2024 Wildfire Season: Smokehouse Fire (Texas Panhandle) and Oklahoma Fires Feb 29th update

Direct link to video from Fox Weather on YouTube

I write today following up on the post I wrote on February 28th on the wildfires in the Texas panhandle and northwest Oklahoma. At the time that I am writing this update on the Smokehouse Fire, currently burning in the Texas panhandle with a portion burning in northwest Oklahoma, has burned 1,075,000 acres and is at 3 percent containment. Evacuations and closures in Canadian, Texas have been lifted. Kelly Robinson of Wildfire Today wrote in a post on the afternoon of February 28th that

"Officials are warning those who evacuated from the town of Fritch ahead of the Smokehouse Creek Fire that destruction there is considerable. 'People who live in the Fritch area are probably not going to be prepared for what they’re going to see as they pull into town,' said Deidra Thomas with the Hutchinson County Emergency Management. 'There are still homes that are on fire.' The main road into the south side of Fritch is still closed.  'Right now, we can’t let you in,” she said. “It is not safe to do that.'"

In a post today, February 29th, Kelly Anderson shares some drone footage, a satellite image of the fires in Oklahoma and Texas. He also reports on a prior prescribed burn, "Officials with Borger’s Office of Emergency Management said the prescribed burn prevented a fire flank from spreading into the southern parts of the town, including the Meadowlark, Country Club, and Bunavista areas."

Thanks to my friends at the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Section B10 who shared this video on their website today about the destruction caused by the wildfires in western Oklahoma.

Direct link to video from News9 on YouTube

2024 Wildfire Season: Texas Panhandle and NW Oklahoma

Direct link to video from ABC News on YouTube

Direct link to video from News9 on YouTube

When I was checking my newsfeed on my devices this morning I noted an article in the top portion of the feed on wildfires in the Panhandle of Texas. The article I saw is from USA Today, Texas wildfire becomes second largest in state history, burning 500,000 acres (February 28th), I noted that Gov. Abbot declared a disaster in 60 Texas counties, that evacuations are in place with residences being destroyed. The largest wildfire, the Smokehouse Fire (Inciweb) started on Monday, February 26th and has burned 500,000 acres, evacuation are in place and there are road closures in the area. 

Seeing the USA Today article on the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle prominently placed in my newsfeed, I went to newspapers that I subscribe to and noted this February 28th New York Times article (gifted for 10 days) on wildfires in the Texas Panhandle and Northwestern Oklahoma with a short video and a smoke forecast map and a report on a hospital in Canadian, Texas (Hemphill County) being evacuated Tuesday afternoon. 

I then checked the Washington Post which has updates (dated February 28th) on the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle, that may be found here (gifted for 10 days). Among other things reporting that some evacuations have been lifted and the Pantex Plant which was closed on Tuesday has reopened Wednesday morning.

The NY Times articles references some wildfires in adjoining areas of Oklahoma, this got me curious about what is happening in the adjoining area of Oklahoma, so I found a nice article on The Oklahoman (which I hope has no paywall) that has some information about the wildfires currently burning in Oklahoma along with photos and a nice map that you can access showing wildfires in Oklahoma, Texas, and nearby states. The map I saw was updated on Feb 28th at about 10 AM local time. The Oklahoman reports that a portion of the Smokehouse Fire has crossed into adjoining northwest Oklahoma.

I'd like to thank my friends at the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10 who shared the two videos that I embedded at the beginning of this post on their website on February 28th

Note: on the gifted articles from the New York Times and the Washington Post, hopefully the links do give you free access for ten days from February 28th, with free access stopping on or about March 9th. 

2024 Wildfire Season: Midewin Hotshots prescribed burns

The Midewin Hotshots began preparing for their 2024 wildfire season on Feb 12th, see the Midewin Hotshots Feb 12th Facebook post. I was just on their Facebook page a short time ago and saw that on or about February 25, they were on day six of their 2024 wildfire season conducting prescribed burns in the eastern region. Thanks to the Midewin Hotshots for doing prescribed burns which will help to reduce wildfire risks in those areas. I just now checked the Eastern Area Resource Summary (dated February 24, 2023) on the Eastern Area Coordination Center under predictive services-intelligence and saw that the Midewin Hotshots were deployed on February 19th to Indiana, so I assume that the Facebook Post that I embedded below is referring to prescribed burns in Indiana.

I wish the Midewin Hotshot crew the best as they continue with their 2024 wildfire season where they will be deployed in the eastern region of the United States and elsewhere to help with prescribed burns as well as bringing wildfires into containment. Stay safe.

Friday Fun: About the 1946 J-3 Cub

 I was looking around for a fun aviation video to share with you on Friday Fun. I have made a note of the blancolirio YouTube channel where he posts many different aviation videos. Some are about crash investigations but he also posts other aviations videos about different airplanes, interviews with pilots, and aerial firefighting.

Today I am sharing a video he uploaded about three months ago around November 2023 called "Meet the Cub! 1946 J-3". I enjoyed watching this 15-minute video and I hope you do as well. He demonstrates are the power-off stall, three point landing, and gives a walk around of the Cub that he had recently purchased at the time he made this video.

2024 NJFFS Prescribed Burns: February 21 update

Recent snowfall in northern and central New Jersey probably means that conditions (wet soil?) are not conducive for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) to conduct prescribed burns in these areas. This is not the case in southern New Jersey where you can see from the embedded Facebook post from the NJFFS on February 21st that they conducted prescribed burns on that date in the following locations: 

• Burlington County - Delanco Twp. - County Property
• Burlington County - Eastampton Twp. - County Property
• Burlington County - Washington Twp. - Wharton State Forest 
• Cumberland County - Maurice River Twp. - Peaslee Wildlife Management Area
• Cumberland County - Pittsgrove Twp. - Municipal Property
• Cumberland County - Vineland - Municipal Property 

In addition the NJFFS did prescribed burns in these locations in the last five days:

• February 16th: Wharton State Forest in Winslow Twp, Camden County
• February 20th: private property in Barnegat Twp, Ocean County

Wildfires in Colorado in 2012-13

 It is a rather late on a busier than expected day where time got away from me. So I am sharing a video that I have bookmarked. This is a 28 minute video from the Denver Post about wildfires that ravished areas of Colorado in 2012 and 2013. Great journalism! Please take the time to watch the video, if not now bookmark it for later viewing.

Direct link to video from the Denver Post on YouTube

2023 Wildfire Season: Midewin Hotshots (Wilmington, Illinois)

The Midewin Hotshots are based in Wilmington, Illinois where they are hosted by the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. They Midewin Hotshots are the only Hotshot crew based in the eastern region per the US Forest Service list of Interagency Hotshot Crews (IHC). There are two sites you may go to for information about the Midewin Hotshots: The Unofficial Webpage of the Midewin Hotshots, and the Midewin Hotshots on Facebook where they post updates through out the season. 

According to a September 2, 2023 post on the the Midewin Hotshots Facebook page (see below), in 2023 they had 10 rolls in six different states. I looked up what a roll is, and according to Wildfire 101 a roll is when “Wildland firefighters can work 14 days straight (called a roll) with 16-hour days and possibly up to three days travel before and after the official 14. Night shifts and longer shifts of 16-24 hours are possible depending on the fire and area you are in, but not super common.” 

I would have posted the Midewin Hotshots 2023 fire season video, but I have not seen one posted. That is ok, it happens. But going to their Facebook page I was able to find some posts where they shared where they were helping with prescribed burns or working wildfires in 2023

• February 22: first fire assignment on or about February 22, 2023 in Hoosier National Forest
• February 26: first roll  at Mark Twain NF Missouri
• Feb 28 and March 1: Missouri a couple of prescribed burns
• later in March early April region 8, George Washington National Forest in VA
• April 12: to Michigan, including Huron-Manistee National Forest stayed through May
• July 21: northern rockies
• August 12: Hungry Horse MT

February 12, 2024 was the first day of the Midewin Hotshots 2024 season. Best wishes to the Midewin Hotshots as they prepare for their 2024 season. Thanks for all you do to keep us safe from wildfires. Stay safe.

2023 Wildfire Season: Crew 3 (Idaho?) Crew Video

 When I post crew videos summarizing their 2023 wildfire season, I always try to look for initial attack crews or other crews that are not hotshot crews. Initial attack crews do important work, often being among the first crews assigned to a wildfire. While on YouTube just now, I came across an eleven-minute video from summarizing the 2023 wildfire season of Crew 3. Given the number of wildfires in Idaho that this crew worked (see the end of the video), my guess is that Crew 3 is based out of Idaho. But I am not certain of this. I don't know if where this crew is based matters, what matters is that they did good work on wildfires to protect us.

Direct link to video from Krossed Saints on  YouTube

2024 NJFFS Prescribed Burns: February 12th Update

 The New Jersey Forest Fire Service continues to do prescribed burns. Here is a list of prescribed burns done by the NJ Forest Fire Service between February 8th and February 11th, I got this information from the NJ Forest Fire Service’s Facebook page  starting with their February 8th post. I think but am not sure that the NJ Forest Fire Service will post about prescribed burns when they are scheduled, usually in the late morning. As a citizen of New Jersey I appreciate these prescribed burns are done so that excessive underbrush can be removed minimizing fire danger. Thanks to all Division of the NJ Forest Fire Service for conducting these prescribed burns.

February 8th

• Burlington County - Tabernacle Twp. - Wharton State Forest 
• Burlington County - Washington Twp. - Wharton State Forest 
• Burlington County - Woodland Twp. - Brendan T. Byrne State Forest 

February 9th

• Atlantic County - Estell Manor - Maple Lake Wildlife Management Area
• Burlington County - Medford Twp. - Private Property
• Gloucester County - Franklin Twp. - Private Property
• Gloucester County - Monroe Twp. - Private Property

February 10th

• Ocean County - Jackson Twp. - Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area
• Ocean County - Jackson Twp. - County Property

February 11th

• Monmouth County - Upper Freehold Twp. - Prospertown Lake Wildlife Management Area
• Ocean County - Jackson Twp. - Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area

2024 Wildfire Season: Wildfire in Chile Feb 9th update

On February 5th I wrote about the wildfires in Chile, see my Feb 5th post, and I am writing to provide an update. I want to give a shout out to Mike Archer of Wildfire News of the Day for his February 8th WNOTD where he included the two articles about the wildfires in Chile that I am referring to in this post. But first, I know from the following post on Facebook recently shared by Coulson Aviation that Coulson continues to have a presence in Chile with at least one tanker deployed to Chile. According to Coulson's November 14th (2023) press release, one of their C-130's and crew plus a Citation 550 departed to serve in the Summer wildfire season in Chile. While I do not know for certain, I think it is logical to assume that Coulson's C-130 flew these recent wildfires in Coulson if conditions allowed.

A February 7th Barron's article on the Chile wildfires reported that

Firefighters said Wednesday they had extinguished all wildfires in Chile's coastal region of Valparaiso, where flames razed entire communities and left 131 dead.

The forest emergency that began on February 2 is considered to have been overcome,' said the fire department in the seaside resort town Vina del Mar, one of the worst-hit areas.

The Barron's article goes on to report that local officials say that something in the order of 15,000 homes have been impacted by these wildfires. I am not sure if Barrons has a paywall for this article, I was able to access this article.

The APNews has a nice photo spread of images of the Chile wildfires, see their February 7th article.

2024 NJFFS Prescribed Burns: February 7th Update

 It is late winter here in New Jersey and that means that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is ramping up to do prescribed burns. The prescribed burning season is from October 1 to March 31, see the NJ Forest Fire Service About Prescribed Burn Page and click on planning. I know that the NJ Forest Fire Service did at least two prescribed burns on February 5th, both in Ocean County.

I follow the NJ Forest Fire Service on Facebook where prescribed burns happening on a specific day may be listed, as is the case for February 5th prescribed burns. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has a map of prescribed fire notifications listing active and scheduled prescribed burns that may be found here. To learn more about prescribed burns see this 2023 news release from the NJ Forest Fire Service.

I can say that over the years that when I have driven in or through areas where a prescribed burn is being conducted there is signage alerting drivers and while I have never driven on a road that was temporarily closed to a prescribed burn, I assume that there is road closed signage with detours posted. 

I am updating this post to embed a post below from the NJ Forest Fire Service notifying us of prescribed burns scheduled for today, February 7th.

Finally, The NJ Forest Fire Service Sections A7/8 shared a notice from the Mercer County Park Commission on their Facebook page this morning. Their Facebook page requires that you have a Facebook account so out of deference to those of you who are not on Facebook, I am not including the link to their site but I am embedding the post from the Mercer County Park Commission:

2024 Wildfire Season: Wildfire in Chile

Direct link to February 4th video from NBC News on YouTube

It is summer in Chile and a wildfire is burning during a hot and dry period leading to at somewhere in the order of 112 deaths. A state of emergency has been declared and damages could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars according to Chile's Chief Finance Minister Mario Marcel. See this Feb 5th report from CNN for more information, another video and photographs.

Friday Fun: Flying Wildfires in a Lockheed P2V

Enjoy this video from Bob Webb that I am embedding. Bob calls this video "a review of slurry bomber firefighting missions in a Lockheed P2V." The time frame is from 2015 to 2017.  Allow about 6.5 minutes to watch the video.

Direct link to video from Bob Webb on YouTube

2023 Wildfire Season: Panhandle Helitack Year in Review

I am always interested in the good work that various helitack crews do to support crews on the ground fighting wildfires whether it be bucket work or bring in gear, food and other material that crews on the ground in remote areas need. Of course, in some cases I suppose that helitack might transport crews to remote areas or perhaps there are other helicopters that transport crews to and from remote areas. 

The other good work that helitack crews do is in igniting prescribed burns in remote locations using either plastic fires that ignite when they hit the ground or special torches.

As I was looking at a couple of social media groups on Facebook focused on aerial firefighting I came across a post by the U.S. Forest Service - Idaho Panhandle National Forests shared a couple of weeks highlighting the work that the Panhandle Helitack Crew did in 2023. They flew to 64 wildfires and did 13 prescribed burns. The Panhandle Helitack Crew does bucket work, transports ground crews to remote locations on a wildfire,  transports gear and equipment to crews on the ground in remote locations, and does prescribed burns. I share a short post from the Idaho Panhandle National Forests with relevant photos showcasing what they do and a thorough but concise description of their work in 2023. Click "see more" to see their full post. 

Reflections on Fifteen Years of Blogging on Aerial Wildland Firefighting

It was in January 2009 that I made a commitment to devote this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related issues. If someone had told me 25 years ago that I would be writing a blog on aerial wildland firefighting I would not have believed them. Then a series of changes in my life 20 years ago started me on a quest to do some writing. I wrote a couple of articles related to a former job and then I took a trip to Malawi in 2007. I began this blog to record my thoughts before, during, and after my trip to Malawi. I had some hopes of turning my time in Malawi into something more than just a life changing trip. So I knew that at some point I would have to find something else to write about. I ran out of things to post about Malawi in early 2008 and then spent a few months writing about various things that interested me.

I got interested in wildland firefighting in the fall of 2008 after following a major fire in California so I began learning about wildland firefighting. To be clear, I am not a wildland firefighter, nor am I a pilot. It is hard to explain but deep down inside I knew that I wanted to write about aerial wildland firefighting and I knew that not being in the business would pose some challenges. I have to give credit to a couple of friends of mine for encouraging me to follow this dream, especially Tom Janney. Without Tom’s early help and encouragement and a couple of other friends in the business. the early days of this blog would not have been possible. 

I can never write from the point of view of a wildland firefighter or those who flew tankers and helos in support of wildland firefighters on the ground. What I lack in first hand experience, I’d like to think that I make up with my passion and some research skills that I learned in graduate school and a think tank where I used to work as support staff.

I make no money off this blog, it has been and will remain a labour of love. Sure I get discouraged sometimes, wondering why I keep the blog going. During those times when I am discouraged either something happens in the world of wildland firefighting that gives me a reason to keep going or a firefighter friend tells me that I need to keep this blog going. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to some good social media groups, blogs and websites for letting me observe news on current and past wildfires as well to my friends in the wildland firefighting business (past or present) for answering my questions. I sometimes delve into related areas, such as weather events, and first responders responses to flooding and the like. 

For those of you reading who are wildland firefighters on the ground or in the air and your support teams, I want you to know how much I care about what you do. In the way that I can, I hope that I honor you in this blog.

Finally, I save the most important people for the last. That is you, my readers. Whether you drop by only on occasion or are a frequent reader, I do this blog for you. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for reading and being a part of my journey. I hope to keep this blog going for many more years. 

Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Flew Last Flight

Direct link to video from NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

The little helicopter that could, Ingenuity surpassed all expectations by flying 72 missions on Mars. She was only expected to fly five flights in a month. She made her first flight on April 19, 2021. To read more about Ingenuity and her last flight see this NASA press release. In honor of Ingenuity I embed this video from NASA Administrator announcing her last flight. 

Direct link to video from NASA on YouTube

2023 Wildfire Season: Snake River Hotshots Crew Video

 Enjoy the Snake River Hotshots 2023 Crew Video. The Snake River Hotshots are hosted by the Idaho Falls District of the Bureau of Land Management.

Direct link to video by Owen Foster on YouTube

A Shout Out to firefighters working fires in frigid temperatures

New Jersey and other areas in the eastern United States has seen some frigid temperatures over the last few days. This morning I found myself thinking about the firefighters, structure and wildland along with other first responders who are out doing their jobs to keep us safe. I am not sure if it is too frigid for brush fires here in New Jersey, especially with snow on the ground that might well hinder a brush fire from starting. But I do know that houses and businesses can catch fire in any weather and when the temperatures are below freezing, these conditions have to be challenging for the firefighters as well as there equipment. I am here this morning to give a shout out to all firefighters and other first responders who have been working in frigid temperatures the last few days. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for all you do, your efforts on our behalf are noticed. 

The video that I am embedding below is from WGN News out of Chicago Illinois reporting on a couple of fires on or about January 14, 2024. You will see them fighting fires in single digit temperatures with below zero wind chills. Note the ice on the burning houses.

Direct link to video from WGN News on YouTube

Friday Fun: A look at NASA astronaut training in a T-38

 I am currently reading a book by former NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino called "Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe". I don't normally write about the books that I am reading and I am not doing so here. However, I got the idea for today's Friday Fun post because I got curious about the T-38 trainer that NASA used for their astronaut training. I mention the past tense because I do not know if NASA still uses the T-38 in their astronaut training program. I thought that it might be fun to share a video about NASA's T-38 trainers so I found a video that I will embed here for your enjoyment. You will learn about the T-38 and why it is important for astronaut training

Direct link to video on YouTube from NBC News

Quaker Run Fire (VA), a Wildland Firefighter's perspective

 Thanks to Mike Archer's January 16, 2024 Wildfire News of the Day for providing the inspiration for today's post when he shared an article from the Daily Progress under the banner of the Madison Eagle. The article is "The Quaker Run Fire: From a Wildland Firefighter's point of view", dated January 15, 2024 may be found here . Some pictures from the Virginia Department of Forestry of the Quaker Run Fire may be found on their flicker page. The article in the form of a blog article is by John Rosetti, DOF Hardwood Iniative Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Forestry.

The Quaker Run Fire in Madison County Virginia was reported in late October 2023 and was at 100% containment in late December, burning just shy of 4,000 acres.

Direct link to video from 29News - WVIR Charlottesville VA on YouTube

Mr Rosetti walked us through fighting the Quaker Run Fire, I hope that you take some time to read the article that I cited above. I don't always know how long these links will last so I am listing some salient points that I took from his article.

1. Most wildfires in Virginia are fought during the day, however larger fires such as the Quaker Run Fire are also fought during the night.

2. Early on nighttime patrols of the Quaker Run Fire focused on ensuring that the fire did not jump containment lines and looking for spot fires. Once some containment was achieved, the nighttime focus shifted to eliminating dangers such as dead trees (aka snags) as well as other dangers.

3. During the day as many as 200 wildland firefighters were working the fire with the support of helicopters, engines, UTVs, and bull dozers.

4. A good map of the fire is essential, such a map was created early on and amended as required showing the location of structures, roads, trails and other areas requiring protection.

5.After several days, a written Incident Action Plan (IAP) was developed to help wildland firefighters and other responders work the fire and stay safe. The IAP was updated nightly for the following day.