It is time for some Friday fun. I found a couple of short videos featuring the US Navy Blue Angels. The first video highlights the end of their 2020 season. In the second video you will learn about the upcoming transition from Legacy Hornets to Super Hornets.
Direct link to video uploaded by Blue Angels Association
I have recently been reflecting on the knowledge that in the southern hemisphere it is high summer and with that wildfire season. I immediately turned to Mike Archer's wonderful five day a week e-mail newsletter, Wildfire News of the Day, if you are so inclined, and I would recommend subscribing, you may go here to subscribe. Mike includes international wildfire news, so I have easy access to some media reports. I have been thinking about South America, so this seemed like a good place to start. Just today, he reported on a large fire that soon burned approximately10,000 hectares (27,415 acres) near the town of El Bolson in the Patagonia Mountains was apparently started by accident as a result of an outdoor neighborhood barbecue on Sunday, January 24th. According the article (in Spanish) included in today's Wildfire News of the Day, Clarin (January 27th), this is the largest wildfire of record in the region. Note that I do not speak Spanish, so I rely on Google Translate for a Spanish to English translation. I found a short video which, according to the about page, seems to be footage of this fire near El Bolson. The video below appears to be from a media outlet, El Trece, in Argentina. While the video is in spanish, there is good fire footage so I thought it would be a good video to share with you. At about 1 minute 40 seconds you will see what appears to be an Air Tractor SEAT making a drop.
Direct link to video on Youtube (January 26th) from El Trece
Prescribed burning season continues in New Jersey with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service conducting prescribed burns on January 22nd and January 24 in the following areas:
JANUARY 22nd
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| Screen shot of this map obtained from the NJ Department of State on January 25, 2021. Listings of NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Divisions by county obtained on January 25, 2021 from https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/fire/firedanger-restrictions.htm |
Thanks in part to Mike Archers, Wildfire News of the Day Email Newsletter (subscribe here), I can read about wildfires occurring outside of the United States. I have recently been thinking of South America because I know that it is summer in that part of the world. As I have read summaries of wildfires in South America over the last few days, I knew that I wanted to do at least one blog post about a wildfire in South America. Ideally I wanted a video to share as well because I do believe that a video can be worth a thousand words, thanks to my friends at the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10 who maintain a video of the week page, I found a nice short video dated on or about January 15th about a wildfire in the Valpraiso region of Chile, near Quilpue City. Thanks to Google Earth, and the information from the about page of the video that I will embed below I was able to save an image so you can get an idea of where the Valpraiso region is, on the west coast of Chile along with image showing most of Chile (Quilpue is the red marker).
Direct link to January 15th 2021 video from Global News News (with English subtitles)
Mike Archer included a summary with link to an article from dw dot com (in Chile??), the article is in Spanish. Unfortunately, I do not know Spanish but with the help of Google translate, I was able to get what I think are some pertinent facts about this wildfire in the Valparios region of Chile. The article in Spanish is dated January 16th and may be found here. I take responsibility for any errors in facts.
This summer Chile is experiencing the worst drought in six decades, so conditions are ripe for wildfires. The fire began as one of four starts on Thursday, January 14th occurring at about the same time. I believe that two of these fires were controlled by January 16th with the remaining two merging into one fire. As of January 16th, 4,200 hectares (approximately 10,378 acres) had burned. Evacuations orders affecting 25,000 residents were in place. At least six homes were destroyed. Last weekend 22 helicopters and 8 tankers were working the fire in support of wildland fire crews on the ground.
I did an internet search prior to writing this article and so far, I do not have any current news of this fire so I can not provide an update. I am sorry. If I find any later news, I will provide an update here. I had originally embedded another longer video, that video is no longer available but I did find the shorter video that I embedded here.
Prescribed burning season in New Jersey continues. Yesterday, January 20th, Division B of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service conducted two prescribed burns in Burlington County, NJ
California has started off 2021 with red flag warnings and high fire danger starting on or about January 14th and continuing through on or about January 19th. I sincerely hope that this is not a sign of another devastating wildfire season in the U.S. The US National Weather Service Incident Meteorologist posted a nice graphic summary of the devastating 2020 wildfire season in a January 8th post. I share this with you below.
Enjoy this 2020 crew video from the Baker River Hotshots.
With the attention that the need for prescribed burning in other areas of the United States, I am proud that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has been conducting prescribed burning for over eighty years.
The 2021 prescribed burning season is underway in New Jersey. The NJ Forest Fire Services describes prescribed burning on their prescribed burning webpage:
... a prescribed burn is: "the skillful application of fire under exacting conditions of weather and fuel in a predetermined area, for a specific purpose to achieve specific results."
Since 1928, the Fire Service has used fire as a tool to protect the lives and property of our residents living near the forestlands of New Jersey. We do this by setting fires under exacting conditions to reduce the underbrush (the "fuel" for a fire), in areas that are prone to fire, or that may be located in a position where we feel we can defend against an oncoming wildfire. The use of fire in this way requires a level of skill and competence that we encourage through extensive, ongoing training.
The primary purpose of prescribed burning in New Jersey is to reduce the hazardous accumulations of forest fuels. This aids in the prevention of wildfires, reduces the intensity of the fires, and also provides a foundation for safer, more effective fire suppression and protection operations.
There is more about the New Jersey Forest Fire Service’s prescribed burning program in this NJ DEP April 2019 press release
Thanks to a friend as well as the NJ Forest Fire Service’s Facebook posts (see their January 9th post on Facebook), I know about prescribed burns that were undertaken (weather permitting) on January 9th and 10th:
Division B
I wrote last week about Discovery Channel's CAL Fire Series, see my January 6th post. I had not had a chance to watch the episode 1 "Sacrifice."Actually, I have watched the first episode twice, thanks to Discovery On Demand and recorded episode 2, "A Devil Comin' At You." Discovery is air the short lived CAL Fire series on Sunday nights at 10 PM. So far I know of three episodes. You should (I hope) be able to watch these episodes for free at the Discovery Channel CAL Fire watch now page. I have no idea how long Discovery will make these episodes available on their web site. Some of you may be interested in the review that Bill Gabbert, who was a wildland firefighter for 30 years, had to say about episode 1, his review may be found on this January 4th post on Wildfire Today.
I approached watching Discovery's CAL Fire series as a chance to watch and learn about how CAL Fire has fought some of the wildfires from the devastating 2020 wildfire season. As I understand it, Discovery imbedded some reporters with hi tech cameras for three months with CAL Fire companies as they fought wildfires. They also captured some off duty moments such as training, and preparing and cooking meals. But much of the focus is on the wildfires. Through these two episodes you hear firefighters talking fighting wildfires, the sacrifices they make and their love of the job. There is some discussion about the strategies they use to fight specific wildfires and the wildfires themselves.
In episode 1, "Sacrifice", footage of engine companies fighting the Apple Fire (Riverside County) and the Ponderosa Fire (Shasta Fire). I won't get into details about these two fires as they are referred to in the episode. In episode 2, "A Devil Comin' At You" a different CAL Fire is showcased, fighting the River and the Carmel Fires in northern California, I believe but am not sure that both burned in Monterey County. I am not sure, but I believe that I saw a NWS Incident Meteorologist give a weather briefing about a dry lightning forecast on the River and Carmel fires. Throughout each of these two episodes, I saw tankers and helicopters working the wildfires in support of the firefighters on the ground.
As I watched these two episodes, I reminded myself that I am looking at how CAL Fire fights wildfires with a focus on the 2020 wildfire season. While I believe that some of the basics of wildland firefighting may be the same, i.e. cutting line, felling trees, dozers, and aerial support (if available); what other state firefighting agencies and federal wildfire crews (US Forest Service, BLM, etc.) do will be different (size of wildfires, weather, topography, fuel types, etc.).
The Glass Fire burned 67,484 acres in September and October 2020 in Napa Valley California destroying 1,555 structures and damaging another 285.
Enjoy this footage (about 30 minutes) of the aerial attack on the Glass Fire, you will hear some radio communications in the backgroumd. If you don't have 30 minutes to spare, watch for a few minutes.
Among the tankers you will see are (not in order as shown on the video) DC-10 (10 Tanker), P-3 (Air Strike), S2-T (Cal Fire), MAFFs C-130, and Global Super Tanker 944 (747).
January 15, 2021: Opps, in reviewing my posts over the last couple of months I just realized that I shared this same video on December 7, 2020. Oh well.
I have been watching Discovery Channel's short series on CAL FIRE this afternoon, but am not yet finished with what I can watch at this time. A couple of friends who are or were wildland firefighters recommended that I watch this series. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today was a wildland firefighter for about 30 years, he has a review on his website. Unfortunately, I forgot to record the episode that aired on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, January 3rd, I am hoping that I will be able to watch this episode. At this time, I can say that I am enjoying the clips that I have seen, after all writing about aerial wildland firefighting and related concerns is what I do. I hope to have more to say this later this week or early next week
In the meantime when I logged onto Facebook I got a notification that that the NWS IMETs (Incident Meteorologists) made a post summarizing their year, their number of missions are not different from what they shared earlier in December 2020, 188 missions in 2020 (see my December 14th post). It was their fourth busiest season. As I have been reflecting on the devastating 2020 wildfire season it is only fitting to share this end of year summary from the NWS IMETs on their 2020 season with some additional numbers. You did good work providing timely forecasts to the wildfires you worked on, working hard to be sure that the firefighters had the best forecast possible. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for your service. IMETs save lives. If your ad blocking or tracking extension don't allow you to see this embedded post and you prefer not to disable your settings, you may find the NWS IMET Office's facebook summarizing their 2020 fire season here.
Jamuary 7. 2021: I was preoccupied yesterday afternoon, making this post quickly. I have gone in and made some revisions, adding some details.
Many of us were happy to bid 2020 a fare thee well. I feel like I would be remiss if I did not mention COVID-19 as COVID-19 pandemic is foremost on the minds of many as too many died and many more were sickened. We hope that 2021 might bring some hope. The wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air fought these wildfires with COVID safety protocols in place where some were sickened and at least one has died, see this September 2020 article by Bill Gabbert on Wildfire Today for more information.
Year-to-date statistics obtained on January 4, 2021 from https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm | ||
2020 (1/1/20-12/31/20) | Fires: 58,258 | Acres: 10,274,679 |
2019 (1/1/19-12/31/19) | Fires: 50,469 | Acres: 4,664,369 |
2018 (1/1/18-12/31/18) | Fires: 58,113 | Acres: 8,767,801 |
2017 (1/1/17-12/31/17) | Fires: 71,499 | Acres: 10,026,086 |
2016 (1/1/16-12/31/16) | Fires: 67,595 | Acres: 5,503,538 |
2015 (1/1/15-12/31/15) | Fires: 68,047 | Acres: 10,113,927 |
2014 (1/1/14-12/31/14) | Fires: 63,487 | Acres: 3,571,493 |
2013 (1/1/13-12/31/13) | Fires: 46,839 | Acres: 4,308,297 |
2012 (1/1/12-12/31/12) | Fires: 67,578 | Acres: 9,197,224 |
2011 (1/1/11-12/31/11) | Fires: 74,081 | Acres: 8,709,442 |
2010 (1/1/10-12/31/10) | Fires: 71,971 | Acres: 3,422,724 |
10-year average Year-to-Date | ||
2010-2019 | Fires: 62,882 | Acres: 6,789,149 |
My heart went out to the wildland firefighters on the ground, assisted by aerial support who worked hard to bring these devastating wildfires under control. Thousands of residences were destroyed. While wildfires have died down out west, the danger is never over. For many out west, the danger did not end with the containment of wildfires. Until the burn scar can be rehabilitated, mud slides remain a danger. Then there are those who are living elsewhere, perhaps in temporary quarters until they can rebuild.
Rarely a day goes by when I do not think about the efforts of wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air to fight wildfires. They make sacrifices to try to keep us safe. Somehow offering my prayers and mediations to the firefighters, their families and all those who were affected by wildfires burning in or near their homes or businesses does not always seem like enough, but what do I know? So I write these so that all who read know that I care.
We have entered a New Year, and who really knows what type of wildfire season we will have in the United States? Time will tell.
