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Friday, August 20, 2021

2021 wildfire season: IMET deployments as of August 19th

I have been thinking about the many wonderful NWS Incident Meteorologists who are currently deployed to wildfires, most but not all in the western United States, providing crucial weather forecasts for the area burned by a specific wildfire so that wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air will be alerted to upcoming weather so that they can be as safe as possible.

I contacted the US NWS IMETs recently asking them how many IMETs are currently deployed to wildfires including trainees. This is their response on Thursday evening, August 19th:

Currently we have about 30 qualified IMETs and 4 trainees out.  We have another 8 en route to incidents or to swap other IMETs out as they time out.

IMET deployments (obtained from US NWS IMETs Facebook Page on August 20th) from August 16th through August 19th include:

  • Antelope Fire  burning in the Klamath National Forest near McCloud, Oregon
  • McCash Fire burning in the Six Rivers National Forest near Somes Bar, California
  • Caldor Fire burning in the Eldorado National Forest near Plymouth, California
  • Monument Fire burning in the Trinity National Forest near Del Loma, California (2 IMETs)
  • Ford Corkscrew Fire burning near Springdale, Washington
  • Greenwood Fire burning in the Superior National Forest near Duluth, Minnesota
  • Burnt Peak Fire burning in the Kootenai National Forest near Troy, Montana
  • Bulldog Mountain Fire burning in the Colville National Forest near Colville, Washington
  • Dixie Fire burning in the Lassen National Forest near Susanville, California
  • Twenty Five Mile Fire burning in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest near Wenatchee, Washington
  • McFarland Fire burning in the Shasta-Trinity Forest near Wildwood, California
IMETs typically are deployed for two weeks, some wildfires have two IMETs (not including IMET trainees). Thanks to all the IMETs deployed to wildfires. Thanks so much for your service during what may be challenging conditions. IMETs save lives. 

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