Wildfires: 10 Standard Orders & 18 Watch Out Situations

Time for a review of how wildland firefighters stay safe while fighting wildfires. I am posting two short videos, one on the Ten Standard Fire Fighting Orders and the second on the Eighteen Watchout Situations.

Ten Standard Fire Fighting Orders

Direct link to March 2019 video from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group on YouTube

Eighteen Watch Out Situations

Direct link to March 2019 video from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group on YouTube

reflections on prescribed burns in New Jersey

Direct link to Feb 2024 video from the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection on YouTube 

Direct link to Feb 2017 video from NJ.com on YouTube

For the last 17 years I have devoted this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related issues. As many of you know, I am neither a wildland firefighter or a pilot, but I try to honor both firefighters and pilots and support staff flying aircraft in aerial operations over wildfires. One of the things I learned early on in writing this blog was the New Jersey Forest Fire Service's (NJFFS) prescribed burn season for a few weeks in February of each year, they have been conducting prescribed burns since 1928. On their prescribed burning page the NJFFS discusses the history of prescribed fire in NJ, planning for prescribed fires, preparation, executing the prescribed burn, smoke management and wildfire in New Jersey. I have a lot of respect for the careful planning, preparation, execution, and smoke management as the NJFFS takes time to plan and prepare for a prescribed burn before they execute the burn, this includes the important aspect of smoke management.

I know that NJFFS conducts many prescribed burns in and around the Pinelands in central and souther New Jersey, and have sign their signage when I was visiting the Pinelands as I drove by areas where they were conducting prescribed burns. I live in northern New Jersey and I know for a fact that they conduct prescribed burns in northern New Jersey both in and around the forested areas in the Delaware Water Gap and as well as forested or grassy lands. Just last year as I was driving by a grassy field several miles from my house I saw signage that the NJFFS was conducting a prescribed burn. During the prescribed burn season, they post notices on their website on a prescribed burning dashboard on their website.

I shared two short videos at the beginning of this post about prescribed burns in New Jersey, please take a few minutes to take a look at these videos.

P.S. I continue to read When it All Burns by Jordan Thomas and am currently reading about prescribed burns in chapter 14 of his book. Reading what Thomas has written about prescribed burns in California and other western States inspired me to write today's posts on my reflections on prescribed burns in New Jersey

About Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Fire

Direct link to 2021 video from the National Interagency Fire Center

The Bureau of Land Management Fire Program is housed in the U.S. Department of the Interior: 

As the largest and most complex fire program within the Department of the Interior, BLM Fire is directly responsible for fire management on more than 245 million acres. This land is commonly intermixed with other federal, state, and local jurisdictions, making partnerships and collaborative efforts crucial to the mission of safety and fire management. Overall, BLM Fire implements fire protection on approximately 650 million acres of public land with other fire management agencies.

I have a lot of respect for the work the BLM Fire does as the work to keep us safe from wildfires. 

About Giant Sequoia Trees

I continue to read When it All Burns by Jordan Thomas, I am still reading his chapter (chapter 12) on a 2021 wildfire in Sequoia National Forest. I believe but am not yet certain that the wildfire Thomas is talking about is the Windy Fire, see this December 12, 2021 article by the late Bill Gabbert with links for more information about the fire as well as links to videos and photos. In addition he gives a good overview of the Giant Sequoia. I was looking for a video about the history and stories of the Giant Sequoia and came across the above 2024 video by Epitome Perspectives. I learned more about the wonderful Giant Sequoia and especially enjoyed the pictures and drawings in the video

2021 Wildfire Season: An Inside Look at Hotshots Working a Wildfire in the Sequoia National Forest (CA)

Direct link to December 2021 Video from NBC News on YouTube

I am in the midst of reading a book called When it All Burns by Jordan Thomas.  A dear friend of mine in southern California read a review of this book, published earlier in 2025, and sent me the article as she thought that I would be interested in reading the book. Well, she was right, I started reading this book a few days ago and am learning a lot. Thomas, an Anthropologist, served on the Los Padres Hotshots in 2021. He writes about his experience on the Los Padres Hotshots in the very tough 2021 wildfire season in California. He also writes about a variety of issues about wildfires and hotshot crews. As fate would have it, I am in the midst of reading about a wildfire that the Los Padres Hotshot crew worked in the Sequoia National Forest in 2021. 

I have been wondering how to share some of what I am learning from reading Thomas's book when I ran across this 2021 video that I am sharing here, uploaded in December 2021 by NBC News. Among other things they cover a wildfire in the Sequoia National Forest as well as the low pay that hotshots received at the time. Thomas talked about the low pay that hotshots receive in his book. I have no idea what the current pay is for hotshot crews at this time and whether the changes in pay that Biden promised in his Infrastructure Bill (referenced in the video) were passed on to the hotshot crews. Judging from one of the comments on the video, it seems that Biden’s bill was passed but the increased pay never made it to hotshot crews as of June 2022. Nor do I know if Biden’s bill is still in effect. Hotshot crews should be paid much more than minimum wage.

Reading Thomas’s book and watching this video has had a profound effect on me and I am learning a lot.

About Aerial Firefighting in Florida Including a look at the "Eagle Single" Helicopter

Direct link to December 4th Video from Vertical Magazine on YouTube

As you may know, Florida is special to me so I am always on the lookout for how Florida fights wildfires. I struck gold yesterday thanks my friends at the NJ B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page for sharing this video about Florida's aerial firefighting strategy on their website yesterday. As soon as I watched this video I knew that I wanted to share it with you. I knew that Florida does a lot of prescribed burning but did not know that the did more than 48 states combined. I saw how they use helos to help the wildland firefighters on the ground fight wildfires as well as their use of airplanes to oversee aerial operations. Finally I learned about the "Eagle Single" helicopter, new addition to their fleet.

Coulson Aviation's International Operations 2025-26

 As we enter into winter in the northern United States and contractors supplying aerial wildland firefighting aircraft begin winter maintenance on some of their fleet, the southern hemisphere is in late spring and early summer meaning an uptick in bush fires (aka wildfires). I am grateful that Coulson Aviation is among the wildfire aviation operators in the United States that has an international presence. In particular, Coulson has a presence in South America and Australia in addition to their presence in the U.S  To the best of my knowledge Coulson has been in Australia and South America for at least a couple of years. For example, in July 2024 Coulson entered into a 10 year contract with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia to manage, operate, and maintain thier fleet of 11 aircraft used to fight bushfires  This 11 aircraft fleet includes a 737 Fireliner a CH-47 Chinook, smaller helicopters and lead planes. 

The CH-47 Chinook based in New South Wales is equipped with night vision capabilities 

Within the last couple of days one of Coulson's 737s touched down in Chile for their summer bush fire season to support the firefighters on the ground and help protect residences and businesses on the ground 

A Short Close Look at New Jersey Forest Fire Service Section B (June 2021) Operations

Direct link to June 2021 video from PintheQ Podcast on YouTube

As regular readers no doubt know, one of the ways that I, who is not a wildland firefighter, can get a closer look at wildland firefighting is through videos. The video that I shared above is from PintheQ Podcast. The video from June 2021 is less than five minutes and you will see images and short videos of New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) wildland firefighters on the ground as well as aerial resources. Enjoy this closer look at the wildfire operations by the NJFFS in central New Jersey. Thanks again to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page for sharing this video on their website in late October of 2025.

Uses of Fire by Native Americans

Direct link to Nov 2013 video from the National Interagency Fire Center

I got interested in how Indigenous Peoples (or Native Americans) used wildfires because of a book by Jordan Thomas, When it All Burns. I am currently reading the second chapter where he spends several pages at the end of the chapter writing about the historic uses of fire by Indigenous Peoples in California and elsewhere to control their land, including but not limited to clearing land for food. I decided that I wanted to find a short video to share with you on this subject and found this video, "Traditional Uses of Fire", by the National Interagency Fire Center. I am not here to suggest that homeowners use prescribed or controlled burning, for example this practice is illegal in many areas of the U.S. without prior approval by state or local authorities. Rather I like the video because they discuss traditional uses for fire by Indigenous Peoples.

Many, Many Thanks to All First Responders for Your Service

Direct link to video (September 2015) from Thank-you First Responder on YouTube

On this day before Thanksgiving in the U.S. in 2025, I find myself being extremely thankful for the service of all first responders: wildland firefighters, structure firefighters. law enforcement, emergency medical technicians and ambulance drivers, and all support staff to first responders. What you do helps to keep us safe. Some of you will be working or otherwise on call on Thanksgiving, thanks so much for your service on this holiday. 

I wish all of you who celebrate, a very Happy Thanksgiving. I will be having a quiet holiday with my small family.

Brush Fire in Large Yard in Franklin Lakes NJ (Nov. 19th)

Direct link to November 21st video from FreedomNews TV NYC on YouTube

I again thank my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page for sharing this video on their webpage the other day. I am always interested in the work that structure and wildland firefighters do to work and contain small brushfires. There are a large number of smaller wildfires or brush fires in New Jersey every year. I know that many brush fires in New Jersey are small and able to be contained by structure firefighters as appears to be the case with this wildfire in Franklin Lakes NJ (Bergen County) that burned near homes, fortunately the areas burned by this brush fire was large enough enabling the firefighters to contain the fire before it could reach the homes.   I have a high level of confidence that the brush fire that you are seeing in this video is the same brush fire reported by News12 New Jersey about a brush fire that burned was reported at about 4 AM on November 19th and was under control by 5:30 AM. Structure firefighters from nearby communities helped fight this brush fire. I do not know the size of the brush fire. I applaud all the structure firefighters for their good work in bringing this brush fire under control in a short time frame.

About BLM Helitack Crews

Direct link to July 2023 from the National Interagency Fire Center on YouTube

For this week's Friday Fun take a look at this seven minute video from the National Interagency Fire Center discussing what a Bureau of Land Management Helitack crew does. As the introduction to the video points out an obvious benefit is seeing beautiful country from the air. But there is a lot more. I have oodles of respect for helitack crews who are flown to wildland fires in remote areas. If the helitack helicopter has a bucket the helicopter will drop water on the fire after the helitack crew is dropped off.  Kudos to the pilots flying these helicopters and the helitack crews they fly. Just as important are all the personnel providing various support service to keep helitack crews flying.

Video review of 2024 Wildfire Season in the Tri-State Area

Direct link to November 2024 video on News 12 Originals

I have already written about the 2024 wildfire season in New Jersey, the worst in history. 2024 was also a very bad wildfire year in New York City, and nearby counties in New York as well as in Connecticut.  Here are two posts that I have written on the 2024 wildfire season in New Jersey: (1) a November 2024 post summarizing the 2024 wildfire season where I did my best to summarize the major wildfires in New Jersey in 2024 using information from the NJ Forest Fire Service and various local media outlets , and (2) a February 2025 post providing an historical perspective going back to 2013 as well as wildfires by month in New Jersey in 2024 (this post was possible due to the good work of the NJ Forest Association and the NJ Forest Fire Service).

I was intrigued when I learned of the News 12 Originals video from my friends at the B10 New Jersey Wildfire Page. This video was posted on November 2025 with an original airdate in November 2024. I do get News 12 New Jersey but missed this report. While perhaps on the long side (21 minutes) for a blog post I liked the summary of wildfires in the Tri-State provided by News 12 reporters so I decided to share this video with you.

2025 wildfires in New Jersey: In a NJFFS press conference on April 23rd NJFFS Fire Chief, Bill Donnelly said that for 2025 through April 23rd, 662 wildfires have burned 16,572 acres. Two of these wildfires were over 1,000 acres: Jones Rd Fire in Ocean County, 15,300 acres and Danny's Fire in Cumberland County, 1,300 acres. I do not yet have any information on the number and size of wildfires that burned in New Jersey after April 23rd. 

2025 Wildfire Season: Alaska Wildfire Season Highlights

Direct link to Nov 14th video from Alaska DNRDOF on YouTube 

I have never been to Alaska and don't know if I will ever get there. However, for reason that I won't get into here I have a special interest in Alaska including but not limited to the challenges posed by wildfires. I am grateful to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildfire Page for sharing this video  from Alaska DNRDOF summarizing the 2025 Alaska wildfire season. The video is over 13 minutes and I enjoyed watching the wildland firefighters working fire in Alaska along with images of aerial support.

Friday Fun: Medevac Helicopter Landing on I-81 in VA Responding to an Accident

Direct link to July 2022 video from Michael Miller on YouTube

I know that one of the important things that helicopters can do such as medevac helicopters is providing transportation to hospitals of accident victims and critically ill people, transportation that can often be quicker than ground transport. I live not far from my local hospital and when I see a helicopter flying over my house at a lower altitude there is a decent chance that the helo is transporting someone to the emergency room. The hospital has an appropriate landing pad for the helicopter. While I have not personally been an interstate while traffic was stopped so a helicopter can transport and accident victim I know that this happens. I was on I-81 about five years returning home when we diverted to local roads because of a bad accident on the interstate. As we were on local roads, thanks to our alert from AAA, I have no idea if a helicopter serviced the accident or if it was only ambulances or a combination of the two. I was glad to get off the interstate and away from the traffic.

In this July 2022 video that I shared above, the video was posted by Michael Miller, a Medevac helicopter pilot was flying out of Virginia in July 2022. I enjoyed watching this video to get an idea of what it is like to see a Medevac helicopter working an accident on an interstate. Michael does a good service flying Medevac helicopters. 

Ag Aviation Helicopters

 

Direct link to July 2025 video by Garrett Stanfield on YouTube

I am interested in Ag Aviation so I do post on this every so often as I last did on November 3rd. On a somewhat quiet day I wanted to make a post highlighting what an Ag Aviation helicopter can do. I found the above video this morning to share with you. 

Thanks to All Veterans for Your Service

I pause on this day before Veterans Day to make an early post in honor of Veterans Day. I offer my heartfelt thanks to all veterans for your service and the sacrifices you made to keep us safe. 

Direct link to Oct 31 2024 vid from Aerial Northwest on YouTube

A Wildland Firefighters First Assignment from NIFC

Direct link to the April 2025 video from the National Interagency Fire Center on YouTube

I have been referencing videos shared by the National Interagency Fire Center this week and I continue sharing NIFC videos today. The NIFC website has a lot of good information, it may be found here. One of the ways I learn more about wildland firefighting and keeping up with current events in the wildland fire community is through videos and social media. The video that I shared above offers a quick look at what a wildland firefighter's first assignment under NIFC will be like. I suspect that the experience of a wildland firefighter in a State system, e.g. New Jersey, will be different as some State wildfires are not under NIFC.

Drone Safety Near Fire Zones

Direct link to August 2025 video from the National Interagency Fire Center 

There are lot of good and safe uses for drones, and the FAA has regulations for flying drones including when drone owners must register their drones, for more information see this FAA website on unmanned aircraft systems (aka drones). In addition the Forest Service under the USDA has a nice webpage on the safe recreational use of drones that may be found here,  one of their bullet points focuses on operations near wildfires: "Never fly your UAS over or in close proximity to any fire operation (wildfire or prescribed).  UAS flights over fire operations disrupt aerial firefighting operations and create hazardous situations." I have nothing against drones, I have seen good drone footage and am aware that agencies and the media and individuals safely operate drones and follow FAA regulations in their drone operationms

The FAA has a pdf file that they call "Drones & Wildfires Digital Toolkit", they talk about flight restrictions that are often in place over wildfires, penalties for illegally flying drones near wildfires and how to report illegal drone activity near a wildfire. They also refer to how first responders can get approval to fly drones near a wildfire. They include a paragraph on why it is dangerous to fly drones near wildfires:

The US Forest Service states: 

Firefighting aircraft fly at very low altitudes, typically just a couple of hundred feet above the ground, the same altitude as drones flown by members of the public and others. This creates the potential for a mid-air collision or pilot distraction that could result in a serious or fatal accident. In addition, an unauthorized UAS that loses its communication link could fall from the sky, causing serious injuries or deaths of firefighters or members of the public on the ground. Unauthorized UAS flights could lead fire managers to suspend aerial wildfire suppression operations – such as airtankers dropping fire retardant and helicopters dropping water – until the UAS has left the airspace and they are confident it won’t return.

Please fly your drone safely and legally and please stay away from the airspace over wildfires.

About Ag Aviation (crop dusting) from the pilot of a crop duster

Direct link to 2020 video from Scott Palmer on YouTube

I have seen crop dusters in action in New Jersey both over north western New Jersey where I live and down in the cranberry farms in the New Jersey Pinelands in central and southern New Jersey. I have also heard about crop dusters in northern New England. My point is that is not just in larger farms in the midwest and the west where you will crop dusters, as you see in this video, but crop dusting happens across the United States and Canada and elsewhere. Enjoy this video about crop dusting in 2020 from Scott Palmer who talks about crop dusting in this 2020 video.