National Weather Service turned 150 years this week

This week the National Weather Service turned 150 years old. Wow. J


Direct link to video on Youtube.

Regular followers of this blog know how much I respect the work of the National Weather Service, from our local Weather Forecast Offices -- mine is NWS Philadephia/Mt. Holly to the River Forecast Centers with a special shout out to the Mid-Atlantic River Forecast Center to the Storm Prediction Center to the Hurricane Center and to the NWS Incident Meteorologists. And this list only a partial list of all the National Weather Service does for us here in the United States. In celebration of their 150 years of service the National Weather Service has a NWS Heritage webpage chock full of links with history of the NWS, stories, and links to local Weather Forecast Offices, River Forecast Centers and other Service Units. You may go here for a brief NWS Heritage Fact Sheet

Words of thanks to all at the National Weather Service for all you do to keep us safe don't seem adequate. That being said, I thank-you with a smile on my face.


Direct link to thank-you video on Youtube.

IMETs in Australia: Interview with IMET deployed in late 2019

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

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

I spent about 48 minutes listening to the interview.



direct link to soundcloud recording

2020 Australian bushfires: more rainfall

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

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

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

2020 Australia Bushfire season: rainfall and scenes of NSW crews

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

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


Direct link to video on Youtube from Sydney Emergency

Short term plans for this blog in light of T-134 crash

Some of you may have figured out that in late December into January I was in the midst of writing reflection pieces on some of the tankers and helicopters that I first wrote about over ten years ago. I had also just began to post about some tankers that I had not devoted a lot of time to in this blog.

Then Coulson tanker 134 crashed in the Snowy Monaro region of New South Wales Australia on January 23rd. 

Out of respect for the loss of Ian, Paul and Rick when T-134 went down and also out of respect for the larger wildland firefighting community, I have suspended writing about tankers and helicopters for the foreseeable future. I am not quite sure when I will resume this series. The first of the remains of the crew were given a hero's farewell at Sydney yesterday prior to being flown back to Houston Texas (see this February 5th article from Reuters). As I write this on February 5th, I will continue to wait a respectable amount of time before resuming this series.

2020 wildfire season: prescribed burning is under way (Feb 3rd)

Prescribed burning season in New Jersey has started. Prescribed burns are necessary to reduce wildfire risk. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service NJFFS) has not yet done a press release announcing that the prescribed burn season is under way. It still may be a little too early for that. I will link to the 2020 press release from the NJFFS when one is released. Prescribed burns are done, weather permitting.

Recent prescribed burns that I know about were scheduled as follows:

JANUARY 29TH

DIVISION B:
BURLINGTON COUNTY:
- Warton State Forest, Tabernacle Township
MONMOUTH COUNTY:
- Wall Township, Allaire State Park
OCEAN COUNTY:
- Little Egg Harbor, East side of township near the bay

JANUARY 30th

DIVISION B
BURLINGTON COUNTY:
- Washington Township, Wharton State Forest
MONMOUTH COUNTY:
- Manalapan Township, Monmouth Battlefield State Park
OCEAN COUNTY:
- Manchester Township, Brendan T. Byrne State Forest

DIVISION C:
CAPE MAY COUNTY:
- Middle Township, Cape May Costal Wetlands Wildlife Management Area


FEBRUARY 1 and 2nd

DIVISION A:
PASSAIC COUNTY:
- West Milford - Ringwood State Park
SOMERSET COUNTY:
- Bernards - Lord Sterling EEC
- Bernardsville - NJ Audubon
SUSSEX COUNTY:
- Andover - Kittatinny Valley State Park
- Vernon - Wawayanda State Park

DIVISION B:
BURLINGTON COUNTY:
- Pemberton - Brendan T Byrne State Forest
- Washington - Wharton State Forest
OCEAN COUNTY:
- Eagleswood - Bass River State Forest
- Manchester - Brendan T. Byrne State Forest
- Jackson - Colliers Mills WMA
MONMOUTH COUNTY:
- Wall - Allaire State Park
- Millstone - Prospertown WMA

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

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




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

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

New group of IMETs deployed to Australia

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

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

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

Thank-you to:

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

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

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

Coulson T-134: memories from your friends in California

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

RIP Ian, Paul, and Rick

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

T-134 saved a ranch

Direct link to video on Youtube

T-134 at Sacramento AAB

direct link to video

Coulson T-134 crash update: January 24th

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

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

Captain Ian H.McBeth, 44, Great Falls MT

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

First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, Buckeye AZ

Paul is survived by his wife Noreen

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

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

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

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

Coulson T-134 crashed in New South Wales Australia

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

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

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

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


Direct link to ABC report on T-134

Obtained on January 23, 2020 from Coulson Aviation

About the Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87

It is way past time for me to write more about the current fleet of airtankers that have been under contract (exclusive use and call when needed) in the United States.

For no particular reason other then coming across a video of one of Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87's arriving in western Australia to fight bush fires, I am starting with the Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87.

Erickson Aero Tanker, wholly owned by Aero Air LLC, currently has five MD-87 air tankers. In addition, they have two more MD-87 that are ready to convert to tanker configuration. The MD-87, part of the MD-80 series, started out as an airliner manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The MD-80 series is an updated version of the DC-9. See this wikipedia article for more information on the MD-80 series and this airliner dot net article on the MD-87.

Specifications

• retardant capacity: 3,000 gallons
• cruise speed: 450 knots
• drop speed: 135 to 140 knots
• two retardant loading ports
• 900 mile loaded strike range
• See Erickson Aero Tanker FAQ. for more information as well as the home page of Erickson Aero Tanker 

According to Bill Gabbert's January 16th Fire Aviation article on U.S.tankers deployed to Australia to help with their current bush fire season, two of Erickson's MD-87's (T-102 and T-103) are be based at Perth in Western Australia. 

The first video is of T-102 dropping on a fire, I am not sure of the location. The second video is from 9NewsPerth reporting on the arrival of T-102. Note that 3,000 gallons is equivalent to about 11,350 litres

Direct link to video

Direct link to video from 9NewsPerth

More fun: Atlantic City Airshow featuring the USAF Thunderbirds

I shared a video on January 17th featuring the US Navy's Blue Angels. Continuing with airshows, I want to share a video from the 2018 Atlantic City Airshow featuring the USAF Thunderbirds. Allow about 34 minutes to watch this video. Enjoy.


Direct link to video on Youtube

Friday Fun: Fort Lauderdale FL May 2019 Airshow

I am currnetly working on some ideas that I hope will be upcoming reflection pieces. In the meantime, I am taking a break from my writing to find something fun to post for you. I found this video on Youtube showing footage of the Fort Lauderdale FL 2019 airshow. The footage is a lot of fun and it includes the Blue Angels as well as other airplanes, some performing aerobatics and some doing fly overs. The footage is about 20 minutes long. Enjoy.


Direct link to video from ScubaFilmFactory

2019 wildfire season: Apple Valley 2019 Fire Season

It is time for another 2019 highlight video, this one from a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) crew based in Apple Valley, CA.  What impressed me about this video is catching a glimpse of what a typical wildland fire crew does to stay in shape during fire season.

Thanks Apple Valley crew for all you did in 2019 fighting wildfires to keep us safe. Stay safe.


Direct link to video on Youtube

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

More about CAL FIRE's S2-T tankers - January 10th edition

I am returning to writing a little more about CAL FIRE’s S2-T Tankers. This article serves as a follow-up to two articles I wrote before Christmas, Reflections on CAL FIRE’s S2-T Tankers, Part 1 (December 16, 2019) and Part 2 (December 23, 2019)

This article is possible because of recent e-mails with an experienced CAL FIRE pilot.

First, he made a couple of corrections to part 1 that are reflected in the article. The most important correction is clarification on the number of S2-T’s in California. Twenty-two are assigned to twelve air attack bases with one or two S2-T’s assigned to each base. One, T-100 is a spare and is at McClellan Air Attack Base until needed. See the CAL FIRE pilot’s Association website for more information on CAL FIRE’s tanker bases, aircraft and other news.

He had a few things that he wants me to share with you using part 2 as a starting along with one of the earlier articles that I referenced in part 2, Reflections, S2-T's, SEATs and initial attack (May 24, 2009). So perhaps you will want to take a few minutes to review these two articles before going any further.

My friend started with initial attack,”97% of fires are stopped before 10 acres thanks to the rapid intervention and coordination of ground and air resources. Air (tankers and copters) are here to support the ground fire fighters and can't replace them. When retardant is dropped to stop the spread, buy time and contain the fire, it needs to be backed up by fire fighters.”

I asked him about dropping retardant on fires, he said “the perfect drop is a difficult equation and an eternal quest: perfect speed, height, timing, drift, line, quantity, and coverage level (note 1). Very humbling most of the time and very gratifying once in a while when it's achieved.”

Finally he talks about the airplane: “You need a good airplane, well maintained, a good tank system, good retardant (well mixed) and an experienced pilot to start, then you might have a chance to make a decent, safe, efficient, effective drop.”

Note 1. coverage level is the density of retardant in drop. Normally ranges from 1 to 7 and represents the number of gallons in a 100 square foot area (see  terminology on the Associatied Aerial Firefighters website.)

2020 Australian Bushfires: aerial operations

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


Direct link to video


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


Direct link to video

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


Direct link to video

Australian Bushfires: January 6, 2020

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

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

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

More coverage

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

Australian Bushfires - January 3, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Years

As the end of this first day of 2020 approaches in a couple of hours, I would like to be able to wish everyone a happy a safe New Years. I would want to acknowledge and thank all the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air along with their support staff who are working today on wildfires to keep us safe. But my thoughts are those in Australia who are suffering from a horrific bush fire season. This New Years will not be happy for many of those affected by the bushfires in Australia. Then there are those who are still recovering from devastating wildfires in California in  the past couple of years. And of courses, others outside of California and outside the United States affected by wildfires are also recovering. Finally, I find myself thinking about the devastating wildfires that hit the Amazon last year. I am not quite sure what to say on this first day of 2020.

Some of you who have been affected by wildfires may not be happy today. Those of you working the bushfires in Australia are away from your family and friends today, and to you I say thank-you for your service.

I wish all peace and safety in the New Year.

IMETs deployed to Australia

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


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

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

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

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

2018 wildfire season: Tatanka Hotshots crew video

I was looking around on Youtube a little while ago and came across the Tatanka (Hotshot) 2018 Crew Video. I want to share it with you. I want to say up front that the video is almost 36 minutes long. However, I loved the video and the backgroumd music. I got to know the guys on the crew, watching them while they had fun. But more importantly, I saw them work wildfires. On the plus side, I was somewhat harried today and I found this video to be soothing. I know this might sound a little strange. But I thought that some of you might appreciate this. So, without further ado, here is the Tatanka Crew Video, uploaded to Youtube in March 2019.


Direct link to video on Youtube

Seasons Greetings 2019: The Shepard

My end of year holiday tradition is to embed Frederick Forsyth's The Shepard, read by Alan Maitland. The Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) broadcasts The Shepard every year around this time of year. For those of you who don't have the easy opportunity to listen to The Shepard on CBC, I am embedding it below. The video is family friendly. Enjoy!


Direct link to The Shepard on Youtube

Reflections on CAL FIRE's S2-T tanker (part 2)

Long-time readers of this my blog know that I cut my teeth following wildland fires in California, partly because I knew a former CAL Fire pilot and a some current CAL Fire pilots who answered my questions and guided me in the early days of this blog. They showed me around various places on the web, nationally as well as CAL Fire sites where I could find more information. Much of my conversations with these friends were what I called background research and learning. I am forever grateful to these pilots, who are know friends. Some are still flying and when I see a video, photograph, or live stream I may sometimes get a glance at their tanker number.

So, because of those early days when I spent hours following wildfires in California through various live streams from California news stations, I will always have an affinity for CAL Fire pilots. But there is more. That is, I have some family and close friends who live in southern California. I know that the S2-T tanker pilots, CAL Fire helicopters, and other local helicopters are flying these wildfires to support the wildland firefighters on the ground. If the fire is large enough, other aerial resources either from the national fleet of tanker and helicopters, MAFFs tankers, National Guard helicopters, and other assets from California will help. The same hold for wildfires elsewhere in California. Anyway, I know that the aerial firefighters and firefighters on the ground do what they do to keep residents and businesses safe from wildfires. In regards to southern California, it is personal because of my loved ones.

I had hoped to do a little more background research to answer some questions I have about CAL Fire's S2-T tankers. But with the holiday season upon us, I decided to wait until next year. Perhaps there will be nothing new to add, but it is worth the effort. In the meantime, some of you may want to check out some of these older posts that I wrote on the S2-T tanker:

S2-T tanker (part 1) (December 16, 2019)
A closer look at CAL Fire's aviation program (September 18, 2019)
A peak inside a CAL Fire S2-T (October 15, 2010)
Reflections, S-2_T's, SEATs and initial attack (May 24, 2009)
S2-T's end of season tank maintenance (May 9, 2009)

2019 crew videos: Entiat Hotshots

Many of you will be traveling during this holiday season and beyond. I wish everyone safe travels. For those of you are wildland firefighters, whether you be on the ground or in the air, you may be away from your families keeping us safe. Please know that your service is appreciated.

In the meantime, please enjoy this video from the Entiat Hotshots with highlights of their 2019 season.



Direct link to video on Youtube from Entiat IHC Crew Media

Air tankers circa 2010

Recently I have been writing some reflection pieces with embedded videos of some tankers and helicopters that I learned of over ten years ago when I decided to devote this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related concerns. My latest post in this series was on December 16th when I wrote the first of what I hope to be at least a couple of posts on CAL FIRE's S2-T tanker. I hope to return to writing about the S2-T tanker either the end of this week or early next week.

Today I am sharing a video I first learned about nine years ago by Alan Simmons. Alan shoots videos of structure fires,wildland fires, EMS, tankers, etc. You may find his videos for sale on FirestormvideosHD. I learned of Alan's videos nine years ago when I came upon highlights from his longer 80 minute 2010 video on Firefighting Air Tankers. I do have this DVD, but due to technical issues I have not been able to watch it recently. As I have recently been writing about some of the tankers that Alan showcases in his eight minute highlight video from (2010) Firefighting Air Tankers, I thought that I would share this with you.

Enjoy.



Direct link to Alan Simmon's eight minute video, Firefighting Air Tankers

Reflections on CAL FIRE's S2-T tanker (part 1)

I would be remiss to write reflection pieces on air tankers and not include the Grumman S2-T Tracker flown by CAL FIRE. I am not quite sure how many S2-T's are currently flown by CAL FIRE. According to CAL FIRE's fact sheet (2005) on the S2-T there are 23 S2-T tankers in service. Twenty-two are assigned to twelve air attack bases with one or two S2-T’s assigned to each base. One, T-100 is a spare and is at McClellan Air Attack Base until needed.

I first learned of the S2-T in the spring of 2009 shortly after I decided to devote this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related concerns. I have grown to love the S2-T and her pilots. S2-T's are based at air attack bases around California so they can easily and quickly be deployed to fly wildfires in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground. They do a lot of initial attack work and many times their quick response coupled with the wildland firefighters on the ground wildland fires can be put out while they are still small. And when that is not possible, they will continue to fly the fire with, the support of other air tankers and helicopters.

I do not live on the west coast, but I have visited southern California a couple times and stopped by Ramona Air Attack Base for a visit. The morning I visited, it was a quiet day and one of the S2-T's, T-71, was sitting on the ramp along with the OV-10 air attack plane. I was delighted to be able to take a tour of the base with some photos which I shared in my July 13 2012 post.

I found a very cool video, almost six minutes long, of footage shot from inside a S2-T tanker. According to a knowledgeable friend, the pilot is Bob Forbes, now retired, and the video was probably shot near Hemet California where his home base (Hemet-Ryan in Riverside County California) was located. I love videos that take me inside the cockpit of a tanker flying a fire. There is no audio, but I found the sound of the engines to be comforting. Enjoy.



Direct link to video

Reflections on the Huey Helicopter for wildland firefighting

When I decided to devote this blog to aerial wildland firefightings and related concerns back in January 2009, I began by writing about the UH-1H super Huey helicopters (Bell Helicopters) service for wildland firefighting. I don't quite recall why I started with Huey's. It might of been as simple as my friend aviation historian friend and former airtanker pilot suggesting that I start by writing about Huey helicopters. But I think it is safe to say that I was probably already vaguely familiar with the Huey, if for no reason then I had heard the Huey's were used in Vietnam.

I have seen a couple Huey's up close and personal, two through visit to two airbases of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) who flies two Huey's (Delta 5 and Delta 6) with 300 gallon (approximate) bambi buckets. On a 2011 visit to San Diego, I took a drive to CAL Fire's Ramona air attack base where I was able to get up close with their Huey.

I know from reading Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation site that CAL FIRE, is in the process of getting new Firehawk helicopters, see for example his October 2019 post on a Firehawk arriving in Sacramento. So it stands to reason that the site of a Huey working a fire in California will be a memory in a couple of years. To the best of my knowledge the NJFFS Hueys are remaining in service. Other states currently have or have had Huey's in service fighting wildfires, such as North Carolina.

Huey's will always be special to me because they were they were the first firefighting aircraft that I wrote about and because I have seen at least three, possibly more up close and personal. There is a certain elegance in watching helicopters work a fire. Because they can go to a water source to dip and fill their buckets they are an important aerial resource to support the wildland firefighters on the ground. They can make quite a number of drops on a fire, and the closer the water sources is to the fire the more drops they can make.

Enjoy these three videos showcasing Huey's working a fire.

North Carolina


Direct link to video


New Jersey


Direct link to video


CAL FIRE (16 minutes)


Direct link to video

Reflections on the A-26 service as an airtanker in Canada

The Douglas A-26 Invader has been retired from active service as an air tanker for many years now. A few years ago I got interested in the Douglas A-26 Invader's service as an air tanker in Canada and wrote a 13-part series, you might want to check out some photos here and here. In the final post in that series, I offered my reflections on the A-26's service as an air tanker in Canada, here is an excerpt:

You served long and well flying fires in Canada, in some cases serving as a tanker in the U.S, and before that your military service. You were and are loved by all those who came in contact with you during your years of service as an air tanker in Canada. … 

Thank-you for you for your long service in Canada. I wish that I had known you then, but I've been privileged to know you through a couple of pilots who flew you, through the videos that I have seen and the material that I read on the internet. Perhaps one day I'll get to meet one of your kind in a museum. Or even better, to see one of your kind flying.  

I love you too. Someday we will both be flying in favorable tail winds and we can fly together. 

Over five years have passed since I wrote that series. I still love the A-26, and as time goes by I wonder if I will ever get to see her fly. But that doesn't matter, because I can close my eyes and see her fly in my meditations.

I close by sharing a video of an A-26 air tanker flying a wildfire, including some shots from inside the cockpit.


Direct link to video

Reflections on Aero Union's P-3 Orion Air Tanker

When I started to write about aerial wildland firefighting over 10 years ago, I quickly learned about Aero Union's P-3 orion air tanker. I never had the opportunity to know one of her pilots nor did I ever meet her in person. But that does not matter because I got to know her through her reputation and through a myriad of videos of air tanker operations over wildfires. With tanks carrying up to 3,000 gallons of retardant, she was a valuable resource. I loved watching videos of her dropping on fires. Even better was watching her work wildfires in the western United States on live stream.

Those days are gone. The U.S Forest Service cancelled its contracts for Aero Union's P-3's in the summer of 2011. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation writes about the efforts to bring the P-3 back to wildland firefighting configuration here.

I want to honor the work of Aero Union's P-3 tankers. I can think of no better way to do so then by sharing a couple of my favorite videos. The first one has no sound For the record, there was a version with sound and a snappy musical track, but I can no longer find it online. Even without sound you will get to see the P-3  working wildfires. 

Direct link to video on Youtube

The second video was done by Scorched Sky Productions in 2011 as a tribute to Aero Union's P-3 tanker after Aero Union lost it's USFS contract.

Direct link to video by Scorched Sky Productions

Reflections on the CH-47 Chinook Helicopter

Direct link to video

I became more familiar with the CH-47 Chinook Helicopter about 10 years ago thanks to a good friend of mine who worked with the CH-47 while he was in the military. He was either a flight engineer or a mechanic, I am not sure which. Needless to say, he loved the CH-47 and suggested I learn more about the CH-47 as he knew that they were used for aerial firefighting while he was in the military. He told me to check out Columbia Helicopters and learn more about the CH-47 and the civilian version. I learned a short time later that Columbia holds the type certificate for the civilian version of the CH-47 known as the Columbia 234 Chinook, go here for more information.

I admit that I don't know as much about the CH-47 and her civilian cousin, however, because of my friend I have deep affinity for the CH-47. So when I am perusing videos of aerial wildfire operations, especially wildfires where military reserves have been called into service, I do look out for the CH-47 Chinooks or Columbia's 234 Chinook.  In addition, there are two other helicopter operators that I know of that have CH-47's used for civilian heavy lift operations as well as wildland firefighting operations, Billings and Coulson. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has written several articles on the CH-47 used in firefighting operations that you may find tagged on his site. Bill wrote about Coulson's CH-47 on March 1, March 8, and September 5, 2019. He wrote an article on Billings in January 2019 . There may be other heavy helicopter operators that I do not know about.

In closing, I would be remiss if I did not mention another incident involving the CH-47 that further ignited my affinity for the CH-47. That is, about five years ago, a pilot friend was taking me on a scenic flight, I believe that we were somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania. He was getting flight following so he was getting advisories of aircraft near are flight path. The controller came over the radio telling him to look out for CH-47 flying north, I believe. I do not recall how far away the CH-47 was, at least five miles? Anyway, it took both of us a several seconds before it registered that what we were looking for, the CH-47 helicopter. So, we both looked and spotted her. She seemed small as aircraft are from that distance, but she was easy to spot. I was thrilled beyond words. I still remember that with a smile on my face. I took out my camera and tried to get a picture, a very bad picture. But I tried. But the better image is what I remember. It is the first, last, and only time I have seen a CH-47 in person, so to speak, with my own eyes.

Reflections on the Erickson Air Crane

Yesterday I read a short article  about an Ericsson Air Crane that has or will soon be delivered to the Korean Forest Service., Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation wrote about this same Air Crane in November while she was still being tested prior to delivery to Korea. This article gave me pause to consider that over the years that I have been writing this blog and looked at countless videos of aerial wildfire operations across the world. Perhaps it is the distinctive look of the Air Crane while she is fire fighting configuration, but I have seen her in several videos while she is in firefighting service outside of the United States. With her large capacity tank, on the order of 3,000 gallons, and her ability to scoop water from a water source, she is a very valuable part of the aerial wildland firefighting fleet of aircraft.

I am not sure if I have seen an Air Crane in New Jersey, if I did I believe that she would have been doing work on utility transmission lines. And It would have been from a distance. 

I am very fond of the Air Crane because she was among the first aerial firefighting aircraft that I wrote about over ten years ago. I am very grateful to Kenny Chapman, long-time pilot of an Erickson Air Crane who answered my questions and walked me through fighting fires with an Air Crane. I occasionally correspond with Kenny over social media, he is a gentleman and he always answers my question. Thank-you Kenny for introducing me to the Air Crane and for giving me a glimpse up close and personal of the Air Crane.

I never tire of the Air Crane and over the years I have shared numerous videos of the Air Crane in action both working wildfires and doing other heavy lifting, you may read them here.

Sometimes a picture, or in this case a video, is indeed worth a thousand words.  I am going to share a 20 minute video about the Ericsson Air Crane by B Dudas Productions where you will see her perform firefighting and other duties. Enjoy.

Direct link to video by B Dudas Productions

2019 wildfire season crew videos: Mill Creek Hotshots

I am back from a short holiday. It is the time of year when I like to post crew videos from this past season. Here is a nice video from the Mill Creek Hotshots with images and videos from their 2019 season. They are based in the San Bernardino National Forest in California. Enjoy.


Direct link to video

Thanksgiving: remember first responders

On this Thanksgiving Eve, I want to pause and remember all first responders who will be working on this Thanksgiving holiday and other holidays to keep us safe and to be there for us in case of emergency. You are away from your family's for at least part of the day. Those of you working a wildfire are away from your family for an even longer period. I remember and I thank-you from the bottom of my heart for your service.

Updated on December 20, 2020: the video that I had linked to in this post is no longer available.

wildfire history: 1980 Panorama Fire San Bernardino CA

It is funny how the mind works. I was recently reflecting on the first wildfire that I remember hearing about. It was November 1980 and I was visiting an Great Aunt for Thanksgiving that year. She took ill suddenly so I took her to the hospital. I had just finished college and was still unemployed so I was able to extend my visit. She and I were close. She had no children, but I spent some time communicating with my family want was going on. And I visited her in the hospital.

I had a lot of time to kill. My Great Aunt had a television so I spent some time watching TV and watching local and national news. That is how I heard about what is now known as the Panorama Fire, only I don't think I knew it by that name. As I recall, I heard about this fire on a few news broadcasts in late November. Perhaps it was because of my Great Aunt's illness, she died about three weeks later, what is now known as the Panorama Fire is seared in my memory. No, I did not remember the facts of the fire which I will get to in a moment. But I can say that I knew that it was a bad wildfire with much destruction.

At some point after I began this blog on aerial wildland firefighting, I thought about that fire that burned in San Bernardino in late November of 1980 because it was the first wildfire that I can honestly say made an impression on me. I found some stats on the internet. According to this short wikipedia article on the Panorama Fire, the Panorama Fire was first reported on November 24, 1980, burned 28,800 acres killed four people, destroyed over 300 homes, and damaged another 113 homes. The fire was attributed to arson. The fire was fully contained on December 1, 1980. I also found a nice short 2015 article on the Alpen Horn News by Douglas W. Motley and Rhea-Frances Tetley with a summary of the Panorama Fire.

Here is a nice video, under 10 minutes. You will hear Sue Payne, a survivor of the Panorama Fire share her story and memories of the fire.


Direct link to video uploaded by Norman Feldheym SBPL

Camp Fire: State of CA announces completion of structural debris removal

As we have know passed the one year anniversary (November 8, 2018) of the Camp Fire in Paradise that destroyed over 18,000 buildings in Paradise California. see this CAL Fire incident page for more information about the Camp Fire. I wrote a few articles earlier this year on hazardous waste clean-up and debris removal following the Camp Fire and other fires that burned in California in 2018. In particular, you may want to read my February 13, 2019 and my March 1, 2018 articles.

I had been wondering what was happening with the progress being made on the hazardous waste and debris removal in Paradise and environs following the Camp Fire. I got my answer in a November 19th report from ABC7 KRCR news Redding CA):

The State of California announced in Paradise Tuesday the completion of its structural debris removal operation following the November 8 Camp Fire. 

FEMA and CAL-OES and other entities teamed to clear nearly 11,000 properties of structural damage in nine months time from when they started the process.

Debris removal from 300 properties is not yet completed because the owners are using private contractors. Hopefully rebuilding can begin.

Here is an August 29th article (with a paywall) from the Mercury News on the progress of the post-fire clean-up after the Camp Fire as of late August 2019.

I am not going to underestimate the complexity of the process of hazardous waste and debris removal following a wildfire of the magnitude of the Camp Fire. It is complicated. And writing from New Jersey, I have no first hand knowledge of the process. My hat is off to all contractors who have been involved in the debris removal. My wishes for the residents and business owners who can now rebuild their properties is that the rebuilding goes forward as well as can be expected. As I write this the Town of Paradise Butte County Recovers website is still up chock full of a variety of information on the recovery from the Camp Fire.

Here is a video report from ABC 10 (Sacramento CA) on the rebuilding efforts in Paradise:


Direct link to video from ABC10

2019 wildfire season: NJFFS crews deployed to VA (November 21st)

To the best of my knowledge, the 20 person New Jersey State Forest Fire Service that was deployed to the Kennedy Peak Fire on or about November 17th, see my November 18th article    , is still working the Kennedy Peak Fire . The fire has burned 730 acres and is at 75 percent containment. Photos of the fire may be on found on this inciweb photo page. 

According to this ABC3 WHSV report   the fire is burning in remote, steep, and rugged terrain; wildland firefighters have to hike 3.5 miles to get to the control lines. 

I do not know if any aerial resources are being used in the fire. No residential areas are threatened. 

I know that the NJFFS crew continues to hard to help contain the fire. Your work is appreciated and you honor New Jersey by your work. 

2019 wildfire season: New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews deployed to Virginia

Yesterday, one of my friends told me that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) was deployed a twenty person crew over the weekend to the Kennedy Peak Fire in Virginia. As I write this the Kennedy Peak fire has burned 411 acres in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Page and Shenandoah Counties, near Roanoke, Virginia. It is at twenty percent containment. I understand that the fire grew from a little over 100 acres to 411 acres over the weekend due to high winds. The fire is burning in rugged terrain. The fire was first reported on Thursday afternoon, November 14th. More information about the Kennedy Peak fire may be found on this inciweb page. A news report with a video about the fire may be found at WHSV3.

I am very proud of the NJFFS crew working the Kennedy Peak Fire, you honor New Jersey with your service. Stay safe.

I do not know how long the NJFFS crew will be deployed to the Kennedy Peak Fire. Deployments are usually for a maximum of two weeks.

Screen shot obtained on 11/18/19 from https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6660/#

The Lives We Lost: Camp Fire, Paradise CA, one year later

On November 7, 2018 the Camp Fire burned through Paradise California, killing 85 people and destroying over 14,000 homes. Paradise and surrounding communities are still rebuilding, a process that may take years. This documentary from ABC 10 in Sacramento California, The Lives We Lost, gives us a glimpse into Paradise one year after the Camp Fire, but more importantly remembering those who died. It is a moving story focusing both on the emotional and psychological trauma of the survivors, but also of resilience. Some may not come back to Paradise, but others can not think of living anywhere else. Allow 22 minutes to watch the video.


Direct link to video from ABC10 in Sacramento California

Australia 2019-20 bushfire season: November 12th

I have noted that areas of Australia, especially New South Wales have seen extreme fire danger recently with hot and dry summer weather. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has been reporting on the bush fires in New South Wales (NSW) recently, see his November 8th article on homes destroyed in NSW Bush Fires, his November 10th article on extreme bush fire weather expected on November 11th in NSW and his article earlier today (November 13th) on tanker and helicopter contracts in Australia.

Here are two video news reports on the recent bush fire activity in Australia.


direct link to November 11th video on youtube


direct link to November 12th video on youtube

Thank-you Veterans

I want to pause on this Veterans Day here in the United States to thank all veterans as well as those of you currently serving in the military for your service. Some of you are now wildland firefighters either on the ground or in the air. Many veterans died in service for our country. Your service is appreciated. I will remember.

Updated on December 20, 2020: the video that I shared when I first posted this article is no longer available.

2019 wildfire season: thank-you firefighters

2019 is not yet over and I suspect that there will be more wildfires to come here in the United States. But, I do want to pause to thank all the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air for all you have done to protect us. What you do is dangerous and the work is hard. You take care of each other as you fight wildfires and perhaps you find time for a moment of humor, a quick bite to eat and then some sack time in a safe space. Many of you make the sacrifice of being away from your families, loved ones, and friends for months at a time. I make this post to honor your work and sacrifices to keep us safe from wildfires.


direct link to video from MacCloud Entertainment


Direct link to video from Ryan Gendron

2019 wildfire season: firefighting operations at small fire in CA

Here is a video, under 10 minutes, of air and ground resources fighting a 37 acre fire on or about October 25th. According to the information posted with the video (click show more), the fire destroyed 3 outbuildings, one home was destroyed and evacuations were in place.

If you fly drones over fires tankers and helos can not fly

There was an unauthorized UAS (unmanned aircraft system) aka "drone" over the Maria Fire in Ventura County, California last week. Air tankers and helicopters and other aerial operations over the fire were grounded until the UAS cleared the area, see these articles  from Mashable and NPR for more information. As I write this the Maria Fire is at 80 percent containment having burned 9.412 acres.

The US Forest Service has a webpage with information about why drones over fires are dangerous.

The FAA calls drones and wildfires a "toxic mix": "It's a federal crime, punishable by up to 12 months in prison, to interfere with fire-fighting efforts on public lands. Additionally, Congress has authorized the FAA to impose a civil penalty of up to $20,000 "against a drone pilot who interferes with wildfire suppression, law enforcement or emergence response operations. The FAA treats these violations seriously and will immediately consider swift enforcement action."


direct link to video from US Forest Service National Interagency Fire Center


direct link to video from CAL FIRE

2019 wildfire season: California update (November 1st)

I continue to follow what has been a very active several days for wildfires in southern California. I noted yesterday that there were a number of wildfire starts the last two days. Fortunately, Bill Gabbert  of Wildfire Today has done his usual great job of reporting, he wrote a nice article yesterday reporting on new wildfire starts in southern California. You will want to take a few moments to read Bill's article. Of the fires that he wrote about, I had noted the Easy Fire and say some live stream footage of this fire the other day from one of the news stations in southern California. The Easy Fire burned in Simi Valley near the Ronald Reagan Library, as I write this the fire has burned 1,860 acres and is at 80 percent containment, evacuations were in place and are now lifted. Another fire that I heard about through perusing southern California media is the Hill Fire that burned 628 acres and is also at 90 percent containment.

I learned last night that the National Weather Service Los Angeles Oxnard Weather Forecast Office extended Red Flag Warnings in portions of their forecast area through 6PM PDT this evening.

Obtained on November 1, 2019 from https://www.weather.gov/lox/

So I was not terribly surprised to wake up and hear that there was a new wildfire start last night in Ventura County, the Maria Fire. As I write this, the Maria Fire has burned 8,730 acres with no containment. Evacuations are in place. Bill Gabbert reported on the Maria Fire in an article he wrote this morning, November 1st, go here to read Bill's article.

I do know that air tankers and helicopters have been working these wildfires and the other wildfires that burned earlier in northern and southern California. I will try to look around for some videos to share with you and will update this article if I find any.