1935 USFS Engine
October 25th, 2009
http://www.iacoj.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=126060#126060
(Need to port the pics over here)
1947 Maine Fires
October 17th, 2009
Great write up:
http://www.swoam.org/education/newsandreviews.shtml#anniversary
(I haven’t archived that yet, I need to fix some printer issues on on my laptop)
Lightning Efficiency…
May 21st, 2009
The probability of a lightning downstrike starting a fire depends on if the strike has a component called a continuing current. This was news to me until I read it on the Wildland Fire Assessment System site. I knew that positive strikes were more likely to start a fire than a negative strike, but now I know why that happens.
All positive strikes have continuing current, but only 20% of negative strikes do. The probability of a downstrike starting a fire depends on if it has continuing current (or the duration of the current) and how receptive the fuel is to igniting, with fuel moisture playing a prominent role.
From a posting this week on Wildfire Today.
21 May 2009 Daily Report
May 21st, 2009
Red Flag? Really?
URGENT – FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1146 AM EDT THU MAY 21 2009CTZ002>004-MAZ002>019-026-RIZ001-002-220000-
/O.CON.KBOX.FW.W.0006.090521T1600Z-090522T0000Z/
HARTFORD CT-TOLLAND CT-WINDHAM CT-WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-
EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-NORTHERN WORCESTER MA-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA-
WESTERN ESSEX MA-EASTERN ESSEX MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-
WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-
SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-WESTERN NORFOLK MA-SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA-
SUFFOLK MA-EASTERN NORFOLK MA-NORTHERN BRISTOL MA-
WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA-EASTERN PLYMOUTH MA-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX MA-
NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI-SOUTHEAST PROVIDENCE RI-
1146 AM EDT THU MAY 21 2009…RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS
EVENING…A RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING.
THE RED FLAG WARNING CONTINUES FOR MOST OF MASSACHUSETTS EXCEPT THE
BERKSHIRES…CAPE COD…THE ISLANDS…AND SOUTH COASTAL SECTIONS. THE
WARNING ALSO INCLUDES PROVIDENCE COUNTY OF RHODE ISLAND AND THE
CONNECTICUT COUNTIES OF HARTFORD…TOLLAND… AND WINDHAM.TEMPERATURES RISING TO BETWEEN 90 AND 94 DEGREES WITH WEST TO SOUTHWEST
WIND GUSTS OF 25 TO 30 MPH COMBINED WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY DROPPING
TO AROUND 20 PERCENT…AND THE LAST FEW DAYS OF DRY WEATHER WILL
PROMOTE THE RAPID SPREAD OF ANY WILDFIRES THIS AFTERNOON.THE MOST PRONE REGION TO ELEVATED FIRE DANGER IS FROM THE BOSTON AREA
TO BEDFORD AND WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS TO WILLIMANTIC CONNECTICUT TO
JUST NORTH OF PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND TO JUST NORTH OF BROCKTON AND
THE BLUE HILLS IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. RAINFALL IN THIS REGION
HAS BEEN THAN 2 TENTHS OF AN INCH IN THE LAST FIVE DAYS. THIS IS
GENERALLY ONE THIRD OF NORMAL.A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EITHER OCCURRING NOW…OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG
WINDS…LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE
EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.
Honestly, I don’t think there is significant fire conditions at least in the upland rolling hills — green up is 80% complete or more so we should be moving more towards the drought driven models of the summertime then the wind driven models of the spring. Grasses are lush and green, so they’re not going to burn. Forest duff is well shaded by leaves and the ferns are out.
CTZ004-220830- WINDHAM CT- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM... WILLIMANTIC 417 AM EDT THU MAY 21 2009 ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING... TODAY TONIGHT FRI CLOUD COVER CLEAR CLEAR MCLEAR PRECIP TYPE NONE NONE NONE CHANCE PRECIP (%) 0 0 10 TEMP /24H TREND/ 86 (+4) 53 (+6) 86 RH % /24H TREND/ 19 (0) 80 (-20) 28 20FT WND AM /MPH/ SW 6 SW 6 20FT WND PM /MPH/ SW 13 G22 SW 10 G23 W 10 G19 PRECIP AMOUNT 0.00 0.00 0.00 PRECIP DURATION PRECIP BEGIN PRECIP END MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 3320 70 7100 TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ SW 19 SW 10 W 14 VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 63080 700 99400 CWR 0 0 0 LAL NO TSTMS NO TSTMS NO TSTMS HAINES INDEX 5 5 4 REMARKS...NONE. .FORECAST FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7... .FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE MID 50S. WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH...BECOMING NORTH AFTER MIDNIGHT. .SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 70S. NORTHEAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH...BECOMING SOUTH IN THE AFTERNOON. .SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE MID 50S. SOUTHWEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH. .SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 70S. WEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH. .SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S. NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH. .MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S. HIGHS AROUND 70. EAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH. .TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S. EAST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH...BECOMING SOUTH IN THE AFTERNOON. .TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.
Rutland rejects cleanup financing
May 12th, 2009
From today’s Telegram & Gazette:
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Voters reject funding; elect Becker, Briggs
RUTLAND — Voters decisively rejected down all three money questions and re-elected incumbents in the town’s annual election yesterday.Question 1, which sought a Proposition 2-1/2 override in the amount of $130,000 to fund the position of town administrator, failed 868-202.
Question 2, which sought an override in the amount of $525,000 in order to level-fund the municipal government services, also failed, 807-257.
Questions 3, which sought to exclude $2 million in debt for the ice storm cleanup costs from the levy limit also failed, 562-502.
Lots of voter resistance to funding cleanup efforts north and west of Worcester. That just can’t bode well. I have a friend who lives in Pepperell and on one Saturday this spring they had 297 burning permits in use on a single day — that was about 13 per square mile. I wonder what next spring’s open burning season will be like if these cleanup problems persist.
Of Fire Tower & Volunteers
May 11th, 2009
I wasn’t planning on another fire tower post today, then I stumbled on this press release today:
The Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association is currently seeking individuals for its volunteer Fire Lookout Program. The group works to restore, maintain and staff historic fire lookout towers in the San Gabriel Mountains. Volunteers interpret the natural and cultural history of fire lookouts and the surrounding Forest lands for visitors and help disseminate information on current fire conditions.
Fire lookout towers, one of the primary means by which forest fires were reported in the early 1900s, were closed on the Angeles National Forest in the 1980s. However, Vetter Mountain Lookout, off Highway 2, was reopened by the U.S. Forest Service and Fire Lookout Association in 1998, as part of a historical preservation project. Slide Mountain Lookout, located above Pyramid Lake off Interstate 5, was reopened in 2003.
Despite newer technologies being used by the U.S. Forest Service to detect fires, volunteers at these lookouts continue to practice vigilance and provide a valuable contribution to the conservation of National Forest lands.
- USFS Volunteer Fire Lookout Charles White at the Osborne Fire Finder taken June 15, 2003 while on duty at Vetter Mountain Lookout in the Angeles National Forest.
(c) Photo by: Charles White
Do you have to take a second thought I’d be all over that if (God forbid) I lived in L.A.?
Linking this back to New England, there is an active volunteer fire tower program in southern Maine, operating the towers at Mount Agamenticus, Mount Hope and Ossipee Hill. Here’s an article from the Press Herald (archive). Maine closed their state fire tower network in 1991, deciding aircraft were more cost effective. This year, as covered in this post, they further reduced their aircraft coverage replacing the contractors with the Civil Air Patrol.
New Hampshire was vigorously defending their still state staffed towers in the 2004 Concord Monitor article (archive), but in 2009 they reduced the staffing by laying off the full time fire tower staff and offering them part-time positions to manage the towers on high danger days as detailed here (archive).
In addition to the 16 state towers in New Hampshire, a 17th is municipally manned by a career firefighter from Moultonborough, which in 1987 re-opened a tower the state had closed in 1981. Ironically, in 1988 Moultonborough had a 316 acre forest fire, the largest in New Hampshire since a 1952 fire in Moultonborough covered 2,500 acres.
Massachusetts has, by far, the largest and most active fire tower system in use in New England. You can see a nice video here on the Ludlow fire tower (archive). Although the Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control does not staff all their towers all the time, they have some 43 towers available to staff as local fire conditions dictate.
Rhode Island doesn’t currently use their towers, although at least one is opened up from time to time for open houses (archive). The others, from a casual observation driving by, are slowly rusting away. Connecticut has removed all their purpose built forest fire towers, although some facilities (such as the observatory on top of the UConn water tower) that weren’t fire specific remain. While I don’t believe any Vermont towers remain in service, many still stand and unlike those in southern New England are open to the public to climb:
(I do have that archived as VT_Fire_Tower_Hike_WCAX_200806261758015082_3647538.flv in case the video disappears).
Facilities, Fire Towers, Maine, New England, Outside of New England
A few notes on Eastern Connecticut Fire Towers
May 8th, 2009
In the book, “Connecticut — A guide to it’s roads, lore, and people,” produced by the Federal Writers’ Project of the WPA in 1938, I found several references to fire towers. Here’s some from eastern Connecticut:
Pomfret
Left on this road [Fire Tower Road off of Route 44 in Eastford] to the Pomfret Fire Tower, 1.2m, a steel structure rising 75 feet above the hilltop (alt.822). From the tower is visible an imposing panaroma of forested hills and valleys, grassy clearings and cultivated fields.
Union
Mt. Ochepetuck is Bald Hill; this area has significantly changed. The road described may or may not be today’s Bald Hill Road off of Route 190, at the very least Bald Hill Road goes to the summit referred to:
Left on this road, up a steep rocky incline, too rough for motor travel, is Union Tower, 0.5m, maintained by the State, at top of Mt.. Ochepetuck (alt. 1286). On clear days an excellent view of the country for 200 miles around is obtained from this lookout tower on the highest point of land in the State east of the Connecticut River.
An interesting tidbit was Union, in 1938, was the last town in Connecticut lacking electricity. I wonder if they had a telephone line to the fire tower?
South Carolina Forestry has this tale on their website:
Beginning around 1930, the Forestry Commission started building a network of telephone lines to link its firetowers with its firefighters. Agency personnel cleared rights-of-way, cut poles, strung wire, and maintained the lines.
Tower operators would spot a fire and dispatch the firefighter by telephone. Some firefighters were even equipped to climb the poles, tap on to the lines, and make reports back from the field.
This may have been the very first telephone service to rural SC; it was certainly the first to much of the state. At its peak, this system consisted of more than 2,000 miles of telephone line. When SCFC changed from telephone dispatch to radio, many of the lines were purchased by local phone companies and co-ops. The last lines were disposed of around 1970.
When the lines were being built, a woman in Greenville County agreed to provide a line right-of-way across her property in exchange for the SCFC’s promise that they would provide her service as long as she lived. She outlived the SCFC’s use of telephones in that area, but the Commission honored their agreement until she died.
Storrs
The Storrs tower needs no description — it is the shelter still on top of one of the water towers at UConn.
Sterling
Right on the gravel road [Sterling Hill Road from Route 14-A], a short distance to the Sterling Fire Tower, a 90-foot lookout visible from the highway.
This tower preceded Ekonk, which appears on the 1943 topographic map of the Oneco quadrant at 670′ elevation about 1-1/2 miles south of this location, which was at 610′. I presume the new Ekonk tower replaced both the Sterling Fire Tower as well as the Mount Misery Fire Tower in Pachaug State Forest, whose base was at 440′ elevation. The Ekonk site is now the location of a State Police radio tower that also hosts a number of other agencies from one of the finest radio tower locations to server the New York City to Boston corridor.
Some Rhode Island statistics:
May 6th, 2009
Some quick and dirty statistics gathered from here (archive).
Major Fires:
1930 — 34,700 acres in R.I.
1942 — 24,500 acres in R.I.
1951 — Acreage not specified
The 1930 and 1942 fires started in Connecticut. 1942 burned about 14,000 acres on the Connecticut side; unsure at this time how many burned in 1930. From personal recollection of stories heard but not confirmed yet by research the ‘51 fire burned generally the area between the 1930 and 1942 fires.
1935 — 63% of R.I. forested
1938 — Hurricane, eventually 80 million board feet of lumber salvaged
1953 — 64% forested; 281 million board feet standing
1998 — 59% forested; 1,316 million board feet standing
On a bit less land, the volume of trees in Rhode Island expand four fold in 45 years. What that speaks directly to is the lack of “maturity” in the woods of 1953, which relates to forest fires. Immature woods are brushier and more prone to hot fires and younger trees are more prone to lethal injuries to their bark. As the forests mature, they become less likely to burn and more resistant to the impact of what does burn.
Halifax, Hurricanes, connections and bad timing.
May 6th, 2009
There’s been two interesting things to come out of the Halifax news.
Halifax was struck by Hurricane Juan on 29 September 2003 with 100mph winds, with unofficial gusts to 145mph.
Hurricane intensity in northern waters
While hurricanes this far north tend to weaken their cyclonic wind speeds, they gain forward speed. This is a graphic of that effect from the 1938 Hurricane.(1)
We know historically the hurricanes are one of the major disturbances of forests, probably matched in the degree and geographic area only by ice storms. Other severe disturbances like tornadoes, straight line winds, and microburts tend to affect much smaller geographic areas.
Here a few comments from 1938:
The combination of soggy ground, strong wind and the sail surface of a full complement of leaves proved too much and many shade and forest trees were broken or blown over by the hurricane. … Practically all older stands of white pine east of the Connecticut River were partially or completely destroyed. Governor Wilbur Cross appointed committees to make recommendations dealing with Forest Fires, Timber Salvage and Forest Rehabilitation. Austin Hawes, Hurricane Damaged Forests still a valuable state asset
The fire danger from the downed trees was regarded as a great peril. The New England Forest Emergency Office was created by the U.S. Forest Serivce to coordinate the effort to mitigate the fire danger and salvage the lumber. United States Forest Service. A pictorial report on the New England forest emergency project with notes on its operation.
The photo below is from the Harvard collection showing an untouched Pisgah Forest (NH) four years after the ‘38 Hurricane, compared to salvaged forests in Petersham, MA and was retrieved from this site. Keep in mind when reading their perspective (against salvage) that Pisgah and even Petersham are fairly high, cool areas that keep their snow covers later in the year then areas further south and east in New England, and at least with Pisgah are fairly isolated from homes and business.
1942 -- Aftermath of Hurricane of 1938
This is a contemporary report, from 70 miles east of Pisgah, in Lee, N.H. of the conditions of 1941 and looking forward to 1942:
FOREST FIRE WARDEN’S REPORT
The 1941 fire season was the worst on record in the State of New Hampshire.More fires occurred, more 25 area was burned over, greater damage was done to our woodlands, higher losses were sustained in other real property burned and the cost of suppressing fires was greater.
There will, perhaps, never be more ideal conditions for fire than existed in 1941. A scarcity of rain left the forests in a highly inflammable condition. The accompanying high winds spread fires with almost light- ning rapidity through the parched forest lands. These conditions, coupled with human carelessness, made 1941 outstanding in the state’s forest fire record.
As we approach the 1942 fire season, we wonder just what may be in store for us. The woodlands are in as critical condition as they were last year, if not more so. Blown down trees still clutter sizable acreages of our woodland areas ; the increased tempo in lumbering operations due to war demands are each day adding to the fire hazard an ever increasing number of acres of slash land; and we face the coming fire season with greatly reduced personnel, due to the shifting of men from our small communities into the armed forces of the country and into defense industries.
If, however, everyone will be careful, if they will follow the rules and regulations laid out for the use of fire in and around woodlands, much of our difficulties will be eliminated — our fires kept few in number with a consequent saving of expense to town and state. There are so many possibilities for trouble this year it will require the whole-hearted and patriotic cooperation of everyone concerned if we are to avoid serious difficulties.
Persons hostile to the best interests of our country and subnormal individuals affected by the excitement of the times may easily cause tremendous confusion and disruption of local activities by deliberately starting fires in our woodlands. Suspicious circumstances connected with every fire should be made known to the proper authorities. Wardens and Deputies are being instructed this year to investigate all fires carefully. Parties at fault will be held strictly responsible. With our forces weakened, it becomes more necessary for everyone to comply with regulations which have been set up to govern the use of fire in our woodlands.
These are briefly as follows :
1. Secure a permit from your local forest fire warden to burn brush or other debris in or near woodlands, or where fire may be communicated to such lands, once the snow has left the ground. Violation of this requirement makes the responsible party liable.
a. To a fine not to exceed $500.00 or imprisonment of not more than one year or both.
b. To the town for expenses incurred by the warden in attending or extinguishing such fire.
c. For damage to abutting owners if fire runs upon abutters’ property.2. DON’T drop or throw from any vehicle while same is upon a public highway or private way and DON’T drop, throw or otherwise deposit on or near woodlands any lighted match, cigar, cigarette, live ashes or any other substance liable to cause a fire. Violation of these prohibitions penalizes whoever is found guilty with a fine of not more than $25.00.
3. DON’T fail to promptly notify your local warden of any fires you see.
The 1941 fire record for Lee is as follows : Number of fires 12 Acreage burned 118 Cost of suppression . . . $757.40 No. of permits issued .
FRANK I. CALDWELL, Forest Fire Warden [, Lee, N.H.].
Retrieved 6 May 2009 from here.
Allowing a forest to “naturally” recover, and that’s a difficult word to define in a southern New England landscape where fire from man has played a role since the glaciers retreated, at the very least requires preparation and defense. A single careless or deliberate spark in a pile of debris like the Pisgah picture above would ignite a long burning, intense fire that’s likely to seriously damage the organic matter in the soil below. Good and sufficient fire breaks are needed to keep fires from the outside out, and keep intense fires on the inside from escaping.
Which brings us to this picture from Halifax, whih was taken at a fire which started, in the general the area were the big fire started the next day (archive). These conditions certainly could be found among the worse of the December 2008 ice storm.
29 April 2009 Halifax Fire
That picture probably illustrates two of the keys in dealing with fires in the ice storm area — hoses and helicopters. I suspect a third part would be bulldozers to quickly re-open forest roads if necessary. In my town, in the wake of hurricanes or other severe wind events, we will use a front end loader in conjuction with chainsaws to quickly re-open roads for fire apparatus to pass. On a major fire you may even see a need for dozers to actually build fire line to push dead brush back into the black.
There was another incident out of Halifax that’s good to keep in mind:
House being investigated for arson
…the investigation began after firefighters arrived at the house to battle the rapidly growing wildfire.
Firefighters realized there was a fire inside the house and “they saw stuff that made them believe that this was a suspicious fire,” he said.
“It didn’t take the investigator long to confirm that it was, indeed, suspicious.” Chronicle-Herald
Connecticut, Disturbances, History, Hurricane, International, New England
More Ice Storm damage photos
May 4th, 2009
A couple photos taken off of Marshal St., Leicester, MA on Worcester reservoir lands. This is near the Paxton town line.
If a pile like this is causing problems getting apparatus by it, or is throwing sparks over the flank you’re trying to make a fire line along, you’ll have to take the time to knock it down. During that time, the fire is extending in the woods.
December 2008 ice storm damage
Maybe Massachusetts should just lease a some more bulldozers for the next few seasons. How do you handle a brush fire burning in this mess on a dry, breezy day? It’s going to take a lot of hose work along with flanks to be sure.
December 2008 ice storm damage
Bulldozers and fire plows are not used much in New England compared to southern and western states. The fires, terrain, and resources don’t tend to lend themselves to that style of firefighting. Most landowners would throw a holy fit if you cut a fire line on their property with a bulldozer for our typical fires.
But they do exist. Massachusetts has one stationed in Plymouth, and Connecticut has one I believe out of Voluntown. Often, a relative term given the infrequent use, the dozers are tasked with constructing access roads to fires deep in the woods. For comparison, New Jersey runs some 20 dozers, most equipped with plows, while Maryland runs 19 dozer/plow units.
Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control bulldozer and fire plow
In addition to the structural engines, the forestry specific fire units in the area are:
Leicester currently runs three forestry units:
F1 — 2008 F-350 250gpm/225gwt/8foam
F2 — 2003 F-350 125/225
F3 — 2001 Freightliner 1250/1500/30
Paxton
F1 — 2006 F-550 250/300/10
Leicester, MA Forestry 3 (was F2 in this picture)
Halifax rapid fire development
May 3rd, 2009
Some interesting video came out of the Halifax fire last week of a news crew that was almost over run by the rapidly moving fire. Rapid fire development in wildland terms is usually called a “blow up” — when a fire goes from burning surface fuels and brush to suddenly involving all fuels. It is a phenomena similar to a flashover in structural firefighting when a critical combination of oxygen, heat, and fuel is reached and all surfaces suddenly ignite.
At the 8 second mark events occur quickly — you hear a comment about “getting dark,” then the camera has a partial white out (I assume from rapid fire growth), then the still photographer observes they have fire to their left. Press reports have stated, per Nova Scotia Forestry, the fire spread hit speeds of 36 meters per minute. That’s 107 chains per hour, 1.3 miles per hour, or 118′ per minute. In Connecticut spread rates over 30 chains per hour are considered Very High fire danger days, and over 40 are Extreme.
The above video is reminiscent to me of this video taken in the New Jersey pine barrens on 16 May 2007 when several New Jersey Forest Fire Service vehicles were involved in a near miss:
I have the above videos archived in case they disappear from YouTube, under videos.
Those videos help fill in the mental picture when you see photos like this one from Cape Cod, which has forests like the pine barrens of New Jersey:
Forest fire on Cape Cod, from Capecodfd.com
Or this AP photograph of an October, 1947 fire crossing Route 1 in Arundel, Maine:
October, 1947 Arundel, ME
When the fire is in the crown like this they can not be fought. In general the tactic is to leave these to burn and concentrate on handling the fire later when it has left the crown and is just burning the surface and brush, as these boys from Bates College are headed to do in ‘47:
Boys from Bates headed to fight fire
At Bates, nearly 300 male students, volunteered for firefighting duty. A state disaster committee dispatched the volunteers to help fight the fires in towns like Bowdoinham, Kennebunk, Cornish and Richmond. Meanwhile, female students conducted watches on campus and at Thorncrag, raked leaves away from residence halls, and collected clothing donations for the Red Cross.
Clicking on the Bates photo will bring you to a page which recounts the tale. In case it disappears I’ve archived off a couple of the tales here.
Even the brush breakers of southeastern Massachusetts aren’t intended to attack these crown fires directly, but instead to allow them to rapidly access deep into the woods to control the fire while it’s still in the brush and not a crown fire.
Fire storms like those pictured above are not survivable to those caught in the open. In parts of the U.S. the “fire shelter,” an aluminized tent carried on your belt is common. Australians tend to use their fire apparatus as shelters, specially equipping them with blinds to keep out the radiant heat from the cab and misting systems to wet the outside of the truck. A flame front like that is also survivable in a properly prepared home, which it doesn’t look like the Halifax homes were, when the occupants are prepared after the flame front has passed to come out and extinguish spot fires around their property.
History, Incidents, International, New Jersey, Outside of New England, Uncategorized
Horse drawn forest fire apparatus
May 3rd, 2009
From powering trucks to portable pumps, the internal combustion engine was one the major technological innovations that improved forest fire fighting, allowing firefighters to respond quickly over long distances to deliver large volumes of water.
Imagine trying to keep a fire small when depending on horses to transport your equipment, and without many of the improved tools of today!
This is a New Jersey fire warden from 1911 (from the book New Jersey Forest Fire Service) equipped with shovels, milk cans (used to carry water), garden watering cans, and some sort of larger tank.
New Jersey Fire Warden Victor Bush, 1911
From Britt Crosby’s CapeCodFD.com site we have an early fire wagon in Massachusetts:
Men filling soda acid extinguishers, Southeastern Massachusetts
Soda acid extinguishers required a recharge cartridge of sulfuric acid and sodium bicarbonate; inverting the extinguisher would produce carbond dioxide which would pressurize the extinguisher. Each extinguisher held 2-1/2 to 3 gallons of water and depending on the fire intensity, terrain, and skill of the firefighter could knock down 50′ to 200′ of surface fire.
The Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control built specialized wagons to use instead of the adapted farm wagons above that were discussed in the 1918 book, “Forestry in New England.” While in use throughout the eastern part of the state they were most common in the southeastern section.
A two horse model, like the one below, carried 14 soda acid extinguishers, 14 water cans and sufficient to refill 2 extinguishers each, shovels, rakes, mattocks, and chemical charges, along with 8 men.
Massachusetts two horse forest fire wagon
The one horse model below was carried a smaller amount of equipment and only four men. Basic apparatus economics held true even back then. A one horse wagon cost $300, while the two horse wagon carrying twice the equipment and manpower only raised the price to $450.
Massachusetts one horse forest fire wagon
Another early option to either watering cans or soda acid extinguishers was the one and two man bucket pumps. A one man pump, like the one below, carried four gallons of water and was considered adequate to knock down 50′ to 150′ of fire. It was considered a little less efficient, but considerably cheaper to purchase and recharge, then a soda acid extinguisher.
One man pump
A two man pump carried eight gallons and took two men to carry.
Apparatus, Extinguishers, History, Massachusetts, New England, Outside of New England
Auburn 1 May 2006 — Follow up in April 2009
May 1st, 2009
1 May 2006 was a day with Very High fire danger and Red Flag warnings across southern New England. Auburn, MA received a call at 10:42 for a brush fire. By the end of the afternoon 125 acres had burned, an abandoned mansion was lost, and aid from 38 towns and cities and 4 forest fire districts was required.
Approximately 80 acres of this area burned with enough intensity to kill / severely injure the canopy trees — this is highly unusual in southern New England in modern times.
Relative Humidity was low — 15-30% with northeast winds at 15mph gusting to 25mph. Showing how fast fire conditions can change in New England, only a week earlier heavy rains had crossed over southern New England, dumping between 1-1/2″ and 6″ of rain. The northeast winds portended the heavy rain that would move in on the morning of May second.
Since the fire this area was also on the edge of the December, 2008 ice storm. The impact was noticeable and would impact future operations but is not severe.
This is a map of the area from July, 2007 that shows the extensive severely burned area (the brown discolored areas). I’m eyeballing it to be about 80 acres, and the overall fire was put at 125 acres which I believe is reasonable — not all areas hit that stand killing intensity.
The fire appears to have originated south of this lane. The tree appears to have been snapped by the ice storm. A hang up like this one is a challenging one to cut safely, yet it also isn’t safe to allow forestry trucks to pass underneath — a situation that would delay access to fires along the lane in the future.
(There are smudges on the photos taken April 26, 2009 — I had water spots on my camera lens.)
Near the tail of the fire area was this tree, it’s main trunk killed by the extensive burning of it’s bark, which was “stump sprouting” new growth. Hundreds, probably thousands, of these small snags will stand for years to come, surrounded by the fine brush of regrowth.
This mountain laurel, judging from the standing dead trunk, was about 4′ tall when the fire burned. In areas the mountain laurel easily topped 6′. Like the snag in the previous picture, the dead trunk provides additional dry fuel that would intensify a future fire. Mountain laurel provided the fuel load that allowed the fire to be intense enough to kill the hardwood trees. You can read more about the fire ecology of mountain laurel here.
This is a mix of regrowing brush and some living and some fire killed overstory trees. When looking at these photos (click on them for the full size version) the tell tale sign of killed trees is the lack of the smallest branches — only the trunks and main branches remain.
A mix of living and dead trees. Approximately point “A” on the map. Fire potential here is elevated further by the lack of shade; while it may not be a critical difference in spring time this could contribute in summer and fall to the area being prone to larger, hotter fires then otherwise would occur. One of the big reasons for the decline in size and intensity of forest fires in southern New England is the success of previous generations in suppressing fires and allowing the forests to mature. While there are exceptions, in general the larger trees were more likely to survive while smaller trees were fatally injured by the flames.
More dead trees. Approximately point “B.” In the middle of the picture is the top of a white pine that broke off in the ice storm.
Many hardwood saplings coming up, I’m not sure what species these are — I should revisit later in the year when I can identify the leaves.
This is the first steep hillside — about a 30% grade. It’s also strewn with rocks, and soft soil — absolutely treacherous to walk over. The fire killed few if any trees on these steep slopes. My observation is there wasn’t much mountain laurel to provide dense amounts of fuel. From a tactical perspective, it would be near impossible to build a fire line through this mess and clambering over the terrain with an Indian Tank would be inviting a sprained ankle. Hose lines would work best, albeit slow to progress.
Looking towards the top of the hill you can see a mixture of killed trees and ice storm damage.
After a climb of 100′, we come to these flats (point “C” on the map), showing a mixture of fire and ice storm damage. The mountain laurel thickets started up again on the flats, providing the fuel for the stand killing intensity.
This picture is chilling to think of how quickly our forests could revert to this state by a combination of disturbances in quick succession — say a major hurricane followed by a few dry years and killing intensity fires burning through the slash. Like this patch, they would then be at increased risk for decades of additional fire disturbances until a mature forest can regrow.
At this point I intersected the woods road along which I took the photos in 2006. This is further west along that road, at point “D” on the map.
Looking through the woods you can see a steep rise — pushing 60% slope at parts — and then a flat area on top looking awful sparse. If you look at the map, that is the area of the most intense damage. My guess is the fire intensified from a combination of later in the day (more pre-heating), elevation (windier), and having a wider fire front. The destroyed mansion was located at the blue dot.
The woods road at this point passed through very tall, very dense mountain laurel — 6′ high or better judging from the dead trunks. Some trees had scorch marks and mushrooms growing in fire-killed bark 15′ above the ground.
The acronym LCES stands for Lookouts, Communication, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones. In this case a safety zone — ordinary hardwood duff, with it’s low, slow burning characteristics was only a hundred feet or so away in the hollow between this point at the steep hillside. However the mountain laurel looks like it would’ve been impenetrable to get there. It’s a place like this I fear seeing guys in structural bunker pants and ill fitting boots getting caught in southern New England, unable to move quickly enough down the trail to escape an oncoming fire.
Let’s review a few key pictures from the fire day itself. These were taken along the woods road at approximately point “E.” You can find more at my original write up here.
Yes, it burns! There was a small draw to the east of the road, so the fire had a uphill run to my location. I had gotten in here before I saw any firefighters or officers, so I’m not sure if they planned to make a stand here earlier or I just had good dumb luck in finding the spot.
Sturbridge working their forestry into location. This was a good location to make a stand — while you can see the higher mountain laurel in the background, between it and the fire picture above was much lower laurel — may 2′ high, probably a patch that burned years ago. They are cutting a hole in the brush to allow the unit to turn around so it can be headed out in case a quick retreat is needed. Additionally, a good safety zone is only a few dozen feet west of this location where the laurel suddenly ends and it is not so thick as to be able to be hard to move through.
Even if the picture is deceptive. We’re only on the edge of the thicket here.
Wildland gear is not standard issue in New England at this time. I honestly prefer the guy in a T-shirt, jeans, and workboots over having someone in completely inappropriate structural PPE on a woods fire — they are far more likely to seriously injure themselves from exhaustion or a fall due to wearing that gear then the guy in jeans, tee, and good boots is to burn himself. The guy wearing the good wildland guy isn’t a state guy either — it’s very unusual to see that level of complete wildland PPE on a municipal firefighter here, at best you usually see just a wildland shirt with jeans.
There is another crew working in from the railroad tracks who directly attacked the flank with a hoseline working up from the railroad tracks to the woods road (one the right or east side). One of these lines would be used to protect the Sturbridge’s position in case the fire got over the lines being made, and the other hose would be used to work a line to the left (west) of the road.
A well dressed firefighter making short work of the burning laurel. That’s an 1-1/8″ Massachusetts forestry hose line. From this point they started working the fire to the left, burning mostly in duff from here up the steep hill.
Later on, Sturbridge’s location quite safe, the crew moved from protecting it to stretching another line through the hollow to hellp with mop-up on top of the hill.
This picture shows the rather sparse laurel at this point and how easy it would be to get from the road to a safe area. This, I don’t believe, was true at point “D” as I mentioned above, where there was still a lot of thick laurel between the road and a safe zone.
I like the easy to carry bundles if you carry your hose that way. Give me a backpack though and I’d be happier.
Water supply for this area was established by Oxford laying in a 4000′ 5″ line with their reel truck. I don’t know if it was a consideration in the decision to lay a line, but by this point tankers were being used to support operations in residential areas threatened by the head of the fire.
Disturbances, Fire, Ice Storm, Incidents, Massachusetts, New England, Tactics
Halifax, N.S. 30 April 2009
May 1st, 2009
Halifax, Nova Scotia experienced a major wildfire yesterday. Wildfiretoday.com had this good post that alerted me to it.
Halifax, NS 30 April 2009
The statistics, per this CBC article, are:
2,000 acres
8 Homes destroyed;
7 Homes damaged:
450 Homes evacuated;
58 Firefighters(1)
5 Helicopters
Fires like this are not unprecedented in the northeast, however they are much less common then the western or southern U.S. and less common regionally then they were prior to 1955 (2).
In 1947 Maine burned. The Portland Press Herald has this good remembrance (archive) of the fires. As part of the reaction to that, the first interstate forest fire compact was established in 1949 — the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission. This Commission expanded to an international agreement in 1969 when Quebec joined New York and the New England states as members, and later expanded to include New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
While today the states in the northeast can call for national assistance through the National Interagency Fire Center, through NFFPC manpower familiar and equipment appropriate for the typical terrain, fuels, and fire conditions in the northeast are directly available. For example, member states and provinces have access to Quebec’s fleet of CL-215 and CL-415 water bombers, which are better suited to the regional fire situation then western style aerial tankers.
In 1951 the Commission held a major drill at Great Mountain, Norfolk, Conn., that you can read about here.
While much has changed over the last 60 years to reduce the frequency and size of typical fires, we still have woodlands that will burn ferociously in the right circumstances.
Those circumstances may not even be an extended drought; an ordinary dry periods combined with a major (or series of) forest disturbances can create serious problems. As mentioned in a number of posts including this one yesterday, much of north-central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire are under the gun starting next year due to the ice storm this past December. It seems a similar disturbance played a role in Halifax according to a CTV report:
The fire flared up yesterday but was thought to be under control, until winds picked up Thursday afternoon, sparking 15 metre flames that jumped from treetop to treetop.
Officials have yet to pinpoint an exact cause of the fire, but some said an abundance of brush and remnants of downed trees from Hurricane Juan in 2003 gave fuel to the fire.
5-1/2 year old dead fuels! Hurricane Juan had made landfall at Halifax, with winds clocked at 100mph and estimates upwards of 145mph. While downed trees in direct contact with the ground I presume would have been well on the way to rotting by now, tree tops and others that where hung up against tree trunks or stacked on top of other fallen trees and thus unable to wick up moisture from the soil would still be in decent shape to burn.
This report from the local newspaper, the Chronicle and Herald, filed this afternoon provides some more details from the authorities:
Mr. Currie [Halifax Fire & EMS] said “the leftovers from hurricane Juan have been an issue. They’ve been an issue from the start and they still are an issue. It’s very difficult moving in and around this area with all the blow-down.”
Paul Schnurr, a forestry technician with the Department of Natural Resources, said Friday’s “wind conditions are somewhat the same (as the Porters Lake fire).”
“It’s a wind-driven fire, very fast moving, very hard to contain. It certainly moves faster than a lot of people can walk and that makes it very, very difficult.”
Fires can burn big and hot here. Just this past Wednesday I walked a fire that was of stand killing intensity over about 60 acres back in 2006, something I will write up soon. While I’ve seen such areas as a tourist in California, I’ve never seen an extended area in New England that had seen such intensity. It gave me a new appreciation of how bad of shape our forests were in before modern fire suppression was well established and became effective in reducing what had been a common occurrence. Earlier this month there was the 40 cottages lost at Alton, N.H., and now the Halifax fire. Southern New England will experience the right circumstances again, and the level of fire activity will shock many people.
Halifax, NS 30 April 2009
(1) I assume this is probably just forestry agency personnel, and more municipal firefighters would’ve been involved.
(2) For reasons left to a future post to explain, 1955 seems to be a good demarcation point to mark when “modern” forest fire protection all came together and gelled into an effective system in New England and it was clear that frequent, major fires were on the decline. A pioneering fire warden from 1915 would be amazed to see how things had changed by 1955; a fire warden from 1955 would recognize today as essentially the same as his time in organization, strategy, tactics, and tools — albeit tweaked and improved.
History, Incidents, International, New England, Northeast Compact, Outside of New England
1 May 2009 Morning Report
May 1st, 2009
Rain is moving in, and this is likely the last morning report I’ll do for a while since there shouldn’t be much activity. If the forecast holds, by the time the rain and showers end later next week leaf out will be well underway and that will end the spring fire season.
Yesterday saw some moderate fire activity again in my region, some of which needed mutual aid, but nothing significant.
CT Fire Danger:
Moderate
CTZ004-020800-
WINDHAM CT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM...
WILLIMANTIC
357 AM EDT FRI MAY 1 2009
TODAY TONIGHT SAT
CLOUD COVER CLOUDY CLOUDY MCLDY
PRECIP TYPE SHOWERS SHOWERS SHOWERS
CHANCE PRECIP (%) 90 70 30
TEMP /24H TREND/ 67 (0) 51 (+5) 65
RH % /24H TREND/ 61 (+45) 96 (-4) 45
20FT WND AM /MPH/ SW 10 G32 NW 7
20FT WND PM /MPH/ SW 12 G31 SW 8 G23 W 6
PRECIP AMOUNT 0.35 0.13 0.01
PRECIP DURATION 11 3 1
PRECIP BEGIN 6 AM CONTINUING 11 AM
PRECIP END CONTINUING 6 AM CONTINUING
MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 2390 70 5030
TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ SW 18 SW 15 W 10
VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 43020 1050 50300
CWR 100 100 10
LAL NO TSTMS NO TSTMS NO TSTMS
HAINES INDEX 2 3 4
30 April 2009 Morning Report
April 30th, 2009
Red Flags are up for much of interior southern New England for this afternoon.
There was some moderately active fires in the region yesterday.
East Putnam, CT went mutual aid to West Glocester, RI for a brush fire, and later East Putnam fought a brush fire around dusk off of I-395 that required mutual aid from Putnam, Community, and Thompson Hill.
Oxford, MA had a fire on a trail behind the Orchard Hill apartments that used mutual aid from Leicester as well as Massachusett’s Bureau of Forest Fire Control. I’ve driven that trail before…I was truly dumbfounded when this trail brought me to the rear of this affordable housing complex!
Milford, MA returned to the area that burned Tuesday, this time only 1-1/2 acres burnt. This video from the Milford Daily News is interesting for showing the steep, stone strewn hillside. This is worth it’s own post in the future, because I can’t imagine any effective tactic other then using hoselines. Using hand tools to construct a line is near impossible because of the small openings between rocks, while clambering over the normally lose surface when wearing a backpack pump is inviting a twisted ankle.
CT Fire Danger:
High
CTZ004-010815-
WINDHAM CT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM...
WILLIMANTIC
402 AM EDT THU APR 30 2009
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM EDT
THIS EVENING...
TODAY TONIGHT FRI
CLOUD COVER MCLEAR MCLDY MCLDY
PRECIP TYPE NONE SHOWERS SHOWERS
CHANCE PRECIP (%) 0 80 70
TEMP /24H TREND/ 65 (-1) 51 (+12) 69
RH % /24H TREND/ 22 (+8) 86 (-14) 66
20FT WND AM /MPH/ LGT/VAR SW 10 G28
20FT WND PM /MPH/ S 9 G19 S 8 G20 SW 13 G27
PRECIP AMOUNT 0.00 0.11 0.33
PRECIP DURATION 7 9
PRECIP BEGIN 8 PM CONTINUING
PRECIP END CONTINUING CONTINUING
MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 4710 70 1890
TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ S 17 S 19 SW 23
VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 80070 1330 43470
CWR 0 80 100
LAL NO TSTMS NO TSTMS NO TSTMS
HAINES INDEX 5 3 2
Ice Storm damage in Central Mass
April 29th, 2009
Today’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette has a very well done article (archive) discussing the potential impact on forest fires of the December ice storm.
David Celino, the state’s chief forest fire warden, said weather is the key factor and changes from week to week, citing a recent seven-day span when very dry air, a steady breeze and dry fuel on the ground created optimum brush fire conditions.
What makes this spring’s brush fire season, and those for the next several years, unusual is the tree damage from the ice storm.
Mr. Celino acknowledged the dual challenge of safety and logistics.
“There is the obvious issue of trying to walk through woods over downed limbs to reach a fire. And there’s the other issue of broken-off limbs that are weakened and hanging that could come down at any time, causing injury, he said.
“Next fall, next spring, the fall of 2010, that’s when the ice storm damage begins to pose a fuel issue, as the broken limbs, that are now still green, dry out and add to the problem of fuel on the forest floor,” he said.
Ashburnham Fire Chief Paul J. Zbikowski said his department has been fortunate so far, in that there haven’t been any brush fire calls “too deep into the woods.”
“The reports I’ve been getting are that what we see along the edge of the roads is nothing compared to what we’d be likely to encounter in the deep woods, say in the state forest. There is debris everywhere on the ground, and entire areas are impassable,” he said
“One of our priorities is to get our dirt fire roads opened and passable as quickly as possible. That at least gets us closer to the fire. Once we get off the road and into the woods, we’re trying to navigate around downed limbs and trees while carrying 5 gallons of water in a backpack pump,” Chief Zbikowski said.
I’ve already touched on this specific topic, organized under Disturbances, Ice Storm.
29 April 2009 Morning Report
April 29th, 2009
Yesterday certainly didn’t live up to it’s potential. The high winds didn’t develop, at my house, until around midnight. There also were relatively few ignitions in the Quinebaug Valley / Tolland County / Southern Worcester County area I was monitoring on the radio. QV indeed I believe had none, and the largest fire regionally I know of is Milford, MA which lost 15 acres.
Today and tomorrow look “ordinary” — dry, with RH in the teens daytime, but light winds. Showers should come in by the weekend.
CT Fire Danger:
High
CTZ004-300800-
WINDHAM CT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM...
WILLIMANTIC
354 AM EDT WED APR 29 2009
TODAY TONIGHT THU
CLOUD COVER MCLEAR CLEAR CLEAR
PRECIP TYPE NONE NONE NONE
CHANCE PRECIP (%) 10 0 0
TEMP /24H TREND/ 64 (-25) 33 (-19) 68
RH % /24H TREND/ 17 (-6) 78 (-18) 19
20FT WND AM /MPH/ N 8 G17 LGT/VAR
20FT WND PM /MPH/ N 5 LGT/VAR S 9
PRECIP AMOUNT 0.00 0.00 0.00
PRECIP DURATION
PRECIP BEGIN
PRECIP END
MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 5620 70 5370
TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ NW 8 SW 8 S 15
VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 44960 560 80550
CWR 0 0 0
LAL NO TSTMS NO TSTMS NO TSTMS
HAINES INDEX 5 5 5
28 April 2009 Morning Report
April 28th, 2009
Today looks like it’ll be the peak of the spring fire season in southern New England. Very High danger on the NFDRS scale, and Red Flag weather conditions.
Intensity normally peaks right about now — trees and brush are just leafing out, so plenty of sun is still warming the forest ground. The grass fires of earlier spring are largely over, except in wetland marshes which seem to green with the woods, however fires that get into forest duff and light brush burn vigorously.
Today the thermometer will push 90º, southwest winds expected to gust this afternoon to 35mph ahead of a cold front, RH around 25%, 10 hour fuels under 10% moisture, 100 hour fuels under 15% moisture (for reference, well seasoned firewood is 20% moisture). That all makes up for a classic end to the spring fire season ahead of some showers as the weather turns a little wetter.
CT Fire Danger:
Very High
CTZ004-290800-
WINDHAM CT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM...
WILLIMANTIC
348 AM EDT TUE APR 28 2009
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM EDT
THIS EVENING...
TODAY TONIGHT WED
CLOUD COVER CLEAR PCLDY PCLDY
PRECIP TYPE NONE TSTMS SHOWERS
CHANCE PRECIP (%) 0 70 70
TEMP /24H TREND/ 90 (+5) 48 (-5) 63
RH % /24H TREND/ 24 (-3) 74 (-22) 21
20FT WND AM /MPH/ SW 6 NE 8 G19
20FT WND PM /MPH/ SW 11 G22 NW 9 G18 NE 6
PRECIP AMOUNT 0.00 0.05 0.05
PRECIP DURATION 3 3
PRECIP BEGIN 8 PM CONTINUING
PRECIP END CONTINUING 3 PM
MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 10370 70 4680
TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ SW 19 NW 16 NE 9
VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 197030 1120 42120
CWR 0 20 20
LAL NO TSTMS 1-8 STRIKES NO TSTMS
HAINES INDEX 5 3 3
TZ002>004-MAZ002>016-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001-281630-
/O.UPG.KBOX.FW.A.0004.090428T1600Z-090429T0000Z/
/O.NEW.KBOX.FW.W.0004.090428T1700Z-090428T2200Z/
HARTFORD CT-TOLLAND CT-WINDHAM CT-WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-
EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-NORTHERN WORCESTER MA-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA-
WESTERN ESSEX MA-EASTERN ESSEX MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-
WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-
SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-WESTERN NORFOLK MA-SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA-
SUFFOLK MA-EASTERN NORFOLK MA-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX MA-CHESHIRE NH-
EASTERN HILLSBOROUGH NH-WESTERN AND CENTRAL HILLSBOROUGH NH-
NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI-
426 AM EDT TUE APR 28 2009
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM
EDT THIS EVENING...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM EDT
THIS EVENING. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
THIS WARNING COVERS MOST OF MASSACHUSETTS EXCEPT THE SOUTHEAST AND
BERKSHIRES. IT ALSO COVERS THE NORTHWEST HILLS OF RHODE ISLAND...
SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE NORTHERN PARTS OF HARTFORD...TOLLAND
AND WINDHAM COUNTIES.
IT HAS BEEN ESSENTIALLY DRY SINCE WEDNESDAY WITH RECORD HEAT THIS
PAST WEEKEND.
SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE CONSIDERABLY THIS AFTERNOON...
GUSTING BETWEEN 25 AND 35 MPH FOR A TIME DURING MID OR LATE AFTERNOON.
RECORD HEAT IS FORECAST ONCE AGAIN WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S TO
LOWER 90S. THESE FACTORS COMBINED WITH AFTERNOON MINIMUM HUMIDITY OF
20 TO 25 PERCENT RANGE SETS THE STAGE FOR CONSIDERABLY ELEVATED FIRE
SPREAD-GROWTH DANGER IN THE WARNING AREA.
THE TARGET FOR HIGHEST TEMPERATURES...STRONGEST WINDS AND LOWEST
HUMIDITY FAVORS THE INTERSTATE 95 CORRIDOR FROM MANCHESTER AND NASHUA
THROUGH THE MERRIMACK VALLEY TO FRAMINGHAM...BEVERLY...BOSTON
AND THE BLUE HILLS.
THERE IS A LOW PROBABILITY THAT THE WARNING MAY NEED TO BE EXPANDED
INTO PROVIDENCE AND BROCKTON DURING A MIDDAY REVIEW.
WINDS WILL BE SHIFTING TO GUSTY NORTHERLY THIS EVENING WITH GUSTS
POSSIBLY TO 30 MPH EVEN THROUGH MIDNIGHT.
Connections…
April 27th, 2009
So today I saw read this in a post on wildlandfire.com regarding the concern over the potential swine flu pandemic:
When I wrote a pandemic flu pre-plan for my FD, ran it through public health folks for their thoughts, their immediate response was “good plan, but most important, emphasize handwashing!”. Something not everyone is real good at in fire camp.
It was just last night I was randomly looking through some photos from Life and saw this from the 1961 Big Basin Fire, handwashing in a fire camp:
Washing up at the 1961 Big Basin Fire
And if you think safety slogans are new…
Work Safely at the 1961 Big Basin Fire
Deerfield, MA 24 April 2009
April 27th, 2009
Deerfield, MA experienced a 50 acre brush fire on Friday.
This television report found an interesting story within a story about some prep school students who volunteer with Deerfield:
A raging brush fire burns 50 acres in Deerfield. 100 firefighters were deployed to the scene paralleling Upper Road, including some volunteer firefighters who were put to the test.
It’s the biggest brush fire in recent years, and it started in Deerfield. 50 acres were seen smoldering along the train tracks.
“We have approximately 80-100 firefighters deployed,” says Greenfield Fire Chief, Michael Winn.
Many on the Friday afternoon scene were volunteer firefighters, including four junior firefighters from Deerfield Academy.
“You got this horn. When it goes off, you sprint out of class and hope you have a spot on the firetruck,” says Cooper Magoon, a Jr. Firefighter.
“It was the first one I’ve been on that was an actual fire going on,” he says.
It started as a school-town partnership. Kids looking to explore fire training get real life experience, but Friday’s blaze was the biggest they fought, and the biggest they may ever see.
“I came in on one of the first trucks on the Deerfield brush truck and it was ripping. When we came by, there were flames all over the right side by the train tracks, I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Ryan Erf, a first year Jr. firefighter.
“Just the whole side was just covered in fire going all the way up the hill,” says Michael Mazur, describing the flames.
The fire extended and tore through the Deerfield woods. At no time were any homes threatened. That’s because the junior firefighters were dousing the outskirts, making sure, it didn’t spread.
“We’d be stamping out, or putting out the fire on the edge of the fireline,” says veteran firefighter Will Hickey.
It’s an experience they’ll never forget, and one, that makes them think about their firefighting future.
“I don’t know about their full time profession, but it’s something to consider,” Erf says.
The fire is out, but crews will be redeployed on Saturday and Sunday to recheck some of the hot spots.
The tuition and fees for Deerfield Academy currently are a bit over $40,000.
WWLP reported the fire took 3-1/2 hours to control and
Chief Yazwynski told 22News that the blaze was likely caused by a passing train. The train sparked numerous fires in about 8-9 different locations along the track.
Trains also caused this blaze on Saturday in New Hampshire:
Published: April 26, 2009 12:30 am
Passing train sparks 3 town brush fire
By James A. Kimble
jkimble@eagletribune.comNEWTON, N.H. — An army of firefighters spent much of yesterday afternoon dousing a series of brush fires in Newton, Kingston and Plaistow believed to have been started by sparks from a passing train.
Around 2 p.m., firefighters were called to the area of George’s Way and Cranes Crossing in Newton, a rural neighborhood near the Pan Am railways.
The train was coming from the state line, and traveled through Plaistow, Newton and into Kingston. The fires broke out in wooded and grassy areas along the tracks.
The four-alarm blaze stretched for miles, and brought out roughly a dozen fire departments from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Newton Selectmen Chairman Trisha McCarthy, who was manning the phones at the fire station yesterday, said the blaze appears to have started when a train coming from Plaistow through Newton to Kingston had its brakes lock up, sending sparks flying and starting fires in all three towns.
The fire claimed one trailer in the Whispering Pines Camping area in Newton, and one firefighter had to be taken to the hospital, according to Newton fire Capt. Dale Putnam. An update on the firefighter’s condition was not available last night.
Kingston fire Capt. John Merrill said his department sent at least a dozen firefighters to help, along with two engine trucks, a tanker and a forestry vehicle. The fire burned as temperatures topped 80 degrees, the warmest day so far this spring.
Merrill said the train was eventually stopped in Newfields to determine what had caused it to spark.
By early evening, firefighters were still on the scene, dousing hot spots along the tracks.
The Deerfield fire was also along a Pan Am railway.
27 April 2009 Morning Report
April 27th, 2009
Down to a very nice 78º today. Tomorrow will again be unseasonably hot and drier, potentially red flag criteria will be met. No significant rain on the forecast, but things should get cloudy with occasionally showers afters Tuesday keeping things quiet.
CT Fire Danger:
High
CTZ004-280845-
WINDHAM CT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM...
WILLIMANTIC
440 AM EDT MON APR 27 2009
TODAY TONIGHT TUE
CLOUD COVER MCLEAR CLEAR CLEAR
PRECIP TYPE NONE NONE NONE
CHANCE PRECIP (%) 0 0 0
TEMP /24H TREND/ 79 (-8) 54 (-2) 87
RH % /24H TREND/ 34 (+5) 93 (0) 27
20FT WND AM /MPH/ LGT/VAR SW 5
20FT WND PM /MPH/ LGT/VAR LGT/VAR SW 7 G21
PRECIP AMOUNT 0.00 0.00 0.00
PRECIP DURATION
PRECIP BEGIN
PRECIP END
MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 2530 70 7030
TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ S 12 S 8 SW 18
VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 30360 560 126540
CWR 0 0 0
LAL NO TSTMS NO TSTMS NO TSTMS
HAINES INDEX 4 5 4
26 April 2009 Morning Report
April 26th, 2009
Some areas of New England are flirting with Red Flag, but over all humidity is moderate, winds are down, and things are kind of stable despite the unseasonable temperatures (it’ll push 90º today). That heat is driving moisture out of the dead fuels, which are still 90% fully exposed to the sun as leaf out is just starting to happen on some shrubs and maples around my area.
CT Fire Danger:
High.
Some part of Massachusetts will be Class 4 (Very High) today. Heard some of the fire towers reporting to DCR Control last night.
CTZ004-270830-
WINDHAM CT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM...
WILLIMANTIC
427 AM EDT SUN APR 26 2009
TODAY TONIGHT MON
CLOUD COVER PCLDY PCLDY MCLEAR
PRECIP TYPE NONE TSTMS NONE
CHANCE PRECIP (%) 20 20 0
TEMP /24H TREND/ 87 (-1) 50 (-4) 77
RH % /24H TREND/ 29 (+6) 93 (0) 36
20FT WND AM /MPH/ NW 7 S 6
20FT WND PM /MPH/ NW 8 E 8 S 9
PRECIP AMOUNT 0.00 0.01 0.00
PRECIP DURATION 1
PRECIP BEGIN 6 PM
PRECIP END 3 AM
MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 7800 70 2480
TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ N 14 E 9 S 12
VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 109200 630 29760
CWR 0 0 0
LAL 1-8 STRIKES 1-8 STRIKES NO TSTMS
HAINES INDEX 5 3 3
Horry County Fire Pictures
April 25th, 2009
Highway 31 Fire, Horry County, S.C.
South Carolina Forestry have posted some good photos here of the fire burning near Myrtle Beach (discussed a bit in this post) in Horry County, S.C. It’s officially named the Highway 31 Fire.
Myrtle Beach is named after the Wax Myrtle plant, a fire adapted species that grows abundantly in the area. The oils that give the plant it’s “Wax” name ignite quite easily.
In their Sunday update I found this that I thought was well written for communicating with the public:
Mop-up phase has already begun in most areas of the fire. Mop-up activity is especially noticeable along Hwy 90. (see map at www.trees.sc.gov). Mop-up involves crews patrolling the fire area inside the lines and attacking with water/foam isolated spots (often stumpholes and standing trees) which continue to burn. This is a very laborious process, involving turning burning vegetation over with hand tools and soaking with water. The intent of this process is to cool off smoldering debris so embers do not blow across the fire line. This operation takes a long time and requires a significant amount of resources, but is essential to prevent the fire’s spread. It will constitute the most time spent on this fire by the South Carolina Forestry Commission, possibly extending the effort by weeks.
In case they disappear from the ‘net, I have them archived here. Found a Firefox plugin called “ScrapBook” that I used for the first time to capture that page…looks like that could be a very useful tool!
25 April 2009 Morning Report
April 25th, 2009
The weather will be more unsettled this weekend then originally forecast, as we’ll have a front moving in and out of New England that may bring showers or even a thunderstorm any afternoon. Maine was under a fire weather watch, but it looks like RH will be high enough now to not meet the criteria.
CT Fire Danger:
High
CTZ004-260830-
WINDHAM CT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASHFORD...PLAINFIELD...PUTNAM...
WILLIMANTIC
430 AM EDT SAT APR 25 2009
TODAY TONIGHT SUN
CLOUD COVER MCLEAR MCLEAR PCLDY
PRECIP TYPE NONE NONE TSTMS
CHANCE PRECIP (%) 0 0 20
TEMP /24H TREND/ 80 (+9) 57 (+11) 83
RH % /24H TREND/ 42 (+22) 93 (+11) 38
20FT WND AM /MPH/ LGT/VAR W 5 G17
20FT WND PM /MPH/ SW 9 SW 6 NW 9 G17
PRECIP AMOUNT 0.00 0.00 0.01
PRECIP DURATION 0
PRECIP BEGIN 3 PM
PRECIP END CONTINUING
MIXING HGT /FT-AGL/ 2150 70 6970
TRANSPORT WND /KTS/ SW 14 SW 9 NW 11
VENT RATE /KT-FT/ 30100 630 76670
CWR 0 0 0
LAL NO TSTMS NO TSTMS 1-8 STRIKES
HAINES INDEX 4 5 4