Direct link to July 15th post from Fox9 Minneapolis-St. Paul on YouTube
The wildfires in northern Minnesota continue with smoke continuing to affect other regions of the United States and Canada. The video that I shared above, reported on July 15th is a little long, over eight minutes that includes weather information. These wildfires have burned about 70,000 acres on Friday,July 15th. Wildland firefighters discuss how they are working to keep people safe.
Direct link to October 2023 video from Airailimages on YouTube
Direct link to July 15th video from Fox9 Minnesota on YouTube
I saw a video of an airtanker dropping on the Chelan Wildfire that got me interested in finding out more about this Wildfire. According to Inciweb's page on the Chelan Wildfire, accessed on July 8th, the Chelan Wildfire, burning in Washington, was first reported on July 4th. The current estimate (dated July 7th) is that 9,735 acres have burned and it is at 20 percent containment. In the video below you will see two scoopers responding to the wildfire.
Direct link to July 7th video from Aerofilite Aerial Firefighting on Facebook
I am very greatful for the long service of the NJ Forest Fire Service in keeping us as safe as possible from wildfires. The NJ Forest Fire Service was established on July 4th, 1906.
Direct link to July 4th post on Facebook from the New Jersey Forest Fire ServiceThanks to Coulson Aviation whom I follow on Facebook and YouTube for sharing an educational video on YouTube about training for aircraft used to fight wildfires. Yes the video is a little long at just under 25 minutes but well worth watching.
Direct link to June 21st video from Coulson Aviation on YouTube
Direct link to June 30th video from ABC4Utah on YouTube
I continue to be interested in the wildfire burning along the Colorado/Utah border that some are calling the Cottonwood Fire. I found this link to a report from KSL of a June 29th article that the Cottonwood Fire has burned 94,000 acres on June 29th and is at 4 percent containment, they report that an estimated 150 buildings have been destroyed. I then looked around and found a video from ABC4Utah that I shared here with some more details about this wildfire.
I know that fighting wildfires is dangerous, and I am always saddened to hear that wildland firefighters have died fighting wildfires. I read over the weekend that three wildland firefighters died fighting the Cottonwood wildfire near the Colorado-Utah border. As I write this, according to ABC4 Utah the Cottonwood Fire has burned around 94,000 acres with little or no containment (a direct link to the video may be found below the embedded video.
I offer my condolences to the family, colleagues and friends of the deceased wildland firefighters.
Direct link to June 29th video from ABC4 Utah
June 29th, 2:40 PM update
On July 29th Wildfire Today has a post identifying the names of the three wildland firefighters who died on the Cottonwood Fire; Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson. Please read the Wildfire Today article for more information about the deceased wildland firefighters.
Two Super Scoopers working a wildfire in the United States, deployed from Pangborn.
As some of you know I have an affinity for Florida because I had the privilege of spending some time in Florida several years ago, but more importantly because I have some friends and acquaintance in Florida. This article dated June 22nd from the WGCU weather center got my attention so I am both sharing the link with you as well as summarizing a few wildfires as of June 22nd in Lee County in southwest Florida:
1. Winding Cypress Way in Collier County, no acreage available;
2. Two larger wildfires in the Myakka State Forest were at 95 percent containment;
3. Orange Hammock Ranch, Sarasota County. 100 acres, 90 containment;
4. Glades County, Platt Trap Fire, 275 acres, 50 percent containment;
5. Charlotte County, North Fort Myers-Charlotte Fire, 130 acres, 25 percent containment.
Read the article I linked to do for more information.
As many of you know I have a lot of respect for the various wildfire agencies, on the ground and in the air, that fight wildfires in the United States and elsewhere. As a resident of New Jersey, I am sure that my followers know that I have a lot of respect and gratitude for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for fighting wildfires in New Jersey and when called upon working wildfires elsewhere in the United States.
The subject of my blog on wildfires and the role the NJ Forest Fire Service plays in fighting wildfires in New Jersey came up recently in a conversation with a friend that prompted me to make this post today. I share this April 6th video here from NJ Advance Media to let them speak about how the NJ Forest Fire Service works wildfires in New Jersey.
Direct link to April 6th video from NJ.com (aka NJ Advance Media) on YouTubeDirect link to June 16th KPIX video on YouTube
I was pleased to see the video that I shared above where I learned that Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) will be used during the 2026 wildfire season in the Bay Area in aerial operations to fight wildfires. Helicopters such as PG&E's helicopter fleet are an important addition to support the wildland firefighters on the ground in the Bay Area of California.
I saw a post from the NJ Forest Fire Service on Facebook the other day reporting on the 2025 Wildfire Season in New Jersey that I am embedding below. To summarize, there were 1,322 wildfires in 2025 in New Jersey that burned 27,229 acres. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service 2025 Wildfire Report may be found here.
Cal Fire has a new C-130 has joined their airtanker aersonal and is or was stationed at Ramona in southern California, see this article from the County News Center for more information. While I always like to see additional airtankers deployed anywhere in the United States and elsewhere, I have family and friends in southern California so I am especially happy to know that Cal Fire's new C-130 is currently deployed at Ramona. See this page for more information about Cal Fire's C-130s.
The video that I embed below shows footage of the new C-130 and other aircraft fighting a wildfire near the Sorrento fire that is now 100 percent contained at 90 acres.
Direct link to June 8th video from San Diego Slackers on YouTube
I am a fan of fire towers in New Jersey because the spotters in the towers help to spot and report wildfires, sometimes when they are still small. On a section of the Appalachian Trail in Warren County NJ where I used to hike when I had better knees, I would pass the Catfish Fire Tower (go here to see a photo). Knowing the good work that fire tower observers in New Jersey do, I was very pleased to see this report on NJ fire towers from WHYY.
Direct link to June 5th video from WHYY on Youtube.
As we are in to spring and early summer wildfire season, I do try to follow, as I can, where Airtankers are currently based. I saw this post from AeroFlite Aerial Firefighting on Facebook a week ago. I believe but am not 100 percent certain that at least one of the airtankers they are referring to are Dash 8-400 AT airtankers
I am glad to see that these two AeroFlite airankers were based in Washington week ago, I hope they are still there.
Direct link to May 26th Facebook post from AeroFlite Aerial Firefighting on Facebook
In the video that I am sharing below about the Yukon Airtanker, according to CBC News North, the supervisor of the airtanker program mentioned at 35 seconds is not Chris Mullen, it is Chris Boland.
Direct link to May 28th video from CBC News North on YouTube
