Wildfires in New South Wales Australia in pictures

I suspect that many of you saw news of the wildfires that burned in New South Wales, Australia recently. The NSW Rural Fire Service has a webpage chock full of information and maps where you may go for current information.

I came across a slide show showing images from the State Mine Bushfire that burned near Lithgow in NSW from ABC Central West NSW (on Oct. 30, 2013). Along with the slide show is an audio report from Clarence resident, Matthew Millet talking about his experiences with the State Mine Fire.

Fall Fire Season in the East???

I wrote yesterday about my weather observations for the National Weather Service and recording daily rainfall totals from my rain gauge located in northwest New Jersey. I had recorded less then one-tenth of an inch rainfall from Oct. 13 through Oct. 30, and knowing that wildfire danger often picks up in the fall I got curious about the fall fire season here in the east.

I had noted some media reports of smaller wildfires in MA and NH, see for example this report about dry and windy conditions in NH reported on Oct. 30 and small wildfires in MA. At the same time there had been some concern expressed in an October 30 article that dry conditions in NJ could increase wildfire danger, go  here to read the article on NJ.com. Finally there was a 110 acre fire in Rockland County, NY dubbed the Mt. Eve Fire according to the RecordOnline. I also saw a  reference to the Mt. Eve Fire in todays morning briefing from the Eastern Area Coordinating Center (EACC), being the only large fire activity in the East.

However and more importantly, I have also noted that while there has been some smaller wildfires in the East and one large fire reported in todays EACC morning report (over 100 acres, the Mt. Eve Fire), it seems that the fall fire season here in the eastern U.S. has not yet materialized. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today offered this observation in an article he posted on October 29:

The eastern and southern fire season that follows leaf fall and the first severe frost seems to be still waiting in the wings (Bill Gabbert).

Gabbert also referred to a National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) report on the fall fire season in the U.S. in an October 29 post on their Facebook Page:

The normal transition of fire season back to the southern and eastern U.S. in the fall associated with leaf drop also did not occur as would be expected (NIFC).

All I can say on the afternoon before we may get some needed rain in my little corner of New Jersey is that I hope that fall fire season continues to not occur as NIFC expects.

Weather Observer

For the last eleven  months I have had a CoCoRaHS rain gauge that I got from the WeatherYourWay Store. No I do not make observations for CoCoRaHS though I do read and rely on their reports that I get either through my local office of the National Weather Service on their daily CoCoRaHS Precipitation Summary Page or from the CoCoRaHS page for my State. But I do volunteer work for the Mt Holly Office of the National Weather Service (NWS) as a skywarn spotter. I took my basic skywarn spotter training six days before Superstorm Sandy hit, and I made my first spotter report to the Mt. Holly office of the NWS the morning after Sandy.

As a skywarn spotter I call my local NWS to report severe weather eventss: tornado or funnel cloud, hail of any size, winds of 50 mph or stronger, wind damage (trees, wires down, damage to structures, snow accumulation, ice accumulation, and flash or river flooding. I monitor rainfall and it is useful information to have when I call the NWS with a spotter report. For example, when I made my first spotter report after SS Sandy the meteorologist asked me how much rain we had. I could not give an accurate answer because I did not have my gauge up, but I gave her an estimate. Another time, I was reporting small stream flooding along with the possibility that a River was rising quickly and might reach the point where she might spill her banks. They asked me how much rain I recorded and I told them. 

I enjoy making my observations for the NWS, I'm hardly an expert on meteorology, but I did learn something about weather when I was studying for the FAA private pilot written exam over three years ago. Remember I am not a licensed pilot, but I go on scenic flights with supportive pilots when I can. Anyway, making observations for the NWS seemed like a good fit because of my interests in aviation.

So, I have my sheet where I have been recording rainfall from my rain gauge and have noticed the dry weather in September and October. Yes, and I have cloud chart in my kitchen. So since I have been recording daily rainfall for the past eleven months, I am more sensitive to rainfall extremes. And it has been a tad dry here. The dry weather that I've observed here got me wondering about wildfire activity in the northeast and mid-atlantic regions of the U.S., and I'll be writing about that in my next post.

SS Storm Sandy's impact on the Delaware Bayshore

As many of you know, one year ago tomorrow, SS Sandy hit New Jersey. I was lucky, we only lost power, one tree down, damage to a couple of outdoor light fixtures, and a couple shingles off of my roof. Others were not as fortunate. I knew about the damage that the New Jersey shore (aka the east shore) saw. I am embarrassed to say that it was only yesterday that I found out about the damage to the Delaware Bayshore of NJ (or the western shore), thanks to an article I saw in the print edition of the Sunday Star Ledger, that may be found here on NJ.com. Please take the time to read the article. The title of the article and the headline in Sunday's Star Ledger is "The Forgotten Shore." After reading the article and spending time on NJ.com looking at the interactive map, videos and photos, I knew that I had to tell you about the Delaware Bayshore.

For those of you are interested in maps and seeing where the Delaware Bayshore region of NJ is, there is an interactive map featuring stories, videos and photos of those featured in the article. There is a nice photo gallery of pictures of the damage to the Delaware Bayshore and her people here (also found on the interactive map). There were a few videos that I liked, I picked out one to embed here for you on damage to dikes in Greenwich, NJ.

direct link to video

RIP David Black and Peter Brereton

I was saddened to read about the deaths of two pilots who died in two separate crashes in New South Wales, Australia within a day of each other. Both were flying in support of wildland firefighters fighting the wildland fires in New South Wales.

David Black, owner and chief pilot of Rebel Ag, died on Thursday Oct. 24 when his PZL M18A Dromader aircraft crashed while he was performing aerial wildland firefighting operations on a wildland fire in a remote and rugged section of New South Wales. He leaves a wife, Julie and three children. A press release issued on behalf of Rebel Ag may be found on this webpage of the NSW Rural Fire Service.

Peter Brereton, a pilot,  had just retired from a 40-year career with the CFA firefighting agency in Australia. However, when his help was needed to support the wildland firefighters in New South Wales, he was there. He was flying a Cessna 182 on Wednesday morning Oct. 23 after dropping off some spare parts for a helo that was being used in aerial operations on the bush fires in New South Wales. When he failed to return to the airport on Wednesday morning, a search ensued and the wreckage was found Thursday morning in rugged terrain. For more on Peter Brereton, read this article from The Age (out of Victoria AU. Brereton, 60, is survived by his wife, Lyn and five children.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, colleagues and all who love Peter and David. May Peter and David always fly in favorable tail winds.

A-26 Tanker's service in Canada still to come

Some of you know that I have written a couple of series about the Douglas A-26, first was a series about her military service last March, and then a second series about her service as a tanker in late July/early August 2013. To read both series, go here and stop from the bottom as the latest article is at the top and will include this one.

When I finished up writing about the Douglas A-26's service as a tanker in the U.S. on August 12, 2013, I wrote that I wanted to write about A-26 tankers in Canada. As sometimes happens, I had an idea for this series that has not yet quite panned out. I am still hopeful that I'll be able to return that idea in the future and write a series of articles on A-26 tankers in Canada. That being said, there are some things that I have learned about A-26 tankers in Canada. I will be working on this over the next couple of weeks and hope to post some articles about the A-26 in Canada before the American Thanksgiving Holiday. 

Remembering the Cedar Fire ten years later

direct link to video

Shortly after I began writing about wildland fires five years ago, I heard about the Cedar Fire which burned something like 280,000 acres +/- near San Diego. I believe that it still is the largest fire in California history. October, 2013 marks ten years since this fire. Fifteen people died and over 2,200 homes were destroyed in this Santa Anna wind driven fire. To read more about this fire see this article from the Ramona Patch (and another link to the video that I embedded above).

direct link to video

Added on Oct. 22, 2013:

CAL FIRE incident info on Cedar Fire (last updated Nov. 5 2003
The 2003 San Diego County Fire Siege: Fire Safety Review (pdf file)
Wikipedia article on Cedar Fire
2003 San Diego Fire Facts from San Diego State University (with links)

Air Tractor 802 Fireboss in action in Portugal

direct link to video

I am always on the lookout for interesting videos of tankers and helos in action. I don't believe that I've that many videos of the Air Tractor Fire Bosses fighting wildland fires. So when this video came to my attention recently I knew that I had to share it with out. Great footage, some of it shot from the cockpit, of two Firebosses from Portugal. Included are shots of the Fireboss' scooping water from a Lake as well as shots of drops over wildfires.

The commentary for this video (by Eder Navacerrada) is in Portuguese (about this video on youtube). I neither speak or read Portuguese, but I did find a translate utility from google which I used to get a rough translation of the about this video information:

Air Tractor 802 aircraft Fireboss for firefighting in the summer 2013In memory of bomberos who lost their lives in fighting fire. No staff on the ground, the work of air assets would be much less effective, thanks for the help

So it would seem from this translation that Eder posted the video in memory of firebomber pilots who lost their lives.

Aero Flite T-160

direct link to video

Conair is converting two BAe Avro RJ85 passenger jets into air tankers for Aero Flite. Recall that Aero Flite has a Next Generation contract with the US Forest Service for two RJ85's. The RJ85 is a later model in the BAe-146 series of mid-sized jet airliners with improved engines. BAe Systems has an article summarizing North American companies that are using the BAe-146 jets as air tankers.

Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation reported in an article he wrote last summer that Conair is flight testing one RJ85 tanker designated as T-160. A friend of mine sent me a link to the short video that I embedded here showing T-160 making a test drop because he thought that you might be interested in seeing her make a test drop.

Campfire safety

direct link to video

In the almost five years since I have devoted this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and other issues about wildland firefighting and safety, I know that a certain number of wildfires are started from campfires. This short video will remind all of us about campfire safety. 

Wildfire in Zimbabwe

I was catching up with wildfire related news early today when I stumbled on a post in the international fire news forum about a wildfire in Zimbabwe, Africa leading me to a short article by the Associated Press posted by FoxNews on the Zimbabwe wildfires (dated Oct. 7, 2013). According to the article a 2.4 million acre wildfire (1 million hectares) killed 2 people in a remote section in the Zimbabwe bush east of Harare. If my conversion is correct, 2.4 million acres is about 3,750 sq. miles or according to a listing of U.S. States by size in square miles larger than the state of Delaware.

I spent two weeks in Malawi in the early summer of 2007, and wrote about my time there during and after my trip. Malawi is to the east of Zimbabwe and like Zimbabwe is landlocked. Anyway, in reading about this wildfire, I found myself thinking back to my time in Malawi. I am not writing this article to offer any insights or links to fighting wildfires in that area of Africa. Rather I write because two weeks in Malawi is a time that I will never forget.

Today, I am reminded of images of charred, burned out areas visible from the plane as we were descending to the international airport outside Lilongwe, Malawi. As our driver, Luzu, drove us from the airport to our lodging in Lilongwe I recall seeing areas of charred landscape along the road, some with tree stumps. As Luzu drove us around Malawi over the next two weeks, I would continue to notice charred landscapes from time to time. Sometime in my second week in Malawi I asked Luzu about these burned areas, why were they burned. He gave two reason, one was to clear areas for crops, and the other was to drive out rodents, which were later eaten.


By the way, about Luzu. I think of him often. We were in good hands. Nothing happened, the van was ok, we lost a rear bumper but that was it. No busted fuel line, no dragging tail pipe. We never ran out of gas, though it was a little dicey one day. We drove to a very remote area of Malawi not far from the Mozambique border on a rainy day. This was during the dry season when rain is sparse, and we got out of there but Luzu was a bit concerned about the rain. You see, during the rainy season the streams near the dirt road we were on in the rain will flood making those villages inaccessible by car. He thought he lost the keys to the van one day, but later found them. He took care of us.

Note: I corrected my faulty conversion of acres to sq. miles in an earlier version of this article. There are 640 acres in a square mile. 2,400,000 acres divided by 640 yields 3,750 sq. miles. I had over stated the sq.miles burned by a factor of 100. Opps. . .

MInden's Next Generation "Fireliner" BAe-146

link to video

It's been awhile since I wrote about the status of the Next Generation Tankers. I know that Coulson's C-130Q made her first drop on a fire on Sept. 20, 2013 (article from Fire Aviation). Recall that a DC-10 tanker has been flying under the Next Generation Tanker Contract since early summer. See my hopefully up to date status of the Next Generation Tankers on my Airtankers 101 page for more information on the Next Generation Tanker Contracts.

I don't think that the tankers from Minden, Aero Air, and Aero Flite are flying on contract yet. However, I recently came upon this video of Minden's Next Generation Tanker taking off on a flight test (also linked to on my Airtankers 101 page). The flight test shown on the video was done in early June 2013. Minden has dubbed this BAe-146 tanker the Fireliner, and you may go the Fireliner page on Minden's site to find out more about her including information on her specifications and performance.

Keeping your home and property safe in the wildland-urban interface (pt 2 of 2)

direct link to video on Home Improvements: A Firewire Approach

I learned about this video on Firewise home improvements from this video page on Firewise.

Keeping your home and property safe in the wildland-urban interface (pt 1 of 2)

I am not naive enough to think that a wildland fire  won't affect be because I don't believe I live in or near the wildland-urban interface. Perhaps because of NJ's recently changing weather (wet to dry and perhaps back to wet again), I found myself thinking about what homeowners can do to keep their homes safe. To continue due diligence regarding wildfire danger no matter what the weather is or is not doing.
I struggled yesterday to find something to share on this topic when I found these two videos last night on videos for the general public found on Firewise dot org . By the way, Firewise dot org has a lot of information on their website about what homeowners and communities can do to be firewise. 
I learned a lot from these videos. For example, over the last few years I had heard that homeowners should keep a 100 foot zone around their homes clear of trees and debris to ward off wildfires. But I never where that 100 foot figure came from. Now I do. Watch these two videos and you'll find out where the 100 foot figure came from. In a couple of days, I'll share another video from the same website with more information on how to make your home itself firesafe.



At the time I posted this on 10/5/13 at about 1:30 PM, I found that the audio was muted when using the Chrome Browser on my Mac. If you should have a problem, a workaround that worked for me is moving the slide next to the speaker icon, this got the audio working for me. Safari and Firefox on my Mac did not appear to have this problem. I don't have a PC, so I can't speak to what happens to Internet Explorer or other PC browsers.

Air Attack Over a Fire

One of the things that I am interested in are the roles of aircraft known as Lead Planes and Aerial Supervision Modules (ASM) that fly over many (but not all) fires here in the U.S. And what do the various personnel in these aircraft do. For example, what does the Air Tactical Group Supervisor (airborne firefighter) do? I recently found a short (10 to 11 minute video) from the National Interagency Fire Center called Firefighting Airspace, a part of their 2012 Annual Wildland Fire Refresher training. I certainly learned a lot from this video, and I hope that you will as well. The next time I read about or hear of a fire with a Lead Plane and/or an ASM over the fire I will have a better idea of the roles of these aircraft. Enjoy.



direct link to video from the BLMNIFC on youtube

Updated July 21, 2014: I share a lot of videos on this blog, sometimes I forget that I have already shared a video and I share the video a second time. That is what happened here. I originally shared this same video on Dec. 1, 2012.

Pausing and remembering the Yarnell Hill 19

direct link to video from Envenomator1 on youtube

For reasons that I don't need to go into, I found myself reflecting this past weekend on the tragic loss of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots. So, I post this short video in memory of the 19 members of the Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots who died fighting the Yarnell Hills Fire on June 30, 2013.

RIP - I will never forget you

Tanker action near Kamloops, British Columbia

I saw this video on youtube earlier in today of Canadian airtankers fighting a fire, probably earlier this summer, near Kamloops, British Columbia. I believe that I have seen tankers from Air Spray and Conair along with some helos. Allow just over 14 minutes to watch the video.



direct link to video

Two Dougs taking off to fight fires (one retired, one still flying)

Conair DC-6 T-50 taking off from Dawson City. I believe that the last season that Conair flew DC-6 air tankers was in 1998. (To read a little about the history of Conair, including the DC-6 tankers they flew from the 1970s into the late 1990s see History of Aviation in the BC Forest Service, Part 2 Air Tanker Operations. The reference for 1998 being the last year that Conair flew the DC-6 on contract for the B.C. Forest Service is found on p. 24).  All three parts of the History of Aviation in the BC Forest Service may be found on this webpage of the BC Forest Service Centenary.

direct link to video

DC-7 T-60 taking off to fight a fire near Hood River, OR when she was owned by Butler Aircraft. As you may recall Aero Air bought Butler in December 2012 (see this article on Fire Aviation for more information).

direct link to video

History - 1910 wildfires

Continuing with videos of notable historic wildfires, here is a video from Fed Flix on the 1910 wildfires, allow about 30 minutes to watch the video.



direct link to video page on Fed Flix

Description of video from Fed Flix: National Interagency Fire Center, Century of Fire - Part 11 - The Fires of 1910, 2010 Fireline Safety Refresher Training. Producer: National Interagency Fire Center.

Added on June 15, 2016: I don't think that either the link or the embedded video on this article is working. Over the next several days, I'll try to take some time to get new links for you. Please be patient. 

History - 1961 wildfire in Bel-Air, Brentwood, and Santa Ynez CA

Following up on historic videos on wildfires that I posted a couple of days ago, I am sharing another video that is archived on the the FedFlix Archive. This video, in this video you will learn about the 1961 wildfire that burned in and near the communities of Bel-Air, Brentwood, and Santa Ynez CA in November of 1961.



direct link to video

Video description and reference: National Archives and Records Administration - ARC Identifier 13356 / Local Identifier 95.60 - Design for disaster - Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. Division of State and Private Forestry. Fire and Aviation Management Staff. (1986). Depicts the Bel-Air, Brentwood, and Santa Ynez Fires of November, 1961. Depicts dramatic scenes of homes and watershed burning. Measures to prevent similar tragedies are stressed.

The video references Santa Anna Winds, and I shared a short video on the causes of Santa Anna Winds on October 28, 2011.

Added on June 15, 2016: I don't think that either the link or the embedded video on this article is working. Over the next several days, I'll try to take some time to get new links for you. Please be patient. 

History - 1970 fire Holocast in CA

A bit of history. The video that I am embedding here is called Countdown to Calamity (1971) about what the videographer calls a thirteen day fire holocaust in California in 1970.



direct link to video on archives dot org

Description for video from archive.org: National Archives and Records Administration - ARC Identifier 13352 / Local Identifier 95.56 - Countdown to calamity - Department of Agriculture. Forest Service. Division of State and Private Forestry. Fire and Aviation Management Staff. (1986). A documentary film of one of California's greatest fire disasters which occurred in 1970. I found out about this video on a thread on the wildlandfire hotlist forums called remember when. Perhaps you want to take a few moments and check out that forum to read the shares of some who fought fires in CA during the 1960s/1970s.

Added on June 15, 2016: I don't think that either the link or the embedded video on this article is working. Over the next several days, I'll try to take some time to get new links for you. Please be patient. 

Seaside NJ Fire -- making last stand possible

In reading my local paper's (The Star Ledger) coverage of the fire that destroyed over four blocks of boardwalk and adjacent businesses in Seaside Park and Seaside Heights (Ocean County) NJ, there are the gut wrenching photos of the fire's devastation that I am sure that many of you have seen by now. And if you haven't and are so inclined, check out my posts of Sept 12 and/or Sept 13.

My intention today is not to further dwell on the destruction, but to share a couple of articles I read in the Star Ledger. In the the first article (below), you will read about the George Harms Construction Company that had a large excavator in a nearby town doing some work a highway. When the guys from Harms heard about the fire, they sent a large excavator to the scene and dug the trench that made the firefighter's last stand against the fire possible. This trench made the difference in stopping the fire.

Last Stand at Lincoln Ave (I read this in the print edition on Sat., Sept. 14, 2013).

Yesterday (Sept. 15, 2013), the Star Ledger and an article talking about the efforts of some of the business owners and others on that awful day when the fire broke out. You will also learn a little more about the George Harms Construction Co.

In Seaside Boardwalk Fire, Heros are not Hard to Find

The investigation into the cause of the fire continues.

Seaside NJ Fire - Friday morning update

An update from on the status of the fire in Seaside NJ. I am embedding here a report from CBS2 news in NYC from earlier this morning.



A report from CBS2 NYC may be found here including a link to a photogallery

A report from NBC10 Philadelphia with links to more videos, images, and an audio of the fire radio call may be found here.

As I understand it, some 50 buildings have been destroyed over about four to six blocks of the ocean front boardwalk in Seaside Park and Seaside Heights (Ocean County NJ). Blowing hands hampered the efforts of the firefighters yesterday afternoon. Portions of the boardwalk and business destroyed by yesterday's fire saw minimal if any damage from Superstorm Sandy last fall.  However, the Funtown Pier twas badly damaged during Superstorm Sandy because it jutted out into the ocean, was destroyed during yesterday's fire. The fire began about 2:15 PM yesterday afternoon, it took firefighters at least five hours to bring the fire under control. Some 400 firefighters responded from around New Jersey. This morning firefighters are working on hotspots.

I'm not quite sure how long the embed code that I used here will work, so if you are arriving at this page sometime after this fire occurred and the embed code does not work, you will know why.

Updated and revised September 13, 2013, 10:30 AM EDT

Fire on Boardwalk at Seaside Park and Seaside Heights NJ

Most of you saw the pictures of the destruction that Super Storm Sandy wrought on many NJ shore communities such as Seaside Heights. There was a bad fire on the Seaside Heights boardwalk

Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

link to video from myfox philly

link to story on myfox philly

link to coverage on nj.com including photos

I'm not quite sure how long the embed code that I used here will work, so if you are arriving at this page sometime after this fire occurred and the embed code does not work, you will know why.

A&P shares photos of historic aircraft

One of the benefits of writing this blog on aerial wildland firefighting for just shy of five years is getting to know people in the tanker business like Don McKee. Don is an Airframe and Powertrain Mechanic (A&P). The more I learn about the tanker business, to say that Don is maintains and repairs tankers and historic aircraft seems simplistic. What I have learned about my  conversations with Don over the year plus that I have known him is that the planes that he works on are "his ladies", and keeping them safe to fly is a personal thing for him.

Don spent over 20 years working as an  A&P for Aero Union until 2011 when the US Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero Union. He was hired by Erickson Aero Tanker earlier this year. Earlier this fire season he was working as the mechanic for T-60. I'll be writing more about Don and his work as an A&P in the tanker business in later posts.

Don spent time before the fire season working on getting an historic Lockheed P-2V (in Tillamook OR) in flying condition. He was back in Tillamook after Labor Day getting the P-2V ready for a flight to Madras OR on September 8. Don had this to say about the flight after the P-2 arrived in Madras:

"The day is over and the P-2 is in Madras. It did well. Realizing this is about a 60 year old airplane that hasn't flown for dozen years or, what do we do? Take off make a wide left circle and come screaming down runway on the deck, recips and jets at full power. There's faith in your mech I guess."

He sent me some photos of some historic aircraft, including the P-2V, that he wanted me to share with you.

Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon: fun is putting plane with a 75 foot wingspan in a hanger with 76 foot opening (Tillamook OR)

Harpoon on jacks for gear swing (Tillamook OR)

DC-3 and Lockheed P2-V Neptune on ramp at Tillamook

DC-3 flying near Tillamook OR

DC-3 flying near Tillamook OR

"Old friend" Lockheed P2-V Neptune on ramp at Tillamook OR

Fueling Lockheed P2-V prior to flight to Madras OR

Pausing to Remember attacks of Sept. 11

I am pausing to remember the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. I offer my thoughts and prayers on this day for all who died in the attacks, for the first responders and others who are still living with the after effects of the attacks.

Morgan Fire -- Smoke Plume Weather

The Morgan Fire near Mt. Diablo east of Oakland has burned 1,500 acres and is 10% contained. The fire started yesterday afternoon. If you want more information on this fire, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has an article on the Morgan Fire here, SF Gate has an article with some photos reported on the Morgan Fire earlier today, finally NBCBayArea reports and videos on the fire (including the video I embedded below). When I was checking out NBCBayArea's reporting on the fire, I was intrigued by the short video on smoke plume weather as relates to the Morgan Fire.  I thought that some of you might be interested in this video, so I am embedding below. I don't know how long this embed code will work, however, I enjoyed what the meteorologist had to say about smoke plume weather so I am giving this a shot. I'll try to remember to check back here periodically to see if the embed code continues to work.

Geronimo and Del Rosa Hotshots

I was looking around on Inciweb's page for the Rim Fire a little while ago because I wanted to check out their photo page. I figured that since this is such a large fire that there would be several pages of photos, and I was right. InciWeb had 144 photos on 15 pages. Perhaps you will want to take a look at some of these photos.

There was a method to my madness, so to speak. That is, I was thinking about the post I made yesterday about the Rim Fire, where I embedded a video from Sunshine Pictures showing the Geronimo Hotshots working the Rim Fire. I wanted to share a couple more videos of Hotshot crews at work, so I thought I'd start with the Geronimo Hotshots.

The Geronimo Hotshots are from San Carlos AZ, here is a short video:

direct link to video

When I was on the photo page from Inciweb's Rim Fire page, I saw a photo of the Del Rosa Hotshots. I believe that they are the oldest hotshot crew in the nation.

direct link to video

To my friends on the fire line, stay safe out there. Thanks for what you do for us.

Rim Fire (CA) - on the fireline

There have been a few thousands wildland firefighters on the ground along with various equipment working the fire. I was looking around for some video of groundpounders working the Rim Fire when I came upon a great Vimeo channel from Sunshine Pictures devoted to the Rim Fire, the page may be found here. I hope that you spend a few minutes checking out their channel. Sunshine Pictures says this, in part, about the video clips on this channel:

The clips are educational in showing wildland fire suppression tactics at work on the ground along with the general conditions of smoke and fire.

Sunshine Pictures promises more videos to come, and I know that I'll be going back to check out their channel. It is in the spirit of education that I embed one of the videos from Sunshine Productions here.

Here is one of the videos from Sunshine Pictures on their vimeo channel devoted to the Rim Fire. Depending on the browser that you use, you might have trouble seeing the embedded video, if that is the case, click on the link that says Geronimo Hotshots. According to the info that accompanies the video, "The first clips show the crew digging a small chunk of line in a thick duff layer. The next clips show the crew linking or putting a ring around a spot that had escaped the main fire line."

Geronimo Hotshots from Sunshine Pictures on Vimeo.

Rim Fire (CA) - Sept. 3 update

The LA Times is reporting that the Rim Fire is at 75% containment, having burned 235, 841 putting it less than 5,000 acres shy of being the third largest fire in Californian history, go here to see the LA Times article.The latest update from Inciweb on the Rim Fire may be found here. Full containment is estimated to be a few weeks away.

Here are a couple of articles that Mike Archer of Firebombers Publications shared yesterday and today. As I was writing this article, I saw that Mike Archer linked to the above LA Times article today.

time lapse video on flickr by Jeff Sullivan

USA Today (9/2/13) article on the fire referencing # of personal, equipment and helos working the fire

KMPH 9/1/13 report and video on the role of Fresno AAB and a hotshot crew

Fox News (9/2/13, Associated Press) on how weather has affected firefighters working the fire

Stay safe everyone!

Revised on October 12, 2015 to removed a dead link.

RIP Tanker 09: I remember

direct link to video

I had only been writing my blog on aerial wildland firefighting for about three months and was reading about Neptune's P2-V tankers in early April of 2009 when I learned about the crash of Neptune's P2-V T-09. Information about the crash was in some material that I had. So, I made my first of many posts about fatal tanker and helo crashes on April 4, 2009 in a post called In Memoriam: Tanker 09. Words escaped me at the time and they still do.

Tanker 09 crashed while working the Smitty Fire on Sept. 1, 2008. Five years ago today. Lost that day, but not forgotten were:

Gene Walhstrom

Greg Gonsioroski

Zachary Vandergriend

I think of you often, especially when I go on one of air experience flights. I pray for your family and friends often. I know that you are flying in favorable tail winds. 

There is a nice page on T-09 on Always Remember

Aerial application cockpit footage from an AT-502

A friend of mine sent me a link to the video that I am embedding here. He knew that I would enjoy the footage, which I did. And he thought that some of you might enjoy this footage. Allow for a tad under 17 minutes to watch the video which includes some classic rock audio, including "Sky Pilot".


direct link to video

Rim Fire (CA) - Aug 28

The Rim Fire has burned 187,466 acres and is at 23 percent containment per the latest update available to me from Inciweb at the time I first wrote this article. (Inciweb's incident page for the Rim Fire is no longer available).

Rim Fire Time Lapse (video uploaded on Aug 23, 2013)

direct link to video on youtube

Another look at a California National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk from the 1-140th Aviation Battalion (Air Assault) working the Rim Fire shot from the helo by Mater Sgt. Julie Avery.

direct link to video on dvidshub

DC-10 dropping on Rim Fire

direct link to video on youtube

Rim Fire Photo gallery from KCRA

Bill Gabbert (Wildfire Today) on virtual tour of the Rim Fire area
Bill Gabbert (Fire Aviation) photos of Nat Guard Helos arriving to work Rim Fire


More articles:
Article from U.S. Air Force on MAFFS deploying to CA to help with wildfires with pictures
LA TImes article on Rim Fire, may soon be sixth largest fire in CA history

Revised on October 12, 2015 to remove dead link.

Rim Fire update - 8/26/13

I wrote this past Friday (Aug. 23) about the Rim Fire, I follow up on that post here. According to the latest information available from inciweb about the Rim Fire  (8/26/13, 3:30 PM EDT), this fire has burned 149,750 acres with 15 percent containment (see note at bottom). Tankers deployed to the fire include but are not limited to MAFFs, DC-10 tankers, and helos. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today continues to provide updates about the Rim Fire here.

I am embedding two videos, the first is shot from a UH-60 Black Hawk Helo from the 1-140th Battalion (Air Assault) of the California Army National Guard (videographer, Sgt. 1st ClassJesse Flag. More information about the fire, the crew of the UH-60 and what you are seeing on the video may be found on the about this video page for this video (from California Guard). I happened to find this video on youtube earlier this afternoon, however Mike Archer of Firebomber Publications also mentioned this same video in today's edition of Firebomber Publications. The link that Mike shared for this video is from OC Breeze, and this same video may also be found on dvidshub.

The second video is footage of MAFFS 6 working the Rim Fire. MAFFS 6 is from the Channel Islands (CA) Air National Guard. Bill Gabbert shared this video along with two other videos of MAFFS working the Rim Fire on Fire Aviation on Aug. 23, 2013.

direct link to video

Revised on October 12, 2015 to removed dead link. Specifically, I removed the link to Inciweb's incident page on the Rim Fire. If I recall, incident pages on Inciweb are removed 6 to 12 months from the time of the last update to the incident page.

Rim Fire (near Yosemite in CA)

The Rim  has been burning since Aug. 17 and is at 2 percent containment. KCRA is reporting that the fire grew to 105,620 acres over night, go here for their report. I understand that tankers and helos working the Rim Fire include (but are not necessarily limited to) at least one of the DC-10 tankers, C-130 MAFFS, and helos.

KCRA has good coverage on the Rim Fire and other fires in northern CA. Here are some links that you might be interested in:

• video report from McClellan Tanker Base
• report on Rim Fire (8/23/13, 7:36AM PDT
• slide show of Northern CA Fires including Rim and American Fires
• Live Wire on No.CA wildfires

Other pages:

• Wildfire Today article on Rim Fire
• Wildland Fire hotlist continuing incident thread on Rim Fire.

Revised on December 10, 2015 to remove dead links including dead link to inciweb page on Rim Fire.

Next Generation Tankers: Coulson, Minden, and Erickson Aero Air

Because of some work being done on my house, I was sitting in the dark for much of the afternoon while the Electrician did some work on our electric service. Power now restored. Then had to take care of some other business relating to this same construction project before the end of the day. I've been meaning to post something about a couple of the Next Generation Tankers, so this seemed like a good time to do it.

Coulson

Coulson recently released this video of their C-130 Next Generation Tanker doing a partial drop


direct link to video

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation has posted a few articles with some great pictures of Coulson's C-130 Next Generation Tanker, go here to read his articles about Coulson's C-130

Minden

Minden Air has also released a video of their BAe-146 Next Generation Tanker, which they have dubbed the Fireliner.


direct link to Minden's article with this video.

Minden has redesigned their webpage, and they have a webpage for their Fireliner that includes specifications. Bill Gabbert wrote about Minden's Fireliner here.

Erickson Aero Air Tanker MD-87


direct link to video

Finally, Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation wrote an update on the Next Generation Tankers on July 10.
Those of you who have not already read Bill's update might want to take a few minutes to check it out.

Douglas Complex (OR) -- video from the fireline

direct link to video on youtube

My friend, Steve Konrad, sent me a link to a video that he recently uploaded to youtube. He is a member of the Tom Fery #1 crew that was deployed to the Douglas Complex fire in OR in late July and early August. Please take a moment to go to the youtube link for this video and expand the about this video description to read more about what Steve says about the video, especially the thank-you to the people of Glendale OR for their support and kindness According to his description, you will see

the crew dig hand line in initial attack,remove burning hazard trees and call in air support on what was then the largest fire in the nation at over 45,000 acres.

Oh and you also see what I think is a Kaman K-1200 helo with a longline.

I'd like to say a special thank-you to Steve and the rest of the fine folk on the Tom Fery # 1 crew for allowing us to see what it is like to work a wildland fire on the ground. Stay safe!

Idaho wildfires update

Video that I originally embedded here is no longer available and the link is removed (8/2/15)

Continuing to follow up on the wildfires burning in Idaho, see my earlier posts on Aug 13 and Aug 15, there continue to be a few large wildfires burning in Idaho, see the Idaho page on inci web for current information. These are the three largest fires:

Beaver Creek Fire -- 92,754 acres burned -- 6% contained
Elk Complex -- 125,033 acres burned --  50% contained
Pony Complex -- 149,384 acres burned -- 90% contained

My thoughts and prayers are extended to all affected by the wildfires in Idaho and the groundpounders and their friends in the air. I understand that there are tankers and helos working the fires

From the Idaho Statesmen: article dated Aug 17, photo gallery, and video

KBOI report from August 16 on evacuations resulting from the Beaver Creek Fire.

Aerial footage of wildfires in Idaho

I'm not sure how long this embed code from KTVB in Boise, Idaho will work. Nonetheless, I was interested in this footage that I just came across thanks to Michael Archer's Fire Publications Blog, so I am sharing it here. The footage, shot on August 14, shows the extent of the destruction from the wildfires that are currently burning in Idaho. I wrote about the Idaho wildfires the other day.

.
 direct link to article with video from KTVB

Images from the Silver Fire (CA) now contained

I came across this video the other day in my wonderings on the web. It was shot on or about August 8, raw video of the now contained Silver Fire. This is footage of the fire itself, groundpounders, a tanker and helos, and images of the destruction caused by the fire.


direct link to video from PE digital on youtube

MAFFS training

It is a little late for MAFFS training, but I was looking for something a little different to post today as I was busy today with an ongoing construction project at my home.

Enjoy!

Idaho wildfires tanker and helo activity

direct link to video

I am sure that some of you no doubt know about the multiple large wildfires burning in Idaho. Bill Gabbert has been doing a nice job of reporting on these fires here. The two largest are the Pony Complex (143,900 acres burned) and the Elk Complex (98,413 acres burned). A complete current listing of wildfires on federal lands in Idaho may be found on inciweb's Idaho page. I came across the video that I am sharing with you here yesterday evening of tanker and helo ops in Idaho so I am sharing it with you.

Opps, almost forgot. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are among the states that have sent wildland firefighting crews to Idaho to help out, see this report (dated Aug. 6) from WGAL news 8 for more info.

update on Silver Fire (southern CA)

I want to follow up on the Silver Fire that I wrote about last Friday (Aug 9). I understand that wildland firefighting crews, both on the ground and in the air, are making progress on the Silver Fire that has burned 20,292 acres near Banning Pass in Riverside County CA. As I write this the fire is at 95 percent containment. A total of 48 buildings have been destroyed including 26 residences. Twelve people have been injured, 11 firefighters and one civilian. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Full containment may come later today. See the latest update from CAL FIRE for more information

A story that I just found on KABC in LA  on the Slive Fire may be found here.

Revised on October 12, 2015 to remove a dead link.

A-26 tankers in Canada: what’s coming up and when

I recently gave some examples of A-26 Invader Air Tankers that began their service in the U.S. before going to Canada. (see part 1 on August 5 and part 2 on August 7)I’m still working on this part of my series on A-26 tankers in Canada as I write this. That being said, I know that I’ll have articles about three Canadian companies that flew A-26 tankers -- Conair, Kenting, and Air Spray -- focusing on their A-26 operations. In addition, I’ll be writing one or more articles on some specifications and (hopefully) other flight characteristics of A-26 tankers. I’m still in the process of doing some research on the flight characteristics of A-26 tankers in Canada. I’d like to post the rest of this series when I have all articles completed. So, I’m not quite sure when I will be resuming this series, perhaps a couple of weeks, perhaps longer.

Silver Fire (southern CA)

direct link to video from the Envenomater1 on Youtube

I am taking a short time out from my series on the A-26 Invader Tankers, to return either later today or tomorrow, to share this on scene footage of the Silver Fire shot on Aug. 7 by Nick Mitchell (aka the Envenomater1).

As I write this article, the Silver Fire has burned 16,000 acres in Riverside County CA near Banning Pass, 27 structures (26 residences) are destroyed. Six people, five firefighters and one civilian, have been injured. The fire was first reported on August 7 about 2 PM PDT and is currently at 25 percent containment. See this CAL FIRE incident page for more information.

A-26 Tankers that started service in the U.S. and went to Canada (2 of 2)

I continue where I left off on August 5 by writing about A-26 tankers that started out flying in the U.S before going to Canada in the early to mid 1970s. 

Thomas W. Hammon (contractor and pilot) to Kenting

Sometime in 1970 a private contractor and pilot from Arizona, Thomas W. Hammon acquired two A-26 Invaders from Donaire Inc. (also from Arizona): serial # 44-35752, registration N8627E and serial # 44-34136, registration N8017E. While owned by Donaire, N8017E flew as tanker # C32. Based on the information in the page devoted to Thomas W. Hammon from the napoleon130 A-26 invader tanker site it seems that Hammon had these Invaders for a couple of seasons. I don’t know how Hammon used these Invaders. Did he fly one as a tanker on contract somewhere in the U.S., perhaps N8017E as Donaire had flown her as tanker # C32 from 1966 to 1969? 

Kenting Aviation acquired both of these Invaders from Hammon in late spring/summer of 1972. From what I can gather, Kenting had these two Invaders for two seasons (1972 and 1973), flying at least one as a tanker before selling both of them to Conair after the 1973 season. 

Warbirds Registry for serial # 44-35752

Warbirds Registry for serial # 44-34136

George H. Stell (Arizona) to O. Huitikka (Ontario) to Air Spray

Air Spray had a number of A-26 Invaders that they flew as air tankers. In a few days, I’ll write an article or two on Air Spray’s A-26 fire bombing operations with more information including links. Stay tuned.

Serial # 44-35661, U.S registration N9996Z. Invader N9996Z interests me because I first saw a record of her in a listing of tankers in “Forest Fire Air Attack System” by William T. Larkins, American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) Journal (Vol. 9#3, Fall 1964). Specifically, she was on a list of tankers that flew on contract for the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona and New Mexico (then known as region 3) in 1963 (170).  

Knowing from Larkins’ listing that she was flying for Donaire in 1963, I started by going to the Donaire Page on the napoleon130 A-26 invader tanker site. This listing confirms Larkin’s information, noting that she started her service as a tanker in the U.S. with Donaire (Arizona) in 1963 flying as tanker # C11. It appears that Donaire flew her as a tanker for one more year, 1964. There is no indication of what she was doing in 1965. In 1966, she was acquired by George H. Stell (Arizona) who flew her as tanker # C11 from 1966 through 1972. Sometime in 1972, Stell sold her to O. Huitikka of Ontario Canada where she was reregisterd as CF-CBK. I can’t tell from this listing how Huitikka used her. Finally in 1979, she was acquired by Air Spray where she reregistered as C-FCBK in 1985. She was flown as Air Spray tanker # 11 until she was listed as destroyed in a landing accident with no fatalities in 2004.

Warbirds Registry for serial # 44-35661

Nine lost on Iron 44 Helo crash five years ago . . .

Five years ago today we lost nine in a helo crash on the Iron 44 incident

Roark Schwanenberg
Jim Ramage
Scott Charlson
Shawn Blazer
Matthew Hammer
David Steele
Edrik Gomez
Steven Renno
Bryan Rich


direct link to video

Always Remember page on Iron 44

I won't forget you. . .

A-26 Tankers that started service in the U.S. and went to Canada (1 of 2)

As I transition to writing about the A-26 Invaders long service as a tanker in Canada, I thought that it might be interesting to look some examples of individual A-26 Invaders that were owned by U.S. Companies who had tanker contracts that were later sold to Canadian companies in the early to mid 1970s.  

I will start today by writing about A-26 tankers that started service in the U.S. before going to Conair Aviation of Abbotsford, British Columbia. On August 7, I will finish up by writing about U.S. A-26 tankers that eventually went to Kenting (Ontario Canada) and Air Spray (Red Deer, Alberta).

Aero Union leases A-26 Invader to Conair

If you check out the napoleon130 A-26 invader tanker site has a page devoted to Aero Union you will see that Aero Union sold a number of A-26 Invaders to Conair in the 1970s. With one exception that I’ll go into soon, I don’t know how Aero Union used most of these Invaders so I am not including them here. 

Serial # 44-35323, U.S. registration N8026E. Aero Union acquired N8026E from Aeroflight sometime in 1969, converted her for use as a tanker where she flew as T-55. Conair leased her from Aero Union for the 1970 season where she flew as T-55 under Canadian registration CF-CDD. In September 1970, the lease with Conair was up, Aero Union reregistered as N8026E where she flew as T-(C)55 through 1972. Dempsey acquired her in 1977 flying her as tanker # 55 for one or perhaps two seasons.The napoleon130 A-26 invader tanker site has a page devoted to Aero Union where information on T-55 is given in the first aircraft listing. Warbird Registry on # 44-35323

Butler to Conair

Butler Aviation had two A-26 Invaders that were flown as tankers, both of which were later sold to Conair sometime in 1975.

Butler acquired the first A-26 Invader (serial # 44-3413, U.S. registration N5457V) used as a tanker (see First A-26 Tanker in the U.S.) in 1966, flying her first as tanker # A20 and later as tanker #16 for several seasons Butler last flew her as a tanker in 1974 or 1975. In 1975, she was acquired by Conair where she flew as tanker # 23 until 1988. At the time I write this article, the last information I have is that she is currently owned by Black Crow Aviation, go here for more information on her history.

Butler’s second A-26 tanker was serial # 43-22673, U.S. registration N9159Z acquired in 1966 apparently from Hillcrest Aviation (Oregon). Butler flew her first as tanker # F18 and later as tanker # 18 until she was acquired by Conair in 1975 (Canadian registration C-GLHM) Conair tanker # 24). Sadly, she crashed in July 1975 (listed as destroyed)  while flying a wildfire. 

The napoleon130 A-26 invader tanker site has a page devoted to Butler where there is information for both Invaders. However, that listing for serial # 44-3413 does not reflect her ownership by Black Crow Aviation. Warbird Registry on #44-3413 (does not reflect ownership by Black Crow).and Black Crow has a page with her latest history see Black Crow history of #44-3413.

First A-26 Tanker in the U.S. - N5457V

The first A-26 to serve as a tanker in the U.S. (N5457V, serial # 44-3413), is now owned by Black Crow Aviation who is restoring it to U.S. military configuration. Black Crow has a publicly available Facebook page here, as I write this the last update was in March 2013  Black Crow has a page with her history here (note that she is or was up for sale). Prior to being owned by Black Crow she was owned by David Lane, a former Air Spray tanker pilot who flew her at air shows and the like until the costs got to be prohibitive. 

The napoleon130 A26 invader tanker site has a nice page with her history up to the time of David’s ownership along with some great photos of her at various times over her long life. The photos are great and I hope that you will take a few moments to look at these pictures. The Warbird's Registry also a page on her history, also up and including David Lane's ownership here. If I am not mistaken the individual aircraft history pages on both of these sites rely heavily on information from: 

Chapman, John and; Goodall, Geoff, Edited by Paul Coggan - Warbirds Directory, Warbirds Worldwide Ltd., Mansfield, England, 1989. Goodall, Geoff - Warbirds Directory-4th Edition, 2003

I tried and was unable to borrow a copy of the 1989 and/or the 2003 edition through my local library.