W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking

Swanson Lake Fire

Location: 4 Miles Southwest of Creston, Lincoln Co., WA

Specific Location: Swanson Lake, Channeled Scablands, Lat 47° 37´ 40″ Lon 118° 32´ 28″

Date of origin: 08/18/2008
Cause: under investigation

Situation as of 08/25/2008 5:15 PM
Personnel: 619
Size: 19,090 acres
Percent contained: 95%

Costs to Date: $3,800,000

All emergency notifications have been lifted today however the boat launch at Hawk Creek Campground remains closed to public access until 8-27-08 so that it can safely be used for filling water tenders.

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Situation as of 08/24/2008 5:00 PM
Personnel: 709
Size: 19,090 acres
Percent contained: 75%

Costs to Date: $3,400,000

Hawk Creek Ranch Rd and Dodd Canyon remain at evacuation level 2; those areas are open to local traffic only. The Boat Launch at Hawk Creek Campground remains closed to public access so that it can safely be used for filling water tenders.

All divisions are in mop-up and/or patrol status today with the goal of achieving 300′ mop-up along the fire perimeter and 500′ around structures. Demob of most resources, except those staying to work with the type 3 organization, will occur on Tuesday Aug 26.

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Situation as of 08/22/2008 5:00 PM
Personnel: 727
Size: 19,090 acres
Percent contained: 45%

Costs to Date: $2,200,000

Hawk Creek Ranch Rd and Dodd Canyon remain at evacuation level 2. Those areas are open to local traffic only. The Boat Launch at Hawk Creek Campground remains closed to public access. Flare-ups in Div B continue to be a problem around residences.

Included in the reported 17 outbuildings destroyed were two seasonal cabins.

Burnout activity was conducted in Div C today in order to secure the containment line.

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Situation as of 08/20/2008 5:00 PM
Personnel: 752
Size: 19,090 acres
Percent contained: 35%

Costs to Date: not reported, est $1.7 million

Hawk Creek Ranch Rd and Dodd Canyon remain at evacuation level 2. Those areas are open to local traffic only. The Boat Launch at Hawk Creek Campground was closed to public access however the campground was reopened.

Strong winds continue to threaten the containment lines. A CL215 water scooper aircraft was dispatched to help keep the fire within containment lines at the Div B/C break. Engines continued to secure structures and mop up.

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Situation as of 08/21/2008 3:30 PM

Approximately 35 residents along the Hawk Creek Canyon Road and Hawk Creek Canyon Estate in the Dodd Canyon area remain under a level 2 evacuation notice. Hawk Creek Campground is now open, but the boat launch remains closed for suppression activity.

A community meeting is scheduled for tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Davenport Memorial Hall, 507 Park St., Davenport, WA.

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Situation as of 08/20/2008 6:30 PM
Personnel: 648
Size: 19,000 acres
Percent contained: 20%

Costs to Date: $930,000

Structures Destroyed: 1 residence, 17 outbuildings

Hawk Creek Ranch Rd and Dodd Canyon were evacuated last night due to significant fire behavior. Evacuation notice was returned to level 2 this morning, allowing local traffic back into those areas.

CL215 scooper and helicopters were utilized last night to slow the fire near residences. Light rain has reduced fire activity.

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Situation as of 08/19/2008 6:30 PM
Personnel: 390
Size: 15,415 acres
Percent contained: 10%

Costs to Date: $300,000

Structures Threatened: 40 residences. Structures Destroyed: 2 residences.

WA IMT #2 (Reed/Schulte) assumed management of the fire at 1200 8/19. Rapid fire spread in light fuels, torching in timber, spotting.

Light rain is likely in morning, chance of thundershowers with gusty winds in the afternoon and evening. Goal is to reach containment before predicted heat, low humidities. and wind increase on Saturday.

Arctic Creek WFU Fire

Location: 13 miles north of Diablo, Whatcom Co., WA

Specific Location: Arctic Creek, 4 mi W of Ross Lake, North Cascades NP, Lat 48° 53′ 35″ Lon 121° 9′ 12″

Date of Origin: 08/07/2008
Cause: lightning

Situation as of 08/25/2008 12:15 PM
Personnel: 0
Size: 105 acres
Percent contained: 0%
Maximum desired fire size (MMA): not reported

Costs to Date: $4,000

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Situation as of 08/21/2008

no update

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Situation as of 08/18/2008 2:30 PM
Personnel: 7
Size: 110 acres
Percent contained: 0%
Maximum desired fire size (MMA): not reported

First report by NWCC 08/18.

Correction: there are no personnel on the ground. The 7 reported personnel are somewhere else, but billing their time to this fire.

Foam Creek WFU Fire

Location: 13 miles NW of Leavenworth, Chelan Co. WA
Specific Location: Foam Creek, Lat 48° 2′ 25″ Lon 121° 5′ 26″

Date of Origin: 08/09/2008
Cause: lightning

Situation as of 08/21/2008 1:30 PM
Personnel: 0
Size: 595 acres
Percent contained: 0%
Maximum desired fire size (MMA): not reported

Trail closures in effect on White River Trail and part of the Pacific Crest Trail.

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Situation as of 08/20/2008 1:30 PM
Personnel: 0
Size: unknown
Percent contained: 0%
Maximum desired fire size (MMA): not reported

No initial attack, no attempt to contain or control.

Responsible official: Okanogan-Wenatchee NF Forest Supervisor Rebecca Heath
Phone Number: (509) 664-9200

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Situation as of 08/19/2008 7:30 PM
Personnel: 2
Size: 600 acres
Percent contained: 0%
Maximum desired fire size (MMA): not reported

No initial attack, no attempt to contain or control.

Responsible official: Okanogan-Wenatchee NF Forest Supervisor Rebecca Heath
Phone Number: (509) 664-9200

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Situation as of 08/18/2008 2:30 PM
Personnel: 3
Size: 309 acres
Percent contained: 0%
Maximum desired fire size (MMA): not reported

First reported at NWCC 8/18. Closure in effect on the White River Trail. Smoke impacts to the Lake Wenatchee area and Wenatchee Valley are a concern. Hot and dry weather for the next few days could significantly increase fire behavior and size.

The fire crossed Foam Creek on the W flank 8/17/08 and made a run up the drainage. The fire has progressed down slope and is adjacent to the White River.

No initial attack, no attempt to contain or control.

Responsible official: Okanogan-Wenatchee NF Forest Supervisor Rebecca Heath
Phone Number: (509) 664-9200

Jump Off Joe WFU Fire

Location: 2.5 miles south of Kennewick, Benton Co., WA

Specific Location: Jump Off Joe Road, wind generator farm, Lat 46° 6′ 20″ Lon 119° 8′ 42″

Date of Origin: 08/15/2008
Cause: under investigation

Situation as of 08/16/08
Personnel: 50
Size: 1,000 acres
Percent contained: 100%

This fire was in the wind generator farm on Jump Off Joe Butte. A radio tower was also threatened. The WA DNR, Benton County Fire District 1, Benton County Fire Districts 2, 3, and 4, Richland Fire, Franklin County District 3, Walla Walla County Fire District 5, Pasco Fire, and US DOE Hanford Fire all responded and contained the fire in a matter of hours.

Obviously, it was not a WFU (wildland fire use). The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center is WFU-happy, having declared 11 WFU’s a week ago (though keeping them secret). Today they declared another WFU that wasn’t a WFU at all (this fire). No 209 updates have been issued by the NWCC since Wednesday, 08/13/08. That office is in disarray and drowning in confusion.

Malott Fire

Location: 10 mi SW of Malott, Okanogan Co. WA

Specific Location: Lat 48° 17′ 29″ Lon 119° 44′ 4″

Date of Origin: 8/13/2008
Cause: lightning

Situation as of 08/20/08 10:00 AM
Personnel: not reported
Size: 333 acres
Percent Contained: 100%

Costs to Date: not reported

All-in-all, one of the worst fire reporting jobs of the year. The Information Officer should be fired or shot. Get that incompetent drunk out of the public employ immediately.

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Situation as of 08/17/08 6:00 PM
Personnel: 177
Size: 333 acres
Percent Contained: 80%

Costs to Date: not reported

Getting water to the fireline has been a challenge. Using blivets to fill bladder bags. Mop up 200 feet from fire line. Removing all equipment from the fire.

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Situation as of 08/16/08 6:00 PM
Personnel: 236
Size: 331 acres
Percent Contained: 75%

Costs to Date: not reported

Acreage updated because of GPS and more accurate mapping. Plan to release about 100 people on 8/18/08 and demobilize on 8/19/08.

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Situation as of 08/15/08 8:00 PM
Personnel: 250
Size: 450 acres
Percent Contained: 50%

Costs to Date: not reported

A spot fire that started the night of 8/14 was lined and mop up has begun. The spot fire contributed to the increase in estimated fire size. Remaining acreage increase is due to updated mapping. The fire will be GPS mapped 8/16/08 to get a more accurate acreage.

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Situation as of 08/13/08 8:00 AM
Personnel: 200
Size: 150 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: not reported

This fire has been burning for a few days but there have been no reports issued by the NW Interagency Coordination Center, who are apparently fast asleep at the wheel, or on vacation, or sick leave, or just doing nothing and getting paid for it.

Feel free to call them up and ask them just what it is, exactly, that they do to earn their paychecks: 503-808-2720.

Jack Creek Fire

Location: 10 miles SW of Leavenworth, Chelan Co. WA
Specific Location: Jack Creek, Lat 47° 30′ 47″ Lon 120° 56′ 7″

Date of Origin: 08/10/08
Cause: lightning

Situation as of 08/24/08 4:30 PM
Personnel: 23
Size: 1,058 acres (no update)
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: $463,000

Two days ago the costs were reported to be $548,471. That is down to the dollar. Today they are reported as generally something $80,000 less than that. Did somebody return some cash? Did somebody make an $80,000 mistake? Why was the first cost number so exact and the second so vague?

The quality and competence factors are not high on this fire. The Okanogan-Wenatchee NF have no idea what in the blazes they are doing. The entire whoofoo concept was instituted illegally on the O-WNF. Now they ram their heads against the wall every single day like Keystone Kops.

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Situation as of 08/22/08 3:30 PM
Personnel: 37
Size: 1,058 acres (no update)
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: $548,471

Scouting and monitoring. Preparing Long term analysis.

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Situation as of 08/21/08 4:40 PM
Personnel: 37
Size: 1,058 acres (no update)
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: not reported, est. $568,000

Unable to access fire.

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Situation as of 08/20/08 1:30 PM
Personnel: 60
Size: 1,058 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: not reported, est. $500,000

Unable to access fire via air due to low ceiling. Handcrew pulled off of line this morning due to wet conditions.

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Situation as of 08/18/08 8:00 PM
Personnel: 37
Size: 950 acres (corrected to 1,017 acs)
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: $227,000

Area and trail closures in effect for Meadow, Trout Creeks and Blackjack Ridge/Bootjack Mountain. Wilderness rangers are posting and sweeping those trails.

Very hot, dry weather is causing significant fire behavior increase and size increase.

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Situation as of 08/17/08 6:00 PM
Personnel: 51
Size: 625 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: not reported

Very active fire behavior 8/16/08. Fire was spotting on top and both flanks. Fire has spread to the NE quarter of Section 35 on the upper slope on the north side of the fire. Group torching with some very short crown runs were observed on the north and south flanks of the fire. Area closure and trail closures are in effect. Wilderness rangers are posting trails and sweeping the area. Van Epps Pass contingency line 1 mile SW of the fire has been constructed, plumbed, and is nearing readiness for firing operations should that become necessary.

No direct attack, no attempt to contain this fire. This is an undeclared WFU, a non-suppression “suppression” fire.

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Situation as of 08/16/2008: no update

Responsible official: Okanogan-Wenatchee NF Forest Supervisor Rebecca Heath
Phone Number: (509) 664-9200

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Situation as of 08/15/08 8:00 PM
Personnel: 42
Size: 335 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: not reported

Est date of containment: 10/01/08

Type 1 crew is spiked out 1 mile SW of the incident to complete fireline, hoselay, and burn out preparation necessary to secure Van Epps Pass.

Fire spotting on the top and both flanks. Several spots were observed N of major avalanche chutes that had been holding the fire in upper Jack Creek.

Smoke impacts to the town of Leavenworth and the Wenatchee Valley are a major concern. Very hot dry weather for the next few days could significantly increase fire behavior and size. The fire was being managed with a confinement strategy in the Jack Creek drainage, but fire has already escaped said drainage.

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Situation as of 08/13/08 8:00 AM
Personnel: not reported
Size: 200 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Costs to Date: not reported

This fire has been burning for a few days but there have been no reports issued by the NW Interagency Coordination Center, who are apparently asleep at the wheel.

Columbia River Road Fire

Location: 9 miles W of Nespelem, Okanogan Co., WA

Specific Location: Hopkins Canyon, Coyote Ck., Colville Indian Res., Lat 48° 8´ 19″ Lon 119° 10´ 19″

Date of Origin: 08/07/08
Cause: alleged arson

Situation as of 08/19/08 5:30 PM
Personnel: 259
Size: 22,155 acres
Percent Contained: 100%

Costs to Date: $8,400,000

Continue to demob and complete rehab

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Situation as of 08/18/08 4:00 PM
Personnel: 395
Size: 22,155 acres
Percent Contained: 100%

Costs to Date: $8,294,614

Fire perimeter has been mopped to turn back standards. Some minor interior burning is still being observed. Incident will be turned over to a Type III organization at 0600, Tuesday August 19, 2008 for final patrols over the next few days.

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Situation as of 08/15/08 8:00 PM
Personnel: 790
Size: 22,155 acres
Percent Contained: 100%

Costs to Date: not updated, est $6 million

100% containment. Weather continues to warm. Some continued interior burning is being observed.

Evacuation notice for Kartar community remains in effect. Threatened structures include 20 residences. Road closures are in effect.

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Situation as of 08/13/08 4:30 PM
Personnel: 986
Size: 22,106 acres
Percent Contained: 60%

Costs to Date: $5,333,306

Reduction in acreage due to more accurate mapping. Evacuation notice for Kartar community remains in effect. Threatened structures include 20 residences. Road closures are in effect.

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Situation as of 08/12/08 4:30 PM
Personnel: 866
Size: 22,171 acres
Percent Contained: 50%

Costs to Date: $4,085,264

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Situation as of 08/11/08 4:30 PM
Personnel: 702
Size: 21,914 acres
Percent Contained: 40%

Costs to Date: $3,126,916

The level one evacuation notice for the Kartar community remains in effect. A structure protection plan and evacuation triggers have been established for HWY 155, north of the fire.

Fire behavior today was moderate with small runs observed in light fuels and individual and group torching in heavier timber.

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Situation as of 08/10/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 659
Size: Size: 20,655 acres
Percent Contained: 15%

Costs to Date: $1,589,465

Reduced acreage is due to more accurate mapping of fire perimeter. Evacuations still in effect. Drier weather, lower humidities, strong winds predicted.

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Situation as of 08/09/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 555
Size: Size: 21,638 acres
Percent Contained: 15%

Costs to Date: $833,331The level one evacuation notice for the Kartar community remains in effect.

Light rain reduced fire behavior. Crews continue work to hold fire at Dan Nason Road.

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Situation as of 08/08/08 5:00 PM
Total Personnel: 307
Size: Size: 18,723 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Level one evacuation notice for the Kartar community.

Fire made major runs thoughout the afternoon. Crews worked to hold fire at Dan Nason Road.

About W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking

Last Spring W.I.S.E. initiated this Fire Tracking site. We have been endeavoring to track the larger fires in the West. So far we have tracked over 170 fires, many still active.

The way W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking works is that each fire (that we choose to track) gets it’s own post. That post is updated periodically. We try to update on a daily basis while the fire is active, but some days the information is not available.

If a fire you are interested in is not on the main page (it only holds 15 posts), then there are a few ways you can find it. First, try typing the name of the fire in the search applet in the upper righthand sidebar. Second, you can click on the “state” category if you know what state the fire is in. Third, if you know what month the fire started, you can look in the archives under that month.

For each fire we are attempting to post daily stats for acreage, personnel, percent containment, and suppression costs to date. That way each post becomes a historical record for that fire. You can see how the fire grew day by day, along with the changes in the other stats.

W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking is in blog form, designed for feedback. People on the scene, or anywhere else for that matter, can contribute information, photos, or ask questions.

W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking is free. It costs the taxpayers nothing. Your donations are sincerely appreciated. See the Join WISE page [here].

Unlike other fire sites, W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking is not designed by and for firefighters. Our expertise and concern is about forests and other landscape types, and so we can provide indepth analysis regarding the effects of a particular fire on multiple forest values and resources. By collecting and posting the daily record for each fire, we are establishing the basic information needed to analyze fire effects.

Please take some time to explore W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking. There is a wealth of information being collected there. Sometimes you may need to read between the lines because the whole truth is only hinted at. Your analysis of specific fires is also welcome, as are your photos, maps, and on-the-ground observations.

Green Lake Fire

Location: 4 miles NW of Omak, Okanogan Co., WA
Specific Location: Green Lake area, Lat 48° 25´ 53″ Lon 119° 38´ 9″

Date of origin: 07/31/2008
Cause: lightning

Situation as of 08/05/08 4:00 PM
Total Personnel: 383
Size: 2,614 acres
Percent Contained: 100%

Costs to Date: $2,638,332

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Situation as of 08/03/08 4:00 PM
Total Personnel: 564
Size: 2,614 acres
Percent Contained: 40%

Fireline was completed. Mop up is well established in all Divisions. Demob of excess aircraft, equipment, and some personnel.

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Situation as of 08/01/08 9:30 PM
Total Personnel: 250
Size: 2,000 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Localized Road Closures in Green Lake area.

High rates of spread in shrub steppe, grass. Torching of pine clumps.

262 Fire

Location: 10 miles NW of Othello, Adams Co., WA

Specific Location: Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, Lat 46° 58´ 17″ Lon 119° 15´ 59″

Date of Origin: 07/27/2008
Cause: Under investigation

Situation as of 07/29/08 4:30 PM
Total Personnel: 84
Size: 6,054 acres
Percent Contained: 100%

Demob and turn over command to Local Type 4 Organization

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Situation as of 07/28/08 noon PM
Total Personnel: 133
Size: 6,000 acres
Percent Contained: 75%

Road closures on Highway 262, H Road and Morgan Lake Road until 2000 yesterday evening. Soda Lake campground and Soda Lake Dam evacuated until 7/29 then re-evaluate.

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Situation as of 07/27/08 10:00 PM
Total Personnel: 104
Size: 4,500 acres
Percent Contained: 40%

Soda Lake Campground (1 mi S of O’Sullivan Dam, Potholes Reservoir) evacuation and road closures.

Fire is currently under investigation but is believed to be human caused. Two SEAT aircraft supported initial attack activities. Active fire activity with 15 - 20 foot flame lengths.

About W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking

This Spring W.I.S.E. initiated THIS Fire Tracking site. We have been endeavoring to track the larger fires in the West. So far we have tracked over 110 fires, many still active.

The way W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking works is that each fire (that we choose to track) gets it’s own post. That post is updated periodically. We try to update on a daily basis while the fire is active, but some days the information is not available.

If a fire you are interested in is not on the main page (it only holds 15 posts), then there are a few ways you can find it. First, try typing the name of the fire in the search applet in the upper righthand sidebar. Second, you can click on the “state” category if you know what state the fire is in. Third, if you know what month the fire started, you can look in the archives under that month.

For each fire we are attempting to post daily stats for acreage, personnel, percent containment, and suppression costs to date. That way each post becomes a historical record for that fire. You can see how the fire grew day by day, along with the changes in the other stats. That’s something InciWeb doesn’t do.

W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking is in blog form, designed for feedback. People on the scene, or anywhere else for that matter, can contribute information, photos, or ask questions. It’s a two-way communication, something else InciWeb does not do.

W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking is free. It costs the taxpayers nothing. That’s definitely not the case with InciWeb. Your donations are sincerely appreciated, in any case.

Unlike other fire sites, W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking is not designed by and for firefighters. Our expertise and concern is about forests and other landscape types, and so we can provide indepth analysis regarding the effects of a particular fire on multiple forest values and resources. By collecting and posting the daily record for each fire, we are establishing the basic information needed to analyze fire effects.

InciWeb, the government fire reporting site, has been up and down this year. Right now it is functional again. If the InciWebbers show they can report fires consistently and without server glitches, we may pick and choose which fires we track more selectively. Our intention was never to compete with InciWeb or supplant them. We only provided a comprehensive fire reporting service because we thought such was needed during their long absence.

Due to the workload involved with W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking, the other subsites at W.I.S.E. have been neglected. Sorry about that. Hopefully in a week or two the fire season will calm down a bit and the other subsites will get more attention.

In that regard, if you feel like reviewing a new book or paper of exceptional quality and cutting-edge, new paradigm thinking in the environmental sciences, please do so. We are always happy to post contributions from the experts.

For those select few among you to whom we have promised specific projects, please bear with us. We have not forgotten. The list is still right here on the W.I.S.E. bulletin board. Your project is circled in red. We will get to it when we can and eventually for sure.

Please take some time to explore W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking. There is a wealth of information being collected there. Sometimes you may need to read between the lines because the whole truth is only hinted at. Your analysis of specific fires is also welcome, as are your photos, maps, and on-the-ground observations.

Please Donate to the Cause

W.I.S.E. is non-profit. Heck, we’re damn near non-income. But we are endeavoring against all odds to save forests and spread good information and knowledge about stewardship of our forests and landscapes.

We’re trying to save forests. We’re trying to stop or reduce the megafires that are ravaging our forests. We’re trying to make this planet a more habitable place for all life forms.

To that end we have created and are managing 12 websites. Our most recent site, W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking, is building records of the major fires burning this year, so that we can evaluate those fires after the season is over and seek ways to lessen the destruction.

We have not shirked from controversy. We have pushed the envelope. We have berated the Powers That Be for their incompetence and misguided policies that destroy forests, both public and private, and incinerate homes, farms, and ranches, and pollute the air and water, and cripple economies, and drain the Treasury.

We have endeavored to post the best, most cutting edge science, so that visitors can learn the facts for a change instead being pepper sprayed with rude and a-scientific propaganda all the time. We are a beacon, a light in the smoky darkness of a thousand forest fires burning at once.

W.I.S.E. is free. Our sites are open to all, free of charge, without a fee, buy in, ticket charge, or gate receipt.

But it is not free to do all this work. It is time consuming. Moreover, the expertise displayed here is the result of hundreds of years of combined professional effort. All of the experts published at W.I.S.E. have contributed their knowledge for free, and we are deeply grateful, but we also recognize that their expertise is hard won and represents lifetimes of dedication.

Your financial contributions are also deeply appreciated. We share this wonderful letter we received today, with gratitude:

Dear Mike,

Enclosed please find a check in the amount of $200. I hope it will help to keep your great sites going and allow you to continue to share wisdom and expertise.

As I promised myself, “a dollar a day” contribution will hopefully assist this endeavor to spread the word about forest health in particular and the rational study of the environment in general.
Randy

We send Randy a big Thank You. He would never admit it, but he is a victim of excruciatingly bad forest policies. His home and landscape are under tremendous threat. His area has been visited by fire storms emanating from mis-managed federal forests and hundreds of his neighbors’ homes have been incinerated by those fire storms. There is little he can do to change those terrible policies on his own.

But W.I.S.E. is attempting to do just that. We want to save rural homes from predicted, preventable fires. We desire to save the taxpayers $billions in emergency fire costs by encouraging the application of restoration forestry to millions of acres, thereby rendering forest safe and resilient to fire and far less prone to catastrophic destruction by holocaust. We wish to protect, maintain, and perpetuate forests, wildlife habitat, watersheds, airsheds, recreation opportunities, and all the other amenities and values that forests provide us. We are deeply cognizant of the heritage of our landscapes, and promote the respect and restoration that our heritage deserves.

That is our quest. Little by little we are having an effect. Top policy makers are reading our sites. The pendulum is being swung, the elephant is slowly moving.

Your contributions make it possible for W.I.S.E. to pursue this quest. Our budget is threadbare. We can barely pay our monthly Internet fees. But with your help we will persevere.

Your contributions are tax deductible. The Western Institute for Study of the Environment is a 501(c)(3) non-profit collaboration of environmental scientists, practitioners, and the interested public.

W.I.S.E. provides a free, on-line set of post-graduate courses in environmental studies, currently fifty Topics in eight Colloquia, each containing book and article reviews, original papers, and essays. In addition, we present two Commentary sub-sites, a news clipping sub-site, and the W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking site.

Our mission is to further advancements in knowledge and environmental stewardship across a spectrum of related environmental disciplines and professions. We teach and advocate good stewardship and caring for the land.

Please help us out. Please visit our donations page [here].

Thank you.

243 Fire

Location: 12 miles E of Desert Aire, Grant Co. WA

Specific Location: Saddle Mtn. Nat’l. Wildlife Refuge, Lat 46° 39´ 0″ Lon 119° 45´ 0″

Date of Origin: 07/14/2008
Cause: human

Situation as of 07/18/08 8:00 AM
Total Personnel: not reported
Size: 1,384 acres
Percent Contained: 100%

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Situation as of 07/14/08 8:00 PM
Total Personnel: 101
Size: 1,800 acres
Percent Contained: 80%

No further growth expected. Fire across the Columbia River from Hanford Nuclear site.

Red Flag Warning in effect until 10 pm PDT Wednesday for winds and low humidities. Eastern WA and OR. West winds 6 to 11 mph increasing to NW 12 to 19 mph in the afternoon. In the eastern Columbia River Gorge west winds 7 to 12 mph increasing to 15 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Gusts to 35 mph.

Willow Creek Fire

Location: ~5 miles SE of Soap Lake, ~10 miles N of Moses Lake, Grant Co. WA

Specific Location: Willow Lake area, North Columbia Basin Wildlife Area, Lat 47° 19´ 32″ Lon 119° 25´ 35″

Date of Origin: 07/13/2008
Cause: under investigation

Situation as of 07/14/08 7:00 AM
Total Personnel: 70
Size: 3,600 acres
Percent Contained: 60%

Fire in grass with no further growth expected.

Red Flag Warning in effect until 10 pm PDT Wednesday for winds and low humidities. Eastern WA and OR. West winds 6 to 11 mph increasing to NW 12 to 19 mph in the afternoon. In the eastern Columbia River Gorge west winds 7 to 12 mph increasing to 15 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Gusts to 35 mph.

Wilmont Fire

Location: 15 miles SSW of Inchelium, Ferry Co. WA

Specific Location: Wilmont Creek area, Colville Indian Res., Lat 48° 5´ 0″ Lon 118° 19´ 25″

Date of Origin: 07/13/2008
Cause: human

Situation as of 07/13/08 9:00 PM
Total Personnel: 49
Size: 100 acres
Percent Contained: 0%

Complexed with Abraham Fire, see [here].