Church’s Park Fire
Location: ~5 mi NW of Fraser, Grand Co. CO
Specific Location:, Arapaho NF, ~Lat 39° 58´ 00″ ~Lon 105° 52´ 0″
Date of Origin: 10/03/2010
Cause: Human
Situation as of 10/08/2010 4:30 pm
Personnel: 62
Size: 473 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $1,437,000
Constructed direct line. The fire was not showing any signs of being active today.
Had to pull everyone off the line today due to the high wind gusts, 30 mph, due to the dangers with the bug kill trees and firefighters. Snow is starting to accumulate, so slippery roads are starting to be a safety concern. Light smoke was visible and some smoldering.
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Situation as of 10/06/2010 5:45 pm
Personnel: 231
Size: 530 acres
Percent Contained: 70%
Costs to Date: $946,000
Constructed direct line. The fire was not showing any signs of being active today.
220 kilo-volt transmission line damaged power rerouted. Tri State Power will inspect lines and is developing a plan of action.
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Situation as of 10/04/2010 2:00 pm
Personnel: 200
Size: 530 acres
Percent Contained: 30%
Costs to Date: $392,000
Hold existing lines and construct direct line along fire perimeters. Construct indirect line where necessary.
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Situation as of 10/04/2010 11:00 am
Personnel: 200
Size: 530 acres
Percent Contained: not reported
No evacuation orders have been given. A reverse 911 alert went out asking area residents to prepare for a possible evacuation.
The U.S. Forest Service has command of the fire. Kremmling Fire, Hot Sulphur Fire, Granby Fire, Grand Lake Fire and East Grand Fire are all assisting. Four helicopters, including two heavies, one medium, and one light, and three heavy air tankers are assisting firefighters today.Yesterday, 43,000 gallons of fire retardant were dropped on the fire.
Reservoir Road Fire
Location: 8 mi E of Loveland, Larimer Co. CO
Specific Location: Near Flatiron Reservoir, Lat 40° 22´ 22″ Lon 105° 15´ 25″
Date of Origin: 09/12/2010
Cause: Human
Situation as of 09/16/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 375
Size: 750 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Structures Destroyed: 2 PRIM , 4 OUTB
Costs to Date: $2,089,000
100% containment.
Fire will be turned back to local Type 3 organization at 0700 Friday 8/17/2010. Increase in costs due to more accurate reporting as result of completed database information.
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Situation as of 09/15/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 557
Size: 710 acres
Percent Contained: 65%
Structures Destroyed: 2 PRIM , 4 OUTB
Costs to Date: $1,067,000 (no update)
Homeowners allowed to return to their residences today on a pass system established by the Larimer County Sheriff. Residents asked to avoid driving on roads in morning and evening during shift changes by firefighter forces.
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Situation as of 09/14/2010 5:45 pm
Personnel: 557
Size: 710 acres
Percent Contained: 35%
Structures Threatened: 200 PRIM
Structures Destroyed: 2 PRIM , 4 OUTB
Costs to Date: $1,067,000
Reduction of acres due to GPS mapping. Transfer of command to Thomas Eastern Great Basin IMT1 on September 13 at 1900 hours.
Significant progress made today on containment efforts along S and E flanks of the fire. Continues efforts of structure protection and mop-up around interior structures.
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Situation as of 09/13/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 349
Size: 925 acres
Percent Contained: 20%
Structures Threatened: 200 PRIM
Structures Destroyed: 2 PRIM , 4 OUTB
Costs to Date: $595,000
Fire is burning to N to confluence of Cottonwood Creek. Spread has been to N in Cottonwood Gulch. Heavy helicopters supporting ground efforts in extremely steep and hazardous terrain.
[Note: the 200 homes threatened by this fire are NOT in steep and hazardous terrain.]
Transfer of command from Nelson T3 to Thomas T1 Team to occure at 1900 today. Injury today a result of fall.
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Situation as of 09/12/2010 10:35 am
Personnel: not reported
Size: 600 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Structures Threatened: 200 PRIM
Structures Destroyed: 2 PRIM , 4 OUTB
The Type 1 Team from the Four Mile Canyon Fire will be managing this fire by 9/13/10.
Four Mile Canyon Fire
Location: 12 mi NW of Boulder, Boulder Co. CO
Specific Location: Emerson Gulch in Four Mile Canyon, Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests/Pawnee National Grassland Lat 40° 2´ 21″ Lon 105° 23´ 36″
Date of Origin: 09/06/2010
Cause: Under investigation
Situation as of 09/16/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 285
Size: 6,181 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $9,947,993
Boulder County Sheriff’s Office has lifted evacuation orders on all subdivisions within the fire perimeter via a permit system. FEMA disaster assistance teams continue to assess subdivisions within the fire area. Full public access to fire area will occur on 9/17/10 at 1800.
Estimated cost to date has decreased due to auditing of I Suite financial module and reassignment of resources.
This will be the final 209 unless there are significant changes.
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Situation as of 09/15/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 418
Size: 6,181 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $9,955,251
Structures Destroyed: 167 PRIM , 5 OUTB
Transfer of damage assessment intelligence of structures and infrastructure to Boulder County continues. Continue to secure interior islands to mitigate threat to structures within fire perimeter. Continuing rehabilitation on hand and dozer lines caused by suppression to meet turn back standards.
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Situation as of 09/14/2010 5:20 pm
Personnel: 536
Size: 6,181 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $9,439,583
Continued coordination with utilities and public works to repair damage to infrastructure. Boulder County Sheriff’s Office has begun to lift evacuation orders on subdivisions within the fire perimeter via a permit system. FEMA disaster assistance teams have begun assessment of the Sugarloaf and Fourmile areas. The team is managing the Reservoir Road Fire in addition to the Fourmile fire.
Teams have finished identifying and documenting damage to structures and utilities. Data is currently being analyzed.
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Situation as of 09/13/2010 5:40 pm
Personnel: 907
Size: 6,181 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $9,574,846
100% containment.
Acreage has changed again due to more accurate mapping [even more accurate than yesterday's accurate mapping].
Teams have finished identifying and documenting damage to structures and utilities. Data is currently being analyzed.
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Situation as of 09/12/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 915
Size: 6,250 acres
Percent Contained: 87%
Costs to Date: $8,318,666
Acres has changed from 6427 acres to 6250 acres due to more accurate mapping. Estimated final suppression cost is $10,200,000.
Team is supporting new fire (Reservoir Road Fire) in Larimer County.
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Situation as of 09/11/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 1,069
Size: 6,427 acres
Percent Contained: 73%
Structures Destroyed: 167 PRIM , 5 OUTB
Begin transfer of damage assessment intelligence of structures and infrastructure to Boulder County. Continue line construction on uncontrolled portions of the fire, and secure interior islands to mitigate threat to structures within fire perimeter. Continue to mop-up perimeter and interior islands to protect structures.
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Situation as of 09/10/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 1,096
Size: 6,427 acres
Percent Contained: 56%
Structures Destroyed: 167 PRIM , 5 OUTB
Governor Bill Ritter and Senator Mark Udall visited ICP. Continued coordination with utilities and public works to assess damage to infrastructure. Teams continue to identify and document damage to residential addresses. Working with Boulder County Sheriff’s Office to lift evacuation orders for subdivisions no longer threatened.
Red flag warning expires at 1800 (9/10). Potential has changed from high to medium due to increase containment and more favorable weather.
Observed Fire Behavior: Active burning with wind event along open flanks and interior unburned islands.
Continued use of aviation resources for point protection and hotspots. Continue damage assessment of structures and infrastructure. Continue line construction on uncontrolled fireline and secure interior islands to mitigate threat to structures within fire perimeter. Mop-up and patrol areas as necessary.
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Situation as of 09/09/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 953
Size: 6,422 acres
Percent Contained: 30%
Structures Destroyed: 167 PRIM , 5 OUTB
20 subdivisions west of Boulder have been evacuated and 3 major County roads closed. Four people remain unaccounted for in the burn area. About 2000 individuals at last night’s community meeting. 4 (of 20) subdivisions residents allowed to visit their properties at 10:00.
Transition will occur from Type 2 (Richardson) to Type 1 (Thomas ) at 1800 tonight (9-9).
Lines held overnight through the wind event, no new structures lost. Winds remain strong with a period of even stronger winds expected this afternoon.
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Situation as of 09/08/2010 6:45 pm
Personnel: 550
Size: 6,365 acres
Percent Contained: 10%
Structures Destroyed: 136 PRIM , 4 OUTB
20 subdivisions west of Boulder have been evacuated and 3 major County roads closed. Four people remain unaccounted for in the burn area.
Starting direct control lines. 2 Fire Management Modules will begin a detailed damage assessment in conjunction with Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
A red flag warning has been issued for the northern foothills. The National Weather Service predicting wind gusts could reach 45 to 60 mph by midnight on 09/09.
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4 P.M. Update, 09/08/2010, KRDO [here]
4 Missing, 135 Homes Destroyed - Fire Has Scorched More Than 6,800 Acres
BOULDER, Colo. — Authorities say at least 135 homes have destroyed by a wildfire burning in canyons and foothills west of Boulder.
About 3,500 people have been evacuated from about 1,000 homes that broke out in a parched area north of Boulder on Monday. Four people remain missing as some residents have stayed behind and risked their lives to try to save their homes.
The reported losses surpass those of the 2002 Hayman fire in southern Colorado, which was the most destructive in the state’s history. It destroyed 133 homes and 466 outbuildings over 138,000 acres.
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Situation as of 09/07/2010 8:00 pm
Personnel: 201
Size: 6,168 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
92 structures, 53 homes reported destroyed. Authorities are searching for eight people who didn’t evacuate the wildfire in the foothills near Boulder.
Sheriff’s Cmdr. Rich Brough said Wednesday that 20 people were initially reported missing and 12 have been accounted for.
Authorities are investigating reports that the fire might have started when a car ran into a propane tank.
20 subdivisions west of Boulder have been evacuated and 3 major County roads closed. Fire Continues perimeter growth and associated structure loss.
Transition from Type 3 to Type 2 (Richardson) occurred at 1800 today (9-7).
Seven of the Nation’s 19 heavy air tankers have been sent to Colorado to fight the blaze, considered the nation’s top firefighting priority.
The next news conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday [to be broadcast live on KRDO TV/radio here]. A community forum will be held Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the CU Coors Event Center at CU-Boulder.
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Situation as of 09/06/2010 7:30 pm
Personnel: 175+
Size: 3,500 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Structures Threatened: 500 PRIM
Structures Destroyed: 12 PRIM
RMA Team A (IMT2) to assume command 9-7-2010 a.m. ~30 local agencies engaged. Aviation resources will be assisting fire operations throughout the day today
The fire began on September 6, 2010 in Emerson Gulch located in Four Mile Canyon. Communities impacted by this fire include Four Mile Canyon, Sunshine Canyon, Gold Hill, Sugarloaf, Pinebrook Hills, and Boulder Heights. Approximately 3,500 residents are under mandatory evacuation.
The current evacuation area includes: 1. the communities west of the Peak-to-Peak Highway 2. east of Highway 36 3. South of Lefthand Canyon Road 4. North of Boulder Canyon. 5. Residents along Sugarloaf are under mandatory evacuation. 6. The City of Boulder is not under any evacuations. An overnight shelter has been established at the Coors Event Center on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus.
Whirlpool WFU Fire
Location: ~20 mi N of Dinosaur, Moffat Co. CO
Specific Location: Jones Hole, trib to Green River, Dinosaur National Monument, Lat 40° 33´ 58″ Lon 109° 2´ 19″
Date of Origin: 07/23/2010
Cause: Lightning
Situation as of 07/26/2010 5:00 pm
Personnel: 0
Size: 0.7 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Well, the Brain Trust at Dinosaur N.M. decided to contain, control, and extinguish the fire after all, which took all of 2 hours. Then the TNC/Goldman Sachs Let It Burn Module was excused and shipped out.
No reports on the actual costs of this fire and how much cash was transferred to TNC/Goldman Sachs. That kind of disclosure of info is not required under the new banking regulation bill.
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Situation as of 07/25/2010 5:30 pm
Personnel: 10
Size: 0.7 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Fire now staffed by the TNC/Goldman Sachs Let It Burn Module. The fire is less than one acre. It is smoldering. One guy with a garden hose could put it out. Instead, the TNC/Goldman Sachs Southern Rockies Wildfire Module has been flown in at huge expense, to watch a spot fire smolder. How embarrassing. How degrading. How utterly stupid. When it comes to stupid, it’s hard to top the National Park Service.
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Situation as of 07/24/2010 5:00 pm
Personnel: 1
Size: 1 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Even though this fire is only one acre, it is hoped that fully 7,000 acres will be incinerated eventually. The TNC/Goldman Sachs Let It Burn Module has been ordered.
The area of the fire, Jones Hole and Green River, are heritage sites with rock art dating back 10,000 years. The National Park Service doesn’t give a crap, though, and wants it all burned, baby, burned.
Most of Dinosaur National Monument’s 210,000 acres is proposed wilderness, even though human beings have been continuously resident there for 10,000 years!
The National Park Service leadership is on drugs or something. They are sick, sick, sick individuals.
Twin Buttes/Goldman Sachs WFU Fire
Location: ~25 mi SSW of Rangley, Rio Blanco Co. CO
Specific Location: White River District, BLM, ~2 mi W of Hwy 139, 2 mi N of Douglas Pass, Lat 39° 41´ 53″ Lon 108° 49´ 36″
Date of Origin: 07/16/2010
Cause: Lightning
Situation as of 07/24/2010 5:00 pm
Personnel: not reported
Size: 145 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
The duty officer (?) made the decision to fully suppress this fire, which was achieved Saturday morning (7/24). Achieved 100% containment - full suppression. No explanation given for the change in acreage. TNC/Goldman Sachs Module pulled off fire.
This will be the final final 209.
What a cluster…!
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This fire is no longer being reported. TNC/Goldman Sachs is above the law. They are not required to inform the citizenry regarding their nefarious dealings, even if it is with your money and in this case, on your land too.
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Situation as of 07/19/2010 7:00 pm
Personnel: 29
Size: 280 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
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Situation as of 07/18/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 38
Size: 280 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Target acres increased to 100,000. Southern Rockies TNC/Goldman Sachs Wildfire Module arrived today. Monitoring to commence.
Note: no NEPA, no ESA consultations with USFWS, no public involvement, no plan.
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Situation as of 07/17/2010 4:00 pm
Personnel: 8
Size: 200 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Target acres: 10,000. Smokejumpers on scene, will transition to THE NATURE CONSERVANCY WILDFIRE MODULE!
TNC is a quango (quasi-govermental non-governmental organization). They now contract WFU’s using their own “module”, a private fire monitoring (not firefighting) team. TNC’s Module “is trained to assist federal agencies to allow natural wildland fires to burn…” [here]
TNC is a multi-billion-dollar quango, the largest in the world, and is intimately tied to the Goldman Sachs international banking concern.
The Twin Buttes Fire has thus become a Goldman Sachs Let It Burn While We Rob the U.S. Treasury fire.
Meadow Creek WFU Fire
Location: ~13 mi NE of Rifle, Garfield Co. CO
Specific Location: White River NF, Lat 39° 42´ 0″ Lon 107° 34´ 23″
Date of Origin: 06/28/2010
Cause: Lightning
Situation as of 09/02/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: none
Size: 1,480 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: Costs to Date: $1,120,000
Fuels have begun to dry, and fire is slowly showing signs of increasing behavior.
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Situation as of 08/05/2010 4:00 pm
Personnel: 2
Size: 1,452 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: Costs to Date: $1,090,000
Fire has taken some precipitation (.60 in) over past seven days but continues to smolder in shletered 1000 hours and duff. There will be hunters scouting for elk in the area surrounding the fire prior to hunting.
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Situation as of 07/29/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 62
Size: 1,452 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: Costs to Date: $1,028,600
Destaffed the non-existent fire line in anticipation of rainfall. There will be hunters scouting for elk in the area surrounding the fire prior to hunting season opening. If fuels begin to dry, and fire behavior starts to increase in the following weeks, public safety could be an issue, but what the heck. We spent a million bucks of the taxpayers’ money doing jack. Now we have to go home. See ya. NIMO signing off.
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Situation as of 07/28/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 62
Size: 1,452 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: Costs to Date: $983,600
Continued monitoring of fire behavior on the north and west edges of the fire. Training fire for the Boise NIMO Team. They are practicing Let It Burn.
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Situation as of 07/27/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 76
Size: 1,452 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: Costs to Date: $924,000
Training fire for the Boise NIMO Team. They are practicing Let It Burn.
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Situation as of 07/25/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 76
Size: 1,350 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: Costs to Date: $807,000
Monitor fire spread within the Main Elk Creek drainage. Completed the aerial ignition plan. This plan will be executed only if conditions warrant. Continue development of trainees which are filling a variety of position on the incident. Training fire for the Boise NIMO Team. They are practicing Let It Burn.
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Cow Creek WFU Fire
Location: ~10 mi. NW of Estes Park, Larimer Co. CO
Specific Location: Mt. Dickinson, West Creek, Rocky Mountain NP, approximate Lat 40° 24´ 39″ 40° 28´ 00″ Lon 105° 31´ 54″ 105° 33´ 00″
Date of Origin: 06/24/2010
Cause: Lightning
Situation as of 09/16/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 20
Size: 1,056 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: $2,600,000 (no update)
Creeping, single tree torching
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Situation as of 09/12/2010 4:30 pm
Personnel: 50
Size: 1,050 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: $2,600,000 (no update)
New start down range with significant column visible from Estes Park. Cow Creek smoke production increased, which added to the over all big picture of Zone activity. Increase in fire activity today and expected tomorrow. Short runs on north aspect/south flank. Fire still contained to the West Creek Basin.
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Situation as of 09/09/2010 4:00 pm
Personnel: 30
Size: 1,001 acres
Percent Contained: 50%
Costs to Date: $2,600,000
Fire continues to move east through the West Creek bottom, W of the original Cow Creek Fire. Fire is established at the bottom of the N aspect of the Division Alpha ridgeline.
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Situation as of 07/03/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 83
Size: 916 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $2,282,505
100 percent of the containment objectives for the sections of the fire that are under a containment strategy have been achieved. This percentage does not apply to the area of the fire that is being monitored to meet resource objectives.
Idaho City IHC rehabbed helispot and were released at 1300. Installed monitoring camera for long-term intelligence. Recon flights for RMNP personnel. Transition back to local unit at 2000 tonight.
THIS WILL BE THE LAST #209 UNTIL SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITY OCCURS. A “final” #209 will be submitted when RMNP feels confident in achieving full containment and control around entire perimeter of this fire. Be advised, this incident IS NOT contained; only the northeastern, eastern and southern flanks where suppression action was taken were fully 100% contained.
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Situation as of 07/01/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 234
Size: 914 acres
Percent Contained: 80%
Costs to Date: $1,908,072
80 percent of the containment objectives for the sections of the fire that are under a containment strategy have been achieved. This percentage does not apply to the area of the fire that is being monitored to meet resource objectives.
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Parkdale Canyon Fire
Location: 9 mi W of Canon City, Fremont Co., CO
Specific Location: between Hwy 50 and Royal Gorge, Lat 38° 29´ 0″ Lon 105° 21´ 36″
Date of Origin: 06/21/2010
Cause: Under investigation
Situation as of 06/25/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 117
Size: 629 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $1,440,379
Containment achieved at 1800. This will be the final 209. Transfer of command to the host unit will occur at 0600 6/26/10. Acreage breakout is as follows: PVT 414; BLM 215.
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Water Creek Fire
Location: ~15 mi NW of Rifle, Garfield Co. CO
Specific Location: off of Hwy 13, near the Roan Plateau, BLM, Colorado River Valley Field Office (formerly Glenwood Springs — site of Storm King Mountain Monument) Lat 39° 36´ 1″ Lon 107° 56´ 31″
Date of Origin: 06/19/2010
Cause: Lightning
Situation as of 08/20/2010 5:40 pm
Personnel: 0
Size: 375 acres
Percent Contained: not reported
Costs to Date: $425,000 (no update)
Fire declared out today.
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Situation as of 06/28/2010 6:15 pm
Personnel: 20
Size: 375 acres
Percent Contained: 50%
Costs to Date: $425,000 (no update)
Increase in size due to more accurate mapping. Prior mapping miscalulated the size of the fire by half. We’re not talking best and brightest when it comes to the BLM.
Kings Peak Whoofoo Module has assumed command. Their job is to monitor the fire, but ironically, they do not issue monitoring reports. Therefore this is the last report we can expect on this fire.
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Situation as of 06/26/2010 5:15 pm
Personnel: 43
Size: 216 acres
Percent Contained: 30%
Costs to Date: $425,000 (no update)
1 IHC and 2 WFM’s are currently staffing the fire. Last report unless significant activity/demob occurs.
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Situation as of 06/25/2010 5:00 pm
Personnel: 50
Size: 216 acres
Percent Contained: 30%
Costs to Date: $425,000 (no update)
East flank pretty well contained. Quiet day today, RH increasing as front moves through. Smoldering, no torching observed.
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Medano Fire
Location: 70 mi SW of Pueblo, Saguache Co. CO
Specific Location: Little Medano Ck, North Horse Canyon, Great Sand Dunes NP and Pike and San Isabel NF, Lat 37° 48´ 23″ Lon 105° 29´ 20″
Date of Origin: 06/6/2010
Cause: Lightning
Situation as of 08/05/2010 8:00 am
Personnel: 9
Size: 6,249 acres
Percent Contained: 90%
Costs to Date: $4,723,767
IC will transition to Paul Duarte at 1900 8-6-10.
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Situation as of 07/29/2010 11:00 am
Personnel: 12
Size: 6,249 acres
Percent Contained: 90%
Costs to Date: $4,697,917
Fire has received up to an inch of rain in some areas over the last 7 days, although rain has been very localized and not wide spread in some instances.
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Situation as of 07/22/2010 3:00 pm
Personnel: 13
Size: 6,249 acres
Percent Contained: 90%
Costs to Date: $4,670,000
Creeping, smoldering and small areas of surface fire where continuous fuels exist. The fire continues to back down into Castle Creek and seasonally cured heavy dead and down fuels are burning within the interior.
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Situation as of 07/15/2010 5:30 pm
Personnel: 32
Size: 6,249 acres
Percent Contained: 90%
Costs to Date: $4,526,000
Conditions continue to be warmer and drier and heavy dead and down fuels continue to smolder. Fire increased ten acres in size due to activity in the Castle Creek Drainage. Torching and uphill runs with noticeable smoke. No precipitation since July 8th.
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Situation as of 07/10/2010 3:00 pm
Personnel: 32
Size: 6,239 acres
Percent Contained: 90%
Costs to Date: $4,400,000
Conditions are warmer and drier and heavy dead and down fuels continue to smolder. Local Type 3 organization is managing the fire.
It was local fire management that failed to even attempt to contain the Medano Fire in the first place, allowing the fire to blow up. Somebody at Great Sand Dunes NP owes the American taxpayer $4.4 million dollars, the cost of their screw-up. Remember this name: Art Hutchinson. He’s the Supe of the GSDNP and the ultimate responsible party.
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Post-Fire Vegetation Conditions on the National Forests
The USFS RAVG interactive website [here]:
… offers an initial description of post-fire vegetative conditions using the Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Condition after Wildfire (RAVG) process. RAVG analysis looks at fires that burn more than 1,000 acres of forested National Forest System (NFS) lands, beginning with fires that occurred in 2007. These fires result in direct losses of vegetative cover and many of the benefits associated with forested ecosystems.
NFS lands experience thousands of wildfires every year, most of which are relatively small. The largest fires typically account for 90% of the total acreage burned. RAVG analysis provides a first approximation of areas that due to severity of the fire may require reforestation treatments. These reforestation treatments would re-establish forest cover and restore associated ecosystem services. This initial approximation could be followed by a site-specific diagnosis and development of a silvicultural prescription identifying reforestation needs.
Search for RAVG wildfire summaries using the Select Wildfires… “By Year…”, “By State…”, or “By National Forest/Grassland…” menus (does not allow multiple criteria selection) to produce lists of wildfires; or, you may select an individual wildfire using the “By Wildfire…” selection menu. You may also select a Forest Service Region on the map below to display a wildfire list for that region of the United States.
Quarry Fire
Location: 2 miles W of Fountain, El Paso Co. CO
Specific Location: Fort Carson, Lat: 38° 39´ 23″ Lon: 104° 45´ 1″
Date of Origin: 03/03/2009
Cause: Human, military training
Situation as of 03/05/2009 3:00 pm
Personnel: 46
Size: 6,328 acres:
Percent Contained: 90%
Preliminary investigations reveal that the detonation of C-4 in a rock quarry in the training area may be the cause of the fire.
Grass, oak brush, ponderosa pine.
Olde Stage Fire
Location: North of the city limits of Boulder, Boullder Co. CO
Specific Location: Old Stage Road, Lat 40° 5´ 55″ Lon 105° 5´ 55″
Date of Origin: 01/07/2009
Cause: Unknown at this time
Situation as of 01/08/2009 5:30 PM
Personnel: 159
Size: 1,300 acres
Percent contained: 70%
Wind-driven wildfires prompted mandatory evacuations of at least 500 homes. All evacauations have been lifted except the area off of the Old Stage Road.
1 primary residence and 1 outbuilding destroyed
Creeping with occasional flare-ups. Some interior spots still burning.
Note: Boulder temp 50.7 °F updated at 6:30 pm 01/08/09. Humidity 28%. Expected low tonight 18 °F. We report this for all those who think climate change, rather than fuels, drives fires.
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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.
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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.
