2022 NJ wildfire season: prescribed burns (Feb 20-21)

Unfavorable weather over the last week here in New Jersey, e.g. windy days and snow/rain) meant that there was no prescribed burning for a few days. If weather conditions yesterday and today (February 20th and 21st) continue to be favorable for prescribed burns in New Jersey the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has a number of prescribed burns planned across the entire state:

Atlantic County 

• Galloway Township - Other State Gov Property 

Burlington County 

• Bass River Township - Private Property 
• Tabernacle Township - Wharton State Forest
• Tabernacle Township - Private Property 
• Manchester Township - Brendan T Byrne State Forest
• Medford Township - Private Property 
• Southampton Township - Other State Gov Property 
• Westampton Township - Rancocas State Park
• Woodland Township - Private Property 

Cape May County 

• Dennis Township - Belleplain State Forest
• Upper Township - Belleplain State Forest
• Upper Township - Private Property 
• Upper Township - Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area

Cumberland County 

• Maurice River Township - Peaslee Wildlife Management Area

Gloucester County 

• Franklin Township - White Oak Branch Wildlife Management Area (map, pdf)

Hunterdon County 

• Kingwood Township - Private Property 

Monmouth County 

• Manalapan Township - Monmouth Battlefield State Park

Morris County 

• Mendham Borough - Private Property 

Ocean County 

• Barnegat Township - County Property 
• Berkeley Township - Double Trouble State Park
• Jackson Township - Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area (map, pdf)
• Jackson Township - County Property
• Lacey Township - Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area (map, pdf)
• Plumsted Township - Private Property 
• Stafford Township - Private Property 
• Toms River Township - County Property 

Somerset County 

• Bernardsville Borough - Private Property 
• Bridgewater Township - County Property 

Wildland firefighting: engines

Over the years that I have been doing this blog on aerial wildland firefighting I have posted about mutual aid where for example a State Forest Service may send a crew and engine to help fight fires in a State in need of extra crew and engines to fight wildfires. Then there the engine crews who fight wildfires from their engines. I may be wrong but it is possible that I have not made a post about the various types of engines used by wildland firefighting crews. I found a nice video from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group discussing the different types of engines and other issues such as construction, training, maintenance, crewing an engine, how and where different engines are used, and advantages of different types of engines.

Direct link to video from The National Wildfire Coordinating Group on YouTube

2021 wildfire season crew videos: WZ Fire Crew

As I was looking for fire crew videos summarizing their 2021 fire season, I came across this video from the WZ Fire. From the about page of this video (go here), which states that all scenes in this video are in Minnesota, it seems to me that this fire crew is based in Minnesota. While I consider Minnesota to be a part of the midwest and a distance from New Jersey, they are a part of the Eastern Area Coordination Center (EACC) and that means something to me as New Jersey is part of the EACC as well. I enjoyed the video as I got to know a very little about this part of the United States, a pretty area. Allow about ten minutes to watch the video

Direct link to video on YouTube uploaded by Luke Macho

2022 winter prescribed (aka controlled) burns using helicopters and firefighters on the ground

Continuing with prescribed or controlled burns, I found myself thinking that helicopters are sometimes used in prescribed burns. I wanted to find a video to show you how an agency conducting prescribed burns uses helicopters in addition to wildland firefighters on the ground. I struck pay dirt with this June 2021 video from the Savannah River Site. In the video you will again learn about how this agency conducts prescribed burns and the planning that is involved. It seems that the wildland firefighters use torches in igniting carefully planned prescribed burns. Helicopters are used on prescribed burns on larger acreage. You will learn about the ping pong balls dropped by helicopters in a special device hanging from their belly to conduct prescribed burns.

Direct link to video from the Savannah River Site on YouTube

2022 NJ wildfire season: late winter and early spring prescribed burning season underway

 he late winter and early spring prescribed burning season has begun in New Jersey. See this February 9, 2022 press release from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for more information. The press release speaks of the importance of prescribed burning and their tentative plans, highlights are:

There are multiple benefits to prescribed burning, which is a safe, effective and efficient means of managing the buildup of forest fuels. Prescribed burns improve habitat for plants and animals, reduce the presence of damaging insects and ticks, and recycle nutrients into the soil. In addition, prescribed burning is an important part of the state’s carbon defense strategy. Allowing experts to choose the image intensity, timing and interval of fire across the landscape may help prevent a larger uncontrolled wildfire, which would contribute to significant carbon loss. ...

This year, the Forest Fire Service intends to treat 25,000 acres with prescribed fire. Meeting this goal will depend on favorable weather conditions. Most of the Forest Fire Service’s burns will occur on state-owned property such as state forests, parks and Wildlife Management Areas, but the Forest Fire Service also assists private landowners, nonprofit organizations, and county and municipal governments to meet their management objectives through prescribed burning.

As they have in past years, The New Jersey Forest Fire Service (njwildfire.org)  will announce planned prescribed burns on their NJFFS Facebook page. New this year is an online mapping tool where prescribed burns currently underway as well as those planned for the next five days are mapped, this online mapping tool from the NJFFS may be accessed at this page on NJwildfire.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has plans to conduct prescribed burning operations in the following areas on February 11, 2022. These prescribed burns are in central and southern New Jersey.

Burlington County 

• Shamong Township - Wharton State Forest
• Tabernacle Township - Wharton State Forest 
• Washington Township - Wharton State Forest 
• Woodland Township - Brendan T Byrne State Forest 

Cumberland County 

• Maurice River Township - Peaslee Wildlife Management Area 

Monmouth County 

• Manalapan Township - Monmouth Battlefield State Park 

Ocean County 

• Berkeley Township - Double Trouble State Park
• Lacey Township - Double Trouble State Park
• Lakewood Township - County & Municipal Property 
• Jackson Township - Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area
• Manchester Township - Brendan T. Byrne State Forest 
• Manchester Township - Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area
• Manchester Township - Manchester Wildlife Management Area 

2022 wildfire season: Coulson Aviation in Chile with Dawn Blumberg

Coulson Aviation works in Chile over their summer, our winter in the United States. At this time of year, I am always interested in fire season in the southern hemisphere. I also try to keep a look out for female pilots in fire aviation. Coulson has video that addresses both points, a C-130 tanker working in Chile and one of her pilots, Dawn Blumberg. It is a very short video, just under a minute. I post it here to support Dawn Blumberg and all women in fire aviation. I wish Coulson's C-130, 132CG, and her crew and support staff a safe fire season in Chile. Dawn has been flying C-130's since 2007 with over 3,500 hours and has been fighting fires in the C-130 for four years.

Direct link to video by Coulson Aviation on YouTube

2022 winter prescribed (aka controlled) burns

In my wonderings over the last several days I have been reading about various States and agencies here in the United States conducted prescribed burns, sometimes referred to as controlled burns. Simply while the management and technique to conduct these prescribed burns will vary, these prescribed burns are well thought out and planned ahead of time to burn away fuels so that if a wildfire were to later occur it will hopefully be less severe. These burns are weather dependent, they will be conducted on days favorable for prescribed burns. 

Examples of recent planned prescribed burns, thanks to Mike Archer of Wildfire News of the Day for pointing me to these media articles referencing prescribed burns:

• California: two prescribed burns planned in San Bernardino National Forest, Desert Sun (February 2, 2022)
• Southwest Florida: importance or prescribed burns: WGCU NPR, (February 2, 2022)
• New Mexico: prescribed burn planned for Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico Fire Information, (February 3, 2022)
• North Carolina: prescribed burn planned in Croatan National Forest, WNCT9 (February 3, 2022)

I expect that there are other prescribed burns planned that I do not know about.

I found a nice video, thanks to my friends at the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10 website, who shared this video from the Museum of Arts & Sciences where Rangers from the Florida Forest Service answer questions about fighting wildfires and prescribed burns. They reference the difference between fighting wildfires in Florida versus prescribed burns. You will hear fromPeter Scalco, Senior Forest Ranger and Will Raulson, Forest Area Service. Mrs Scalco and Raulson are with the Florida Forest Service. Allow about eleven minutes for the video. Remember that this video is about how the Florida Forest Service fights wildfires and conducts prescribed burns. What happens in your State may be different.

Direct link to video by the Museum of Arts & Sciences (Daytona, FL)

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2021 wildfire season: NWS Incident Meteorologists year in review

Thanks to the NWS Incident Meteorologists aka IMETs for doing a great job working a record 217 missions to help keep wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air safe. IMETs save lives.

We're looking back at busy #fireyear2021. It’s a true team effort across the National Weather Service to support IMETs, including administrative and technical support!

Included here are the top offices that either sent out IMETs, or hosted IMETs in their forecast area.... pic.twitter.com/45fPutwdHD

— NWS IMET Operations (@NWS_IMET_OPS) February 2, 2022

We're looking back at busy #fireyear2021. NWS Incident Meteorologists went on 217 missions (NEW RECORD), worked over 37,600 hours, and were dispatched from all NWS regions! pic.twitter.com/jVbo6aExRR

— NWS IMET Operations (@NWS_IMET_OPS) February 2, 2022

Suspected arsonist charged with setting wildfires in Ocean County, NJ

After a thorough investigation by the Ocean County (NJ) Prosecutor, an alleged arsonist accused of setting six fires in Ocean County NJ over eight months -- from May 16 2021 through Jan 21, 2022 was arrested on Monday, January 31st. A press release from the Ocean County Prosecutor may be found here. The fires were: Little Egg Harbor on May 16th (617 acres), Manchester and Lakewood on December 1, Little Egg Harbor on December 8, and Lakewood on January 21, 2022. There were no injuries. The alleged arsonist is charged with 25 counts of aggravated arson. Thanks to Mike Archer who shared this article from New Jersey Advance Media on the arrest of the alleged arsonist in his February 2nd Wildfire News of the Day Newsletter. I found another article on the Asbury Park Press (paywall) dated February 2nd. 

These charges are accusations, pending a trial in a court of law. 

Utah National Guard from the 2013 wildfire season

I am a bit tired from doing some necessary outdoor cleanup today. As I often do on a day such as today, I root around in my collection of aerial fire fighting YouTube videos to find something to share with you. I found a nice video, just under seven minutes from the 2013 wildfire season of the Utah National Guard flying their helicopters with a bambi bucket working a wildfire in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground. I think, but am not certain, that you will be seeing Black Hawk Helicopters.

Matt, this video is for you, may you always fly in favorable winds. 

Direct link to video uploaded by War Fighters on YouTube

2022 NJ wildfire season: brush fire off Point Pleasant (Ocean County) NJ

 

At 12:30 PM on Wednesday, January 26. 2022 a brush fire was reported on Gull Island, off of Point Pleasant Beach in Ocean County NJ. There did not appear to be anyone on the island, which is an Ocean County Park and Conservation Area. The Coast Guard assisted local firefighters by ferrying them to the scene of the fire as well as transporting equipment to the fire. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Firefighters brought the fire under control by 2:30 PM on the 26th. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service was involved in investigating the fire. I do not know the size of the fire. See this January 26th article from the Asbury Park Press for more information (paywall). Thanks to Mike Archer's January 27th Wildfire News of the Day Newsletter and the NJ Forest Fire Service B10 website for pointing me to information about this brush fire.

I am sharing a 15 minute video from Jersey Shore Fire Response with highlights of fighting this brush fire.

Direct link to video from Jersey Shore Fire Response on YouTube

2021 wildfire season: Coulson Aviation highlight video

I think that Coulson does a good job with their videos of their fleet. I always enjoy their videos and  I enjoyed watching their four minute video "Coulson Aviation - 2021 in Review. I hope that you enjoy the video.

Direct link to video from Coulson Aviation on YouTube

Reflections on Big Sur (CA) and Wildland Firefighting

In my wonderings in my news feed and elsewhere, I found out about the Colorado Fire  burning near the Big Sur coast in Monterey, County, California (see this Jan 23rd article from the Mercury News ( https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/01/22/rare-terrifying-winter-big-sur-fire-burns-down-to-iconic-highway-1-bridge/ ) and Bill Gabbert’s recent article on Wildfire Today I have heard varying reports of acreage burned from 700 to 1,050, but according to CAL FIRE’s update as of 7:52 AM PST on Jan 24th, the fire has burned 700 acres, one structure has been damaged and the wildfire is at 35 percent containment. 

Reading about the Colorado Fire brought me back to the summer of 2008 before I had decided to devote the blog to aerial wildland fire fighting and related issues. The Basin Complex Fire which burned 162,818 acres. It is hard to explain but through hearing media report about this wildfire I became interested in learning more about wildfires and how wildfires are fought. So, I decided to take my readers along on this journey and a few months later, thanks to the help of some friends who helped me to learn the ropes of wildland firefighting and aerial wildland firefighting in particular, I devoted this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related concerns. That was almost 13 years ago now. 

Writing this blog has been and continues to be an adventure. I am still learning and I take you along as I learn. There is much that I can never know because I am not a wildland firefighter and am a non-pilot aviation enthusiast. I do care about the wildland firefighting community in the air and on the ground. I hope that comes across. I am grateful to all you, my readers, thank-you for reading me and following me over the years. 

Ag Aviation: about GPS and lightbars

 If you are an an arm chair ag aviation enthusiast like I am, you may have seen the lightbars on the outside front fuselage of many ag aviation planes. Now I had an idea that most ag aviation planes had a GPS system, but I did not how the GPS worked to help the pilots spray a field. I only recently saw, thanks to recently watching ag planes in action that the light bar may have been tied into the GPS system. Of course this was pure speculation on my part. I was wondering around on YouTube this morning when I saw a video from Ag Aviation Adventures called "How the Light Bar and GPS Systems Work in Ag Aviation." I watched this short, six minute video and got a basic idea for ag pilots use the light bar and GPS in their work spraying fields. I do not know how many variations on the light bar and GPS systems there are in ag aviation. That does not feel important at the moment. I did learn something and as I have recently been posting articles sharing ag aviation videos, I wanted to take you along on my journey to learn more about ag aviation operations. Enjoy

Direct link to video by Ag Aviation Adventures on YouTube

Walk around Conair's Convair CV 580 and Lockheed L-188 Airtankers

 While I am not a pilot, I am what I call an aviation enthusiast. To that end I do enjoy seeing the workings of airtankers up close and personal. I rarely get such a view, depending for the most part on videos. I do not quite recall how I came across the video that I am sharing with you by Mile High Aviation on a walk around Conair Aviation's Convair 580 and Lockheed L-188 Electra airtankers with retired pilot John Lord. Allow over 16 minutes for the entire video.

I am reasonably certain that Conair is still flying Convair 580 airtankers. I am not sure if Conair is still flying Lockheed L-188 Electra airtankers. I am uncertain of when the video was filmed.

Correction (February 1, 2023) I made an error in this post. The Convair 580 air tankers were still flying in 2022, but that was their last fire season. In early 2021 Conair made plans to retire the Convair 580 air tankers and the Lockheed L-188  at the end of the 2022 season. They will be replaced by Q-400s, see this January 2021 post on Fire Aviation for more information

Enjoy the video

Direct link to video by Mile High Aviation (uploaded by Aviation Whys)  on YouTube

Ag Aviation: ag helicopter ride along

I have not yet had the privilege of seeing an ag helicopter up close and personal. Perhaps one day. In the meantime, I enjoy watching videos of ag helicopters and want to take you along on this video from Ohio Ag Net & Ohio's Country Journal. This is a demonstration ride along with Stan Sayre from Sunrise Cooperative.

I enjoyed this video and learning more about ag helicopters and how they are used. I hope that you will enjoy this nine-minute video.

Direct link to video from Ohio Ag Net & Country Journal

Ag Aviation: crop dusting in Idaho

I am continuing to reflect on the importance of ag aviation. To that end, I wanted to find a nice video showing an ag plane spraying crops. I also hoped to find a video that I have not shared here before. I think I found a video that met both goals. You will hear from ag pilot Eric Lewis as he talks about being an ag pilot and the type of crop and ranging spraying that he does in Idaho. The video is from Inside Agriculture. Not only does the video (camera on the wings) give me an eyeball view from an ag plane but I got to hear good commentary from ag pilot Eric Lewis. Allow a little over eight minutes to watch the video. Enjoy

Direct link to video from Inside Agriculture on YouTube

Single-Engine AirTankers (from 2017)

 I wrote about the 100th Anniversary (August 2021) of ag aviation on January 10th. One important component of ag aviation. Some Air Tractor 802's may work in various agriculture operations during the off season when they are not on contract as single-engine airtankers (SEATs) flying fires. It seems only fitting that I follow-up the January 10th post by sharing a video about what Single-Engine Airtankers do.

Enjoy this 7-minute video on SEATs from the Texas A&M Forest Fire Service. I may have shared this video before, if so it is worth watching again.

Direct link to video from the Texas A&M Forest Fire Service  on YouTube

Ag Aviation celebrates 100 years (August 2021)

I did know that ag aviation celebrated 100 years in 2001 through the National Agriculture Aviation Association and also as a subscriber to Ag Air Update. As sometimes happen, I admit to getting involved in other things, including some personal transitions late last summer into the fall, but that is a weak excuse for not writing about ag aviation sooner. What happened to jump start my mind was seeing a post from the  social media late last week with a link to a nice article from the NAAA linking to a nice article in the Air and Space Museum's Winter 2002 edition of Air and Space Quarterly. That is, the Winter edition of the Air and Space Quarterly has a nice article with photos on the history of ag aviation, go here to read the article. I urge you to read the article. A caveat is in order, I am never quite sure how long links like this will be active, so if you are coming here weeks or months after this post and the link does not work, I am sorry.

I know that Downstown Aero Crop Services engages in a variety of ag aviation services. I have personally seen their planes spraying cranberry fields in the Pinelands, and providing cover crop services in northern New Jersey. I have seen videos of their planes spraying for mosquitos near the New Jersey shore. Last but by no means least, Downstown has had contracts with the NJ Forest Fire Service for 54 years providing single engine air tanker services (through 2021). The fine folk at Downstown have been very supportive of my work on this blog over the years, I own them a debt of gratitude and a tip of the hat.

I leave you with a nice video from the NAAA celebrating 100 years of ag aviation, allow a little over nine minutes to watch the video.

Direct link to video from the NAAA on YouTube

Firefighting train working 2018 Delta Fire

In addition to being a non-pilot aviation enthusiast, I love trains. I have known that specially equipped trains can be used to fight wildfires near tracks. Thanks to my friends at NJFFS Section B10 who shared this video about three weeks ago in their video of the week page. When I went to Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today Site, I saw that he had a few articles about fire trains that you may want to look at to learn more about the different types of fire trains, his tagged articles on fire trains may be found here. Those of you who follow Bill's site may recall that he shared about fire trains fighting the 2018 Delta Fire October 8, 2018, where he shared a video report about fire trains from ABC10 along with a longer raw video by DanR. Thanks Bill for your work on your fire train series. 

Direct link to video on YouTube by Dan R

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: reflections

After I wrote about the 1871  Peshtigo Fire and learned about that Michigan was among the Lake States that also experience forest fires in 1871, I was drawn to learn more.. I do appreciate history, but I am not exactly a fire historian. It is hard to explain why I was drawn to learn more about the Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. Chalk it up to curiosity and a desire to learn more. I decided to take you along on this journey.

I offer these reflections, however inadequate, to honor and remember all those in Michigan who were affected by these fires, those who survived and those who did not. 

I can count on two fingers the number of times I have been to Michigan, both trips were about twenty years to Detroit region on business. I did have time for one short jaunt west of Ann Arbor to some beautiful country.  

I feel like my words are wholly inadequate to convey what I experienced when I read Betty Sodder’s book, Michigan on Fire. It seems a bit simple to say that I was profoundly moved. Even after reading the accounts of those who survived the fire or saw others die I do not think that I can ever fully appreciate what all those affected by the fires went through. I can say this about the Michigan fires of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the same holds true for those affected by today’s wildfires. Having said that, I do care.

I know that many virgin White Pine stands were decimated by these fires. In many cases this resulted in the loss of jobs either when lumber companies either left the area or when there was no more marketable timber left. I find myself wondering what happened to these towns affected by these fires. In many cases, life went on albeit very differently. In other cases, such as Au Sable and Oscada that burned in 1911, the towns never really recovered from the effects of these fires, yet life does go on.

I was struck by the fortitude of the survivors as well as the compassion of those who tried to help their neighbors, as well as the support by railroads and businesses. I felt the heartbreak of those who tried and failed to save family members from the fires. 

As I reflect on what happened to Michigan as a result of the fires that burned in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, my mind does go to the present day where many states, such as California and Colorado have communities that are or were devastated by wildfires. It is beyond my capabilities to try to compare and contrast a forest fire from the late nineteenth century that burned in Michigan with major wildfires that burned in the present day western United States and Canada, but such fires have the potential of changing people’s lives. Sadly, the lingering effects of these fires can be emotionally and financially devastating. 

For those who were affected by these fires and are likely now deceased, may you rest in peace. 

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections (this article)

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1911 AuSable - Oscoda Fires

 

The weeks leading up to the July 11, 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda fires in Iosco County were very dry with several smaller fires in the days leading up to July 11th, a day with high winds (Sodders. 1997: 319). No one knows for sure how the July 11th fire started, but some think that sparks from a train may have contributed to the fire). Au Sable and Oscoda, are located at the mouth of the Au Sable River, across the river from each other (Au Sable is on the south side of the River). Au Sable, the larger of the two had six saw mills, including the Loud Family Mill, a sash and blind factory, and the Au Sable River Boom Company working with logs floated on the River by various mills) and a vital downtown. The exact death toll is unknown but it may have been from five to twelve people losing their lives (Sodders, 1997:315-20).

As I learned of the 1911 Au Sable-Oscoda Fire, I was immediately struck by the utter devastation to these two towns. These towns lost businesses and people. I was left with the impression that these towns never quite recovered from the fire. 

According to Sodders, “historians speculate the conflagration of 1911 delivered the fatal punch to the fast-waning lumbering era in northeast lower Michigan. Many industries simply did not or could not afford to rebuild. Oscoda received far less damage from the fire than her sister city, Au Sable, but neither town rebuilt to its former stature after the fires (Sodders,  1997:319)”.  Sodders' research indicated that the Loud Family Mill was never rebuilt with the Loud’s moving their operations to Oregon.

Thornton talks of the effect of the fire on the people: “the tragedy of the fire was the breaking off of long friendships among neighbors of two communities; entire families, left destitute in a matter of minutes, suddenly had to leave to find housing and employment. Some moved to nearby towns to live with relatives, while others moved to Detroit and other industrial centers of the state (Thornton, Neil 1987, Along the Historic Riviere aux Sables, Chapter 17—‘The Fire of 1911’ Printer’s Devil Press: Tawas City, Michigan quote in Sodders, 1997:349).

I am left wondering what life is like in these Au Sable and Oscoda now. The places called Au Sable and Oscoda are still here but with far fewer people and in a very different form then before the fire. Life is going on but no where near as it was before the 1911 fire. Perhaps this was inevitable and the 1911 fire just made this happen sooner?

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire (this article)
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

2021 wildfire season: Marshall Fire (Boulder CO)

I was intending to write a different sort of post on this New Years Eve. My plans changed when I woke up and saw the news of the wind-driven fire burning near Boulder Colorado that may have already destroyed hundreds of homes. Evacuations are in place and power outages have been reported. See for example this CNN report (with video), I saw CNN's reporting first. I then checked out the Washington Post which I subscribe to, finding this article (paywall). 

Those of you interested in current local media coverage might want check out CBS 4 News in Denver, here is their latest update and 9 News in Denver, who reported on the fire here. I am never sure how long local media maintains links to their articles, all links worked at the time I wrote this post. On April 6, I noted that embedded video no longer works, but the direct link to the video still works.

Direct link to video from 9News on YouTube

Knowing that Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today would be covering this fire, I want to his site and just saw his December 31st article on the fire with his usual great maps of the fire. Bill also reported on the fire on December 30th. Bill also refers to local media in his coverage. Bill wrote about today's weather forecast as affects the fire in his December 31st post:

The weather has changed for the better, as least from a firefighting viewpoint. The 50 to 100 mph winds with low humidities are being replaced Friday morning with temperatures around freezing and a 40 percent chance of snow. By 11 a.m. that chance will increase to 76 percent, then 96 percent by sunset. Snow accumulations are predicted to be 0.6 inch during the day on Friday, with another 5 inches overnight and into Saturday morning. The wind Friday will be out of the north switching to the east at 7 to 9 mph gusting in the afternoon to 16 mph. We don’t often include wind chill in our articles about ongoing wildfires, but that will be a factor today — 25 degrees dropping to 17 degrees by 5 p.m.

Bill will be updating his article on the fire as appropriate; he always does a great job covering wildfires. 

I offer my prayers for all affected by the Marshall Fire. Profound thanks to all the wildland firefighters working this fire during a holiday week.

I will resume my posts in the series on Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Monday, January 3rd.

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1908 Metz Fire

Like the other fires that I have written about in this series, the months leading up to the 1908 Metz fire were extremely dry. The cause of the 1908 Metz Fire (October 15, 1908) may never be known (Sodders, 1997: 262). At least 26 people died in the fire, 83 families lost their homes and 1,500 people were either homeless or without food and supplies (Sodders, 1997:285). approximately 2,370,000 acres burned with an estimated damage of $2.5 Million Dollars (Sodders, 1997:294).

In the course of reading Sodder's book as well as accounts of the Peshtigo Fire, the stories of the suffering of those who died as well as those who survived are difficult to read. 

I thought that there could be no new horrors until I read Sodders account of the 1908 Metz Fire with excerpts from period Newspapers, I was horrified to read of flames surrounding a rescue train a short distance from Metz. Twelve people, all women and children who had hoped to be rescued died, burned alive. (Sodders, 1997: 263).  I write this to honor those women and children who died on that train. The accounts were horrible, and I was not comfortable reading the accounts. But I knew that I had to read Sodders reporting on the tragedy of the rescue train to honor those who died. I write this to honor all who died.

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire (this article)
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1896 Ontonagon fire

 

Sodders devotes one section of her book (1997:157-254) to forest fires that burned in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from 1847 to 1949. A significant number of forest fires burned over the course of these years were of varying degrees of intensity and loss of property. Many lost everything as a result of these fires. In the mid-nineteenth century the Upper Peninsula had large stands of virgin White Pine. At least in the late 19th century timber interests were dominant in the Upper Peninsula. The loss of timber, both in forest as well as piles of logs awaiting transport was staggering. Many timber operations did not survive these fires. Many workers in the timber industry not only lost their jobs but their homes as well. Contributing factors to the cause of these fires varied with early years dominated by dry weather, poor land clearing practices, and poor timber management with large areas of slash left on the ground.

I am going to focus on fires that burned in Ontonagon in 1896 in early September 1896. The couple of months leading up to the September fires were very dry and some fires that were burning in this period caused concern. High winds picked up on or about September 12th. Diamond Match had milling operations in and near Ontonagon, a processing mill near a lumber yard burned to the ground along with millions of square feet of logs. The Diamond Match mill burned to the ground a couple of weeks later. On September 25th, much of Ontonagon burned to the ground leaving over 2,000 people homeless. Diamond Match never rebuilt, moving their milling operations elsewhere.  Millions of board feet of Diamond’s lumber remained, the town wanted it to recoup some of their losses but Diamond hauled all the lumber away by rail. Near by cities responded quickly with relief sent via rail, much of it was shipped for free. The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad give five day free passes to fire sufferers. Military sent tents for a tent village (Sodders, 1997:168-78). 

There is a nice summary of the Ontonagon fires found in the Hometown Chronicles. The Hometown Chronicles is devoted to historical and genealogical data. The article on the Ontonagon Fires from the Hometown Chronicles may be found here where you will also find links to other newspaper articles about the fire including this eyewitness account reproduced in the Ironwood Daily Globe on August 26, 1954 

The name Diamond Match means something to me as I remember wooden matches from Diamond Match going back to my youth. No, I was not allowed to use matches and my parents kept them out of reach but the box came out on camping trips. I have a box of Diamond matches in my kitchen cabinet. As I read Sodder's account of the 1896 Ontonagon Fires, I paid special attention to Diamond Match. I was not surprised to read that their mill and lumber yard burned and the loss of lumber. I was deeply saddened to read that the owners of Diamond Match did not rebuild in their mill and lumberyard in Ontonagon. At some point Diamond Match shipped their remaining lumber out of town by rail. I can can certainly understand and empathize with the loss of so many residences and businesses and then losing Diamond Match, a major employer, on top of it. I do not think that I can imagine what the residents of Ontonagon went through. But their story is not necessarily so different from the stories of other towns burned in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But for reasons that are hard for me to explain, it is the story of Ontonagon and Diamond Match that had an impact on me  With the loss of so much virgin White Pine timber from this and earlier fires, the decision of Diamond Match to not rebuild makes a very small amount of sense. Ontonagon did rebuild, but like other areas of Michigan the days of White Pine lumbering were over. I recommend reading a fine article on Diamond Match reproduced by The Free Library.

Note: 

1. Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.
2. The links to the two articles in the Hometown Chronicles and the link to the article from The Free Library were working at the time I wrote this article. I do not do a lot of historical research. So, I have no experience in how long sites like these two will have these articles freely available.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire (this article)
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Holiday Greetings 2021: The Shepard

My tradition during the end of year holiday season is to post The Shepard by Frederic Forsyth as read by Alan Maitland on CBC radio. I wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season during the second holiday season with the COVID pandemic. 

Direct link to video on Youtube 

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1881 Thumb Fires (part 2)

 

Michigan 

For purposes of this discussion, the Thumb region in Michigan are Huron, Tuscola, and Senilac Counties; as well as portions of Genesse, Laperre, and St. Claire Counties to the south of Tuscola and Senilac Counties (if you want to see a county map of Michigan please see this map from the U.S. Census Bureau). In 1881 the Thumb region burned again. One important contributing factor to these fires was slash in the form burned timber and the like left over from the 1871 fires. Other contributing factors to the outbreak in the Thumb were: drought in the couple of months leading up to the fires, and fires used by settlers and others to clear land. (Sodders 1997:82). Fires burned in all the counties marked in yellow on the map below.

In a Detroit Free Press article by Doug Moreland -- The Heavens Rained Fire -- published on September 27, 1981, Moreland describes the conditions leading up to the fires and the toll the fires took:

There are few trees. Once forested with giant white pines, 150 feet tall and five feet in diameter, the countryside was logged in the early 1800s. The pine was replaced by second-growth maple, aspen, and birch. Then, exactly 100 years ago this month, that second growth was destroyed by a fire of almost unimaginable proportions, a holocaust still recalled in some accounts as ‘the Great fire of 1881.’

Starting east of Saginaw, freak hurricane winds lashed burning woodland into a fire storm that covered 1,500 square miles, destroyed 3,400 buildings, left 15,000 homeless in the face of winter and killed well over 300 (reprinted in Sodders, 1997:84).

As I read Sodder's account of the 1881 Thumb Fires, I was again struck by the toll the fires took. At the same time, as Ms. Fraiser mentioned in her video on the 1881 Thumb Fire (see my December 20th article), I too latched onto the role of Clara Barton and the newly created American Red Cross. Clara Barton and her colleagues founded the American Red Cross in May 1881, go to this short history of the American Red Cross  for more information. 

Thumbwind has a two-minute video about the 1881 Thumb Fire.

Direct link to video on YouTube from Thumbwind

One of the first domestic relief efforts for the newly minted American Red Cross was the 1881 Thumb Fires providing food, clothing, medicine and shelter along with about $80,000 in cash donations to the fire victims. (Sodders, 1997:147-8).

Speaking of the important role of the American Red Cross, Sodders says: “Certainly the American Red Cross put down deep roots in our Michigan Thumb Area. But had this devastating fire not taken place, they may not have proved their national worth for some additional years. So in essence, Clara Bar’s new organization needed the Michigan tragedy just as much as the fire victims need the help of the Red Cross. This humanitarian organization proved its worth in raising and disbursing of relief money and the rehabilitation of persons suffer personal losses during times of disaster. And, yes, Michigan was just such  disaster area with 70 townships burned, 1,521 houses destroyed, 220 dead and over 14,000 people in need of assistance. (Sodders, 1997:149)”

It would seem that the Thumb region needed the American Red Cross after the 1881 fires and the American Red Cross need the 1881 Thumb Fires. I am glad that this was mutually beneficial.

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks) Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2 (this article)
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1881 Thumb Fires (part 1)

 

In the course of background research for this series, I heard references to the thumb region of Michigan. Recall from my December 17th article that the thumb region was one of the regions burned in the 1871 fires. I was curious about the geography of this region so after a search on YouTube, I found this 15 minute video from Ms. Fraser of the Virtual Learning Academy of St. Clair (VLASC), I am not quite certain of their website so I am not going to guess, but they do have a YouTube Channel. I am not certain, but I wonder if they work with middle and/or high school students who are not attending in-person classes for some reason. Ms. Fraser did a video on the 1881 Thumb Fires for the VLASC, it is a little over 15 minutes. She has done good research including but not limited to used Sodder's book, Michigan on Fire. I am sharing this video now after writing about the 1871 Fires and before I write about the Thumb Fire (part 2) because I benefited by hearing her discussion in the beginning of the video about where the 1881 fires started as well as learning a little more about the geography of the Thumb region of Michigan. She spends some time discussing what caused the fires, the impact on people affected by the fires, and relief efforts including the work of the Red Cross which I will also write about in my coming article on the 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2 on December 22nd.

Direct link to video on YouTube from the Virtual Learning Academy of St. Clair County

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires
• December 20: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1 (this article)
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of late 19th and early 20th centuries: 1871 fires

 

Michigan’s first recorded catastrophic fire occurred in the fall of 1871, at the time of the great Chicago Fire and the Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin which took over 1,500 lives. These two famous fire overshadowed those that swept our state of Michigan, literally from shore to shore, rendering some 15,000 citizens homeless. To date, the death toll remains incomplete, with most research sources declaring a ball park figure in the range of some 200—plus or minus—deaths. Similar to other great conflagrations, these fires of 1871 were actually a series rather than just one large inferno. But often these smaller fires going together and created walls of flame and their own breed of ‘hell’ on earth (Sodders 1997:5-6).

The 1871 fires burned over a wide area of Michigan in early October of 1871. There had been little if any rain for at least two months preceding these fires. 

Sodders writes: “ … it appears that many—if not most—of these fires started out as a single runaway blaze, totally out of control dye to the high wind gusts, finally joining towpath other such fires until the fire became an enormous beast that simply could not be stopped for miles—forays—until it ran out of fuel and the winds to fan it (Sodders 1997:9). ”

In reading about the 1871 Michigan fires and preparing for writing this piece, I was struck by the geographical extent of the fires. The map that I am sharing, prepared from Google Earth shows only some of the towns and counties affected by these fires.In reading about the 1871 fires and the 1881 fires which I will write about in a later article, you will see references to the thumb region, yet this region looks like the thumb of a mitten. If you look at the map, you will see three counties that look like they form a part of the thumb of a mitten (Huron, Tuscola, and Senilac Counties). I decided to limit the counties (yellow markers) and towns (green markers) in the map to those mentioned in the video below. Thumbwind has a much better map, which is also interactive and includes most of the 1871 fires as well as historic photos and articles, please go here.

The video focuses on the 1871 fires across the Lake States including but not limited to Michigan. I am sharing it here because of there account of the fires that burned in Michigan. Note that it is likely that Mrs O’Leary’s cow did not knock over a lantern that started the Chicago Fire (see this Smithsonian article for more information), note you may see an ad when you click on the link. Whether or not the comet led to the 1871 fires is still open for debate.

Direct link to video on YouTube (podcast) from ThumbWind Publications

Note: Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871  Fires (this article)
• December 20, 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Michigan fires of late 19th and early 20th centuries: Introduction

I wrote a post yesterday on the research I have been doing on fires the burned in Michigan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today I write an introduction and preliminary timeline for this series of articles.

I learned a little more about the Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th century was reading Stephen Pyne’s chapter on “Sky of Brass, Earth of Ash: A fire History of the Lake States" (199-21) in his book,  Fire in America (1997). Pyne's chapter served as a good lead into Sodder's book, Michigan on Fire. I would suggest that anyone interested in learning more about the Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries find a copy of this book and read it. It is a good and thorough account with many primary sources from those who witnessed and/or covered the fires for various period newspapers.

In writing this series, I plan to write an article on each of the fires Sodder's covers in her book: 1871, 1881, 1896, 1908, and 1911. In most cases, there were many fires in each year. After providing a brief synopsis and perhaps some relevant links to other articles or videos, I write about one thing about each fire(s) that left an impression on me.

I want to pause and offer one thing that I was to learn from Sodders. That is, Alpena is one of the towns that burned in the fires of 1911 (Sodders, 1997, 327). Alpena is a city in Alpena County bordering Thunder Bay on Lake Huron in Michigan. At the some point something clicked and I realized that it was the Alpena Community College that responded to my inter-library loan request. I am quite certain that the staff of the Alpena Community College Library had no idea why I was interested in Sodder’s book. However, when I learned that Alpena was affected by the 1911 fires, I felt a connection with them as if they were somehow involved in what I am trying to do. I returned the book to my library on December 3rd for transport back to Alpena, I wrote them a thank-you letter telling them why I was interested in their book and about my blog. 

As I read Sodder’s book and did other background research on the internet for this series of articles on Michigan Fires from 1871 to 1911, I learned a little about Michigan geography and a small sense of what life was like in the later half of 19th century. At the same time, I am quite aware that the fact that I am in New Jersey during a pandemic and for various reasons am unable to travel to Michigan, that I am at somewhat of a disadvantage.

The U.S. Census Bureau has a map that I am sharing of Michigan with counties that I found useful. If you have trouble reading the map, please feel free to click on the link and you will be taken to a pdf file that you might be able to enlarge. 

Obtained on December 15, 2021 from https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/general_ref/stco_outline/cen2k_pgsz/stco_MI.pdf

Notes: 

1. Pyne, Stephen J. Fire in America. 1997: University of Washington Press

2. Sodders, Betty (edited and designed by Don Weeks). Michigan on Fire. 1997: Thunder Bay Press.

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction (this article)
• December 17, 2021: 1871 Fires
• December 20, 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

Coming up: series on Michigan Fires of late 19th and early 20th centuries

In the course of doing background research on the 1871 Peshtigo Fire I learned about other fires that burned in Michigan on the same day including the Chicago Fire, see Hultquist's article on the Great Midwest Wildfires of 1871. I knew that I wanted to know more about the Michigan fires of 1871, and thanks to Professor Randall Schaetzl, in the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Science at Michigan State University. Prof. Schaetzl had knowledge of these fires that burned in Michigan in the later part of the 19th century. He recommended that I read Betty Sodder’s Michigan on Fire (Thunder Bay Press: 1997), edited and designed by Don Weeks.

I knew that I wanted to write more about these Michigan Fires, a good place to start was by reading Sodder’s book. So I decided to use the inter-library loan service from my local library where patrons like me can borrow a book from another library if the book is not owned by the local library. I was not surprised to note from the inter-library loan database that most of the copies of Sodder’s book were owned by libraries in Michigan. I put in my request and a few days later, Michigan on Fire arrived on loan from the Alpena Community College Library in Alpena, Michigan. I finished the book in early December and returned it to my local library who in turn mailed it back to the Alpena Community College.

I am still developing this series as I write this, but as I think that Sodder's book will arrive in Alpena today, I wanted to post this article today in part as a shout out to the Alpena Community College, but also to let you know what I have been working on for the last six weeks or so. 

Articles in this series:

• December 15, 2021: Introduction
• December 17, 2021: 1871 Fires
• December 20, 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 1
• December 22: 2021: 1881 Thumb Fires, part 2
• December 27, 2021: 1896 Ontonagan Fire
• December 29, 2021: 1908 Metz Fire
• January 3, 2022: 1911 Au Sable - Oscoda Fire
• January 5, 2022: Reflections

NWS Incident Meteorologists: what I learned from a recent webinar

 I am able to follow some basic information about the deployment of National Weather Service (NWS) Incident Meteorologists (IMETs)  thanks to following NWS UMET Operations on Facebook or Twitter. A couple of weeks ago, I saw an open invitation on their social media about a webinar sponsored by the AMS Board of Operational Government Meteorologists (BOGM) on the NWS IMET program. I jumped at the chance to attend. The webinar was last Wednesday afternoon with five IMETs including the leader talking about their work as IMETs. I had two take aways from attending this webinar that I want to share with you.

First, I knew from following IMET operations for the last few years that IMETs are also deployed to incidents that are not U.S. based wildfires or prescribed burns. I knew about the deployment of IMETs to Australia in early 2020 ( see my blog article of January 29, 2020. I wondered what  other non-wildfire assignments IMETs might be sent to. I got an answer from the IMETs at the webinar. Among the assignments mentioned were hurricanes (e.g. Katrina), flooding (e.g. 2013 flooding in Colorado, and the Cheyanne Wyoming Frontier Days (featuring the largest rodeo in the U.S) which takes place during severe weather season. 

Finally, I enjoyed listening to IMETs share on how they work as a team with the incident command team and others on the fire they are assigned to. I was impressed by the team effort in working to put the wildfire out as safely as possible, with the eye towards keeping wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air safe. As I listened to the IMETs share on what being an IMET meant to them, I was struck by how much their service meant to them, and the connection to and support of their “fire family” (IMETs and others in the fire community). At the end of the session, I asked them what is one thing they would like to me to share with my readers about their work as IMETs. I am not sure that my note taking does their responses justice, but I hope you get the idea of what they want you to know. These are their responses:

• dedication to mission
• the most rewarding aspect is seeing what effect my forecast has on fighting the wildfire
• understanding the needs of their partners (e.g. incident command and firefighters)
• being on a fire makes a difference
• we want to be there
• great community, fire family

I offer my profound thanks to all NWS Incident Meteorologists as well as current or future Meteorologists who want to be trained as an IMET. IMETs save lives. 

Friday Fun: Hellanic Air Force AH-64HA Apache "Pegasus" Airshow

 I have been thinking about helicopters recently and is it has been awhile since I featured a helicopter in my occasional Friday Fun posts, I looked around for something to share with you. It did not take me long to find the following video on YouTube featuring a Hellanic Air Force AH-64HA Apache Helicopter showing her stuff including aerobatics and low hovers in an airshow five years ago. If I am not mistaken, the Hellanic Air Force is out of Greece.

Matt, my friend, this video is posted in your memory. May you rest in peace.

Direct link to video uploaded by GreatFlyer on YouTube

2021 wildland fire crew videos: Lone Peak Hotshots

It is that time of year where I will continue to share 2021 wildland fire crew videos. Thank-you to the Lone Peak Hotshots for all the work you did this season to keep us safe from wildfires.

Direct link to video on YouTube from LonePeak

Helitankers: S64 Skycrane working wildfire, cockpit video

 This is a nice video, albeit it some what long (almost 13 minutes) shot from the cockpit of a S64 Skycrane working a wildfire from take off to dipping to dropping and landing. I enjoyed watching this video and I hope you do as well.

Direct link to video on YouTube

2021 wildfire season: Grindstone Fire NC (Pilot Mt. Surry County): final update

According to this December 2nd evening update from the North Carolina Forest Service, the Grindstone Fire in Pilot Mountain State Park (Surry County) NC has burned 1,050 acres and is at 90 percent containment. The fire was caused by a camp fire in an undesignated area (see this Dec 2nd press release from the NC Forest Service)

Direct link to video on YouTube uploaded by WAVY TV 10

2021 wildfire season: Grindstone Fire (Pilot Mt., NC) Update (Dec 1st)

With the intent of writing a follow-up article about the wildfire that is still currently burning on Pilot Mountain, in Pilot Mountain State Park (Surry County, NC), I went to the North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS) Webpage to see what additional information I could find out. It did not take me long to find the name of this fire, Grindstone Fire. I first found what I thought was the fire on Pilot Mountain on their map, but as I am not familiar with their geography, I wanted some more confirmation. I found this press release from the North Caroline Forest Service (dated November 30th) with information about the Grindstone Fire, satisfying me that the Grindstone Fire is burning on Pilot Mountain in Surry County, NC. According to the aforementioned NCFS press release, the fire had burned 1,050 acres and is at 20 percent containment as of 3PM on November 30, 2021.

Direct link to video on YouTube from WFMYNews2