJS Crew #1 on July 16th and 17th.

From A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page on July 19th:

Friday, July 19, 2019 - NJS Crew 1 - Grouse Creek (#485) and Twin Ponds (#486) – 8,500 acres, 95 firefighters 

The Grouse Creek and Twin Pond fires are burning about 6 miles northeast of Rampart. Growing to roughly 14,000 acres, the fire has pushed through the tundra driven by 5-10 mph winds. Crews continue to assess and protect structures and allotments at fish camp and Alfred’s cabin. A perimeter flight is planned for today around Grouse Creek. 

The Garnet Creek Fire, 12 miles southwest of Rampart, has burned 2,000 acres and is being monitored by the incident management team stationed at Rampart. Increased fire activity, driven by the wind, moved the fire east on Thursday toward a sparser fuel component. Smoke will be visible throughout the Rampart area and likely settle in low lying drainages and along the Yukon River. 

Updated on July 31 2019: the links to the Facebook posts from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association are no longer active. Other sources of information are the daily situation reports from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center (AICC), and Alaska Fire Info (daily updates during fire season).

2019 wildfire season: NJ Forest Fire Service Crew in Alaska (July 17th)

I continue to follow NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association's coverage of NJS Crew #1 in Alaska on the Grouse Creek Fire, see my earlier post of July 16th. Here is an excerpt from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association July 17th update of about 10:30 AM EDT, they are referring to a late night (July 16th) report from Alaska:

Ninety-five people are assigned to the Grouse Creek and Twin Pond fires, which are burning about 6 miles northeast of Rampart. The two fires have burned together and are estimated at 7,750 acres combined. … Structure assessment and protection around the village of Rampart is complete and is continuing on the north edge of the fire and at the nearby mine. The Incident Management Team is finalizing an evacuation plan, should an evacuation become necessary, and the structure protection plan.

NJFFS A2 has accessed and incorporates daily intelligence situation reports and other information about the Grouse Creek Fire from the Alaska Interagency Fire Center in their reporting. This takes a bit of time to go and fetch it and I appreciate their efforts.

The NJ Forest Fire Service posted a report and photo of NJS Crew #1 in Alaska on July 16th; they wrote that this was the first time a NJFFS crew has been deployed to Alaska.

NJFFS Section B10 is also covering the fire on their Facebook page.

The only local reporting from the New Jersey region of the NJS Crew #1 that I know of to date is from NJ Advance Media (aka NJ.com) who published an article on July 17th.

My thoughts are with the NJS Crew #1 as they work the Grouse Point and Twin Pond Fires in Alaska. Thank-you for honoring New Jersey with your service. Stay safe.

Updated on July 17th at 7PM

The NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association posted two more articles today. In the first article (about 2PM) they shared that the Grouse Creek Fire is now at 8,500 acres. In another article, that they just posted, they share a picture of NJS 1 Crew (courtesy of Donna Storch) unloaded an airplane at the Rampart Airport. The photo and another short update on the Grouse Creek Fire is found in a longer article (dated July 17th) on the Alaska Wildland Fire Info Website about fires burning in the Tanana district of Alaska, where the Grouse Creek Fire is currently burning, you will have scroll down to read the piece about the Grouse Creek Fire with Ms. Storch's photo. Note, I am not sure how long this link with the article will be valid.

Updated on July 31 2019: the links to the Facebook posts from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association are no longer active. Other sources of information are the daily situation reports from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center (AICC), and Alaska Fire Info (daily updates during fire season).

2019 wildfire season: New Jersey Forest Fire Service Crew deployed to Alaska

I am late in posting that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service deployed NJS crew #1 to Alaska on Friday, July 12th. See the NJFFS Section B10 July 13th Facebook post for a statement on the deployment, they say in part:

Friday’s mobilization of a 20-person interagency handcrew of New Jersey firefighters to Alaska marks a first for the state. Experiencing record-breaking high temperatures and unseasonable dryness, Alaska has reported over 160 active large fires burning almost 1.5 million total acres. With local resources strapped by the demands of active incidents, Alaska’s area Preparedness Level has been declared a 5, the highest on the scale.

The crew traveled to Fairbanks Alaska then to Fort Wainwright for staging.

The NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association has been posting updates on NJS Crew #1 deployment in Alaska. According to their July 14th post the crew is assigned to the Grouse Creek Fire, perhaps caused by lightning, six miles from Rampart Alaska near the Yukon River.  In their July 15th Facebook post, the NJFFS A2 Firefighter Association says in part:

NJS #1 is assigned to. Undergoing extreme fire behavior. Fire growth in several directions but predominantly moving northeast. 3 separate columns were observed. Expecting acreage to double in the next 24hrs and to possibly double again within 48 hrs. Threatened in addition to Rampart are allotments and structures from NE to SW of the fire along and near the Yukon River. … Working on MAPs. Will continue needs assessment and draft evacuation plan. 

I may have been late in this first post about NJS Crew #1, but be assured that I have been thinking about them the last few days. I am very proud of the crew. You honor New Jersey. Stay safe.

Updated on July 31 2019: the links to the Facebook posts from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association are no longer active. Other sources of information are the daily situation reports from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center (AICC), and Alaska Fire Info (daily updates during fire season).

wildland firefighter safety: weather

I started writing about wildland firefighter safety last month, see this article for a synopsis including links to earlier articles in this series. One of the important considerations for wildland firefighter safety is weather. I am embedding another video from the WFSTAR series from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. My understanding is that the WFSTAR series of videos are used in wildland firefighter training, initial and/or refresher training. I have embedded WFSTAR videos in some of my earlier articles in this series.

Today's video is called Weather and Wind Warnings. In the video, you will hear Heath Hockenberry, National Fire Weather Program Leader, discuss weather and wind warnings and how to stay weather aware. While perhaps aimed at wildland firefighters, I think that anyone interested in wildland firefighting and how wildland firefighters stay safe will enjoy this video. And any weather geeks, like me, will also enjoy the video. In addition to discussing weather and wind warnings, Heath refers to Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) when these specially training National Weather Service Meteorologists are deployed to wildfires. I learned how wildland firefighters stay weather aware whether or not an IMET is deployed to their fire.

If a wildfire does not have an IMET deployed to their wildfire, incident commanders, supervisors and and others will be in touch with the local National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office for forecasts and as appropriate spot forecasts specific to the area where the wildfire is. The forecasts will be relayed to wildland firefighters in assembled briefings and/or over the radio.

After I saw Heath's video on weather and wind warnings, I wrote my friends at the IMET Office telling them what I was doing and asking Heath the following question:

Random Ramblings: Heath, what is one thing that you would like my readers to take away from this video?

Heath: I would say one of the key items found in the video is the section on personal responsibility. Your meteorologist's forecast can take you 90% of the way in understanding the type of conditions you can expect on a fire line. The last 10% of the way consists of watching for cumulus buildups, or watching the tops of the trees, or being aware of subtle changes in wind speeds and/or directions. Weather in complex terrain is highly variable and your IMET is there to provide the fire environment foundation. The actual experience of the weather rests upon that foundation, and personal situational assessment is key to minimize fire fighting dangers related to weather.

Allow just under thirteen minutes to watch the video. I don't know about, you I watched the video a couple of times.


Direct link to Weather and Wind Warnings from Youtube

I am still thinking about and doing background research for other articles in this series on wildland firefighter safety. Stay tuned.

Remembering fallen wildfighters: 2018 thru June 30, 2019

As I was writing about the fallen firefighters of: Storm King Mountain, T-11, C-130 MAFFs, and the Granite Mountain Hotshots; I found myself thinking about the individuals who died in 2018 and the first half of 2019. Only one incident saw two deaths. So with this post I pause to remember those wildland firefighters. I got the information for this post from Always Remember. Links are provided for each fallen wildland firefighter to a page on Always Remember.

• Anthony Colacino, April 21, 2018 from the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation while on a training hike.
• Braden Varney, July 14, 2018. Joint CAL FIRE and U.S. Forest Service, heavy equipment operator for hire, Ferguson Fire in the Sierra National Forest.
• July 26, 2018 at the Carr Fire (CA): Don Ray Smith, CAL FIRE dozer operator, private dozer for hire; and Jeremy Stoke, fire inspector, Redding Fire Department.
• Andrew Brake, August 9, 2018 at the Carr Fire (CA) heavy equipment mechanic, firefighter, CAL FIRE.
• Matthew Burchett, August 13, 2018; One of five firefighters from the Draper City Utah Fire Department deployed to the Mendicino Complex (CA).
• Eric Christopher "Chris" Aarseth, September 4, 2018. firefighter II. Miller Timber Services, Inc. Chris was released from the Horns Mountain Fire near Northrop Washington on August 27th. He was found unresponsive at his home on August 28th and died on September 4th, possibly from an infection which became septic. As he may have been exposed while working the fire, his death has been tentatively categorized as a line of duty death. 
• Daniel Laird, March 27, 2019. A-Star 350 helicopter, Helitack Capitan from the Tahoe National Forest in California. The A-Star 350 helicopter Daniel was riding in crashed while doing aerial ignition for routine controlled burn at Sam Houston National Forest in Montgomery County, TX. 

Please pause for a moment and join me in remembering Anthony, Braden, Jeremy, Andrew, Matthew, Chris, and Daniel and the family, friends and colleagues they left behind. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten

Remembering fallen wildland firefighters: Storm King, T-11, MAFFs, and Granite Mountain Hotshots

This is the time of year when I find myself remember a couple of fatal air tanker crashes and incidents where several wildland firefighters died. I will write some remembrances in honor of fallen wildland firefighters in two parts, part two should post on Friday, July 12th.

On July 6, 1994 I was not writing about wildland firefighting but I suspect that the death of 14 wildland firefighters while fighting the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado made the national news. However, when I was first getting interested in wildland firefighting in the fall of 2008, I read about the South Canyon Fire in John MacLean's Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire. Maclean's writing of the South Canyon fire and the death of the fourteen firefighters made an impression on me. In addition, over the years, I have read about the fourteen deaths at the South Canyon Fire in various places on the internet. With July 6th being the 25th anniversary, I can not help but be reminded of the fourteen who died, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote a great July 6th article on the 14 deaths on Storm King Mountain with videos and other links, check it out.

There were other incidents with fatalities that happened in June or July since I have been writing this blog. There were the two air tanker crashes in 2012, the crash of T-11 on June 4th while working the White Rock Fire near Hamblin Valley Utah, and the July 2, 2012 crash of a C-130 MAFFs from the North Caroline Air National Guard 145th Aircraft Wing while flying the White Draw Fire near Edgemont SD (see my July 2, and July 3, 2012 articles)

Finally, there are the June 30, 2013 deaths of nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots out of Prescott Arizona while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire (near Prescott). One of my family members was in Prescott Arizona when the ninteteen wildland firefighters died, she sent me some photos of a tribute that I shared on July 2, 2013. Bill Gabbert covered the sixth anniversary of the loss of nineteen Granite Mountain Hotshots in a June 30, 2016 post.

Please join me in pausing and remembering those who died in these incidents and the loved ones, friends and colleagues they left behind.

I remember,your sacrifice will not be forgotten.

South Canyon Fire, Storm King Mountain
Prineville Hotshots: Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson, Jon Kelso.
Missoula Smokejumper: Don Mackey
McCall Smokejumpers: Roger Roth, Jim Thrash.
Helitack: Robert Browning, Jr., Richard Tyler.

Tanker 11
Todd Neal Tompkins, pilot
Ron Edwin Chambless, co-pilot

C-130 MAFFS, North Carolina Air National Guard, 145 Aircraft Wing
Lt. Col. Paul K. Mikeal (pronounced like "Michael")
Maj. Joseph M. McCormick
Maj. Ryan S. David (pronounced da-veed)
Senior Master Sgt. Robert S. Cannon

Granite Mountain Hotshots, Yarnell Hill Fire
Andrew Ashcraft
Robert Caldwell
Travis Carter
Dustin Deford,
Christopher MacKenzie
Eric Marsh
Grant McKee
Sean Misner
Scott Norris
Wade Parker
John Percin
Anthony Rose
Jesse Steed
Joe Thurston
Travis Turbyfill
William Warneke
Clayton Whitted
Kevin Woyjeck
Garret Zuppiger

2019 wildfire season: Alaska (July 9)

The State of Alaska has had a very active wildfire season so far this year. According to Bill Gabbert's July 8th article, the National Interagency Fire Center has Alaska at it's highest level of prepardness, level 5. He goes on to report on the deployment of additional hotshot crews to Alaska and some of the larger wildfires. There are National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) currently deployed to Alaska, see this July 5th Facebook Post from the US National Weather Service IMETs. IMETs save lives!

Inciweb has information on five Alaska wildfires, I suspect that this is just a partial listing of the active wildfires in Alaska as inciweb only lists wildfires on federal lands:

Swan Lake Fire: 96,889 acres at 14 percent containment
Montana Creek Fire: 356 acres at 30 percent containment
Nugget Creek Fire: 6,937 acres, no containment information
Shovel Creek Fire: 12,053 acres at 15 percent containment
Hess Creek Fire: 146,321 acres, no containment information

Here are some recent videos about the wildfires in Alaska, thanks to my friends at NJFFS Section B10 for sharing these videos this week.

From the National Interagency Fire Center, uploaded on July 3rd


Direct link to video

Alaska National Guard at Montana Creek Fire


Direct link to video

Fire footage


Direct link to video

wildland firefighter safety: synopsis and what is coming up

I recently wrote a few articles about wildland firefighter safety. Here is a listing of those recent articles for your convenience. These articles are only possible because of some excellent videos that I embed in each post as well other relevant materials that I have found on the internet.

June 12, 2019. 2019 wildfire seasons: reflections on being safe
June 14, 2019. wildland firefighter safety: 10 standard fire orders
June 17, 2019. wildland firefighter safety: 18 situations that shout watch out
June 21, 2019. wildland firefighter safety L.C.E.S.
June 24, 2019. wildland firefighter safety: personal protective equipment
June 26, 2019. wildland firefighter safety: fire shelters
June 28, 2019. wildland firefighter safety: training

I do plan to write additional articles about wildland firefighter safety, both on the ground and in the air. I am working on an article about weather that I hope to post in a week or so. As some of my long-time readers know, I have written about the safety of air operations over wildfires. Yes, I have written several articles about the danger that unmanned aircraft systems (aka drones) pose to aerial operations over wildfires (and to airports). But there are other aspects of aviation safety over wildfires that I have written about in the past and want to revisit, and possibly update including but not limited to: checklists, emergency retardant drops. temporary flight restrictions, winds, and smoke. At the very least, I want to spend some time reviewing the articles that I have written in the past before posting a link to those articles. 

Happy Fourth of July (2019)

Direct link to U.S. Flag Video on YouTube

Happy Birthday America!

I wish everyone in the United States, including those of you are traveling or living outside the U.S., a very happy and safe Fourth of July.

Enjoy this nine minute video of Fourth of July (2018) fireworks in the Orlando Florida area shot from a private plane.



Direct link to video on YouTube

Eagles in flight: for my friend Bob

I post this video today of eagles in flight in memory of Bob, a wonderful man whom I had the privilege of working with almost 40 years ago. I only recently found out that he died very suddenly earlier this year. We were the same age but he seemed much wiser than I. He was  a very good, gentle, and caring man, devoted to helping others. He had a great sense of humor.

I think that Bob would like and approve of my special relationship with Eagles and Hawks. When I was upset about not being able to get my pilot's license a few years ago, I saw a Red Tailed Hawk sitting on a utility pole. I was telling a pilot friend of mine about the significance of seeing the Hawk on a day when I was distraught over not being able to get a pilot's license. My pilot friend told me that the Hawk was releasing me into her world. So, when I see an Eagle or a Hawk flying, in a way I am flying with them in their world.

Bob, this is for you. Welcome to the world of the Eagle and the Hawk. May you always fly in favorable tail winds.

RIP my friend.


Direct link to video