2019 fire season: large tankers on contract with US Forest Service

I knew that it was getting to that time of year when we would start seeing large air tankers on contract with the US Forest Service. So, I went to Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation site to find out if he had posted about the 2019 large air tankers. My efforts were rewarded when I found hist April 15th article, updated on April 17th on 13 large air tankers under contract for 2019.

I know that many of you follow Bill's blogs, and you will already know about the13 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts with the US Forest Service in 2019; according to Bill it is likely that another five air tankers will be going on contract soon. As I do write about aerial wildland fire fighting, I think it is important for me to post about these exclusive use contracts for large air tankers.

Bill writes the following in his April 15th article on these 13 large air tankers:

Currently six of them have been activated according to the estimated starting dates of the Mandatory Availability Periods (MAP). On April 17 a seventh will begin. The rest will come on between May 1 and May 29. 

The 13 air tankers confirmed so far on exclusive use contracts for 2019 are:
• 10 Tanker Air Carrier: 910 and 912 (DC-10)
• Coulson: 131 (C-130Q)
• Aero Air: 101 and 107, (MD-87)
• Aero Flite: 160, 161, 163, and 167 (RJ85)
• Neptune: 01, 15, 16, and 40

You will want to read Bill's April 15th in its entirety to read about related issues.

If five additional large air tankers go on exclusive use contracts sometime soon, whatever that means, the 18 large tankers on exclusive use (EU) contract are not enough. The advantage of exclusive use contracts over call when needed (CWN) contracts is that air craft under exclusive use contracts are paid to be available during a contract specified mandatory availability period while call when needed aircraft are only paid when they are called up to be ready to fly and at a higher cost as compared with exclusive use aircraft.

In June of 2018, I wrote about my concerns over the decrease in air tankers and helicopters on contract to fly fires. I don't know the status of CWN contracts for 2019. My concerns remain the same this year. On June 8, 2018, I wrote in part:

Following up on Bill Gabbert’s comments on the higher costs and other concerns about the CWN contracts along with the reduction in available EU contracted aircraft, it is just a matter of time during this 2018 wildfire season when all EU contracted aircraft will be assigned to fires, so the call will go out for additional aircraft to work wildfires. So, the USFS asks those contractors on CWN contracts if they have available aircraft. As Bill points out in his February 21st [2018] article, the cost of aircraft under a CWN contract is higher than under an EU contract. It stands to reason that the contractors may try obtain other contracts for their CWN aircraft. Or perhaps, sadly, they haven’t other contracts, deciding that it costs too much to keep a CWN aircraft and crew ready to fly fires so the aircraft sits without a contract. What happens then? 

Not only does the CWN contractor have to have available aircraft, they also have to have available crew and maintenance personal. What happens if that crew can not afford to sit around with no pay waiting for the call to fly? Perhaps they get other flying jobs in the meantime. What happens then?

It is important to note that at this time, I do not know about the status of any CWN contracts that the US Forest Service might issue. If the number of available aircraft and crew on CWN contracts this year is lower than in 2018 then the scenario that I wrote about last year might be worse.  With a reduced number or no aircraft on CWN contracts in 2019, what happens once all available EU aircraft are assigned to a fire? Could a call go out for a large air tanker or a helicopter to work a fire with a response that none are available? What happens then?

Tribute in honor of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

direct link to video

Like many of you, I have been following the fire that burned in the Notre Dame Cathedral in France on Monday night (April 15th). Some 400 Parisian firefighters fought the blaze, one was badly injured. I want to take the opportunity to thank all of the Parisian Firefighters who worked the fire over night, at great risk to themselves to save Notre Dame and the artifacts inside. I am glad that Notre Dame is still standing, albeit wounded. I want to take this day to pause and stand in remembrance and solidarity with the people of France to honor Notre Dame. Notre Dame is special.


direct link to video

2018 wildfire season: Geronimo Hotshots 2018 crew video

On a rather windy day in spring fire season here in New Jersey and environs following some thunderstorms over night, we are still seeing moderate fire danger in the northern and southern portions of New Jersey with central New Jersey seeing low fire danger. All this could change quickly. Perhaps it would be too windy for the SEATs and helicopters to fly? Anyway, I always hope for the best during our spring fire season and the rest of year. Thank-you NJ Forest Fire Service crews who work to to keep us in New Jersey safe.

Please enjoy the 2018 crew video from the Geronimo Hotshots. The Geronimo Hotshots are from the San Carlo Apache Tribe. Please take a moment to pause and remember the wildland firefighters, and their families, who have given their lives in the line of duty to keep us safe.


Direct link to Youtube video uploaded by the Geronimo Hotshots. 

Aircraft on contract in New Jersey for 2019 spring wildfire season

I have no official information, but it is my understanding that aircraft are on contract in New Jersey for the spring wildfire season for the next 3 to 4 weeks. Friends tell me that the following aircraft are currently on contract:

Division A (northern NJ): Delta 7 (Huey Helicopter) at Aeroflex Andover Airbase (Sussex County)
Division B (central NJ): Tanker 81 (AT-802) at Miller Air (Ocean County)
Division C: Tanker 61 (AT-602) at Downstown Air (Cumberland County)

Thanks to Mike Archer from Wildfire News of the Day for sharing an article from 94.3 the Point about the AT-802 currently on contract in central New Jersey.

Meet some California Smokejumpers

I wanting to post something a little different today, and came upon this nine minute plus video called Smokejumpers: Fire in the Blood an April 2016 report by ABC News. I enjoyed this behind the scene look at what smokejumpers. This may be a rerun, so to speak, if so it is worth showing again. Enjoy.


Direct link to Youtube Video by ABC News

Photos of Spring Hill Fire burn scar

I have good pilot friends who understand me and my love of aviation. They know that I will never be a licensed pilot and take me on "sight seeing" flights as schedules allow. Meaning when the weekend weather cooperates. This past weekend, we had two good days, so I was able to go flying on Sunday afternoon, April 7th.

It was a great day for flying, and there were a lot of folk who were also in the air. We flew the Pine Barrens, and flew over a portion of the burn scar from the Spring Hill Fire. Recall this article by Stephen Stirling of New Jersey Advanced Media showing some before and after satellite imagery of the Spring Hill Fire burn scar. He reported on what Larry Hajna of the NJ DEP said about the veins of green trees that you see in the three of the four photos:

“The long, thin ribbons of trees result from a phenomenon called horizontal roll vortices,” said Hajna. “Basically, these tornadic winds move upward and it kind of does a wave and creates an air pocket that is cooler than the surrounding environment. And it leaves a strip of unburned trees and leaves a path that indicates the direction.”

These thin ribbons of trees are especially pronounced in this first photo. please excuse the poor quality of the photograph. Taking pictures out of the window of an airplane is sometimes challenging and I had to retouch the photograph.

Spring Hill Fire burn scar, photographed on April 7, 2019

The next two photos are taken when we are near Coyle Field. Coyle Field is owned by the NJ Forest Fire Service. Route 72 where NJ Forest Fire Service ground crews did burn out operations runs adjacent to Coyle Field (barely visible in the second photo).

Spring Hill Fire burn scar, Coyle Field (NJFFS) photographed on April 7, 2019

Spring Hill Fire burn scar, Coyle Field (NJFFS) photographed on April 7, 2019

This last photograph is taken somewhere over the Spring Hill Burn scar. Again the photo quality is not the greatest. But it does show the burned area.

Spring Hill Fire burn scar, photographed on April 7, 2019

NJ Pine Barrens can recover from a wildfire

I have found it sad to see a large area of my beloved NJ Pine Barrens burned, see for example this awesome NJ Advance Media article By Stephen Stirling with interactive satellite imagery before and after the Spring Hill Fire burned 11,600 acres last weekend; I need to warn you that you will have at least temporarily disable your ad blocker in order to see the article. However I can personally attest to seeing the Pine Barrens come back fairly quickly after a wildfire, this is the point of this article.

You may be interested in this short video report from NJ Network taken in 2008, a year after the 2007 Warren Grove Fire burned over 17,000 acres in the NJ Pine Barrens. You will see how the area burned had begun to regrow a year after the fire went through.


Direct link to video report from NJ Network

There is a good article from the NY Times published on September 25, 2018 (with photos) discussing how an area burned by a 860 acre in the NJ Pine Barrens in May 2018 had begun to regenerate by September. For those of you who are interested in the fire adapted ecosystem of the NJ Pine Barrens I found some information two evergreen trees that are commonly found in the NJ Pine Barrens and how they have adapted and even depend on fire to reproduce, the pitch pine and the shortleaf pine, and the Pinelands Alliance has a good fire ecology page (be warned that one of the videos  and the slide show requires the flash video plug-in which some of you may not want to use for security concerns).

I live a couple of hours away from the NJ Pine Barrens, I try to get down there at least once or twice a year. I usually drive by an area burned by the Warren Grove Fire a mile or south of the ignition point. I pull off in the pull off and take photos if I have my camera with me. The first three photos were taken in August 2008, about 15 months after the Warren Grove Fire. Note that you can see the cones on the dwarf pitch pines (aka pymgy pines) that only open after a fire. In the last picture you can still see evidence of the fire but of note is the growth that happened in the 15 months after the Warren Grove Fire.

Photo taken August 2008 at Stafford Forge (Rte 539 South), Warren Grove NJ 

Photo taken August 2008 at Stafford Forge (Rte 539 South), Warren Grove NJ 

Photo taken August 2008 at Stafford Forge (Rte 539 South), Warren Grove NJ 

In the following photo, taken at the same spot three years after the Warren Grove Fire, you can see the difference. You would hardly know that the area was burned in a wildfire three years prior.

Photo taken May 2010 at Stafford Forge (Rte 539 South), Warren Grove NJ 

Fire danger continues in New Jersey and NYC metropolitan area

The National Weather Service in Upton, New York has issued a Red Flag Warning for today, April 4th, from 10 AM to 8 PM. Note areas in pink in the image below are areas under a Red Flag Warning. The Albany area of New York, the rest of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and southern New Hamphsire are also under Red Flag Warnings today. The areas in New Jersey with the light brown color are not under Red Flag Warnings but will see enhanced fire weather conditions which I will elaborate at then end of this post following the information from NWS Upton.

Stay safe everyone. Thanks to all the firefighters who will be working to keep all of us safe from wildfires today.

Image obtained on April 4, 2019 at 11:20 AM from https://www.weather.gov/okx/

Red Flag Warning

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service New York NY
427 AM EDT Thu Apr 4 2019

...CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR FIRE SPREAD...

CTZ005>012-NJZ002-004-006-103>108-NYZ067>075-078>081-176>179-
042015-
/O.UPG.KOKX.FW.A.0002.190404T1200Z-190405T0000Z/
/O.NEW.KOKX.FW.W.0002.190404T1400Z-190405T0000Z/
Northern Fairfield-Northern New Haven-Northern Middlesex-
Northern New London-Southern Fairfield-Southern New Haven-
Southern Middlesex-Southern New London-Western Passaic-
Eastern Passaic-Hudson-Western Bergen-Eastern Bergen-
Western Essex-Eastern Essex-Western Union-Eastern Union-Orange-
Putnam-Rockland-Northern Westchester-Southern Westchester-
New York (Manhattan)-Bronx-Richmond (Staten Island)-
Kings (Brooklyn)-Northwestern Suffolk-Northeastern Suffolk-
Southwestern Suffolk-Southeastern Suffolk-Northern Queens-
Northern Nassau-Southern Queens-Southern Nassau-
427 AM EDT Thu Apr 4 2019

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM EDT
THIS EVENING FOR SOUTHEAST NEW YORK...NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY...AND
SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT...

The National Weather Service in Upton has issued a Red Flag
Warning, which is in effect from 10 AM this morning to 8 PM EDT
this evening.

* Affected Areas...All of southeast New York, northeast New
  Jersey, and southern Connecticut.

* Timing...Late this morning into early this evening.

* Winds...Northwest 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. Highest
  winds across southern Connecticut.

* Relative Humidity...10 to 15 percent.

* Impacts...Gusty winds and very dry air will create conditions
  that may promote the rapid spread of wildfires if ignition
  occurs.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are expected or occurring. A combination of strong winds, low
relative humidity, and dry fuels will create a significantly
elevated fire growth potential.

The National Weather Service in Mt. Holly NJ has issued a Special Weather Statement for elevated fire risk this afternoon due to low relative humidity and occasional wind gusts. In the image below, the areas shaded in light brown are under the Special Weather Statement.

Image obtained on April 4, 2019 at 11:20 AM from https://www.weather.gov/phi/

Special Weather Statement

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
945 AM EDT Thu Apr 4 2019

NJZ001-007>010-012>015-020-026-042300-
Sussex-Warren-Morris-Hunterdon-Somerset-Middlesex-
Western Monmouth-Eastern Monmouth-Mercer-Ocean-Coastal Ocean-
Including the cities of Newton, Washington, Morristown,
Flemington, Somerville, New Brunswick, Freehold, Sandy Hook,
Trenton, Jackson, and Long Beach Island
945 AM EDT Thu Apr 4 2019

...AN ENHANCED RISK OF WILDFIRE SPREAD THIS AFTERNOON...

Low relative humidity levels and occasional wind gusts near 20
MPH are anticipated for this afternoon in parts of northern and
central New Jersey. The expected conditions along with dry fine
fuels may create an elevated risk for the spread of wildfires.

For more information about wildfire danger, burn restrictions,
and wildfire prevention and education, please visit the state`s
environmental protection website.

2019 NJ Fire Season: Just in 660 acre fire in Burlington County

April 4th, 11 AM

I heard from my friends at NJFFS Section B10 earlier this morning that the fire was contained last night, and that the acreage burned may be around 660 acres, down from 1,200 acres. I just went to the Asbury Park Press who has updated their article on the fire this morning stating that the Joint Base McGuire-Fort Dix-Lakehurst and the Pemberton Volunteer Fire Department issued statements that the fire is 100 percent contained at 660 acres. Roads in the area that were closed on Wednesday are now open albeit with some delays as firefighters continue to work in the area.. Firefighters will be monitoring the area burned for hotspots.

April 3rd, 10 PM

I was listening to the NJFFS Division B (central NJ) online scanner on and off all day. I knew about this online scanner through my friends at NJFFS Section B10, they post links to the scanners in all three divisions. I usually listen to Division B for the NJ Pine Barrens, but this scanner also covers some of Division A where I live. Anyway, as I was listening today, I did note some wildfire activity near the Joint Base McGuire-Fort Dix Lakehurst near Pemberton NJ. I later heard reference that one of the NJ Forest Fire Service Huey Helicopters was requested. My friends at the NJFFS Section B10 gave me a heads up about the fire size (1,200 acres), they confirmed that the Huey and bucket flew the fire early (Delta 5). NJFFS crews were requested about 2:30 PM along with the Huey. At the time I wrote this there was no information about containment.

According to an Asbury Park Press report this evening that may be found here, there were road closures in place near the wildfire but there were no evacuations. According to the Joint Base Facebook Page, the fire originated on a training range on the base. The wildland firefighters on the ground (NJFFS, Joint Base crews, and mutual aid from nearby municipalities) will work through the night.

Red Flag Warnings in this area of New Jersey, originally set to expire at 9 PM, are now due to expire at 11 PM.

ABC6 in Philadelphia just posted a video of this from shot from their Helicopter, Chopper 6. I could not get their embed code to work, but here is a direct link to the video that I hope works.

Red Flag Warning

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
854 PM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-060>062-070-071-101>106-040300-
/O.CON.KPHI.FW.W.0001.000000T0000Z-190404T0300Z/
Sussex-Warren-Morris-Hunterdon-Somerset-Middlesex-
Western Monmouth-Eastern Monmouth-Mercer-Salem-Gloucester-Camden-
Northwestern Burlington-Ocean-Cumberland-Atlantic-Cape May-
Atlantic Coastal Cape May-Coastal Atlantic-Coastal Ocean-
Southeastern Burlington-Carbon-Monroe-Berks-Lehigh-Northampton-
Delaware-Philadelphia-Western Chester-Eastern Chester-
Western Montgomery-Eastern Montgomery-Upper Bucks-Lower Bucks-
854 PM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM EDT THIS
EVENING...

* AFFECTED AREA...Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey,

* TIMING...Until 11:00 PM this evening.

* WINDS...West 15 to 20 mph with gusts 25 to 30 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 15 to 20 percent this evening,
  increasing overnight.

* IMPACTS...Gusty winds and very dry air will create conditions
  that will promote the rapid spread of wildfires.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring or are imminent due to a combination of
strong winds, low relative humidity and dry fuels. Any fires that
develop may quickly get out of control and become difficult to
contain.

For more information about wildfire danger, burn restrictions,
and wildfire prevention and education, please visit your state
forestry or environmental protection website.

Red Flag Warnings: April 3rd

Red Flag Warings are in place today into this evening over areas of the mid-atlantic including New Jersey, eastern and central Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York City and environs and southern New York, and much of Maryland.

I know that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service will be on patrol today and all NJFFS towers will be staffed. I am sure that other State Fire Fighting agencies will also be on patrol today. Stay safe everyone.

I will do my best to try to monitor the situation in New Jersey and will report back about any significant wildfire activity.

In the image below, the pink/red color are red flag warnings.

Image from National Weather Service Mt. Holly NJ at 8:15 AM on April 3, 2019

Red Flag Warning

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
316 AM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

DEZ001>004-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-060>062-070-071-
101>106-032030-
/O.UPG.KPHI.FW.A.0001.190403T1400Z-190404T0100Z/
/O.NEW.KPHI.FW.W.0001.190403T1400Z-190404T0100Z/
New Castle-Kent-Inland Sussex-Delaware Beaches-Sussex-Warren-
Morris-Hunterdon-Somerset-Middlesex-Western Monmouth-
Eastern Monmouth-Mercer-Salem-Gloucester-Camden-
Northwestern Burlington-Ocean-Cumberland-Atlantic-Cape May-
Atlantic Coastal Cape May-Coastal Atlantic-Coastal Ocean-
Southeastern Burlington-Carbon-Monroe-Berks-Lehigh-Northampton-
Delaware-Philadelphia-Western Chester-Eastern Chester-
Western Montgomery-Eastern Montgomery-Upper Bucks-Lower Bucks-
316 AM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM EDT
THIS EVENING FOR STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR
EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, MOST OF NEW JERSEY, AND DELAWARE...

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly has issued a Red Flag
Warning for the potential of enhanced fire spread, which is in
effect from 10 AM this morning to 9 PM EDT this evening. The Fire
Weather Watch is no longer in effect.

* AFFECTED AREA...The Poconos, Lehigh Valley, Berks County, and
  southeastern Pennsylvania. Also northwestern, central, and
  southern New Jersey and the entire state of Delaware.

* TIMING...From 10:00 AM until 9:00 PM Wednesday.

* WINDS...West 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...Dropping into the 20 to 30 percent range.

* TEMPERATURES...Highs mainly in the 60s, with 50s in the Poconos
  and far northwest New Jersey.

* IMPACTS...Gusty winds and very dry air will create conditions
  that may promote the rapid spread of wildfires.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now, or will shortly due to a combination of
strong winds, low relative humidity, and dry fuels. Any fires
that develop may quickly get out of control and become difficult
to contain.

For more information about wildfire danger, burn restrictions,
and wildfire prevention and education, please visit your state
forestry or environmental protection website.

Red Flag Warning
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service New York NY
420 AM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

...CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR FIRE SPREAD TODAY...

NJZ006-106-108-032015-
/O.UPG.KOKX.FW.A.0001.190403T1400Z-190404T0100Z/
/O.NEW.KOKX.FW.W.0001.190403T1600Z-190404T0600Z/
Hudson-Eastern Essex-Eastern Union-
420 AM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 2 AM EDT
THURSDAY FOR URBAN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY...

The National Weather Service in Upton has issued a Red Flag
Warning, which is in effect from noon today to 2 AM EDT Thursday.
The Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect.

* Affected Area...Hudson, Eastern Essex, and Eastern Union
  counties in northeast New Jersey.

* Timing...This afternoon and into tonight.

* Winds...West 20 to 30 mph with gusts 45 to 50 mph.

* Relative Humidity...As low as 17 percent.

* Impacts...Gusty winds and very dry air will create conditions
  that may promote the rapid spread of wildfires.

* Impacts...Rapid fire spread possible if ignition occurs.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are expected or occurring. A combination of strong winds, low
relative humidity, and dry fuels will create a significantly
elevated fire growth potential.


Red Flag Warning
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service New York NY
420 AM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

...CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR FIRE SPREAD TODAY...

NJZ002-004-103>105-107-032015-
/O.UPG.KOKX.FW.A.0001.190403T1400Z-190404T0100Z/
/O.NEW.KOKX.FW.W.0001.190403T1600Z-190404T0300Z/
Western Passaic-Eastern Passaic-Western Bergen-Eastern Bergen-
Western Essex-Western Union-
420 AM EDT Wed Apr 3 2019

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 11 PM EDT THIS
EVENING FOR NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY...

The National Weather Service in Upton has issued a Red Flag
Warning, which is in effect from noon today to 11 PM EDT this
evening. The Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect.

* Affected Area...Bergen, Western Essex, Passaic, and Western
  Union counties in northeast New Jersey.

* Timing...This afternoon and evening.

* Winds...West 15 to 25 mph with gusts 45 to 50 mph.

* Relative Humidity...As low as 19 percent.

* Impacts...Gusty winds and very dry air will create conditions
  that may promote the rapid spread of wildfires.

* Impacts...Rapid fire spread possible if ignition occurs.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are expected or occurring. A combination of strong winds, low
relative humidity, and dry fuels will create a significantly
elevated fire growth potential.

2019 NJ fire season: Spring Hill Fire human caused?

Updated at 9 PM on April 1st: Thanks to a friend from the NJFFS for pointing me to this press release from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection announcing that the Spring Hill Fire is fully contained. The press release does not specifically state the fire was human caused, rather it seems that they have ruled out a fire caused by power lines, prescribed burns and lightning. They are asking for the public to come forward if they have any information about the fire, all tips will be kept confidential.

4:50 PM on April 1st

There has been an investigation into the cause of the Spring Hill Fire that burned 11,600 acres on the border of Burlington and Ocean Counties this past weekend. The Asbury Park Press is reporting (April 1st, 3:18 PM):

The forest fire that ripped through more than 16 square miles of the Pinelands over the weekend was caused by human activity, according to state fire investigators. … Investigators were tight-lipped about the evidence that lead them to this determination, but said they could not yet determine whether a crime had been committed.

The Asbury Park Press goes on to report on where the fire started:

The area where the fire was sparked was described as an open, sandy area near Spring Hill Road in Woodland Township in Burlington County. 

Please read the Asbury Park Press article for more information. The Asbury Press Article includes a photo gallery along with some NJFFS drone footage over the fire area (over 12 minutes long, the direct link to the drone footage may found here.

I prepared a couple of images for you based on the information in the Asbury Park Press article, locating Spring Hill Road using the search feature on Google Earth. The first image is a close-up of the area that was discussed in the article. I circled a sandy area off of Spring Hill Road. As the fire is named Spring Hill Fire, I am thinking that the sandy area I circled off of Spring Hill Road is one candidate for where the fire started. And if I am wrong, it is in the general area.

The second image is an image where I zoomed out.

I am looking around for more photo galleries that I can share with you. There were some photo galleries attached to the news articles that I shared on March 31st, I will look around for more.

I want to close by sharing a video. This is a video report from News12 New Jersey, which does have a pay wall, so I hope that all of you can see the video. This video is from earlier today before the preliminary results of the investigation were in. Early on in the video you will see a couple of aerial shots of the fire area. In the event that the script code does not work here is a direct link to the video report from News 12 New Jersey, note the video is muted and you have to click on the microphone to hear the audio (sorry about that).

2019 NJ fire season: Spring Hill Fire (NJ) April 1st update

I wrote yesterday about the Spring Hill Fire that has burned approximately 11,600 acres in the New Jersey Pine Barrens (aka the New Jersey Pinelands) in Burlington and Ocean Counties NJ.  The wildfire is now 100 percent contained. However, there are still areas that continue to burn so the New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews will continue to monitor the fire for several days, see this article from the Asbury Park Press (April 1st, 9:35 AM) for more information.

The Spring Hill Fire was first reported on Saturday, March 30th in Penn State Forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. I have no specific information about the location of this wildfire, but I did go into Google Earth and using Google Earth's search feature, I located Penn State Forest for you.

All major roads in the area of the Spring Hill Fire (Routes, 72, 539, 532, and 563) were open Sunday evening, March 31st.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today beat me to the punch, he reported on the Spring Hill Fire in a March 30th article that he has been updating. Thank-you Bill for your great reporting and for bringing the news of the Spring Hill Fire to your readers from the United States and Canada and around the world.

Early this morning a friend of mine who lives in South Florida and knows of my writing, told me that the Sun Sentinel (Broward County FL) had an article reporting on the Spring Hill Fire. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a link for you, but will keep looking. However, I did see an article from ABC News on my news feed this morning reporting on the Spring Hill Fire. So, it would seem that the news of the Spring Hill Fire has hit the wire services.

It is with some consternation that I say that I am glad for the national reporting on the Spring Hill Fire. The reason being is that a 10,000 acre is indeed a very major wildfire in New Jersey. In the ten years that I have been writing this blog on aerial wildland firefighting and related issues, the largest fire that I recall in the NJ Pine Barrens that was fought by NJFFS crews was the 3,500 acre Penn Swamp fire of July 2017.  Amanda Hoover of New Jersey Advance Media wrote a nice article at the time focusing on eleven very major fires that burned in the NJ Pine Barrens (and elsewhere in NJ), this article may be found here. Amanda wrote of the 1963 Chatsworth fires that burned 190,000 acres and two wildfires that burned over 10,000 acres (approximately 17,000 acres in May 2007, "Warren Grove Fire" and a wildfire in 1995 that burned 15,000 acres in Ocean County NJ). The other eight fires she wrote about were under 3,000 acres. She did reference a 2016 article in Rolling Stone Magazine in her article. I read the Rolling Stone piece, by Kyle Dickman, when it came out and went back and reread the article last night. Kyle's article is well researched and I trust his figures. I was especially interested in what he wrote about the infrequent of wildfires over 1,000 acres in the New Jersey Pinelands (what I refer to as the NJ Pine Barrens):

Over the past century, roughly 100,000 wildfires have burned in the Pinelands. According to a smaller state catalog of significant wildfires since 1905, firefighters or weather stopped all but 19 before they reached 1,000 acres, and only 10 grew beyond 10,000 acres. Just two became biblical blazes that torched more than 150,000 acres each.

One of the biblical blazes that Kyle referred to are the 1963 Chatsworth fires, I am not quite when what the other one is, perhaps in the first half of the twentieth century.

A friend of mine from the National Weather Service who is also a fire weather expert just sent me a link to a site from the Storm Prediction Center which displays the probability of wildfires of 100, 300, 1,000 or 5,000 acres. I am still getting used to this site, this is the link that he sent me. I saved a screen shot for you showing the probability on April 5th of a wildfire over 1,000 acres occurring in the Continental United States. As you can see the probability of such a fire occurring in New Jersey is very low (about 2 percent). As I understand it, you move forward and back in time by clicking on step at the upper right.

screen image taken on April 1, 2019 at 9:45 AM from https://www.spc.noaa.gov/new/FWclimo/climo.php?parm=1000ac

2019 NJ fire season: Spring Hill Fire in Burlington/Ocean Counties NJ Burns 10,000 Acres

direct link to video from NJ Advance Media (March 30th)

The Spring Hill Fire was first reported about 1:45 PM on Saturday, March 30th in Penn Forest  in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The Spring Hill Fire is located in Barnegat and Woodland Townships, Burlington County NJ. When first observed by the Apple Pie Hill Observation Tower, the fire was very small. The video from NJ Advance Media that I embedded above was shot on the afternoon of March 30th when the wildfire was at about 1,000 acres. During the next several hours the wildfire grew to 5,000 acres. A SEAT flew the fire yesterday as well as a helicopter with a bucket. Voluntary evacuations were in place, but there were no mandatory evacuations and no residences have been damaged or destroyed. It is possible that some hunting cabins have been destroyed. Road closures remain in place. The latest update has the fire at about 10,000 acres. At last report the fire is at 75 percent containment. There was some rain that moved through the area this morning into this afternoon, however while the rain will help it may is not enough to put out the fire. According to John Rieth (reported by the Asbury Park Press (March 31st, 1:52 PM) :

As of noon Sunday, about 75 percent of the fire is contained, but not under control, said John Rieth, an assistant warden with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. 

A wildfire is under control when the threat of it spreading has been halted, and that hasn't yet happened, Rieth said. 

There are no threats to structures and no reported injuries or property damage, but local fire departments are standing by in case that changes, Rieth said. On Saturday, Burlington County activated its wildfire strike team. 

The fire grew from about 8,000 acres to 10,000 acres Sunday morning, but the growth is in part because the state's forest fire service is fighting the wildfire by setting fires around it to stop it from spreading, Rieth said. 

The fire control line may even expand out further than the 10,000 acres, Rieth said. Ten thousand acres is equal to about 15.5 square miles.

To place the Spring Hill Fire in context, David Livinisky of the Burlington County Times wrote about large fires in Burlington County in a March 31st article about the Spring Hill Fire:

Forest fires are not unusual in New Jersey’s Pinelands forests. The forests sandy soils and pines are highly combustible fuel, particularly during warm, dry and windy days in the spring. But fires as large as this one are infrequent. 

This fire is believed to be one of the largest to spark in the county since May 2007 when an F-16 jet on a training mission over the Warren Grove Bombing Range near the border of Burlington and Ocean counties dropped a defensive flare below the minimum required altitude. The resulting fire burned more than 17,000 acres over six days. 

The last major fire to threaten homes in Burlington County was in April 2014 when more than 1,300 acres of pine forests and brush burned in Woodland and Tabernacle between Sooy Place Road and Route 532. That fire was far smaller than a 1992 fire than burned more than 13,000 acres in Burlington and Ocean counties and forced the evacuation of about 150 Woodland residents and the closing of the Chatsworth Elementary School.

Thanks to the ground crews and air support of the NJ Forest Fire Service along with mutual aid firefighters for all your work on this fire. Thanks for keeping us in New Jersey safe. Stay safe.

Some media reports on the Spring Hill Fire
NJ Advance Media with photo gallery (March 31st, 12:45 PM)
Asbury Park Press with photo gallery (March 31st, 1:52 PM)
ABC 6 Philadelphia (March 31st, about 1 PM, video from early AM)


I will continue to follow the Spring Hill Fire and will report back with updates. Stay tuned.

New Jersey Forest Fire Service in 84th year of prescribed burns

I know that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is continuing to do prescribed burns. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) is in their 84th year of doing these prescribed burns. Many of you who follow my blog also follow Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today. On March 25th, he wrote a very nice article where he shared an article written by Michael Achey and Marie Cook of the NJFFS on their prescribed burn program, Bill's article may be found here. I hope that you take a few moments to read this great article. I was especially interested in a table breaking down 2019 prescribed burning statistics by Division and by grass, forest and marsh (by ownership) through March 21, 2019. For example Statewide totals (acres burned):

state grass              3,336
state forest             8,645
state marsh                 22
private grass               74
private forest          2,915
other grass                  64
other forest             2,917
totals                    17,963 

Note: other refers to government owned landed not owned by State of New Jersey

Thanks to Michael Achey and Marie Cook for a great article and thanks to Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today for sharing their article.

More on Himawari 8

I continue to be interested in Himawari 8 out of the Meteorological Satellite Center of the Japan Meteorological Agency which I first wrote about on March 13th. I am in the process of doing some doing some reading about Himawari 8 on the internet. I hope, but am not certain that at some point in the future I will be able to write a little more about Himawari on this blog. I understand that yes, Himawari imagery can show good imagery of wildfires (or bush fires). Here is a 4 second clip of Himawari 8 imagery of a November 2018 bush fire in Queensland Australia.


direct link to video

While I am continuing to try to learn more about Himawari 8, I thought I'd share some imagery from Himawari 8 of Super Typhoon Mangkhut that devastated the Philippines in September 2018. Here is an article from the BBC and a write up on Mangkhut on Wikipedia


direct link to video

A look at prescribed burns in Florida, Oklahoma, and Virgina

Because it is still prescribed burning season in parts of the United States, or it was prescribed burning season a couple of months ago, I wanted to find some nice videos where officials are describing the prescribed burns that they are doing in their corner of the country. With the help of my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page who post several weekly wildfire videos on their fire videos of the week page, I found three short videos to share with you. These videos are from Florida, Oklahoma and Virginia. Please note that what is described in each video is specific to the prescribed burn done in an ecosystem on a specific piece of land. While the land and conditions are likely to be different in your part of the world, I hope that you will get an idea about the planning that goes into prescribed burns, the ecological importance of the particular prescribed burn and how the prescribed burn is done. Enjoy.

Florida

direct link to video

Oklahoma

direct link to video

Virginia

direct link to video

IMET annual refresher training (2019)

It is early spring here in the United States so I know that various federal and state agencies with some responsibility for wildland firefighting are doing their annual refresher training for their wildland firefighters, pilots, etc. In past years I have written about the important work that NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) do to provide on-site weather forecasts on wildland fire incidents. The IMETs have to have four years experience as a National Weather Service Meteorologist and be what is known as a journeyman or general forecaster. I wrote about the training of new IMETs on July 21, 2017.

IMETs do what they do so that when they are deployed to a wildfire in order to give the wildland firefighters the best incident specific weather forecasts possible. I was wondering about the annual refresher training that IMETs receive, so I corresponded with the staff of the NWS IMET office on Facebook asking them about their annual refresher training. IMETs save lives!

Q1. Random Ramblings: Is annual refresher training in person or on the web or both?
NWS IMET office: The annual IMET refresher training is a combination of virtual, in-person, and continuing education webinars.

Q2.  Random Ramblings: I understand that IMETs get 20 to 40 hours of annual refresher training to keep their skills sharp, can you give me some examples?
NWS IMET Office: We have several avenues of training. First, we have our virtual workshop, which is a 1 day webinar-type workshop where IMETs go through things like updates to software and hardware that is used in the field, updates on administrative items we have to do in order to get out the door and get paid (paperwork, travel, etc.), updates on the GOES satellite and its capabilities, updates on our upper air system and how to send that data back to the NWS from the field so it can be used by other forecasters, and information on Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), which is basically how people react to stressful situations. 
     Then we have our in-person workshop held every March. Here we bring in all the new IMET Trainees as well as 1/3 of our veteran IMET Cadre and we run them through training and scenarios for a week. We touch on the same items as above, but in addition we practice briefings over handheld radios, working with the RAWS equipment (portable ground observation systems), giving media briefings, etc. We also chose a topic to focus on each year. This year was focused on what a burnout operation is (where firefighters do a controlled burn to get rid of the fuel between a break - fireline, handline, dozerline - and the fire so that when the main fire gets to the area that has burned it doesn't have any fuel to burn and the fire diminishes or goes out). Every year it is required that all firefighters go through an annual safety refresher that includes practice deploying a fire shelter. We hold a class at our workshop so that those IMETs that attend in-person get the safety refresher done at the workshop. Those that don't attend in person take the annual safety refresher training near their home unit. We also have numerous "continuing education" webinars on all sorts of topics to keep us sharp on the latest in science and technology as it pertains to wildfire and fire weather.

Q3. Random Ramblings: To clarify, the annual refresher safety training includes fire shelter deployment, fire behavior and fire safety?
NWS IMET Office: Yes, the annual safety refresher is actually taught by the fire agencies (Dept of Interior or the US Forest Service) and we attend those. All sorts of fire safety issues are addressed such as fire behavior, burnover situations, aircraft safety, etc.

Q4: Random Ramblings: IMETs are already at least journeymen (general forecasters) so they probably get training as needed for new technology and software (models, radar, software and our new GOES 16 and 17 satellites. Might this annual refresher training cover changes to technology, equipment, software, etc. used in the field?
NWS IMET Office: Yes, a lot of what we do in refresher training is learn about the latest in capabilities of satellite, radar, observing systems, etc. Our software is continually being updated and we ensure that our IMETs can use the latest version of the software that is on their system. It is akin to being a pilot or other specialist, we train often on the equipment and the information it is telling us so that we stay proficient and ready to go any time.

New Jersey Prescribed Burns (March 19th)

I am glad to see that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service started to do prescribed burns in northern New Jersey yesterday March 19th. This probably meant that things have finally dried out enough up here, including snow melt, to allow for prescribed burns. For reference, the NJFFS has a county map of New Jersey showing current fire conditions and a listing of counties assigned to the three NJFFS divisions here. Middlesex County is split between Division A (northern NJ) and Division B (central NJ).

Burlington County

Washington Twp. Wharton State Forest – Washington Turnpike

Washington Twp. Wharton State Forest – Bulltown Road

Little Egg Harbor Twp. Bass River State Forest


Cape May County

Dennis Twp. Sunset Avenue, Belleplain

Dennis Twp. Belleplain State Forest


Camden County

Waterford Twp. Wharton State Forest – Johnson Rd., Parkdale City

Cumberland County

Lawrence & Downe Twp Millville Wildlife Management Area

Gloucester County

Monroe Twp. Cedar Lake Wildlife Management Area

Hunterdon County
Union Twp.
Spruce Run State Park

Monmouth County 

Manasquan Twp. Route 71 & Railroad Tracks

Wall Twp. Hurley Pond Road

Morris County
Jefferson Twp. Rockaway River WMA

Jefferson Twp. Berkshire Valley WMA

Ocean County 

Manchester Twp. Greenwood Wildlife Management Area

Manchester Twp. Whiting Wildlife Management Area
J
ackson Twp. Metadeconk Golf Course

Jackson Twp. Diamond Road

Sussex County

Hopatcong Twp. Hudson Farms

New Jersey: Prescribed Burns (March 18th)

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS)  continues to conduct prescribed burns. The ones that I know about are in southern and central New Jersey. The short video embedded below shows a prescribed burn conducted by the NJFFS on March 13th in the Black Run Preserve (Evesham Township, Burlington County) in the New Jersey Pinelands (aka the NJ Pine Barrens).


direct link to video from the New Jersey Pinelands Commission


Burlington County
Medford, YMCA Camp (Stokes Road)

Cape May County
Upper, Tuckahoe WMA
Dennis,Belleplain State Forest

Cumberland County
Maurice River, Whibco

Monmouth County
Wall, Allaire (Between 195 & Atlantic Avenue)

Ocean County
Ocean, Wells Mills Park (Route 532)
Manchester, Greenwood WMA

New Jersey: prescribed burns (March 14th)

I am happy to follow-up on the post I made the other day about the start of prescribed burning season in NJ, see my March 11th post for more information about  the New Jersey Forest Fire Service's (NJFFS) prescribed burning program along with a couple of short videos. I saw a report yesterday, March 14th, about prescribed burns that the NJ conducted in five central and southern New Jersey counties. I am looking forward to hearing about prescribed burns in my part of New Jersey, it may still be too wet. As I  have in prior years, I will be making periodic posts about NJFFS's prescribed burns.

Thank-you to the NJFFS wildlife service for doing these prescribed burns and for all you do to keep us safe.

Atlantic County

Estell Manor City, Peaslee WMA  (Tuckahoe Rd./1st Ave.)

Hammonton, Wharton State Forest

Galloway, Stockton University


Burlington County

Washington, Wharton State Forest  (Washington Tpk.)

Woodland, Parker Preserve

Cumberland County

Maurice River, Peaslee WMA  (Estell Manor Road)

Maurice River, Peaslee WMA  (Cedar Branch)

Maurice River, Peaslee WMA  (Cedar Branch/Cow Road)

Middlesex County

East Brunswick, Jamesburg Park

Ocean County

Barnegat, Warren Grove  (Rt. 539)

Barnegat, Greenwood WMA (Rt. 72 & 532)

Berkeley, Hovnanian  (Audubon)

Lakewood, Ocean Co. Park  (New Hampshire Ave.)

Jackson, Colliers Mills WMA  (Stump Tavern Road)

Jackson, Colliers Mills WMA  (W. Veterans Hwy.)

GOES 17 and Himawari-8: coverage in the central Pacific

Some of you may remember that I wrote three posts in October 2017 of some Aero Clipper research in Guam, some of the links in these articles have expired but I am leaving these posts up. This research was done with the cooperation of the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Guam. My friends at the NWS Guam WFO were wonderful, answering my questions via Facebook Messenger. I have periodically kept in touch with the Guam WFO since then.

I have been writing about GOES-17 aka GOES West recently. I was wondering if the GOES-17 coverage area reached as far west as Guam, I thought that it might but was not sure. So, I contacted them on Facebook this past Monday, March 11th) and asked them. They were. as always, very helpful. I learned that Guam and the nearby islands in the Mariana Islands are barely on the western edge of the GOES_17 coverage area. While technically visible on GOES-17 images, they get much better coverage from the Japanese Meteorological Agency's Himawari-8 satellite. I will get to those images a little later, but first some information about the Himawari-8. The Himawari-8 was launched on October 7, 2014 and flies in a geostationary orbit (22,300 miles above the Earth) at 140° East (I think). According to an October 2014 press release from the World Meteorological Association announcing the launch of Himawari-8:

Himawari-8, with the first of 16-channel imager onboard geostationary satellites with highest resolution of 0.5 km and a full disk scanning of 10 minutes,  heralds the advent of a new generation of meteorological geostationary satellites. Satellite launches in the 2015-2019 timeframe are also planned by the China Meteorological Administration, EUMETSAT, India Space Research Organization, Korea Meteorological Administration, the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet) and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To read a brief description of the about the Himawari (AHI) Imager go here. The home page of the Meteorological Satellite Center (MSC) of the Japanese Meteorological Agency may be found here, and is chock of all kinds of information that some of you might find useful including but not limited to Himawari-8 images and a users guide. Finally, NOAA has a page dedicated to Himaware-8 images that may be found here.

Ok, back to satellite imagery of Guam and the adjoining Mariana Islands (part of Micronesia). First I asked my friends at the WFO Guam to clarify the geography of the region to provide a context for the two satellite images that I will share at the end of this article:

For the geographical stuff, some circles confirm all of the region Micronesia, but most refer to Guam as part of the Mariana Islands, Guam being the southern most; the Marshall Islands are the easternmost of Micronesia, Palau being the westernmost. All of these island regions are part of our forecasting domain.

My friends at WFO Guam told me that their forecasting area of responsibility (AOR) "as the Equator to 25N latitude, from 130E longitude to the Date Line." That is quite a large area. I did a rough image of their AOR from Google Earth. Unfortunately Google Earth does not show the international date line, but it does show the antimeridian (180° from the prime meridian) that goes through Greenwich England. The antimeridian is not co-terminus with the international date line, but it is close enough and my friends at WFO Guam said that my image from Google Earth is a good representation of their AOR.

Finally! Now for the two annotated satellite images that my friends from the WFO Guam sent to me on March 11th. I don't know date of this satellite imagery. You can easily see that Hawaii shows up in the GOES West image with Guam, the Mariana Islands and the rest of Micronesia is on the far western edge of the coverage area. Then note in the Himawari image how clearly Guam and the rest of Micronesia shows in this image.

Thanks to the NWS Guam WFO for sharing and annotating this image

Thanks to the NWS Guam WFO for sharing and annotating this image

Late winter and early spring in New Jersey means prescribed burning season

It is late winter, a couple of weeks to go until spring officially arrives, and this means that prescribed burning season, which officially began on February 19, 2019, running until early spring. As I understand it, prescribed burns conducted by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service may occur at other times. More importantly, prescribed burns are weather dependent. High winds are an obvious example that will but a stop to a planned prescribed burn. Snow and wet soils may be another example. For example, in my corner of New Jersey we are still losing the last of our snow cover from two snow events from March 1 through March 4th, so I think that is likely that ground conditions may have been too wet in much of northern New Jersey to allow for prescribed burns.

Those of you are interested in learning more will want to read the February 19th press release from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announcing the New Jersey Forest Fire Service 2019 prescribed burning season. The press release also references landowners rights to prescribed burns as well as the the 2018 New Jersey Prescribed Burn Act. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has a nice FAQ document on prescribed burning facts for private landowners, go here to see the FAQ. I am including an excerpt from the February 19th press release:

Forest Fire Service personnel use best management practices and follow a plan to control smoke impacts during the burns, but nearby residents and visitors should expect to see large plumes of smoke and may experience temporary impacts from smoke.  

Motorists are also reminded to use caution when approaching areas where prescribed burns are taking place, by observing posted reduced speed limits, and being alert to the presence of trucks and Forest Fire Service personnel. 

“Since 1906, the Forest Fire Service has protected property, lives and infrastructure by creating defensible space and strategic fire breaks near developed areas,” said Greg McLaughlin, Chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. “These prescribed burns help prevent wildfires, reduce the intensity of these fires, and provide a foundation for safer, more effective fire suppression and protection operations.” 

Prescribed burns, also known as controlled burns, will continue if weather conditions are appropriate. The burns are generally conducted during late winter months to reduce the amount of smoke produced and because weather conditions tend to be more predictable for safer controlled fires.

In past years, I have driven by areas where the New Jersey Forest Fire Service was conducting prescribed burns. While I have no photos of these burns, I can attest to seeing signage warning drives that a prescribed burn was going on.

I close with a couple of videos showing prescribed burns. I have driven on the road in the first video many times driving to the NJ Pine Barrens and the Tuckerton area of the New Jersey shore. I am less familiar with the Monmouth Battle Field that you will see in the second video, but I know that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Section B-10 has conducted prescribed burns in past years.


Direct link to video from 105.7 The Hawk


Direct link to video from NJFFS Section B-10

GOES-17: some imagery

I wrote about GOES-17 becoming GOES West on March 6th. Today I continue with GOES-17 by sharing some short videos from GOES-17 uploaded to Youtube by the NOAA Satellite and Information Services.

Wildfire detection in New Zealand


Direct link to video


Hawaii


Direct link to video


Atmospheric Rivers in California

Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow (What Are Atmospheric Rivers, NOAA, obtained on March 8, 2019 from https://www.noaa.gov/stories/what-are-atmospheric-rivers). GOES-17 will aid forecasters in monitoring atmospheric rivers, see this February 15th news article from NOAA Satellite and Information Services

Atmospheric River -- GOES-17 -- February 14, 2019

Direct link to video

GOES-17 is now GOES West

GOES-17, then known as GOES S was launched on March 1, 2018. After almost a year of various testing on February 12, 2019 she was operational as NOAA's GOES west. She is in geostationary orbit at 22,300 miles above the Earth at 137.2º West. There is a great article with some nice pictures and other images explaining what GOES-17 will bring, it is the February 12, 2019 article posted by NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. Here are some excerpts explaining how important GOES West will be.

GOES-17 is NOAA’s second advanced geostationary weather satellite and the sister satellite to GOES-16 (also known as GOES East). Together the two satellites provide high-resolution visible and infrared imagery as well as lightning observations of more than half the globe – from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand, and from near the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle.

Greatly improved weather forecasts over the Pacific.

In Hawaii and the central Pacific Ocean, GOES-17’s high-resolution visible and infrared imagery will improve hurricane forecasts and allow meteorologists to better predict areas of intense rainfall. … 

Forecasters in Hawaii and other remote territories like the Marshall Islands and American Samoa are also now able to track thunderstorms in real-time.

A boon to forecasting in Alaska with GOES-17 providing coverage not possible from older satellites.

“In my nearly six years forecasting here, I have never seen a product revolutionize our ability to forecast the way GOES-17 has,” said Michael Ottenweller, a National Weather Service forecaster at the Anchorage, Alaska field office. “The advent of GOES over our domain makes forecasting tangibly easier and better.”  

Ottenweller described a recent experience forecasting fog over southwestern Alaska. Before GOES-17 data was available, forecasters would have to wait for data from polar-orbiting satellites passing over Alaska. “Now, not only do I have reliable data, but I can loop that data. This changes everything,” said Ottenweller. “We are excited to see what [GOES-17] brings for the convective and fire weather season.”

Wildfire Detection

Finally like her sister satellite, GOES-16 (GOES East), GOES-17 is able to provide wildfire and smoke detection not seen under older geostationary satellites. I wrote an eight-part series a couple of years ago on the application of GOES-16 for wildfire detection. In part 4 of that eight-part series I discuss how GOES-16 improved wildfire detection, the same will apply to her sister satellite, GOES-17. I am embedding a video that I included in part 4 for you so you may see how GOES-16 and 17 will improved wildfire detection.


Direct link to video on Youtube from NOAA Visualizations

In the coming weeks, I hope to write more about GOES-17.

2018 fire season: Slave Lake "Muskwa" Unit Crew 2018 Crew Video

Enjoy the video highlighting the 2018 season of the Slave Lake "Muskwa" Unit Crew. Nice footage of tankers making drops. I enjoyed the footage of the helicopter, wondering if perhaps the helo was used by the crew? The best part is the footage of the crew and the fire footage.

Direct link to videoon Youtube uploaded by Cubes

2018 wildfire season: more on post-fire clean-up

I have recently written about the post-fire hazardous waste and debris removal following the Camp Fire in Butte County, the Woolsey Fire (Ventura and Los Angeles County) and the Hill Fire in Ventura County which burned close to the Woolsey Fire ( see my February 27th article which includes links to earlier articles). According to the CAL Fire incident database, structures destroyed in each fire are as follows:

Hill Fire: 4 buildings destroyed.
Woolsey Fire: 1,643 destroyed and 341 damaged.
Camp Fire: 18,804 buildings destroyed.

I know about the magnitude of the Camp Fire clean-up, I also know that disasters that destroy a large number of properties such as tornadoes, massive flooding, hurricanes have the potential to at least put a strain on local landfill capacity. At the same time, I know from my work on earlier articles about the 2019 post-fire clean-ups that each of the affected counties have put in a lot of work in planning their respective clean-ups including finding landfills that can take both hazardous and non-hazardous debris as well as ash. I also understand that some debris, e.g. concrete and metal, will be recycled. With all this in mind, I did a search on the internet earlier today and found a January 10,  2019 article, updated on January 29th from the Sacramento Bee reporting on some challenges facing local and state officials involved in the Camp Fire clean-up. This article reports that the recycling of concrete and metal is controversial because near-by Chico residents are understandably hesitant about plans to have a scrapyard in their town (in addition, see my January 11th article). As I write this article, I don't know where this scrapyard is located.

I was interested in a second challenge cited in the Sacramento Bee article, a controversy involving one of the subsidiaries of the contractor awarded the soil testing contract,  two employees plead guilty to faking soil tests on an earlier project and sentenced to prison. The company, Tetra Tech said that they were rogue employees and have addressed the problems. CalRecycle, one of the California agencies involved in the post-fire clean-up said:

CalRecycle officials said Thursday Tetra Tech was the lowest responsible bidder for the contract and that the state has confidence in the company’s work. 

“In previous wildfire debris removal operations, Tetra Tech has proven to be a reliable debris management contractor, meeting CalRecycle’s high standards for health and safety, performance, and operational accountability,” spokesman Lance Klug said in an email to The Bee.

Klug said CalRecycle has, however, implemented a new auditing process as an additional layer of oversight on current and future projects, in part because of the large size of the Camp Fire contracts. 

“All CalRecycle-managed wildfire debris removal operations are conducted with strict contractor oversight measures to protect the health of wildfire survivors, communities, and all workers involved in debris removal efforts, in addition to internal auditing systems to ensure operational accountability,” Klug wrote.

Hopefully Tetra Tech has corrected the problems and updated their procedures so that employee fraud won't happen again and that CalRecycles new audit procedures will address potential problems in the clean-up so that they can be corrected before the clean-up is completed.

The third challenge that I read about in the Sacramento Bee article concerns the question that I had: Where will the debris from the Camp Fire go? Apparently, local officials have identified three landfills that  will accept Camp Fire debris (with requisite permits). There is a nice map locating likely and possible landfills that could take Camp Fire debris. According to the Sacramento Bee:

The massive cleanup prompts other longer-term concerns. If wildfires continue to happen, are California landfills at risk of being over taxed? . . . 

Waste Management, one of the biggest haulers and landfill operators in the country, owns the Anderson landfill near Red Bluff, which just finished taking most of the Carr Fire debris and is now prepping new space for the Camp Fire. Ken Lewis, an executive with the company, says its Anderson landfill has about 60 years of capacity left. But the Camp Fire debris alone could shorten that lifespan by five years. Still, he said, he’s lobbying for the Camp Fire waste to come to his door.

Is California's landfill capacity adequate to take the waste from the 2018 wildfires, especially debris from the Camp Fire? I hope so. I know from all of my reading that the local and state officials have worked hard on the planning for the post-fire clean-up but not limited to identifying landfills that will accept the waste. I am cautiously hopeful that there is enough landfill capacity to take debris from these three wildfires, but you never know. For good or bad, time will tell. Looking to the future, since debris from each large wildfire can shorten the lifespan of a landfill, what will happen if these mega-fires in California continue?

I have only been writing about mega-wildfires in California. Mega wildfires can occur anywhere so other states and countries may well face the issue of adequate landfill capacity sometime down the road.