US National Weather Services are national resources: thanks for deployments to Minnesota

If you have followed my posts on NWS Incident Meteorologists, over the last couple of years you have probably noticed that many of the deployments are in the western United States, see my most recent IMET post here and all of my IMET posts are found under this tag . I am here today to say and reinforce that NWS Incident Meteorologists are a national resource, IMETs are deployed anywhere in the United States as needed and may also be deployed overseas (see this post for more information on IMET deployments to Australia in January 2020.

Today I write as someone who lives in the area served by the Eastern Area Coordination Center where Minnesota is located. I have been following the Greenwood Fire  that continues to burn in the Superior National Forest. To date 25,991 acres have burned and it has yet to be contained. I was thrilled to read on an August 18 Facebook post by the US National Weather Service IMET Office that an IMET from the US National Weather Service in Bismarck North Dakota  exactly when this deployment ended.

On August 28th, an IMET from the US National Weather Service in Tampa Bay Florida was deployed to the Greenwood Fire. So at least for the last two weeks, there has been an IMET working on the Greenwood Fire providing onsite forecasts for the area burned by the Greenwood Fire. These site specific forecasts are important to provide the necessary fire weather forecasts that will help wildland firefighters be safe and to be appraised of upcoming weather conditions that will affect the fire. 

My inspiration for this article is a report with video from CBS3 in Duluth Minnesota, “Behind the scenes: On-scene Meteorologists watch the weather to in Northland to help fire crews". Thanks to the US National Weather Service IMET office on Facebook for pointing me to this video.

As a resident of a state that falls within the area served by the Eastern Area Coordination Center, I want to thank the IMETs for your service in the east. It means the world to me. I know that if the need should ever arise in New Jersey and adjoining States and we need an IMET that we will get one. 

2021 wildfire season: Greenwood Fire (MN) update (August 27th)

I have been writing about the Greenwood Fire (Superior National Forest, MN) that as of late this morning has burned 25,591 acres. There are reports that a number of structures have been lost, see the August 26th report from ABC News. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today did his usual fine job reporting on the Greenwood Fire in his August 26th post. As you can see from this short report from WDIO (August 25th), Volunteer Fire Departments from Ely MN and elsewhere in Minnesota have responded to the Greenwood Fire.

Friday Fun: 2021 Atlantic City Airshow

For Friday Fun I turn to the Atlantic City NJ Airshow, held on August 18th (see this August 19th article from NJ Advance Media. Last year Atlantic City cancelled the Airshow because of COVID, so this years show was special. It is always special when there are some fun aviation activities here in New Jersey and environs to share with you. There are a plenty of videos on YouTube with various highlights of this years Atlantic City Airshow, the one I am sharing with you is a little over 14 minutes and the videographer included labels under the aircraft. Enjoy,

Direct link to video on YouTube from zielijo1

2021 wildfire season: Greenwood Fire (MN) update (August 25th)

 I continue to try to follow the Greenwood Fire that continues to burn in northern Minnesota, I wrote about this fire on August 18th when it had burned approximately 3,200 acres with evacuations in place. As I write this, the latest information on this fire from Inciweb"s Greenwood Fire page is that it has burned 21,720 acres in the Superior National Forest near Duluth, Minnesota. Evacuations are still in place. Of note is the fact that I have been reading about the Greenwood Fire in some newspapers I subscribe to, see for example this August 24th article from the New York Times. This August 21st article from the Washington Post discusses the closure of the nearby Boundary Waters Wilderness.

Here are two short videos about the Greenwood Fire. The first video is an August 25th operational briefing from Cory Henry, Operations Section Chief Trainee, Eastern Area Type 2 Incident Management Gold Team about the Greenwood Fire. Here is a direct link to the video on Facebook.

The second video is an August 24th video report from KARE 11 with some awesome fire footage.

Direct link to video from KARE11

2021 wildfire season: update on 737 tanker Marie Bashier

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service heard our request for help and loaned us their 737 tanker, Tanker 210, known as The Marie Bahsier for what I understand is a six week deployment (see my August 11th post for more information). She arrived here in the United States at the end of July and has been hard at work since that time. I continue to send my heartfelt thanks to The Marie Bashier and her crew. Thank-you so much for your service in support of wildland firefighters on the ground. Stay safe so that you can go home to your families. I understand that you have dropped about 1.3 million litres (343,424 gallons) of water on 30 fires Some of you may want to go to this Facebook post for a short video of The Marie Bashier.

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. 

2021 wildfire season: Greenwood Fire (Minnesota)

I do try to pay attention to significant wildfires in the eastern area of the United States and I recently found out about a significant wildfire burning in northeast Minnesota.. The Greenwood Fire burning in the Superior National Forest near Greenwood Lake was reported on Sunday, August 15th. As I write this the wildfire has burned 3,200 acres, evacuations are in place. Aerial resources are being used to aid the wildland firefighters on the ground. I would like to thank the NJFFS B10 for pointing me to the YouTube video from WCCO, CBS Minnesota that I will share below. There is a nice article dated August 17th about the fire from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press (paywall), thanks to Mike Archer of Wildfire News of the Day who pointed me to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reporting on the Greenwood Fire.

Direct link to YouTube Video (August 16th) from WCCO CBS Minnesota.

2021 wildfire season: Thank-you National Guard MAFFS

While I understand that there is a shortage of air resources during this devastating wildfire season in the western United States, see Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation (August 14 and July 28 and his article about California asking for more air resources, there are several small and large tankers with pilots and crew working hard out west in the support of the wildland firefighters on the ground. Today, I want to take some time to thank the six MAFFS C-130s that are working wildfires out west. As I understand it these military reserve personnel have special training to be a part of the MAFFS team when they are called up to work wildfires. Thank-you all MAFFS crew, your service is appreciated and not forgotten.

Here is a short video (direct link to video embedded below) from the Wyoming National Guard where you will hear one of their loadmasters talk about what he does. Thanks to all those who are flying and crew for the six MAFFS in service flying fires in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground. Stay safe.

Friday Fun: EAA AirVenture (Tuesday July 27th highlights)

Before proceeding, please join me in remembering all those affected by the devastating wildfires in the western United States and elsewhere, many of lost their homes and businesses. I remember and pray for the safety of all the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air working these wildfires.

Enjoy this video from Airailimages of highlights from EAA AirVenture on Tuesday, July 21st. You will want to go to directly to the video on Youtube (here) and click on show more to read more about what is shown in this video. 

2021 wildfire season: thank-you New South Wales and 737 tanker Marie Bashier

 I understand from reading Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation that there are not enough air tankers in the United States, nothing new but the numbers of available air tankers are lower than expected, see July 28th Fire Aviation article for more information and this August 7th article from Fire Aviation focusing on the lack of available air tankers in California.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia answered our request for a large air tanker and sent their 737 air tanker known as "Marie Bashir." She arrived on July 24th for a 45 day deployment and she and her crew have been working since then flying multiple wildfires out west. Thank-you NSW Rural Fire Service, and the crew of Marie Bashier for helping the western wildfire fighters in a devastating wildfire season. 

2021 California wildfire season: Dixie fire ranks #2

 

Direct link to Aug 8th YouTube video from ABC10

I heard the news from my east coast Newspapers over the weekend the Dixie Fire. It is now the second largest fire in California history with more evacuations. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has done his usual excellent job reporting on the Dixie Fire (most recent post is first. In addition you may want to check out California media outlets such as ABC10 (Sacramento CA), Mike Archer posts articles on current wildfires burning in his Wildfire News of the Day I urge you to check out any of these sources for current reporting on the Dixie Fire. 

I make this post to let all those affected by the wildfires, those who have lost their homes or businesses, wildland firefighters in the air and on the ground know that I am thinking of all you. Prayers. This feels wholly unsatisfactory, but it is the best that I can do.

Friday Fun: EAA Airventure 2021 highlights (July 31)

 As I pause for Friday Fun, I want to take a moment to remember all those who have lost homes and business due to the devastating wildfires out west. Kudos to all the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air working to battle these blazes, stay safe.

Now for the Friday Fun, a highlight video (less than 6 minutes) from the July 31st air show at the 2021 EAA Airventure in Oshkosh.

Direct link to video from Airailimages

2021 wildfire season: Montana wildfires updates

For the last few days I have been reflecting on the current wildfires burning in Montana, partly because the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has or had engines with crew deployed to Montana to help fight the wildfires in Montana but also because I had friends who used to live in Montana. I wanted to write something here to acknowledge the bad wildfire season in Montana and to lend my support to the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air battling these wildfires. Kudos to all wildland firefighters in Montana fighting these blazes. Thank-you widlfire crews for protecting those who live or work in or near areas impacted by wildfires. Here are some wildfires currently burning in Montana that have burned over 10,000 acres, courtesy of Inciweb. It is my intention to include all such wildfires in the list below, but I may have missed some.

• Taylor Fire (27,718 acres)
• PF Fire (66,134 acres)
• American Fork Fire (14,397 acres)
• Woods Creek Fire (18,107 acres)
• Harris Mountain (31,345 acres)
• Alder Creek Fire (11,313 acres)
• Trail Creek Fire (35,661 acres)
• West Lolo Fire (17,923 acres)

Direct link to YouTube video from NBC Montana

2021 wildfire season: wildfires spawn severe weather and IMET deployments

Wildfires continue to devastate the Western United States. As you can see from the NOAA Satellites video wildfires can create their own weather.

direct link to YouTube video from NOAASatellites

Speaking of weather affecting wildfires, when NWS Incident Meteorologists are deployed to wildfire they provide site specific forecasts so that wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air may be alert to how changing weather conditions will affect the fire. These specific forecasts help wildland firefighters stay safe.

I just checked the NWS Incident Meteorologist Office Facebook page, something I do almost daily, to take a look at IMET deployments from July 26 through August 1, 2021. By my count 20 NWS Incident Meteorologists, including two IMET trainees have been deployed to 18 wildfires in the Western United States. To summarize:

Montana: Alder Creek Fire (IMET and IMET trainee), Harris Fire, Burnt Peak Fire, Stateline Complex, Poverty Flats Fire, Granite Pass Complex, and Hay Creek Fire.

Oregon: Elbow Creek Fire, Jack Fire, Middle Fork Complex, Bootleg Fire

Washington: Cedar Creek Fire, (IMET and IMET trainee), Sherwood Fire

Idaho: Character Complex, Mud Lick Fire, Dixie Fire

Colorado: Morgan Creek Fire

California: Dixie Fire

Any errors in this listing are mine.