2021 wildfire season: Marshall Fire (Boulder CO)

I was intending to write a different sort of post on this New Years Eve. My plans changed when I woke up and saw the news of the wind-driven fire burning near Boulder Colorado that may have already destroyed hundreds of homes. Evacuations are in place and power outages have been reported. See for example this CNN report (with video), I saw CNN's reporting first. I then checked out the Washington Post which I subscribe to, finding this article (paywall). 

Those of you interested in current local media coverage might want check out CBS 4 News in Denver, here is their latest update and 9 News in Denver, who reported on the fire here. I am never sure how long local media maintains links to their articles, all links worked at the time I wrote this post. On April 6, I noted that embedded video no longer works, but the direct link to the video still works.

Direct link to video from 9News on YouTube

Knowing that Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today would be covering this fire, I want to his site and just saw his December 31st article on the fire with his usual great maps of the fire. Bill also reported on the fire on December 30th. Bill also refers to local media in his coverage. Bill wrote about today's weather forecast as affects the fire in his December 31st post:

The weather has changed for the better, as least from a firefighting viewpoint. The 50 to 100 mph winds with low humidities are being replaced Friday morning with temperatures around freezing and a 40 percent chance of snow. By 11 a.m. that chance will increase to 76 percent, then 96 percent by sunset. Snow accumulations are predicted to be 0.6 inch during the day on Friday, with another 5 inches overnight and into Saturday morning. The wind Friday will be out of the north switching to the east at 7 to 9 mph gusting in the afternoon to 16 mph. We don’t often include wind chill in our articles about ongoing wildfires, but that will be a factor today — 25 degrees dropping to 17 degrees by 5 p.m.

Bill will be updating his article on the fire as appropriate; he always does a great job covering wildfires. 

I offer my prayers for all affected by the Marshall Fire. Profound thanks to all the wildland firefighters working this fire during a holiday week.

I will resume my posts in the series on Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Monday, January 3rd.

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1908 Metz Fire

Like the other fires that I have written about in this series, the months leading up to the 1908 Metz fire were extremely dry. The cause of the 1908 Metz Fire (October 15, 1908) may never be known (Sodders, 1997: 262). At least 26 people died in the fire, 83 families lost their homes and 1,500 people were either homeless or without food and supplies (Sodders, 1997:285). approximately 2,370,000 acres burned with an estimated damage of $2.5 Million Dollars (Sodders, 1997:294).

In the course of reading Sodder's book as well as accounts of the Peshtigo Fire, the stories of the suffering of those who died as well as those who survived are difficult to read. 

I thought that there could be no new horrors until I read Sodders account of the 1908 Metz Fire with excerpts from period Newspapers, I was horrified to read of flames surrounding a rescue train a short distance from Metz. Twelve people, all women and children who had hoped to be rescued died, burned alive. (Sodders, 1997: 263).  I write this to honor those women and children who died on that train. The accounts were horrible, and I was not comfortable reading the accounts. But I knew that I had to read Sodders reporting on the tragedy of the rescue train to honor those who died. I write this to honor all who died.

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire (this article)
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1896 Ontonagon fire

 

Sodders devotes one section of her book (1997:157-254) to forest fires that burned in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from 1847 to 1949. A significant number of forest fires burned over the course of these years were of varying degrees of intensity and loss of property. Many lost everything as a result of these fires. In the mid-nineteenth century the Upper Peninsula had large stands of virgin White Pine. At least in the late 19th century timber interests were dominant in the Upper Peninsula. The loss of timber, both in forest as well as piles of logs awaiting transport was staggering. Many timber operations did not survive these fires. Many workers in the timber industry not only lost their jobs but their homes as well. Contributing factors to the cause of these fires varied with early years dominated by dry weather, poor land clearing practices, and poor timber management with large areas of slash left on the ground.

I am going to focus on fires that burned in Ontonagon in 1896 in early September 1896. The couple of months leading up to the September fires were very dry and some fires that were burning in this period caused concern. High winds picked up on or about September 12th. Diamond Match had milling operations in and near Ontonagon, a processing mill near a lumber yard burned to the ground along with millions of square feet of logs. The Diamond Match mill burned to the ground a couple of weeks later. On September 25th, much of Ontonagon burned to the ground leaving over 2,000 people homeless. Diamond Match never rebuilt, moving their milling operations elsewhere.  Millions of board feet of Diamond’s lumber remained, the town wanted it to recoup some of their losses but Diamond hauled all the lumber away by rail. Near by cities responded quickly with relief sent via rail, much of it was shipped for free. The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad give five day free passes to fire sufferers. Military sent tents for a tent village (Sodders, 1997:168-78). 

There is a nice summary of the Ontonagon fires found in the Hometown Chronicles. The Hometown Chronicles is devoted to historical and genealogical data. The article on the Ontonagon Fires from the Hometown Chronicles may be found here where you will also find links to other newspaper articles about the fire including this eyewitness account reproduced in the Ironwood Daily Globe on August 26, 1954 

The name Diamond Match means something to me as I remember wooden matches from Diamond Match going back to my youth. No, I was not allowed to use matches and my parents kept them out of reach but the box came out on camping trips. I have a box of Diamond matches in my kitchen cabinet. As I read Sodder's account of the 1896 Ontonagon Fires, I paid special attention to Diamond Match. I was not surprised to read that their mill and lumber yard burned and the loss of lumber. I was deeply saddened to read that the owners of Diamond Match did not rebuild in their mill and lumberyard in Ontonagon. At some point Diamond Match shipped their remaining lumber out of town by rail. I can can certainly understand and empathize with the loss of so many residences and businesses and then losing Diamond Match, a major employer, on top of it. I do not think that I can imagine what the residents of Ontonagon went through. But their story is not necessarily so different from the stories of other towns burned in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But for reasons that are hard for me to explain, it is the story of Ontonagon and Diamond Match that had an impact on me  With the loss of so much virgin White Pine timber from this and earlier fires, the decision of Diamond Match to not rebuild makes a very small amount of sense. Ontonagon did rebuild, but like other areas of Michigan the days of White Pine lumbering were over. I recommend reading a fine article on Diamond Match reproduced by The Free Library.

Note: 

1. Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.
2. The links to the two articles in the Hometown Chronicles and the link to the article from The Free Library were working at the time I wrote this article. I do not do a lot of historical research. So, I have no experience in how long sites like these two will have these articles freely available.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire (this article)
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Holiday Greetings 2021: The Shepard

My tradition during the end of year holiday season is to post The Shepard by Frederic Forsyth as read by Alan Maitland on CBC radio. I wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season during the second holiday season with the COVID pandemic. 

Direct link to video on Youtube 

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1881 Thumb Fires (part 2)

 

Michigan 

For purposes of this discussion, the Thumb region in Michigan are Huron, Tuscola, and Senilac Counties; as well as portions of Genesse, Laperre, and St. Claire Counties to the south of Tuscola and Senilac Counties (if you want to see a county map of Michigan please see this map from the U.S. Census Bureau). In 1881 the Thumb region burned again. One important contributing factor to these fires was slash in the form burned timber and the like left over from the 1871 fires. Other contributing factors to the outbreak in the Thumb were: drought in the couple of months leading up to the fires, and fires used by settlers and others to clear land. (Sodders 1997:82). Fires burned in all the counties marked in yellow on the map below.

In a Detroit Free Press article by Doug Moreland -- The Heavens Rained Fire -- published on September 27, 1981, Moreland describes the conditions leading up to the fires and the toll the fires took:

There are few trees. Once forested with giant white pines, 150 feet tall and five feet in diameter, the countryside was logged in the early 1800s. The pine was replaced by second-growth maple, aspen, and birch. Then, exactly 100 years ago this month, that second growth was destroyed by a fire of almost unimaginable proportions, a holocaust still recalled in some accounts as ‘the Great fire of 1881.’

Starting east of Saginaw, freak hurricane winds lashed burning woodland into a fire storm that covered 1,500 square miles, destroyed 3,400 buildings, left 15,000 homeless in the face of winter and killed well over 300 (reprinted in Sodders, 1997:84).

As I read Sodder's account of the 1881 Thumb Fires, I was again struck by the toll the fires took. At the same time, as Ms. Fraiser mentioned in her video on the 1881 Thumb Fire (see my December 20th article), I too latched onto the role of Clara Barton and the newly created American Red Cross. Clara Barton and her colleagues founded the American Red Cross in May 1881, go to this short history of the American Red Cross  for more information. 

Thumbwind has a two-minute video about the 1881 Thumb Fire.

Direct link to video on YouTube from Thumbwind

One of the first domestic relief efforts for the newly minted American Red Cross was the 1881 Thumb Fires providing food, clothing, medicine and shelter along with about $80,000 in cash donations to the fire victims. (Sodders, 1997:147-8).

Speaking of the important role of the American Red Cross, Sodders says: “Certainly the American Red Cross put down deep roots in our Michigan Thumb Area. But had this devastating fire not taken place, they may not have proved their national worth for some additional years. So in essence, Clara Bar’s new organization needed the Michigan tragedy just as much as the fire victims need the help of the Red Cross. This humanitarian organization proved its worth in raising and disbursing of relief money and the rehabilitation of persons suffer personal losses during times of disaster. And, yes, Michigan was just such  disaster area with 70 townships burned, 1,521 houses destroyed, 220 dead and over 14,000 people in need of assistance. (Sodders, 1997:149)”

It would seem that the Thumb region needed the American Red Cross after the 1881 fires and the American Red Cross need the 1881 Thumb Fires. I am glad that this was mutually beneficial.

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks) Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2 (this article)
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1881 Thumb Fires (part 1)

 

In the course of background research for this series, I heard references to the thumb region of Michigan. Recall from my December 17th article that the thumb region was one of the regions burned in the 1871 fires. I was curious about the geography of this region so after a search on YouTube, I found this 15 minute video from Ms. Fraser of the Virtual Learning Academy of St. Clair (VLASC), I am not quite certain of their website so I am not going to guess, but they do have a YouTube Channel. I am not certain, but I wonder if they work with middle and/or high school students who are not attending in-person classes for some reason. Ms. Fraser did a video on the 1881 Thumb Fires for the VLASC, it is a little over 15 minutes. She has done good research including but not limited to used Sodder's book, Michigan on Fire. I am sharing this video now after writing about the 1871 Fires and before I write about the Thumb Fire (part 2) because I benefited by hearing her discussion in the beginning of the video about where the 1881 fires started as well as learning a little more about the geography of the Thumb region of Michigan. She spends some time discussing what caused the fires, the impact on people affected by the fires, and relief efforts including the work of the Red Cross which I will also write about in my coming article on the 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2 on December 22nd.

Direct link to video on YouTube from the Virtual Learning Academy of St. Clair County

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1 (this article)
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1871 fires

 

Michigan’s first recorded catastrophic fire occurred in the fall of 1871, at the time of the great Chicago Fire and the Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin which took over 1,500 lives. These two famous fire overshadowed those that swept our state of Michigan, literally from shore to shore, rendering some 15,000 citizens homeless. To date, the death toll remains incomplete, with most research sources declaring a ball park figure in the range of some 200—plus or minus—deaths. Similar to other great conflagrations, these fires of 1871 were actually a series rather than just one large inferno. But often these smaller fires going together and created walls of flame and their own breed of ‘hell’ on earth (Sodders 1997:5-6).

The 1871 fires burned over a wide area of Michigan in early October of 1871. There had been little if any rain for at least two months preceding these fires. 

Sodders writes: “ … it appears that many—if not most—of these fires started out as a single runaway blaze, totally out of control dye to the high wind gusts, finally joining towpath other such fires until the fire became an enormous beast that simply could not be stopped for miles—forays—until it ran out of fuel and the winds to fan it (Sodders 1997:9). ”

In reading about the 1871 Michigan fires and preparing for writing this piece, I was struck by the geographical extent of the fires. The map that I am sharing, prepared from Google Earth shows only some of the towns and counties affected by these fires.In reading about the 1871 fires and the 1881 fires which I will write about in a later article, you will see references to the thumb region, yet this region looks like the thumb of a mitten. If you look at the map, you will see three counties that look like they form a part of the thumb of a mitten (Huron, Tuscola, and Senilac Counties). I decided to limit the counties (yellow markers) and towns (green markers) in the map to those mentioned in the video below. Thumbwind has a much better map, which is also interactive and includes most of the 1871 fires as well as historic photos and articles, please go here.

The video focuses on the 1871 fires across the Lake States including but not limited to Michigan. I am sharing it here because of there account of the fires that burned in Michigan. Note that it is likely that Mrs O’Leary’s cow did not knock over a lantern that started the Chicago Fire (see this Smithsonian article for more information), note you may see an ad when you click on the link. Whether or not the comet led to the 1871 fires is still open for debate.

Direct link to video on YouTube (podcast) from ThumbWind Publications

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires (this article)
• December 20, 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of late 19th and early 20th centuries: Introduction

I wrote a post yesterday on the research I have been doing on fires the burned in Michigan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today I write an introduction and preliminary timeline for this series of articles.

I learned a little more about the Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th century was reading Stephen Pyne’s chapter on “Sky of Brass, Earth of Ash: A fire History of the Lake States" (199-21) in his book,  Fire in America (1997). Pyne's chapter served as a good lead into Sodder's book, Michigan on Fire. I would suggest that anyone interested in learning more about the Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries find a copy of this book and read it. It is a good and thorough account with many primary sources from those who witnessed and/or covered the fires for various period newspapers.

In writing this series, I plan to write an article on each of the fires Sodder's covers in her book: 1871, 1881, 1896, 1908, and 1911. In most cases, there were many fires in each year. After providing a brief synopsis and perhaps some relevant links to other articles or videos, I write about one thing about each fire(s) that left an impression on me.

I want to pause and offer one thing that I was to learn from Sodders. That is, Alpena is one of the towns that burned in the fires of 1911 (Sodders, 1997, 327). Alpena is a city in Alpena County bordering Thunder Bay on Lake Huron in Michigan. At the some point something clicked and I realized that it was the Alpena Community College that responded to my inter-library loan request. I am quite certain that the staff of the Alpena Community College Library had no idea why I was interested in Sodder’s book. However, when I learned that Alpena was affected by the 1911 fires, I felt a connection with them as if they were somehow involved in what I am trying to do. I returned the book to my library on December 3rd for transport back to Alpena, I wrote them a thank-you letter telling them why I was interested in their book and about my blog. 

As I read Sodder’s book and did other background research on the internet for this series of articles on Michigan Fires from 1871 to 1911, I learned a little about Michigan geography and a small sense of what life was like in the later half of 19th century. At the same time, I am quite aware that the fact that I am in New Jersey during a pandemic and for various reasons am unable to travel to Michigan, that I am at somewhat of a disadvantage.

The U.S. Census Bureau has a map that I am sharing of Michigan with counties that I found useful. If you have trouble reading the map, please feel free to click on the link and you will be taken to a pdf file that you might be able to enlarge. 

Obtained on December 15, 2021 from https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/general_ref/stco_outline/cen2k_pgsz/stco_MI.pdf

Notes: 

1. Pyne, Stephen J. Fire in America. 1997: University of Washington Press

2. Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction (this article)
• December 17, 2021: 1871 Fires
• December 20, 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Coming up: series on Michigan Fires of late 19th and early 20th centuries

In the course of doing background research on the 1871 Peshtigo Fire I learned about other fires that burned in Michigan on the same day including the Chicago Fire, see Hultquist's article on the Great Midwest Wildfires of 1871. I knew that I wanted to know more about the Michigan fires of 1871, and thanks to Professor Randall Schaetzl, in the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Science at Michigan State University. Prof. Schaetzl had knowledge of these fires that burned in Michigan in the later part of the 19th century. He recommended that I read Betty Sodder’s Michigan on Fire (Thunder Bay Press: 1997), edited and designed by Don Weeks.

I knew that I wanted to write more about these Michigan Fires, a good place to start was by reading Sodder’s book. So I decided to use the inter-library loan service from my local library where patrons like me can borrow a book from another library if the book is not owned by the local library. I was not surprised to note from the inter-library loan database that most of the copies of Sodder’s book were owned by libraries in Michigan. I put in my request and a few days later, Michigan on Fire arrived on loan from the Alpena Community College Library in Alpena, Michigan. I finished the book in early December and returned it to my local library who in turn mailed it back to the Alpena Community College.

I am still developing this series as I write this, but as I think that Sodder's book will arrive in Alpena today, I wanted to post this article today in part as a shout out to the Alpena Community College, but also to let you know what I have been working on for the last six weeks or so. 

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871 Fires
• December 20, 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

NWS Incident Meteorologists: what I learned from a recent webinar

 I am able to follow some basic information about the deployment of National Weather Service (NWS) Incident Meteorologists (IMETs)  thanks to following NWS UMET Operations on Facebook or Twitter. A couple of weeks ago, I saw an open invitation on their social media about a webinar sponsored by the AMS Board of Operational Government Meteorologists (BOGM) on the NWS IMET program. I jumped at the chance to attend. The webinar was last Wednesday afternoon with five IMETs including the leader talking about their work as IMETs. I had two take aways from attending this webinar that I want to share with you.

First, I knew from following IMET operations for the last few years that IMETs are also deployed to incidents that are not U.S. based wildfires or prescribed burns. I knew about the deployment of IMETs to Australia in early 2020 ( see my blog article of January 29, 2020. I wondered what  other non-wildfire assignments IMETs might be sent to. I got an answer from the IMETs at the webinar. Among the assignments mentioned were hurricanes (e.g. Katrina), flooding (e.g. 2013 flooding in Colorado, and the Cheyanne Wyoming Frontier Days (featuring the largest rodeo in the U.S) which takes place during severe weather season. 

Finally, I enjoyed listening to IMETs share on how they work as a team with the incident command team and others on the fire they are assigned to. I was impressed by the team effort in working to put the wildfire out as safely as possible, with the eye towards keeping wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air safe. As I listened to the IMETs share on what being an IMET meant to them, I was struck by how much their service meant to them, and the connection to and support of their “fire family” (IMETs and others in the fire community). At the end of the session, I asked them what is one thing they would like to me to share with my readers about their work as IMETs. I am not sure that my note taking does their responses justice, but I hope you get the idea of what they want you to know. These are their responses:

• dedication to mission
• the most rewarding aspect is seeing what effect my forecast has on fighting the wildfire
• understanding the needs of their partners (e.g. incident command and firefighters)
• being on a fire makes a difference
• we want to be there
• great community, fire family

I offer my profound thanks to all NWS Incident Meteorologists as well as current or future Meteorologists who want to be trained as an IMET. IMETs save lives. 

Friday Fun: Hellanic Air Force AH-64HA Apache "Pegasus" Airshow

 I have been thinking about helicopters recently and is it has been awhile since I featured a helicopter in my occasional Friday Fun posts, I looked around for something to share with you. It did not take me long to find the following video on YouTube featuring a Hellanic Air Force AH-64HA Apache Helicopter showing her stuff including aerobatics and low hovers in an airshow five years ago. If I am not mistaken, the Hellanic Air Force is out of Greece.

Matt, my friend, this video is posted in your memory. May you rest in peace.

Direct link to video uploaded by GreatFlyer on YouTube

2021 wildland fire crew videos: Lone Peak Hotshots

It is that time of year where I will continue to share 2021 wildland fire crew videos. Thank-you to the Lone Peak Hotshots for all the work you did this season to keep us safe from wildfires.

Direct link to video on YouTube from LonePeak

Helitankers: S64 Skycrane working wildfire, cockpit video

 This is a nice video, albeit it some what long (almost 13 minutes) shot from the cockpit of a S64 Skycrane working a wildfire from take off to dipping to dropping and landing. I enjoyed watching this video and I hope you do as well.

Direct link to video on YouTube

2021 wildfire season: Grindstone Fire NC (Pilot Mt. Surry County): final update

According to this December 2nd evening update from the North Carolina Forest Service, the Grindstone Fire in Pilot Mountain State Park (Surry County) NC has burned 1,050 acres and is at 90 percent containment. The fire was caused by a camp fire in an undesignated area (see this Dec 2nd press release from the NC Forest Service)

Direct link to video on YouTube uploaded by WAVY TV 10

2021 wildfire season: Grindstone Fire (Pilot Mt., NC) Update (Dec 1st)

With the intent of writing a follow-up article about the wildfire that is still currently burning on Pilot Mountain, in Pilot Mountain State Park (Surry County, NC), I went to the North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS) Webpage to see what additional information I could find out. It did not take me long to find the name of this fire, Grindstone Fire. I first found what I thought was the fire on Pilot Mountain on their map, but as I am not familiar with their geography, I wanted some more confirmation. I found this press release from the North Caroline Forest Service (dated November 30th) with information about the Grindstone Fire, satisfying me that the Grindstone Fire is burning on Pilot Mountain in Surry County, NC. According to the aforementioned NCFS press release, the fire had burned 1,050 acres and is at 20 percent containment as of 3PM on November 30, 2021.

Direct link to video on YouTube from WFMYNews2