Preparing for Next Year's Wildfire Season in New Jersey

Direct link to video from NBC10 Philadelphia on YouTube

Here in New Jersey we had a record number of wildfires during the dry spell in October into mid-November. The ground was so dry that tree stumps continued to burn after the wildfire was contained, something that happens a lot out west but is rare in New Jersey and environs. As you can see from the video that I embedded above the lower portion of the trees are burned, if the roots survived than the tree will (hopefully) survive. New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews participate in training to prepare for the wildfire season. There are things that homeowners in New Jersey living near forested areas can do to protect their homes such as being sure the gutters are cleaned out and that to clear leaf litter, debris and flammable vegetation from around the house.

Seasons Greetings to All

 

Direct link to video on YouTube

I wish all of my readers a happy holiday season.

2024 Holiday Greetings: The Shepard by Frederic Forsyth

My tradition during the end of the year holiday season is to post The Shepard by Frederic Forsyth as read by Alan Maitland on CBC radio. Please join me in pausing and remembering all first responders including but not limited to wildland firefighters who may be away from their families. I wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season.

Direct link to video on YouTube

Managing Long Island Pine Barrens for Fire Protection & Trail Access

 The video that I am going to share with you today that I saw on this mornings video page from B10 NJ Wildland Fire on managing the Otis Pike Pine Forest in the Long Island Pine Barrens on the east end of Long Island caught my eye because of the importance of management of the Pine Barrens for wildland fire safety and prescribed burn operations as well as other needs for access. In addition, while I am not exactly familiar with the east end of Long Island, I did spend some time with friends and family in my youth and young adulthood in central Long Island, so I have a soft spot for Long Island. I have no direct knowledge of they types of management that is done in the NJ Pine Barrens but I suspect that managers do something similar. This is a short video, under two minutes from the NYSDEC.

Direct link to video from the NYSDEC on YouTube

2024 Wildfire Season: MIdewin Hotshots

I do want to recognize the work of the Midewin Interagency Hotshot Crew, the only Interagency Hotshot Crew based in the eastern region. They are based in Wilmington Illinois, their unofficial webpage may be found here and they do have a Facebook page which does not require a Facebook account to view some of their content and they have an Instagram Page. I do not have an Instagram account but I am able to view some limited information.

Up through 2022, they produced annual season videos, which I have posted in the past, go here to see my posts with the Midewin Hotshot tag. Since I discovered a few weeks ago that those of you using smart phones are not able to see content I embed from Facebook, I no longer embed Facebook content. But the Midewin Hotshots have some nice photos on their Facebook and Instagram pages, I urge those of you are able to view this content to take a look at their photos from the 2024 season.

I did look at their Facebook page so I could get a feel for where the Midewin IHC were deployed in the 2024 wildfire season. After they gathered for training and the like in early February their season started on or about February 19th where the spent some time in the eastern region. I don't have access to information on all their deployments in 2024, but thanks to their Facebook account, I know that they started the season with deployments in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Michigan before being deployed out west in Oregon and Washington. I expect that there are deployments that I do not know about and are not listed here. Their season ended on or about August 23rd, see their crew photo here.

I do want to emphasize that I hold a special place for the Midewin Hotshots because they are based in the eastern region of the U.S. where I live. I am very proud of the Midewin Hotshots for their work in keeping us safe from wildfires during their deployments.

2024 Wildfire Season: American River Hotshots doing backfires

 I stumbled across a video on YouTube just now from NorCal Storm Chasing showing the American River Interagency Hotshots performing backfire operations to prevent the spread of the Park Fire on August 7, 2024. The video is a little over 17 minutes. I thought that some of you might be interested. One of the ways that I can experiences what various wildfire crews go through in working wildfires is through videos such as the one that I am sharing here. Enjoy.

Direct link to video from NorCal Storm Chasing on YouTube.

2024 Wildfire Season: Jackson Hotshots

As I share 2024 crew videos from hotshots and other crews at this time of year, as I can I want to be sure to include videos from crews based in the eastern part of the United States. The Midewin Interagency Hotshot Crew is based in the Midewin National Tallgrass Prarie in Wilmington, Illinois. While they posted crew videos from 2022 and earlier, they did not have a crew video summarizing their 2023 season nor have I seen one for 2024.

Moving to the southern region in the U.S., there are four hotshot crews based in the south: Asheville Interagency Hotshots. Augusta Interagency Hotshots, Cherokee Interagency Hotshots and the Jackson Interagency Agency Hotshots, go here for more information on these four hotshot crews. I did find a video from the Jackson IHC summarizing their 2024 season which I am embedding below. The Jackson IHC is the only Bureay of Land Management hotshot crew east of the Mississippi River, go to this BLM web page for more information. While the video does not disclose where they were deployed, that does not matter as I got to see the crew in action and meet some of them.

Direct link to video from Levic on YouTube.

2024 Wildfire Season: Thank-you Firefighters

Words can not always express my gratitude for the hardwork that all wildland firefighters do whether they be on the ground or in the air to work to contain wildfires of any size and to keep us safe. I think that the short video from the National Interagency Fire Center, compiled from community expressions of gratitude  expresses what I can not.

Direct link to video from the National Interagency Fire Center on YouTube 

2024 Wildfire Season: Lone Peak Hotshots 2024 Crew Video

I have been reading a fictionalized account of a hotshot crew which got me thinking that it is the time of year when I like to post crew videos summarizing their 2024 wildfire season. As someone who is not nor has never been a wildland firefighter, videos such as the one that I will embed here give me an idea of what it is like to work on a wildland fire crew. 

There are lots of videos from various hotshot crews hightlighting their 2024 fire season. For no apparent reason I am starting with the Lone Peak Hotshots based in Utah, perhaps because I have family ties to Utah. No, I have never been to Utah, perhaps one day? The Lone Peak Hotshots have a Facebook page

The Lone Peak Hotshots have a nice Facebook page that should be available without a Facebook account with some nice videos from their 2024 season along with other posts, go here to see their Facebook page.

The 2024 Lone Peak Hotshot video is just under ten minutes and the footage was taken by assorted crew members. I enjoyed the footage and the music. I always enjoy "meeting" the crew members.

Direct link to video from Lone Peak on YouTube

2024 New Jersey Wildfire Season: Bayville, Ocean County

I was having a conversation with some friends yesterday about the devastating fall wildfire season in New Jersey and I was telling them that to the best of my understanding that the NJ Forest Fire Service will report on social media about fires less than 100 acres where structures are threatened. So perhaps it was no coincidence that when I went to social media last night to check for reports from the NJ Forest Fire Service that I saw a report that an 11 acre wildfire that had threatened three structures in Bayville, Ocean County was contained on Sunday afternoon, December 8th. There were no evacuations and no structures were damaged. Ocean Gate Drive in Bayville was closed and is now reopened. The NJFFS first reported on this wildfire at about 8 AM on December 8th. The NJ Forest Fire Service will remain on scene to monitor the wildfire. Kudos to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews and mutual aid. Media reports on the wildfire may be found at Bayville Patch (Dec 9th).

WILDFIRE UPDATE: Bayville, Ocean County

At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, @NJDEPForestFire achieved 100% containment of a 11-acre wildfire burning in the area of Ocean Gate Drive and Louis Ave in Bayville, Ocean County.

SIZE & CONTAINMENT
🔥 11 acres
🔥 100% contained pic.twitter.com/ozOoiycLuN

— New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) December 8, 2024

More on DC-10 Air Tankers

Very cool view of @Ten_Tanker working the Georgetown Summit Fire fire earlier this week in Idaho.

Thanks to the subscriber who shared this footage of this drop. 🙏#wildfire #idfire #idwx pic.twitter.com/haao28r7ex

— The Hotshot Wake Up (@HotshotWake) October 20, 2024

The video is of one of 10 Tanker's DC-10 air tankers dropping on the Georgetown Summit Fire in Idaho on or about October 14, 2024

Pink sky at night, [pilot’s] delight… 🌅✈️

📸: @citabria_jon #10_tanker #ReadyToServe #inthistogether #calfire #pocatello #VLAT #aviationlovers #avgeek #dc10tanker #aviationdaily #wildfireready #sunset #sunsetphotography #wildfireseason #planelovers #aviationphotography pic.twitter.com/sVImwagZGp

— 10_Tanker Air Carrier (@Ten_Tanker) November 12, 2024

Continuing with DC-10 Tankers from 10 Tanker Air Carrier, see my December 5th post where I embedded a short video highlighting what happens inside a DC-10 tanker when they are dropping on a wildfire. I follow 10 Tanker Air Carrier on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter and Facebook where they have great photographs and videos along with other information. They also have an instagram account. You need an account on the X platform to access their content but Facebook should be available without an account. Their website is great with a photo gallery and their home page is chock full of information including current fire statistics and a link to a DC-10 Fact Sheet. As I write this, the latest statistics for 10 Tanker's DC-10 tankers in 2024 are

• On September 13th delivered 7 million gallons of retardant
• 767 missions
• missions to California, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico

2024 Wildfire Season : Inside a DC-10 Air Tanker

Here is a short video report from June 2024 about a DC 10 tanker from 10 Tanker Air Carrier, one of four DC-10 air tankers.. Enjoy.

Direct link to video from 12 News on YouTube

2024 Wildfire Season: Mostly SEATs

 I have been thinking about Single Engine Airtankers (SEATs) recently and just found this nice video, about 9 minutes where you will see primarily SEATs working wildfires in Oregon and Idaho in 2024. I have a lot of respect for the important work that SEATs do in helping groundpounders fight wildfires.

Direct link to video on YouTube