NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engine deployments (Aug 22th): new assignments

Thanks to my friends at the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page who have been posting updates on where the four New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) type-4 engines are currently deployed along with pictures and fire summaries.

On Monday August 20th, the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association shared that the two engines (A29 and T5) that are assigned to Elko District of the Bureau of Land Management where assigned to the Sheep Creek Fire about 15 miles northeast of Battle Mountain, Nevada (go here for the August 20th Facebook Post from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association). According to their August 22nd post, the Sheep Creek Fire is at 59,789 acres with 70 percent containment. The inciweb incident page for the Sheep Creek Fire may be found here with some photos, a map and other information. According to an update on the Sheep Creek Fire available on their inciweb page there are three helicopters work the fire. The Elko Daily Free Press ---- thanks NJFFS A2 Firefighters Assoc for the link to the article -- has a nice article about the Sheep Creek Fire, burning in Landers County, published on August 21st.

On Monday August 20th I shared some photos taken by one of the crew of the two NJFFS service engines (B45 and T9) that were then deployed as a part of strike team on the Carr Fire. According to the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association in an August 21st Facebook post engines B45 and T9 were released from the Carr Fire and deployed to the Stone Fire, and they posted an update on August 22nd about the Stone Fire. There is an inciweb page for the Stone Fire, as of today's update on inciweb, the Stone Fire has burned 29,504 acres at 20 percent containment with four helicopters working the fire and air tankers as needed.

I continue to be so very proud of the engine crews and their support vehicles for all the good work they are doing helping with the wildfires out west. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engine deployment (Aug 20th): Carr Fire

Two type-4 engines from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) continue to be assigned to the Carr Fire (near Redding and Shasta/Trinity California). As I write this the Carr Fire, burning in and near the National Park Service Whiskeytown National Recreation area. As I write this the Carr Fire has burned 229,651 acres and is at 88 percent containment. According to post on Facebook from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association on August 19th, the two NJFFS type-4 engines are a part of strike team with engine crews from: New Jersey, Oregon, Arizona, Michigan, Colorado, and a firefighter from New Zealand.  I thank all of the members of this strike team for the work you are doing fighting the Carr Fire. 

My friend, Ed Seifert from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for sending me several great photos from the NJFFS engine crew. All the photos are courtesy of Kenny Lunden.  I believe that the photos were taken on or about August 18th. These are great photos and will take you inside and up close to the Carr Fire as seen by the NJFFS engine crews. Thanks to Kenny for the great photos. Thank-you Ed Seifert from sending me these photos so that I can share them with you here.

I am so very proud of the whole strike team with a special shout out to the the NJFFS wildland firefighters from New Jersey. Thank-you for your service and stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engines deployed (Aug 17th)

As I write this post, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) continues to have four type-4 engines and two support vehicles deployed out west.

NJFFS engines A29 and T5 along with car 37 are assigned to the Wells Fire Station in the Elko District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). I understand from a post that the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association made on their Facebook Page on August 16th that these two engines were deployed to the Thousand Springs Fire north of Wells, Nevada on August 15th along with an airtanker. As of yesterday afternoon, the Thousand Springs Fire had burned 31.99 acres. Containment information is not known. More photos are available at an August 15th Facebook post by the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association.

I understand that NJFFS engines B45 and T9 continue to be assigned to the Carr Fire (217,598 acres burned at 75 percent containment) burning near Redding California.

Thank-you to all of the NJFFS crew of the engines and support vehicles working out west. Stay safe. We appreciate what you are doing to help crew out west fight wildfires.

2018 California Wildfires: firefighter fatalities

I suspect that many of you know that as of the date I am writing this post that six firefighters have died fighting wildfires in California so far this fire season.


Transcript available here.

The identity of the sixth fire fighter was not known at the time of the NPR report, he was later identified as Matthew Burchett (42) from Utah, a battalion chief with the Draper City Fire Department, see this August 14th report from KQED for more information.

Please pause for a moment and offer your thoughts, meditations, prayers, and reflections for the following firefighters and their family, friends, colleagues and all who love them.

• Braden Varney, killed in the Ferguson Fire.
• Brian Hughes, killed in the Ferguson Fire.
• Andrew Brake, killed in auto accident on way to Carr Fire.
• Don Ray Smith, killed in the Carr Fire.
• Jeremy Stoke, killed in the Carr Fire.
• Matthew Burchett, killed in the Mendocino Complex Fire.

May your rest in peace Braden, Brian, Andrew, Don, Jeremy, and Matthew. Your service and sacrifice won't be forgotten. I pray especially for all of your loved ones who are mourning your passing.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 NJS #2 crew is home & engines still deployed (August 13)

The 20 person crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) that was deployed to the Red Canyon Fire in Colorado ended ended their service on or about August 11th and flew home on Sunday (see this post on the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page. Before flying home, the crew visited the Storm King Mountain Memorial site where 14 firefighters died on Storm King Mountain fighting the South Canyon Fire in 1994 (see the post from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page on August 11th for some photos). Thank-you for your service on the Red Canyon Fire. Enjoy a well deserved rest and time with your friends and family.

The NJFFS type 4 engines and two support cars continue to be deployed out west. Engines A29 and T5 along with car 37 continue to be available for initial attack out of Wells Fire Station in the BLM Elko Nevada District. The arrived at the Wells Fire Station on or about August 4th, I understand from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook page (go here and here) that the two engines were deployed to work initial attack this morning on an 1/10th of an acre fire in the Elko district along with an air attack plane, putting the fire out an hour or so after they were deployed to the fire. This is just the incident that I know about, I expect that they have worked initial attack since they arrived at Wells Fire Station last week. Thank-you for your service.

Engines B45 and T9 and an unknown support car continue to work the Carr Fire near Redding California (202,976 acres at 61 percent containment). They arrived at the Carr Fire on or about July 30th. Thank-you for your service.

IMETs in action: August 10th

We are in the height of the summer wildfire season in the western United States, so the NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) have been busy this week. Before I get to that, I want to share a couple of Facebook posts on what IMETs do from the NWS IMET Facebook Page.

On August 10th the NWS IMET on Facebook shared a nice informational post with a graphic and a couple of photos on what IMETs do. Among the things that IMETs do are: issuing weather watches and forecasts, doing crew briefings, radio updates, assisting with weather stations, media interviews and public meetings. If you have been following my blog posts on IMETs, then you know about weather balloon launches done by IMETs, here is a Facebook post from US Forest Service Sierra National Forest Facebook page that I found on the NWS IMET Facebook page recently, it is a short video where you learn about weather balloon launches and how an IMET uses the data gathered from the balloon launch.

There have been several IMETs deployed to wildfires since August 6th. In the interest of time and accuracy, I am only linking to the deployment post from the NWS IMET Facebook Page, if you want more information about the specific wildfire you may follow the links in the post on the NWS IMET Facebook Page.

August 6th deployments
NWS Columbia South Carolina IMET to the Rattlesnake Creek Fire near Riggins, Idaho.
NWS San Francisco Bay IMET to the Carr Fire near Redding, California.
NWS Southern Region HQ IMET to Medocino Complex near Potter Valley, California.
NWS Spokane Washington IMET to Crescent Mountain Fire near Winthrop, Washington.
NWS Las Vagas Nevada IMET to Donnell Fire near Dardanelle, California.

August 7th deployments
NWS Western Region HQ IMET to Coal Hollow Fire near Price, Utah.
NWS Eureka California IMET to Mendocino Complex near Potter Valley, California

August 9th deployments
NWS Blacksburg Virginia IMET enroute to South Umpqua Complex near Days Creek, Oregon.
NWS Medford Oregon IMET Trainee enroute to Carr Fire near Redding, California.
NWS Portland Oregon IMET enroute to Maple Fire near Hoodsort, Washington.

IMETs save lives. Thanks to all the IMETs who are currently working wildfires to give important weather forecasts, briefings, etc to wildland firefighters. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 crews and engine deployment (Aug 8th)

For the past few days I have been posting about the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) crews and type 4 enginse that are deployed in the western United States, see for example my August 4th update, my update on August 6th on NJS#2, and my update on August 6th about the two type-4 engines at BLM Elko Nevada Wells Fire Station. To the best of my knowledge the status of these resources are unchanged.

• NJS#2 continues to work the Red Canyon Fire (5,766 acres at 88 percent containment) that is burning 30 miles south of Rangely, Colorado. This crew was deployed on July 27th. Rains over the weekend helped to increase the containment of this fire.
• To the best of my knowledge, NJFFS type 4 engines A29 and T5 and car 37 continue to be staged at the Wells Fire Station in the BLM Elko (Nevada) District. I think but am not sure that they do not have an assignment as I write this and may be working initial attack out of the the Elko Interagency Dispatch Center (see this August 7th post from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page
• NJFFS type 4 engines B45 and T9 and an unknown support vehicle continue to work the Carr Fire burning near Redding, California (173,522 acres at 47 percent containment). I am sure that many of you have seen various media reports about this fire, here are two links I thought you might enjoy, one is a video and slide show from express.co.uk in the United Kingdom and the second are some photos of the California wildfires from space (Space.com)

For all of my friends from the NJFFS who are working these fires or working initial attack at Elko, thank-you for all you do. I am glad that you are helping out. That is what mutual aid is all about. While New Jersey has not recently had any fires requiring mutual aid from out of state, we have had several weather events that lead to massive power failures, where utility crews came from across the United States to help us.  

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engine deployment (Aug 6th): Engines at BLM Elko Wells Fire Station

Those of you who have been following along on the travels and staging of two New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Type 4 engines may recall from my August 4th post that engines A29, T5 and car 37 arrived in Idaho last Friday, August 3rd and were released from the Sharps Fire. The were deployed to the Wells Fire Station in the BLM Elko Nevada district. I believe that they are still staged at the Wells Fire Station. My friend from the NJFFS Division A sent along some photos from the engines staged at the Wells Fire Station. I believe that the photos were taken sometime over the weekend. These photos are courtesy of Eric Weber, NJFFS Section Warden A3. Beautiful country.

I am very glad that you are in Nevada helping out with any wildfires near Elko, Nevada. I am so proud of you. You represent New Jersey well. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 crew deployment (Aug 6th): NJS#2 at Red Canyon Fire

The NJS#2 (New Jersey Forest Fire Service) crew continues to work the Red Canyon Fire (5,766 acres, 74 percent containment), 30 miles south of Rangely, Colorado. According to today's Interagency Resource Representative Crew Report from the Eastern Area Coordination Center they are assigned to Division G doing hotspotting; digging, securing, and holding line. A friend of mine from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS), Division A was kind enough to send me some photos from the Red Canyon Fire and the Spike Camp where NJS#2 is staying while not on the fireline. The photos are courtesy of Roger Kirchner, NJFFS Division A District Fire Warden.

Thank-you NJS#2 crew for working the Red Canyon Fire, you honor New Jersey with your service and I am proud of you. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 engines deployed in western U.S.: Aug 4th update

I am writing a brief follow-up to the post I made on August 3rd about New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Engines currently on deployed to fight wildfires in the western United States. To the best of my knowledge, two type 4 engines from the NJFFS continue to be assigned to the Carr Fire near Redding California (141,825 acres burned at 41 percent containment).

I understand from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page in a post to their page on August 4th that NJFFS engines A29 and T5 along with car 37 were released from the Sharps fire in Idaho late in the afternoon or early evening of August 3rd. Recall that they arrived at the incident command post for the Sharps Fire around mid-day on August 3rd. They are currently staged at the Bureau of Land Management Office in Elko, Nevada awaiting assignment. Here is a nice post, also from the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association on their Facebook page earlier this morning with a thank-you note thanking them for all they do.

I'd like to thank a friend who sent me a link to an article from the Press of Atlantic City reporting on NJFFS wildland firefighters from southern New Jersey who are currently on deployed out west working wildfires out west, including but not limited to the Carr Fire, the article may be found here (there is a paywall, you have a limited number of free views each month).

Thank-you NJFFS engines, support vehicles and crews for doing a great job representing New Jersey as you work wildfires out west or are awaiting assignment. Thank-you to all the crews working these wildfires, some of you have traveled from other states or countries to work these wildfires. Stay safe.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 about engines deployed in western U.S.

On August 1st, I wrote about the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) crews and engines that are deployed in the Western United States. To the best of my knowledge the NJFFS crew, aka NJS#2, is still working the Red Canyon Fire (5,766 acres burned). For those of you who are interested, here is a video update posted on Inciweb (August 3rd, midday). According to the latest Eastern Area Interagency Resources Representative (IARR) for the Eastern Area Coordination Center (link to current IARR on main page) the NJS#2 crew is doing "hotspotting, digging, securing, and holding control lines."

I want to write a little about the engines that NJFFS sent out west. Recall that two type 4 engines from the NJFSS arrived in California on July 30th and are currently assigned to the Carr Fire near Redding CA (131,896 acres burned at 39 percent containment, 1,067 residence destroyed, two firefighters and four civilians dead). The two NJFFS type 4 engines that left New Jersey on July 31st for Idaho to work the Sharps Fire near Bellevue Idaho (57,253 acres, 29 percent containment) arrived at the incident command past for the Sharpes Fire shortly after noon local time.

I asked a friend from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for a little more information on the four engines sent out west and what is their usual assignment in New Jersey. For a little geography the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is divided in three divisions, you may see the map here.

Assigned to the Carr Fire: two type 4 engines: B45 from Division B (central NJ), and T9 from Division C (southern NJ). B-45 carries 900 gallons of water and T9 carries 1,000 gallons of water. For those that are interested, both have a 2011 Freightliner chassis.  There is a picture of T9 from NorCal Fire Weather shared by NJFFS Section A2 Fire Association on Facebook the other day that may be found here. In addition there is a support vehicle, probably a pick-up truck that traveled with B45 and T9, I don't have any further information.

Assigned to the Sharps Fire: two type 4 engines: A29 from Division A (northern NJ, I live in Division A), and T9 from Division C (southern NJ). Both are type 4 engines with 1,000 gallon tanks. Like the two type 4 engines assigned to the Carr Fire, they have a 2011 Freightliner chassis. The crews that traveled out west sent along photos to the NJFFS Section A2 Fire Association on Facebook, here is a nice photo shot at a the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument east of Laramie Wyoming on August 2nd of the two engines and their support vehicle, car 37 (2017 Chevy Pick-up, 4 door, 4x4).

Some of you may be interested in reading more about wildland fire engines such as the NJFFS Type 4 engines. I asked my friend from the NJFFS for some more information to share with you about their engines, and he sent me along a link to Chapter 14 from the latest (2018) Redbook (Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations) on Firefighting Equipment, you may find a chart describing the different engine types on the third page of that chapter. You may read about other equipment in this nine-page chapter.

In addition, my friend sent along a second link (42 pages) from the USDA Forest Service of Apparatus Body Only Specifications for Type 4 Fire Apparatus, found here. This document may be more information than you want to know, but some of you might be interested in looking through this document. This link was current at the time I posted this article.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 crew and engine deployment (Aug. 1st)

I am still interested in following New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews and engines deployed to wildfires in the Western United States. I was aware, thanks to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page and the NJFFS A2 Firefighters Association Facebook Page (NJFFS A2) (see for example this post on the crew deployed to the Red Canyon Fire in Colorado and a post about two more engines currently enroute to Idaho).

Knowing that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has crews and engines deployed or on their way to work wildfires out west, I was looking for one place where I could find information to share with you. I poked around on the Eastern Area Coordination Center website and found a resource summary (dated August 1st) that lists all crews and engines from the eastern area that are committed to wildfires outside the eastern area. I suspect that this page is updated daily while resources are deployed outside the area, so what you see may be different. Engines and crews from New Jersey deployed outside the eastern area are:

• NJS#2 crew currently working the Red Canyon Fire 30 miles south of Rangely CO, 3,075 acres (pictures and August 1st update from NJFFS A2)
• Two Type 4 engines and crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service arrived in California sometime on July 30th and are assigned to the Carr Fire (near Redding CA), for a photo taken of one of the NJFFS engines see this post August 1st post from the NJFFS A2. 115,538 acres burned at 35 percent containment. Structures destroyed: 1,018 residences, 12 commercial, and 435 outbuildings. Evacuations remain in place. Two firefighters and four civilians have died.
• Finally, there are two more type 4 engines from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service that left New Jersey on July 31st to work the Sharps Fire near Bellevue, Idaho (38,360 acres at 21 percent containment). As of early afternoon on August 1st they were in Elkhard, Indiana refueling (from NJFFS A2).

I am honored that these wonderful men and women from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, and their engines (as applicable) are helping fight these wildfires out west. I am proud of all of you. Stay safe. 

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 Crew Deployment: July 27th to CA and CO

The crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service that spent some time in Utah fighting wildfires, including but not necessarily limited to time spent fighting the Dollar Ridge Fire in Utan (see my July 13th article) is now back in New Jersey. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank this crew, which I believe was called NJS#1 (New Jersey State Crew # 1) for their service. I understand that they also worked widlfires in Idaho, Nevada, and Texas. I am proud that you represented New Jersey in helping our friends out west fight wildfires. More importantly that you came home safely to your family and friends. Thank-you.

On Friday, July 27th a second crew from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJS#2) left from Newark-Liberty International and Philadelphia International bound for Colorado on what is expected to be a two-week assignment. As I understand it this crew was initially deployed to the Lake Christine Fire (Basalt, Colorado) that has burned 12,588 acres and is at 82 percent containment. According to the July 29th Eastern Area Interagency Resource Representative (IARR) Crew Report from the Eastern Area Coordination Center (updated daily while eastern area crews are out on assignment), the crew from New Jersey was demobilized from the Lake Christine Fire and on July 29th and was being deployed to the Whiskey Creek Fire (Baxter, CO). I understand that the Whiskey Creek Fire is a new start, so I am not surprised that I have not been able to find any information on this fire. I will do my best with the resources available to me, to find information on the Whiskey Creek fire and will update you at that time.

Also on Friday, July 27th two New Jersey Forest Fire Service engine crews left Friday afternoon July 27th to drive to California where they are expected to help out with the Carr Fire burning near Redding, California (98,724 acres at 20 percent containment). Two firefighters have died, and I understand from media reports that three civilians from the same family have died. Over 700 structures have been destroyed. Mandatory evacuations are in place. Images from Carr Fire, KRCR ABC7, Update from KRCR, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today on Carr Fire (July 29th with links to his earlier articles)

I say again, that I am proud of the NJFFS crews that are currently working the Whiskey Creek Fire in Colorado and for our two engine crews heading to help fight the Carr Fire. State safe.

For more information on the New Jersey Forest Fire Service crew deployments out west on July 27th see this press release.

Please, please evacuate if you receive a mandatory evacuation order.

2018 Wildfire Season in Europe: July 27th/28th

While wildfires continue to burn in the Western United States including but not limited to California (see my July 27th article), I want to write a follow-up on my July 25th article on wildfires currently or recently burning in Europe. I found some articles, hopefully all in English, about some of the wildfires burning in Europe. I will include them here for you so you may peruse or not at your leisure.

Europe in general

• BBC video, wildfires rage across Europe.
• BBC report and video, wildfires burn across Southern Europe
• European Union responds to wildfires in Europe (from DW)

Sweden

• From NATO on wildfires in Sweden
• Staying safe from wildfires in rural Sweden (from The Local SE)

Portugal

• BBC video report, drone footage of wildfires in Portugal
• BBC report and video: wildfire survivor in Portugal speaks

Italy: BBC report and video of wildfires in Sicily, Italy

Spain: BBC report and video of wildfires in Spain

Greece: CNN report, wildfires in Greece investigated for arson

2018 Wildfire Season: California Wildfires (July 27th)

I do want to follow-up on my July 25th article on the 2018 wildfire season in Europe, I will do so later tonight or tomorrow. But first, I do want to acknowledge some of the recent wildfire activity in California.

• The Ferguson Fire (Mariposa County) was first reported on July 13th. As I write this it has burned 45,911 acres and is at 29 percent containment. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place. National Weather Service (NWS)  Incident Meteorologist (IMET) from the NWS Anchorage Alaska deployed to Ferguson fire on July 25th and a second IMET, this one from the NWS Wilmington NC was deployed to this fire on July 25th.
• The Cranston Fire (Riverside County) was first reported on July 25th. As I write this it has burned 11,500 acres and is at 3 percent containment. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place.
• The Carr Fire (Shasta County) was first reported on July 23rd. As I write this it has burned 44,450 acres, 65 residences have been destroyed and 55 damaged. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place. NWS IMET from NWS Reno Nevada deployed to the Carr fire on July 25th

Stay safe everyone!

2018 Wildfire season in Europe

I believe that I learned about the wildfires that are burning in Greece yesterday. These wildfires are the worst that Greece has seen in ten years. At least 60 are dead and 100 are injured. I understand that Greece has asked for help from the European Union. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote about these wildfires in Greece on July 24th.


Direct link to BBC video on Youtube


Link to BBC video on Youtube

And it is not just Greece that is experiencing wildfires, Bill Gabbert reports on wildfires in Sweden on July 24th. There are also wildfires in Italy (see article 1, article 2, and article 3). Note these articles are in Italian and I had to use the translate feature on Google Chrome to get an English translation. There is also a wildfire burning in Cyprus, again I had to use the translate feature on Google Chrome to get an English translation. The links to articles about the wildfires in Italy and Cyprus are courtesy of Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day for July 24, 2018.

IMETs in action: July 23 2018

Wildfire activity is on the increase in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center the national (wildfire) preparedness level was raised to four (on a five point scale) as I write this blog post. National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists, aka IMETS, are always busy during wildfire season, this one being no exception. They are perhaps, a little busier with the national preparedness level being four.

Among recent IMET deployments, with links to fire information from Inciweb where available, are:

• NWS Western Region Headquarters IMET deployed to the Sugar Pine Fire (near Prospect Oregon) on July 19th, current fire information from Inciweb at 886 acres burned, containment unknown.
• NWS Ohio River Forecast Center IMET trainee deployed to Sugar Pine Fire (near Prospect Oregon on July 21st.
• NWS Burlington VT IMET deployed to Lake Christine Fire (near Basalt Colorado) on July 20th, current fire information from Inciweb at 11,459 acres at 32 percent containment.
• NWS Portland OR IMET deployed to Timber Crater Fire (near Chemult Oregon).
• NWS Hanford California IMET deployed to Horse Creek Fire (near Mineral King, California) on July 22nd, current fire information from Inciweb at 30 acres with no containment
• NWS Elko Nevada IMET deployed to Owyhee Fire (near Owyhee, Nevada) on July 22nd, current fire information from Inciweb at 5,082 acres at 10 percent containment.

IMETs save lives. Stay safe everyone, and thanks to the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air along with their support teams for working to keep us safe from wildfires.

Dean Talley (Part 3 of 3): Some of the Tankers that Dean Flew

Dean Talley flew a variety of types of air tankers over the course of more than 35 years. It is not my intent here to provide a history of these air tankers. Rather, my purpose here is to provide those of you who may be interested with more information and additional resources about some of the air tankers that Dean flew. I’ll start with some specific references to specific aircraft and contractors. Then I’ll move on to a couple of more general databases of historic and current air tankers. This information is only a partial listing of available information on these air tankers.

CAL FIRE

CAL FIRE has a very good website with a lot of links where you can go to for a variety of information. They do have a good section on history of the agency including a page on aviation history where you can learn about historic and current fixed wing aircraft. The California Pilots Association has a nice webpage on the agency’s current fixed wing aircraft with links to photos and videos.

AERO UNION

One of the contractors that used to have contracts with the US Forest Service for air tankers was Aero Union. Aero Union was founded in 1961 and over the years they had a variety of different aircraft that served as air tankers, including C-54/DC-4 tankers, a variation of the Lockheed P2V that Aero Union called the SP2H and the P3 Orion. I believe that Dean also flew the Lockheed P3 Orion. Here is a short video of an Aero Union P-3 making a drop. When I began writing about aerial wildland firefighting in 2009 the only type of aircraft left in their fleet were several P-3s. Aero Union lost its contract for P3s with the US Forest Service in 2011, permanently grounding Aero Union’s fleet of P3s. Wikipedia has a page on Aero Union that you may want to read.  A friend of mine, Scorched Sky Productions did a nice tribute video on Aero Union and the P3 Orion that you may find here.

MINDEN AIR CORPORATION

Minden, out of Reno Nevada had three Lockheed P2V Neptunes at one time. By 2013, there was only one P2 left in Minden’s stable, tanker 48. Dean Talley was flying tanker 48 for Minden up until the incident in 2014 with the collapsed nose gear. Dean and his co-pilot were flying the Shirley Fire just before the hydraulic failure resulting in the nose gear collapse with no injuries. There  is a short video taken of Tanker 48 over Shirley Fire just before nose gear collapse. Tanker 48 was taken out of service after the nose gear collapsed.

P2V NEPTUNES

A couple of different types of Lockheed P2V Neptune’s saw service as air tankers, flown by Aero Union, Minden Air, Neptune Aviation and other companies.. There is a nice webpage on P2V Neptune Airtankers with links to different contractors. For example, you may read about Minden Air’s and Aero Union’s air tankers.

My friend, Gordon Koenig was Dean’s co-pilot in Aero Union tanker 18 in 1996. Gordon spent a few years as captain flying Lockheed P2V Neptune air tankers for Neptune Aviation after he flew with Dean. Aero Union retired their P2V tankers several years ago. Gordon explained the difference between Neptune Aviation’s P2V tankers and Aero Union’s “SP2H” tankers in 1996 when he flew with Dean: 

Aero Union used to have 3 P2V's in the stable. They were modified by Aero Union to meet the California rule of being able to land loaded. They did things a bit differently at CAL FIRE (formerly known as the California Department of Forestry or CDF). When a smoke is spotted, they launch everything they have within a certain radius. Most everybody got cancelled on the way to the fire, unless the thing is huge and growing.

A loaded P2V, such as the one’s flown by Neptune Aviation (formerly Black Hills), is above its maximum landing weight. So, a cancelled dispatch in one of those P2's meant you had to pitch the load in the woods in order to land. Aero Union pulled off the jets and used only the inboard fuel tanks in order to meet the maximum landing weight. They were good airplanes, faster than the Black Hills model and they climbed better once you got them up to speed. Dean and I were flying an Aero Union version, which they called the SP2H. They sold them all and they have all now been scrapped.

That SP2H designation was borrowed from the Navy and has nothing to do with the real SP2H designation that the Navy used on some Neptune’s. I think Aero Union didn't know what to call their version and they wanted the agencies to be able to recognize and differentiate between theirs and the other P2's flying at the time. Aero Union especially wanted CDF to recognize the Aero Union version as an airplane that met the loaded landing requirements of a CDF contract.

OTHER DATABASES

There are two other databases that I use when I quickly need to find information online about historic air tankers. The first one I have already referenced in parts 1 and 2, that is Ruud Leeuw’s  database of air tankers including tanker number, contractor, type of aircraft, registration and c/n, and link to an outside (copyrighted) photograph. 

Another nice database of historic and some current air tanker types is by napoleon130 with some basic information along with a history of the development of the aircraft, specifications, and a photo. You start by going to napoleon130’s air tanker listing (by retardant capacity), find the tanker you are interested and click on the link. While some of the information found on this site is likely found elsewhere, I like it because it is one-step shopping.

Note: this is part 3 of a three-part series on Dean Talley.  Part 1 focuses on Dean the family man and tanker pilot, and part 2 focuses on remembrances of Dean from fellow tanker pilots. 

Dean Talley (Part 2 of 3): Remembrances From Fellow Tanker Pilots

Dean at the beach

There is no better way for you to know Dean than to read some remembrances shared by a couple of his long-time friends and fellow pilots.  I begin with the full remembrance given by my friend Jerome Laval at Dean’s memorial service on April 14, 2018. I share this with you with the permission of Jerome Laval (also on this Facebook post).

So long Dean…
Nancy, Stephen, Michelle, Laura: my sincere condolences and thank you for gathering all of us to celebrate Dean’s life. And what a great life he had. Ravi, thank you very much for the hangar. Very appropriate. Much appreciated. Knowing Dean, being around him and laughing with him were a privilege. I’m wearing a Hawaiian shirt to honor Dean and his lifestyle. I think he would approve and smile. 

I met Dean 20 years ago at a tanker base somewhere in the West when I was flying a C-130 for TBM. “Coming from France? Well that’s interesting… “ He said with a big smile. For few years we crossed paths and fought fires on the Fed side. In 2005 and 2006 he spent a lot of time in Chico where I was based with Walt Darran. So we got to know and appreciate each other. I also met Nancy and Christine. As you know this career is really tough on the family life. Wives or husbands and children should get more recognition for putting up with this lifestyle and all the sacrifices made so we can fly and drop retardant on fires all over the state or the country. Dean was a free spirit. As far as Aerial firefighting, he flew everything (O-2, OV-10, S-2, P-2, DC-4, P-3, Bae-146, S-2T…). He was a legendary tanker pilot. Very professional, passionate and excellent in his craft of fighting fires with aircraft.  We can all attest to that statement. A great sense of humor and always putting things in perspective. We laughed a lot at the base, coming up with ideas from “Thinking outside the box”… Way outside the box. Did you know Captain Dean O. Talley was a Fire Pirate? AAARRR !!! 

He was also a philosopher who followed the “Hu Khayr” philosophy. One can answer many issues or important questions saying; “Hu Khayr!”. Who cares; It was a joke because actually he cared a lot. He was a board member of Associated Aerial Firefighters and active member of the California Fire Pilots Association. He cared for this mission, his fellow pilots, mechanics and this industry. In 2015, we got based together again in Santa Rosa and it was really a pleasure to work with him. After a long day of aerial firefighting, we would meet with Bob Valette at “the beach”, our spot behind the tanker base, tell funny stories and laughed. We protected the Turtle Frogs…Yes they exist. Dean laughed a lot and enjoyed life to the fullest. Besides flying, Dean was interested in discovering other countries, different cultures and traveling the world. We all know that he was also a talented writer and I was looking for reading his third book but … 

I still can’t believe Dean isn’t with us anymore. I really can’t. So long my friend. I miss you. We miss you.
Thank you for being the great person you were. I still can’t believe I’m writing this and saying it out loud…. So long Dean.
Load and hold my friend, load and hold…. 

Jerome Chico, CA. 4/14/2018

The second remembrance is a story from Jim Barnes, also shared at Dean’s memorial service. I only just recently got to know Jim. He has been very helpful to me in writing about Dean. I like this story because it speaks to his skill at working in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground (see this Facebook post for the full remembrance):

The story that epitomizes the kind of tanker pilot Dean Talley was for me occurred at the Mount Vision fire near Pt. Reyes about 12 miles from my house. The vision fire was a fast moving north east wind driven fire and was closing on a hillside community. 

Then, Fire Captain Tim Thompson of Marin County Fire took a strike team down a long, narrow road surrounded by dense vegetation and forest canopy in an attempt to rescue and evacuate the citizens that lived there. As he arrived things went terribly wrong. 

Suddenly, the firefighters and citizens found themselves surrounded by crowning fire.  

Captain Thompson said that he decided to circle the wagons in an attempt to survive an over burn. Just as suddenly a DC-4 appeared overhead and salvoed 2,000 gallons of fire retardant right on their position. Once again Dean had saved the day. 

But that wasn’t unusual for Dean. He had a long history of performing monumental saves. Many times, I have heard air attack officers and lead plane pilots say things like, “We were in a tense situation and we were afraid we were going to lose homes then Dean showed up in his P-3 and saved our ass."

Finally, I want to share with you some remembrances of Dean from my friend Gordon Koenig. Gordon flew with Dean as a co-pilot in Aero Union tanker 18 in 1996 out of Chico, California.

Dean was always a gentleman. He never had a cross word for anyone in the industry or the Forest Service. All of us ran into a myriad of people who were frustrating to work with. Dean never wavered from his calm, polite, and professional demeanor. He always took the high road, something hardly any of us did when things got tense.

Dean was a delight to fly with. He was an absolute bird in the cockpit and flew those big heavy tankers like they were Piper Cubs. He was graceful and extremely focused and very funny. His favorite line after we came off the drop was, ‘Okay, we’re going to Cuba!’ He had spent time around there as a young pilot flying the PBY flying boats. Dean never got excited and his attitude about flying fires was that nothing should be a surprise. He gave us all a good name. I am very sorry he is gone.

_______

I know that Dean is flying in favorable tail winds, perhaps over California. He is missed. My continued prayers and condolences for his wife Nancy, his children and the rest of his family; for  all who worked with Dean over the years; for his friends and all who love him.

Notes: 

This is part 2 of a three-part series on Dean Talley. Part 1 focuses on Dean the family man and tanker pilot. In part 3, I provide a very brief overview of some of the aircraft that Dean flew and where you can go for more information.

Links to the photos of the air tankers in this article are obtained from an airtanker database maintained by Ruud Leeuw. Each entry in Ruud’s data base has basic information on the air tanker and where possible, a link outside his website to a page with a copyrighted photo. It is the outside link that you see here.

Dean Talley (Part 1 of 3): Family Man and Tanker Pilot

On March 10, 2018 we lost Dean Talley, one of the iconic air tanker pilots. He flew tankers for about 35 years. His wife,Nancy, told me that Dean loved his yard; he was mowing the lawn when he collapsed under a favorite redwood tree and died. He planted the Redwood as a seedling 30 years ago. Paramedics were quick to respond but were unable to revive him (see Dean’s obituary and a short tribute to Dean from Associated Aerial Firefighters). One of the things on my bucket list was to correspond with Dean Talley. It is my very great loss that I never corresponded with or knew Dean. However, over the years that I have been doing this blog on aerial wildland firefighting, I do feel like I got to know Dean through his posts on the Associated Aerial Firefighters where he served on their board and through social media. More importantly, Dean was an author (see Lone Palm Publishing) and I got to know Dean as a pilot through reading his books. 

Dean at the beach prepared for the sun

My condolences to Nancy, his children and the rest of his family, his friends and colleagues, and all who love Dean. I continue to keep all of you in my prayers. I know that Dean is flying in favorable tail winds.

There is a short biography of Dean from the Chico News and Review on Dean’s author’s page on Lone Palm Publishing.

I had some e-mail correspondence with Dean’s wife, Nancy Talley, a short time ago. I told her about the biography that I found and asked her if she would mind filling in some details. She told me they met in late September 1983. I believe that Dean may have been studying for his airframe and power plant license at that time. By 1986, he had graduated from community college and had gone back to flying air tankers. He married Nancy and they had three children, a boy and two girls. In 1989 he was flying air tankers out of the Chico Air Attack Base, so the Talleys moved to Chico so Dean could be close to the base and close to his family,

Nancy spoke to me of how much he loved his kids. They grew up at the Chico Air Attack Base.

By 2014, Dean was flying a P2V for Minden Air. Nancy spoke of his last flight at Minden and what happened next:

“In 2014, Dean and Taylor (his co-pilot) land a P2V at Fresno with hydraulic failure and a collapsed nose gear. They were within inches of the center line (of the runway) after skidding about a mile. There were no more Minden tankers to fly so Dean went to work for CAL FIRE.”  Earlier in his career, Dean had started flying tankers for CAL FIRE, then known as the California Department of Forestry.

Nancy told me that Dean had recently spent time in southern California at Hemet and Ramona Air Attack Bases covering for the regular pilots while they had a day off. Just before he died he was at ground school, pre-season training for CAL FIRE at McClellan Air Attack Base. She commented that “it was all very sad.”

Last but by no means least, Nancy shared with me about how much he enjoyed working with the young pilots, most recently at CAL FIRE, and before that at other contractors he flew tankers for.  She also told me that the young pilots enjoyed working with and hanging out with Dean. These are some of things that stood out to me of Dean’s rapport with the young pilots:

• He was a gentleman, leaving a loving and lasting impression.
• He told great stories about flying, told with his special sense of humor. His audience hung onto every word.
• He made new pilots feel like they belonged.

Notes: 

This is part 1 of a three-part series on Dean Talley. Part 2 focuses on remembrances of Dean from fellow tanker pilots. In part 3, I provide a very brief overview of some of the aircraft that Dean flew and where you can go for more information.

Links to the  photo of the air tanker were obtained from an airtanker database maintained by Ruud Leeuw  on this webpage with basic information and where possible, a link outside his website to a page with a copyrighted photo. It is the outside link that you see here.

NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 Crew Deployment: Dollar Ridge Fire (UT)

I wrote the other day about what I believe is the first New Jersey Forest Fire Crew (NJS#1) to be deployed to wildfires in other parts of the United States. If you are like me and you wonder if your State has a crew deployed to other parts of the Country, you can go to the Geographic Area Coordination Center National Website Portal and find your local coordination center. In my case, this is the Eastern Area Coordination Center (EACC). Where you go next and the name of the document with crew deployment depends on how the website for your local coordination center is set up. In my case the page that I am looking for is under crews where I am looking for a document called Interagency Resource Representative  Report (IARR). The IARR, updated daily while crews are deployed out of the region, lists crews deployed outside the region. Most crews are listed starting with their two character abbreviation.

So, I know that today New Jersey has one crew, NJS#1 deployed outside the region, to the Dollar Ridge Fire. If possible, I want to know about the wildfire where the crew from my state is deployed. If the wildfire that your crew is deployed to is on federal land, that it will be listed on inciweb. Knowing the name of your fire, you can use the drop down box on the top right to locate the fire you are interested in or find the icon on the interactive map.

I am interested in the Dollar Ridge Fire, which may be found on this inciweb page. I know that the Dollar Ridge has now burned 56,687 acres and is at 60 percent containment. You may look at individual pages for information, announcements, closures, news, photographs, and maps. I usually start by looking at a map to get a geographic perspective. I found two maps of interest, both shared below. I also like to look at the photograph page, in this case there is some very fine fire photography, photos of helicopters, photos of crews, etc.

Dollar Ridge Public Information (7/13/18) obtained on 7/13/18 from https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/maps/5881/

Dollar Ridge Fire Evacuation Areas (7/13/18) obtained on 7/13/18 from https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/maps/5881/

Finally, I try to find out some more specifics of what the crew from my state is doing. This might be more difficult. In my case, there are some social media websites where I can find information about what the NJFFS crews are up to. You might try Facebook or Twitter or even local media. In any event, I was fortunate to find some posts from one of the crew members of the NJS#1 crew on the Facebook Page for the NJFFS Section A2 Firefighters Association. The latest update was posted late on July 12th. The crew spent yesterday working on creating firelines, among other tasks, in preparation for burnout operations that are scheduled for today (dependent on weather conditions). There are some nice photos from a July 11th post.

NJ Forest Fire Service Crews 2018 Deployments

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has a crew, NJS#1, deployed to the Dollar Ridge Fire (Duchesne, Utah). Current information on crews deployed from the Eastern Area Coordination Center (EACC), including New Jersey, may be found on the EACC Interagency Resource Representative (IARR) Report, updated daily when crews are deployed to other parts of the country. According the EACC, the New Jersey crew is currently deployed (July 11th) to Division W constructing indirect fireline and is getting hot meals at spike camp.

As I write this on July 11th, the Dollar Ridge Fire has burned 52,256 acres and is at 50 percent containment. The fire was caused by humans. On July 5th, an IMET trainee from the NWS Fairbanks, Alaska was deployed to the fire (see this Facebook Post from the NWS IMET. The fact that an IMET trainee was deployed to this fire means that an IMET was already working the fire.

Some short videos for your enjoyment. Thanks to the crew from New Jersey helping fight the Dollar Ridge fire, stay safe.


Direct link to video on Youtube (July 4th)


Direct link to video from 97.1 ZHT on Youtube


Direct link to video from 97.1 ZHT on Youtube

Winter Hill Fire Lancashire UK

I do my best to try to follow wildfires in other parts of the world. I came across a video from the United Kingdom recently, thanks to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page. The video shows footage of a wildfire known as the Winter Hill Moorland in Lancashire County England. I understand that Lancashire is in eastern England


Direct link to video from LancashireFire

I went looking for more information about the Winter Hill Moorland Fire and it did not take long for me to find the website of the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Squad. I found an update dated July 9, 2018, the fire is contained to an area of about 8 square kilometers or about 1,976 acres. I also found a video about from Lancashire Fire dated July 8, 2019. According to an article from the Independent (UK), there was an arrest made of a suspected arsonist.


Direct link to video from LancashireFire

2018 Fire Season: Wildfires Burning in Western US

For the last few days I have been hard at work on some articles that I hope to post in a few days, stay tuned. In the meantime, I am aware of the wildfires burning in the Western United States.

I came across a nice New York Times article (limited free articles for non-subscribers) written by Thomas Fuller and Julie Turkewitz (with a video) on July 2nd. Thomas and Julie summarize 29 wildfires that were then burning in the Western United States. The title of the article uses the phrase, new normal, I certainly hope that this is not the new normal. But with the changing climate, I do wonder. Anyway, my thoughts and meditations are with all the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air working these wildfires, support staff, and affected residents and business owners. I hope that everyone stays safe and heeds evacuation orders, whether they be mandatory or voluntary.

Among the wildfires burning out west are:

• Klamathon Fire (California), 8,000 acres, 1 dead, (CAL FIRE, article)
• County Fire (California), 88,375 acres acres (CAL FIRE, July 3rd article)
• Pawnee Fire (California), 15,000 acres (CAL FIRE)
• Lake Christine Fire (Colorado, 5,263 acres, (inciweb, article)
• Weston Pass Fire (Colorado), 12,902 acres (inciweb, article)
• West Valley Fire (Utah), 11,716 acres (inciweb, article - drone interference)

Happy 4th of July

On this fourth of July in the United States, I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. Enjoy this five minute video from Fleur de Lee Productions of fireworks over Phoenix Arizona on July 4, 2010, Taken from a Cirrus SR-22.



Direct link to video on Youtube

Aviation History: footage of 1929, 1931, and 1931 National Air Races

I enjoy reading about aviation history and I was reading about the 1929 National Air Races in Cleveland Ohio in a book by Elinor Smith. Among other things, she got her pilot's license at 16 and flew under all four spans on the East River in New York City when she was 17. Elinor was named women aviator of the year in 1930. Elinor wrote her autobiography, Aviatrix, in 1981 and if you enjoy reading about early aviation history you will enjoy reading her autobiography. Here is short piece from NPR (2010).

Elinor was at the 1929 National Air Race in Cleveland, Ohio. Among other things she dropped parachuters and did some stunt flying. I got interested in seeing if I could find some footage of the 1929 National Air Race and came across this great footage posted by PeriscopeFilm on Youtube. The footage is just under 24 minutes with some very cool old airplanes and some nice footage of stunt flying. As I understand it this footage is compilation of footage from the 1929, 1931, and 1930 air races (in that order, see the information in this Youtube link for more information.



Direct link to Youtube video uploaded by PeriscopeFilms