Northwest Moves To A PL3. Oregon Dispatches 2 CIMTs. Green Fire In California Continues To Grow.
Authorities looking for arsonist outside Spokane, Washington.
It was a hectic wildfire day yesterday across the western United States. Nevada popped the Hot Canyon Fire, which ran 2,000+ acres and brought in a massive aviation response, including VLATS, LATS, SEATs, and helicopters. Idaho City and Sawtooth Hotshots were also called to this fast-moving desert fire.
Dry lightning is expected across the Great Basin over the next few days.
Oregon spent the day chasing lightning fires across multiple counties, prompting the Oregon Department of Forestry to dispatch two CIMTs within 24 hours. One is heading to the Elk Fire, which is now estimated to be 1,000+ acres, and the Team is expected to take over the fire this evening. ODF officials said they are stretched thin after 10 straight days of lightning across their jurisdictions.
Washington was busy as well. The Hope Fire exhibited impressive fire behavior late yesterday afternoon, burning an estimated 3,200 acres in just a few hours. This fire near Kettle Falls started in an area that had very little fire history recently, and the fuel loading in the forest is exceptionally heavy.
A Type 3 Team is taking over that fire this morning. A state mobilization request was approved, with five strike teams arriving overnight to assist with suppression efforts.
In some unusual wildfire news outside Spokane, Washington, authorities are seeking a suspect who allegedly set multiple fires in the area yesterday. Four fires were set in total, some of which caused evacuations in the area.
“What we didn’t want to happen, happened today. We have someone out here setting fires.”
The Pomas Fire in Washington continues to chunk away in a very remote area of the Glacier Peak Wilderness and has grown to 3,300+ acres.
Hot and very dry weather with an unstable atmosphere will produce elevated fire behavior potential during the burn period. Observed fire activity includes areas of upslope fire and up drainage spread with wind and slope alignment. This morning's infrared imagery showed areas of fire spread on both sides of the upper Entiat River and Ice Creek that will likely produce additional acres involved during the day.
Myrtle Lake area, including Cow Creek and Larch Lakes Creek, may become active with upslope spread and flare ups due to patchy fuels and steep slopes. Diurnal wind flow is producing daytime up drainage and nighttime down drainage winds.
Northwest Team 7: Inciweb
Then, in Northern California, you have the Green Fire, an incident that pretty much sums up fighting fire in North Ops. Currently, the only access to the fire is by ferrying crews across Shasta Lake with boats. After that, they have to hike for over two hours to get to the fire’s edge. The fire has grown to an estimated 3,200 acres and was quite active yesterday.
Aviation has dropped over 112 loads of retardant on the fire. Helicopters have completed more than 200 bucket drops. Today, they are dispatching fireboats to help suppress the edge closest to Shasta Lake. They are asking recreators on Shasta Lake to stay clear of operations and to not fly drones, which will shut down the air operations.
It’s steep and rugged as hell up in this area, called Castle Crags.
But let’s not forget about the Southwest…
The notable fire in the area is the Laguna Fire. Fire managers are working to manage this fire in order to reintroduce wildfire to 13,000 acres of land. This New Mexico wildfire on the Santa Fe National Forest looks really good so far, with roughly 7,300 acres complete.
Alaska has experienced some favorable weather over the last 24-48 hours, but it remains at a PL5, the highest priority in the nation.
I’ll have a full update on all the fires on tomorrow’s show. July is picking up.
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