Source of News on International Wildfires and a video report from Australia on the 2023 Canadian Wildfire Season

Of late I have been interested in paying closer attention to wildfires outside the United States and as I am able posting about it here. My interest stemmed from a conversation with someone where we were discussing wildfires in the United States and wildfires outside the United States. In considering international wildfires I find Wildfire Today to be a useful resource as they will post about larger international wildfires and related concerns. For example, Kelly Andersson post about the wildfires in Greece on July 22nd and September 5th. Kelly Andersson wrote a September 24th article about the European Union's planned purchase of scoopers fire aviation articles on their sister site, Fire Aviation and just a couple of days ago he wrote about a Canadian tanker pilot. And then there are news sources within various countries that are too numerous to name here.

Another source for news on international wildfires is Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day, a five day week newsletter covering wildfires from around the world.

A couple days ago while I was on YouTube, I came across an in-depth news report posted in late August 2023 from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). An ABC reporter went to Canada to report on the 2023 Canadian Wildfires for an ABC show aptly titled Foreign Correspondent. I am embedding this 30 minute video below. I learned more about Canada's 2023 wildfire season, and saw some of the firefighters from around the world helping including but not necessarily limited to Australia, South Africa, and the United States. I saw images of the devastation of these fires including a couple of interviews from people affected by the wildfires. I also learned a little more about the Australian wildland firefighters (known as fireys), and their concerns for their upcoming wildfire season. Canada is ready to help the Australians if the need arises.

Direct link to video from ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) News In-depth

2019 - 2020 Australia Bush Fire Season: photojournalism

 As Australia is well into their summer (2020-2021) bush fire season, I have found myself reflecting on the devastating bushfire season of 2019-2020. I was on Youtube just now and came across a video of a digital photojournalism exhibition from the 2019-2020 bushfire season in Australia. The video is just under four minutes long, you may want to read about what went into each shot in this exhibition at this link from the Walkey Foundation

Direct link to video from the Walkley Foundation on Youtube

2020 wildfire season: summary of NWS Incident Meteorologists (Dec 11th)

I want to thank all the NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) who have been deployed on 188 incidents this year. As of Friday, December 11,  2020 there are zero IMETs out on missions. Even so, I know that IMETs are ready to serve if they are needed. Remember that earlier this year IMETs were deployed to Australia to help with their devastating bush fire season.

IMETS save lives!

NSW Rural Fire Service says thank-you in a big way

I was very moved when I saw this video on the NSW Rural Fire Service Facebook Page earlier today. The Ad Agency Silvercast Media paid for the ad spaceon the large billboard in Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. If you do not see the video from Facebook embedded below, check out the above referenced link. For more information see

1010 WINS NYC 
CNN

IMETs in Australia: Interview with IMET deployed in late 2019

While the recent rains in Australia have helped the efforts of firefighters on the ground to put out the bush fires in some areas of Australia (see my February 10th article) I believe that NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) continue to deployed to Australia. I know that they are important work to help out the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

A few days ago, I was very interested to read a Facebook post from the US National Weather Service IMETs (February 4th) sharing a radio interview with NWS Meteorologist Patrick Gilcrest of the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Glasgow MT. The recording is on the long side with the interview starting at about 7 minutes 30 seconds. I enjoyed hearing Patrick talk about how he was deployed to Australia and then talking about his six week service to Australia. I learned a little about some of the differences between weather forecasting in Australia and the United States. One of the  differences being that Australia is on the metric system, but there are difference in terminology that Patrick discusses.

I spent about 48 minutes listening to the interview.



direct link to soundcloud recording

2020 Australian bushfires: more rainfall

When I wrote my February 8th article I knew, thanks to Bill Gabbert's February 7th article that rains had arrived in portions of Australia helping to put out some of the wildfires. Rains have continued over the weekend with the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Services Facebook page reporting on February 10th that firefighters, assisted by the rain have but out some thirty bushfires since February 7th amounting to over 1.5 million hectares burned (3,760,580 acres). In a February 11th update on their Facebook Page, the NSW Rural Fire Services reported that there are still 26 bushfires burning across NSW with four have yet to be contained. That is great news for the firefighters and all the residents, businesses, animals, etc. affected by the bush fires.

With the arrival of the rains, however long that lasts, comes the concern of flash flooding, possibble land slides, winds, power outages and perhaps other concerns not mentioned here, see this report from 7 News Australia  for more information (video in report may not play in your browser). See also this recent article from The Guardian  and this report about rainfall in Victoria from News 7 Australia  (thanks to Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day e-mail newsletter).

I am not ignoring the rest of Australia, rather because I have been following the NSW Rural Fire Service on Facebook and for simplicity, I have been focusing on that State. I am well aware that bush fires have affected other States in Australia.

2020 Australia Bushfire season: rainfall and scenes of NSW crews

In following New South Wales Rural Fire on Facebook over the last few days I knew that much needed rain arrived over Australia that is helping with the ongoing bushfires that are still burning in New South Wales. (see this February 6th post). With the arrival of this rainfall in Australia comes the flooding, you may read about the New South Wales Rural Fire Service's flood operations here. Finally, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote an article on February 7th reporting on how the rainfall in Australia has stopped some of the bushfires.

I wanted to offer you a glimpse, however brief, of the efforts of firefighters on the ground and in the air working the bushfires in New South Wales, Australia. The footage that I share below is a peak at the efforts of a small number of Australian firefighters on the ground and in the air as they battle bushfires southwest of Sydney Australia in January 2020.  This video was uploaded to youtube on or about January 20, 2020 by Sydney Emergency.


Direct link to video on Youtube from Sydney Emergency

Coulson T-134: scenes from memorial service in New South Wales

I came across a video of the memorial service for the crew -- Ian H. McBeth, Paul Clyde Hudson, and Rick A. DeMorgan Jr. -- the crew of T-134 that perished last week when T-134 crashed:  It is a moving video except for one thing, about six seconds of footage from the scene of the crash. I have a policy of not showing footage of crash sites. So, I have (hopefully) started the video after the crash footage. The footage is from Nine News Australia.




The New South Wales Rural Fire Service has a photo gallery of photos from the memorial service on their Facebook Page that may be found here.

RIP Ian, Paul, and Rick. May you always fly in favorable tail winds. My heartfelt prayers for your family. friends, colleagues at Coulson Aviation, and all who love you.

New group of IMETs deployed to Australia

I have written recently, on December 30th and January 13th, about the deployment of NWS Incident Meteorologists (aka IMETs) to Australia to help the Australian Bureau of Meteorology provide fire weather forecasts. The are deployed in six week cycles through early March 202. The first group of IMETs has or will soon be returning home. IMETs work as forecasters in NWS Forecast Offices when they are not deployed to fires. Thanks to the NWS Forecast Office for sharing your forecasters with Australia and for filling in the gaps to while one of your forecasters is gone. Thanks to the returning IMETs for your service, you were away from your families and friends, and I suspect you made new friends.

There is a new group of IMETs that has been or soon will be deployed to Australia where they will work with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in three different offices (Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. See the graphic below. The graphic below represents IMETs have have been or are scheduled to be deployed to Australia.

Obtained from NWS IMET FB January 22nd post on January 28, 2020

Thank-you to:

• Patrick Gilchrist (NWS Glassgow) deployed to Brisbane
• Mark Struthwolf (NWS Salt Lake City), Mark Pellerito (NWS Binghamton) and Joe Goudsward (NWS Little Rock) deployed to Sydney
• Carl Cerniglia (NWS Tuscon), Terry Lebo (NWS Wilmington NC) and Todd Carter (NWS Spokane) deployed to Melbourne
• Deployments pending as of January 22nd: John Franks (NWS Wilmington, OH) and Heath Hockenberry (NIFC Boise ID)

There have been a couple of nice media reports on the work of the NWS IMETs featuring Todd Carter from the NWS Spokane, both include video reports: KQHQ6 (January 22nd) and KXLY (January 24th).

I am so very proud of our IMETs, you honor your country with your service.

Coulson T-134: memories from your friends in California

To Coulson Tanker 134, your friends in California remember you and I know you will be missed. I know that you spent some time in California last summer, I am not quite sure what your home base was, but I know that you were spotted at Ramona AAB in southern California (see Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation post of August 4th). I don't exactly know how long you were at Ramona working fires near San Diego. I have some friends in southern California, I am grateful that you took care of them last summer, even if it was only for a couple of days, those were important days to me. I do not know how many wildfires you worked in California last summer or where they were. That does not matter, what matters is that you did good work in California working with and protecting the firefighters on the ground. You did good work and your service in Australia and California will always be remembered. Your sacrifice in Australia will not be forgotten.

RIP Ian, Paul, and Rick

Post script, February 9, 2020. I would like to thank an anonymous friend who contacted me over the weekend about this post to remind me. They reminded me that I did not cite a source for the information about Tanker 134's presence in Ramona Air Attack Base for what may only have been a couple of days. I edited this post to correct those errors.

T-134 saved a ranch

Direct link to video on Youtube

T-134 at Sacramento AAB

direct link to video

Coulson T-134 crash update: January 24th

T-134, a C-130Q from Coulson Aviation crashed on January 22nd in the Snowy Mountains. They were working a bush fire near Snowy Monaro, see my article of January 23rd for more information. 

Coulson Aviation has identified the crew of T-134 that perished in the crash.

Captain Ian H.McBeth, 44, Great Falls MT

Ian is survived by his wife, Bowdie and their three children: Abigail, Calvin and Ella; his parents Willian and Anneliese; and his siblings Rick Fernandez, Eleanor McBeth and Aislinn McBeth.

First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, Buckeye AZ

Paul is survived by his wife Noreen

Flight Engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr., 43, Navarre FL

Rick is survived by his two children Lucas and Logan; his parents Rick Sr. and Linda; and his sister Virginia.

Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has included the press release from Coulson Aviation in his January 24th post where you may go to learn more about Ian, Paul and Rick.

Ian, Paul and Rick, may you always fly in favorable tail winds along with T-134. I offer my prayers for your families, friends, co-workers at Coulson Aviation, and all who love you.

Coulson T-134 crashed in New South Wales Australia

It is with deep sorrow that I report the crash of a Coulson C-130, T-134, in New South Wales. She was working a bush fire in the Snowy Monaro Area in New South Wales Australia when she crashed on January 22, 2020. The three crew are dead. RIP T-134 and crew. May you always fly in favorable tail winds. My prayers go out to your family, friends, Coulson, and all who loved you.

The crash site is in a remote and rugged area of the Snowy Mountains, it took the emergency response team several hours to access the crash site.

Coulson is sending a team to help with the crash investigation and they have grounded their fleet today to remember the fallen. All large air tanker operations in New South Wales (and perhaps all of Australia) have been grounded as a sign of respect for the fallen.

A friend sent me a link to report of the crash by the media outlet France24, the report is dated January 23rd and may be found here. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation reports on the crash  in this post.


Direct link to ABC report on T-134

Obtained on January 23, 2020 from Coulson Aviation

NWS IMETs continue to be deployed to Australia: January 13th update

National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists continue to be deployed to Australia where they are working with Meteorologists from the Australia Bureau of Meteorology. Among other things they are providing spot forecasts for specific locations where bush fires are burning so that the firefighters on the ground and in the air have the best possible forecasts.

Obtained from January 10, 2020 NWS IMET Facebook post on January 13, 2020

There is a nice news release from the National Weather Service dated January 10, 2020, the news release may be found here. NWS IMETs are deployed on six-week cycles through March 2020 per an agreement in place between the two governments.

Fire weather forecasting is specialized, the January 10th NWS news release discusses ome differences:

Forecasting for a wildfire is different from general weather forecasting, and requires unique knowledge and skills. For example, fires can create their own weather such as firestorms that produce dry lightning or send embers miles away from the storm. And a fire whirl, a swirling column of fire, is extremely hot and can be transient, making them very dangerous. Fire forecasters use a wide range of tools to get the job done. They closely monitor real-time observations of the atmosphere, such as wind, temperature and humidity, and they use advanced forecast models to predict weather parameters that will exacerbate current fires or create new starts.

A final point I want to mention from the article are differences because Australia is located in the southern hemisphere:

Forecasting in Australia, compared to North America, has its challenges. When forecasting south of the equator one must remember the trade winds blow from the southeast, the opposite direction than in North America and cold air comes from the south not the north as in the U.S.  And in Australia they use the metric system and the Celsius scale. Another task that takes getting used to for a forecaster is the difference in time zones between local (in Australia), UTC (the scientific universal time that meteorological data is time stamped with) and their home time zone, where they normally work.

Regular readers of this blog know that I am very fond of the NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs). You do important work, sometimes in difficult circumstances. I am sure that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology appreciates your help in their Sidney and Melbourne offices. Please know that your work is appreciated. Thank-you so very much. You are away from your loved ones, your sacrifice won't be forgotten.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today continues to provide extensive coverage of the Australian bushfires. Here is a link to Bill's articles tagged Australia.

 

2020 Australian Bushfires: aerial operations

The United States will be sending four additional air tankers to Australia in the coming days to help out with the devastating bushfire season. See Bill Gabbert's January 4th article on Fire Aviation for more information.


Direct link to video


Here are two videos showing what tanker and helicopter pilots flying these fires are facing. A retired tanker pilot friend in the U.S. told me that while the conditions you will see in these videos seem very startling, that he had flown in similar conditions from time to time. The first video was released by the Australian Defence Department on Monday, January 6th.


Direct link to video

The second video is from Sky News, uploaded on January 4, 2020.


Direct link to video

Australian Bushfires: January 6, 2020

I am not sure that I have adequate words to write about the devastating bushfires in Australia. According to this January 6th NPR report there are at least 136 bushfires burning in Australia with about 25 deaths. There are a very large number of animals killed including but not limited to cattle, sheep and other livestock. The NPR report includes a map of where the bushfires are burning. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today writes on January 6th about some 1,000 plus people being evacuated by navy ships and on January 4th Bill wrote about two deaths on Kangaroo Island and more air tankers being sent from North America.

CNN, January 6th Australian bushfires report by the numbers :

• 2,700 firefighters working the bushfires, at least three have died.
• estimates that 480 million animals have died

More coverage

• Wildfire Today, jJanuary 4th, photos of pyrocumulus clouds
• Wildfire Today, January 3rd, more wildland firefighters from United States deployed to Australia
• CNN photo gallery, January 6th

Australian Bushfires - January 3, 2020

Going back a little over two years, one of the ways I could judge when a wildfire was having significant impacts (size, evacuations, deaths, structures destroyed) was when I saw an article in The New York Times, or heard a report on National  Public Radio (NPR) or other national broadcast outlets. The New York Times is delivered to my house daily, so reading their coverage took no real effort. Listening to NPR or watching cable news took a little more effort on my part. Of course, I have places that I check out on an almost daily basis such as Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today and Mike Archers Wildfire News of the Day. So I usually have an idea of current major wildfires or bushfires and when they are having severe impacts. My old barometer for when I should start paying closer attention was seeing an article in The New York Times or other broadcast media outlets (NPR, cable news).

Things have changed in the last 22 months when I got a tablet and then got a smartphone six months ago. Now I have Apple News. Perhaps it is because of the articles that I read on Apple News, but I when I see news of a wildfires on Apple News then I know that this a big deal and I should pay some attention. Most of the time, I will see similar coverage in The New York Times.

I started seeing news of the Australian bushfires on Apple News sometime before Christmas, so I knew these bushfires were bad news. As an aside, I promised someone from New South Wales in Australia whom I exchanged a couple of e-mails with a few years ago that I would use the phrase bushfires in my blog when referring to Australia. I do so here except when a source is using the phrase wildfire.

I subscribe to a local daily where over the last few years the focus has been on coverage of state and local news. International news and to a lesser extent national news focus on major events. So, I walk to the end of my driveway this morning to pick up the papers. The New York Times, as they often do with critical wildfires, had a photo and an article above the fold. That was not a surprise. What was a surprise was to see a my local paper's, The Star Ledger (website), coverage of the catastrophic bushfires in Australia on the front page, above and below the fold with a large headline. The coverage took up about two-thirds of the front page. You are going to have to trust me on this, as I have no link to show you the front page. Anyway, I was very impressed because I do not often see wildfire coverage on the front page of The Star Ledger. And this was an international story to boot.

The point to this article is that because I personally found The Star Ledger's front page coverage of the Australian bushfires to be very significant.I wanted to use the fact of their reporting as a jumping off point to post about the bushfires in Australia. Unfortunately, I can not find their coverage online, perhaps due to their arrangements with the wire services that authored the coverage. More accurately, I am writing to suggest a couple of places you may go to find more coverage of the bushfires. And to offer my thoughts and mediations to all those fighting the bushfires and their support staff and especially for all those affected by the bushfires. My heart goes out to all.

xx (limited free articles) has a nice photo spread along with their reporting of the bushfires, starting with Friday and going back a week. The photos are great and they have some links to their other reporting. You may find the New York Times photo essay, The Australia Wildfires in Pictures here .

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has extensive coverage of the Australia bushfires going back to before Christmas. To get you started, there are two good stories dated January 2, 2020: video of the bushfire shot be evacuees and Australian wildifire ordeal to worsen Saturday (January 4th).

IMETs deployed to Australia

I checked in to Bill Gabberts Wildfire Today a little while ago after taking a little time off during the holidays. So, thanks to Bill's post of December 23rd, I am just know learning that the National Weather Service IMET Operations deployed a team of Incident Meteorologists to Australia to help the Australian Bureau of Meteorology during their horrific bushfire season. Bill also reports on about 40 wildland fire personnel from the United States that were deployed to Australia. I do not know how long this deployment lasts.


Posted by href="https://www.facebook.com/US.NationalWeatherService.IMET.gov/">US National Weather Service IMET on Monday, December 23, 2019

Over the last few days, I have been hearing more and more reports through my news feed as well as National Public Radio about the horrific bushfire season they are having in Australia. I knew that I wanted to write something about the bushfires in Australia, but was not quite sure what the focus would be. Then I learned about the deployment of NWS Incident Meteorologists, aka IMETs and I know that I had to write about their service in Australia.

I am so very proud of the IMETs as well as the wildfire personnel helping in Australia during their horrific bushfire season. I know how important good weather forecasting for fighting bushfires. The IMETs honor us with their service and their sacrifice during this holiday season. They are away from their families during the holiday season. At least I assume they are. I have been writing about IMETs for a few years know, and I want any IMETs who are reading this to know how much I respect you and the work you do. You and your colleagues at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology are working hard to provide those who are fighting the bushfires on the ground with the best possible forecasts so that they may be safe.

For all who are IMETs and wildland firefighters, stay safe everyone! I am very proud of you. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart.