Fire Season Predictions

[Ron Scott]

 Summer Fire Potential Called "Above Normal" in South, West

March 5-The below-average snowpack in mountains throughout the Northwestern United States has land managers concerned about the drought and the possibility of a severe fire season throughout much of the United States this summer. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) has already reported "the preliminary outlook for this year's fire season shows above normal fire potential in the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, the lower elevations of the Great Basin and over much of Florida."

According to the agency's "Wildland Fire Outlook" for February through August 2005, the areas in the West with the highest fire potential "extend from the Cascades across Idaho and into Montana and northwest Wyoming. This is primarily due to the very low snowpack and a warmer than normal spring forecast." In the South, the agency notes that, "the main area of concern is in Florida where a dry winter, downed fuel buildup from the hurricanes and localized insect mortality has lead to the potential for an active fire season."

For more information, visit the National Fire Interagency Center's website.

[SwampDonkey]

New Brunswick Dept of Natural Resources Forest Fire Website

[BW_Williams]

We are 34% snowpack in our drainage, last year was bad enough for me, it'll depend on starts.  Lets see, last year we had an owl in a powerline, a bunch of lightning and one kid dirtbikin' without a spark arrestor and boom my summer was gone.  Oh well, BWW

[Tillaway]

BW,
Have you got your gear packed?  We were bit dusty 2 weeks ago, now they forecast a good dumping again this weekend.

[BW_Williams]

Hey Till, I'm ready to go, passed S-390 a couple weekends ago and will be TFLD trainee this year.  I'm supposedly listed in ROSS, but they send agency folks first, rurals are pretty low on the list.  Love to come to sunny Orygon Snowwed here the last few nights in the higher elevations.  BWW

[firedog]

Been raining here in Vancouver pretty good for the past couple days. To early to tell if it is going to make a huge difference in how dry the woods are. Up at my place on the Kalama they started falling trees last Wed and I can't believe how dry it was. Was like July at least and the river was at least that low also. You wildland guys can have it, I  will take a good ole Structure fire anyday

[Tillaway]

I think some upper respitory problems are putting an end to my fire fighting days.  I've been in and out of the doctors office all winter.

[Frank_Pender]

Sorry to hear that, Tillaway.  I am sure you are getting a goodly amount of rain this weekend.  We had two inches here, yesterday.  It is coming down pretty steady right now. (Sunday at 4:45 p.pm.)

  I worked in the two inches yesterday all day.  Tried to dry out twice, but failed.  ;D

I finally gave up about 5:30 and came in out of the rain.


  I only went out today to feed a blind horse and feed the two Taylors, one for the house and the other for the kiln.  I will check both furnaces again just before dark :'(

[Tillaway]

Yep, the creek in the backyard almost made it into the lawn.  The Trask came up so much it wrecked my buddies dock.  And right before springer season... what a shame.  Lees camp on Hwy 6, got 6 or 8 inches of rain saturday night.

[SwampDonkey]

Raining here too, but nothing like that. That's rough.  :-\

Good day for paperwork.

[firedog]

I think my place on the Kalama got close to 5 inches from friday through monday. Went from super dry to a soggy mess. Started raining the day they started falling trees.  Now we are waiting for it to dry out so they can get some rock down on the road.

[BW_Williams]

Here's what the experts say about the PNW, March and April had a good amount of rain, though.

fire assessment

[Bro. Noble]

It's fire season in the Ozarks :(

My son-in-law works for the forest service and has worked 13 days and then a day off another 13 with a day off and is on his next 13 again.  They put him on firetower duty the other day ,  but there was a south wind and all he could see was smoke from Arkansaw :-\

It's raining today,  but won't take long to dry out again.

[RMay]

The longest two weeks I ever worked was on a fire tower : there have been a lot of control burns in north Arkansas this year with the Red Oak borers.

[Jeff]

Its still very dry here and we need some rain. Yesterday Tammy and I had to go around a big fire North of town on the south edge of Roscommon county. Don't know how big it was, but it was big. We first saw the smoke when we were still 50 miles north of it, and didn't realize it was so close to home.  Today we drove up to see if they had it buttoned up, and it looks like they are just working hot spots, although we saw a tanker still coming out of houghton lake. They were loading the dozers back on the trailers, so I imagine its pretty much out.  THe fire jumped M-18 without blinking. These photos are taken from the road.

[BW_Williams]

Good pics Boss, is this a hardwood forest and had they leafed out yet?  Do you think the mortality was high >40%?  We have greened up here real good, it looks like the Mid-West is getting the worst right now.  Do any of these reports look like it?  You kinda have to know the area as most fire are named for geographical features.
http://www.fs.fed.us/eacc/sitreport.htm

[Corley5]

1,500 acres and a hunting cabin burned was what I heard.  We need rain bad!!!!  They're talking EXPLOSIVE fire danger for tomorrow with highs in the upper 70s and a good breeze

[Jeff]

The photos there are mostly conifers, no green left. I took that photo of that one lone white oak cause it looked so out of place.. Some places the fire was so fast, that some trees might make it, lots of others are surely toast. Looks like this fire cruised through anything, including some stretches of hardwoods and open areas. I gotta think well over 40%

[BW_Williams]

That's what I feared, too dense of a stand, wind driven(?) probably just getting ready for a thinning?  One positive thing I see in the first pic is the down log (1000 hour fuel) is not completley consumed, so you all must have had an okay winter.  Good time to make sure your defensible space around your home is good, from the pics you have posted in the past it looks good, that 200' perimeter around structures can make a huge difference.  BWW

[Ron Scott]

Wildfire ContainedWPBN-TV

Officials say a 1500 acre wildfire in southern Roscommon County is now contained.The fire began Saturday and spread over Roscommon Township and Denton Township, threatening residents in the area.

Homes and cottages were evacuated once the fire jumped M-18.

Since then, residents have been allowed to go back into their homes.

The cool overnight temperatures helped crews to contain the blaze by early Sunday morning.

10 DNR units are still on scene working to extinguish any hot spots.

Officials say it does not appear any homes or cottages were burned.


   

[Jeff]

Full Press release:

Wildfire in Roscommon County Contained; Crews Continue Efforts to Control

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2005

Contacts: Paul Kollmeyer 231-775-9727; Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

Wildfire in Roscommon County Contained;
Crews Continue Efforts to Control

Fire officers from the Department of Natural Resources, along with local volunteer fire departments, continued efforts today to control a wildfire that burned 1,557 acres in Roscommon County's Nester Township over the weekend.

The fire, known as the Boyce Road fire, started approximately 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, and the cause remains under investigation. Approximately 75 fire fighters from the DNR and local volunteer fire departments responded to the fire over the weekend. The DNR also deployed 21 pieces of specialized apparatus and equipment.

The fire currently is in a contained status, DNR fire officials said, with control status expected but not yet projected.

This is the worst wildfire that Michigan has experienced in the last five years.

"This incident shows just how vulnerable Michigan is wildfire at this time due to our extreme dry conditions and warm weather," said DNR Fire Prevention Specialist Paul Kollmeyer. "The state remains under very high fire danger warning, and we urge people not to burn until we get significant rain."

As of Monday afternoon, Michigan has experienced 213 fires that have burned 2,740 acres.

Last week, DNR Director Rebecca Humphries signed an emergency order to ban all campfires and open burning in DNR-managed land, with the exception of campfires in fire rings in developed camp sites in state parks. That order remains in effect until rescinded.

[SwampDonkey]

Forest fire season gets fast start in New Brunswick

Fire expert Tim Greer in the Department of Natural Resources says there were 36 fires on the weekend, destroying about 90 hectares of forest.

The average number at the start of the season is just eight fires.

Greer says all of the fires had something in common – they were all the result of human carelessness.

(Source: CBC News)

[Ron Scott]

Federal Agencies' Aerial Resources Ready for 2005 Fire Season


May 27-USDA Forest Service officials have announced that they will reinstate a fleet of 25 heavy tankers and other large aircraft for the 2005 wildfire season.

Agency officials said that, despite some recent safety concerns, they have contracted to use nine P2V tankers in their wildfire fighting efforts across the West. The tankers were cleared after the Forest Service commissioned an engineering study to determine the service life and safety of the planes.

Firefighters will have the following aerial resources at their disposal this season:

* At least six large helitankers and helicopters and more than 700 helicopters total

* 28 single engine air tankers as well as about 70 on standby

* Six CL215 and CL415 air tankers

* Eight military C130 aircraft outfitted with modular airborne firefighting systems

* Seven P3 air tankers

* Up to nine P2V air tankers

To view the full press release, visit the Forest Service website.

[SwampDonkey]

Forest Protection Ltd

'The primary role of Forest Protection Limited's fire fighting fleet in New Brunswick is to provide quick initial response to wildfires. The aircraft strategy is designed to slow (if not stop) the spread of fire and then contain it so that ground crews can extinguish it.' ....

{source: FPL}

[Ron Scott]

I just got back from doing the field work to assess the resource damages on a wildfire area. A dirty job and I need to hit the shower to get rid of the soot and smoke smell.

I have another one to start on Friday in the Baldwin area.