BAER not BEAR

While fires continue to burn in the South and SE, other parts of the country are begining to experience an increase in activity. UT,WY,SD and ID as well as western Canada all have active wildfires. Other areas of the country may soon be dealing with wildfires also. I just read a report where Maine is preparing for the possibility of wildfires as the danger levels increase.

Weekly statistics 7/19/11
Number of new large fires	2	States currently reporting large fires:
Number of active large fires Fires managed for multiple objectives (26)	19	Arizona (1) California (1) Georgia (3) Idaho (1) New Mexico (4) North Carolina (2) Oklahoma (2) Texas (4) Wyoming (1)
Acres from active fires	572,476
Fires contained since 7/18/11	2
Year-to-date large fires contained	89
Year-to-date statistics
2011 (1/1/11 - 7/18/11)	Fires: 41,930	Acres: 5,866,869

 

I thought I would provide some info on an aspect of wildfires that many dont think about unless you happen to live in an area which this is fairly common. And that is the additional damage caused by wildfires long after the fire and smoke is gone.

 

 

Flooding and mud slides are a real problem in some parts of the country (thankfully not so much here in VA)

Although the picture below is a rather extream example, this is an amazing aspect of wildfire damage and recovery. My first experience was when I was on an assignment in Colorado when we held a public meeting after the first real rain in an area that was recently burned. One lady got up and spoke about how thankful she and her family was that the firefighters saved their home from the wildfire BUT they lost everything as the flodding washed away their home. Rain is definately the two edged sword at times.

There are specially trained teams that work with identifying potential areas of concern and make recovery recomendations, they are  the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Teams.

 The BAER program addresses these situations with the goal of protecting life, property, water quality, and deteriorated ecosystems from further damage after the fire is out.

While many wildfires cause little damage to the land and pose few threats to fish, wildlife and people downstream, some fires create situations that require special efforts to prevent further catastrophic damage after the fire. Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion; runoff may increase and cause flash flooding; sediments may move downstream and damage houses or fill reservoirs; and put endangered species and community water supplies may be at risk.

Why is flooding after a fire such a big threat? For one thing, flames consume leaf litter and decomposing matter on the ground that normally soak up water. Additionally, after a fire, the soil itself has the potential to become hydrophobic, or water repellant. Plants and trees have numerous protective chemicals with which they coat their leaves to prevent water loss. Many of these substances are similar to wax. Vaporized by the heat from fires, these substances disperse into the air and then congeal over the soil surface when the fire begins to cool. Like the wax on your car, these substances coat the soil, causing water to bead up and run off quickly. In general, the greater the fire intensity and the longer the fire’s residence time, the more hydrophobic the soil becomes.

Virginia rotates crews and sends additional resources out of state

Its been 2 weeks since Virginia had sent engines and crew to FL. Plans were to rotate in fresh firefighters, however the fire our folks were assigned to in FL received some really good rains the last two evenings and so they were demobed. BUT!! there were several new fires in NC and our 5 engines and 11 fresh crew will be assigned to one of those NC fires. In addition several single resources are going to other states.

State of emergency in N.C. over wildfires

Three wildfires burning across 68,000 acres prompted Gov. Bev Perdue to declare a state of emergency in 29 eastern counties Saturday

The Pender County fire, which started with a lightning strike a week ago, continued to threaten Holly Ridge to the east and remained only about 15 percent contained.

"There are some homes that are still endangered," N.C. Forestry Service spokesman Brian Haines said. "But the threat is not imminent."

Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/06/26/2242531/state-of-emergency-in-nc.html#ixzz1QNHeeHau

This is the fire/area that a Prevention and Education Team focusing on firewise community outreach and prevention will be working for the next 2 weeks.

As smoke lingers, Georgia forestry officials are planning prevention steps

National program educates about safety and prevention
A Wildfire Prevention and Education Team is headding to SE GA under an agreement that states can share resources. The South East and Mid Atlantic compact is sending fols from OH, VA and GA to Folkston to assist with community outreach and wildfire prevention.

Georgia Forestry Commission spokesman Eric Mosley puts it bluntly.

"Right now, Georgia can't afford any more wildfires," he said.

It has already cost more than $20 million to fight one of the fires, the nearly 300,000-acre Honey Prairie Fire in the Okefenokee Swamp. Georgia will be saddled with much of the cost of fighting a couple of others, the Race Pond Fire along U.S. 1 at the juncture of Brantley, Ware and Charlton counties and the Sweat Farm Again Fire, about 10 miles west of Waycross. Those two alone burned more than 40,000 acres and sent people fleeing from their homes on several occasions.

Those started by lightning or by accident, but some others in the area were started from prohibited trash burning. Regardless of how they start, the stress and cost of fires can be reduced, Mosley said.

Oklahoma Wildfire Forces 1,500 To Evacuate

At least 13 Comanche County homes have already been destroyed and firefighters are battling to prevent further damage.

"Crews worked diligently overnight to fully contain the fire which caused the evacuation of more than 500 homes and destroyed 13," a representative of the Comanche County Emergency Management System said Saturday in a news release.

The wildfire began on Fort Sill's West range in the impact area Thursday afternoon. The fire spread over 4,000 acres on the Fort. It eventually jumped over Highway 49 and headed to Medicine Park late Thursday evening causing numerous evacuations and destroying several homes

Florida, Georgia fires still raging

FOLKSTON, Ga. -- Sparked and spread by dry thunderstorms that are doing more harm than good, wildfires burning in southeast Georgia had communities watching nervously as flames spread overnight to destroy mobile homes in Camden County, a house and barn in Ware County and threaten about 50 homes in neighboring Charlton County.

"It's close enough to make everybody pretty nervous," said John Meyer, emergency management director for Charlton County. "We're doing a lot of praying, that's for sure."

Virginia Wildfire Resources head South and West

Sixteen firefighters and 5 brush trucks (engines) from the Virginia Department of Forestry are currently deployed to wildfires in Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Florida to help fight the wildfires in those states.

Over 600,000 acres are burning in those states alone and local resources are stretched to the limit and beyond. There is a process to share resources nationally which is coordinated through NIFC (The National Interagency Fire Center) in Boise, ID. Virginia is also part of the Southern Area Forest Fire Compact which provides assistance between states from Virginia to Florida over to Texas. Both NIFC and the Southern Compact have agreements in place that helps facilitate the movement of wildfire resources, so when the “call” comes there is little delay in providing assistance.

The following is information from the Southern Area Command Center (SACC) this is the most current and up to date info on the numerous wildfires raging accross the south. Following the write-up there will be pictures from the various wildfires Virginia personnel and resources are currently deployed on.

By looking at the drought map here it is very easy to see just why the "south" is burning.

Southern State Fire Situation Update

Monday June 13, 2011

Weather:

Red Flag Warning are in effect today for the Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma for relative humidity of 5-10 percent with 20-30 mph winds and gusts to 40 mph and temperatures 95-110.  Red Flag Warning are also posted for the Florida Panhandle for relative humidity below 35 percent. 

The only rain expected across the region this week is afternoon showers and thunderstorms which should become more numerous Wednesday from Kentucky down into north Alabama and Georgia.  North Carolina and Virginia should have a better chance of showers on Thursday.  Due to the extremely dry conditions lightning associated with these thunderstorms is increasing ignitions especially in Florida, South Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.  The drought map below shows the primary areas of concern.

State Fire Activity: 

In the past seven days Texas responded to 118 new fires for 49,385 acres.  Texas currently has nine large uncontained fires that have burned about 42,079 acres.  Information on Texas’ fires is available at: http://ticc.tamu.edu/Documents/Home/tx_sitrep.pdf  

Florida reported 47 new fires yesterday for 7,446 acres with 14 significant fires burning about 93,600 acres. 

Alabama reported 134 new fires for 3,109 acres in the last seven days.  Alabama’s Governor declared a Drought Emergency for the whole state which makes it illegal to do any outdoor burning.

 

South Carolina reported 44 fires for 132 acres over the weekend. 

Louisiana has been averaging about 20 fires per day for about 200 acres.

In Georgia the Honey Prairie Fire on the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is about 169,951 acres with 80 percent containment.  The fire is being managed under a unified command of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and the Florida Division of Forestry.  The Racepond Fire in Georgia is reported as contained at 7, 893 acres.  At last report on Friday Georgia was showing 25+ fires for at least 1,100 acres, many fires with unknown acreage. 

The Pains Bay Fire is on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and Air Force bombing range in North Carolina.  This fire is about 45,225 acres, 75 percent contained.  Water is being used on parts of the fire where it is burning underground.  The North Carolina Division of Forest Resources has jurisdiction for fire suppression on the bombing range through an agreement with the Air Force.  The North Carolina Division of Forest Resources is in unified command with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Resources:

Florida has their Red IMT assigned to the Espanola Fire in Flagler County.  The fire is about 3,000 acres and 45 percent contained.  Florida has ordered two strike teams of type 6 engines through the compacts for a total of 10 engines with two engine operators each and two strike team leaders.  One of the strike team orders was filled by Virginia and Mississippi is working on the other strike team order.

Georgia has ordered a strike team of 5 engines with two operators each and a strike team leader through the compacts to support the Satilla District in Southeast Georgia.  This order has been filled by South Carolina.

A Texas IMT (IC Hannemann) is located in Merkel coordinating fire response for most of the state.  Aviation and other resources are strategically placed around the state.  A National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) IMT is also providing assistance in west Texas.  Engine and water tender assistance are being provided by the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System.  SEATS, helicopters, heavy airtankers and hand crews are also being used. 

The Honey Prairie Fire is being managed by a Southern type 1 IMT (Red Team, IC Wilder) under unified command with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and the Florida Division of Forestry.

 A North Carolina IMT (IC Hendricks) is managing the Pains Bay Fire in North Carolina .  The fire is being managed in unified command with the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service.

Horseshoe Fire Complex in AZ

Honey Prairie GA

West Texas

Espanola Wildfire FL

 

Swiss Chocolates, Swiss Cheese ... Swiss Wildfires

Thought you might be tired of TX wildfire news. And I saw this story.

A couple of interesting pictures out of Switzerland.

With unusually dry and warm weather wildfires are occurring in unusual places like Switzerland.

Forest burns in Switzerland after fire starts in car repair shop

Smoke rises from a forest wildfire in Visp, southern Switzerland, 26 April 2011. The fire broke out in a car body company leaping over to the nearby forest. Fire brigades from different adjoining villages fight the fire, which is not yet under control, with the help of helicopters.