Wildland Fire Situation Report and Wildfire News, 6/22/06

Various ^ | 6/21/06 | USFS, NICC, WFAS, WBBM

[Knitting A Conundrum]

New bunch of fresh news stories starting with post 35

[Knitting A Conundrum]

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/06/22/6_22_fire_www.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=7

New, 12:18 p.m.: Fire near New Castle 50 percent contained

Thursday, June 22, 2006

By EMILY MORRIS

The Daily Sentinel

A wildfire on Jolley Mesa west of New Castle has burned about 120 acres, according to the Burning Mountain Fire Department.

“We have 50 percent containment, the fire is looking really good and we are gaining containment by the hour,” said Judy Brodland, an administrative assistant at the fire department and a volunteer firefighter.

The fire started Wednesday evening. Brodland said she does not know how it began.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Thanks for the pings. We really need rain.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Rocky Mountain Area Predictive Services

Southwest Monsoon Update

June 20, 2006

Current Situation/Short Term Forecast:

In the short-mid term a west-northwest flow dominates the RMA from Tuesday June 20^th  through the weekend June 24-25^th. This pattern keeps the monsoon moisture plume well south of the region (Figure 1). During this period a low level upslope flow combined with passing upper disturbances results in isolated to widely scattered mainly wet thunderstorms in the Front Range and eastern Colorado, with dry weather elsewhere across the RMA.

Figure 1.  GFS 500 mb pressure pattern (~18,000 ft msl) Tuesday afternoon 6/20/06, and 500 mb wind (red barb)

 

Outlook:

As high pressure migrates into the great basin and the southwest U.S. from Monday June 26 through Wednesday June 28 (Figure 2), resultant flow continues to be dry from the northwest along with a warming trend over the RMA.  Wet thunderstorms are anticipated to remain in the southern Front Range during this period, with an increasing chance of mainly dry thunderstorms near and west of the divide in southern Colorado. The monsoon moisture plume during this time is still shunted well south of the region.

Figure 2.  GFS 500 MB pressure pattern (~18,000 ft msl) Wed afternoon 6/28/06, and 500 mb wind (blue barb)

 

Monsoons are taking their time...(or maybe we should say, they aren't early)

http://www.blm.gov/colorado/rmafwx/southwestmonsoon.htm

[Knitting A Conundrum]

making that clickable:


Monsoon watch:

http://www.blm.gov/colorado/rmafwx/southwestmonsoon.htm

[moondoggie]

Thanks for the info.

Weather conditions here <25 miles due north of the Mato Vega> are rain, hail, and LOTS OF LIGHTNING.

Hopefully any lightning strikes will be doused by the moisture.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Thank you for this link.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

from the NWS:

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
Tornado Watch for portions of

much of eastern Colorado

Effective this Thursday afternoon and evening from 1220 PM until
700 PM MDT.

Tornadoes... hail to 2.5 inches in diameter... thunderstorm wind
gusts to 80 mph... and dangerous lightning are possible in these
areas.

The Tornado Watch area is approximately along and 75 statute
miles east and west of a line from 20 miles north northeast of
Limon Colorado to 45 miles west southwest of Springfield
Colorado. For a complete depiction of the watch see the
associated watch outline update (wous64 kwns wou2).

Remember... a Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for
tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch
area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for
threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements
and possible warnings.

Discussion... favorable veering shear profiles... coupled with
increasingly unstable air mass support supercell development into
ern plains. Storms will develop over higher terrain and along swd
moving boundary from den ewd and propagate sewd. Along with large
hail tornados are possible.

Aviation... tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail
surface and aloft to 2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface
wind gusts to 70 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to
550. Mean storm motion vector 31020.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Looks like wild weather this afternoon some places--in a day or two be on the lookout for lighting caused fires in dead trees breaking out.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

New start:

NM State, Socorro District, new start, Eicks Fire: Acreage: 700 Containment: 0% Cause: Lightening Location: Eicks Draw/Birch Creek (Diamond A Ranch), South of the Adobe Fire Fuels: Grass, Bear Grass, Oak, Piñon/Juniper There are some structures threatened by this fire on the Diamond A Ranch. State Forestry and BLM engines are responding for structure protection. Fire fighters are concerned about the spread of the fire to the south and west. If the fire burns to the north, it will run into the Adobe Fire burn area. If the fire burns toward the east, it will run into a sparse fuel area. A heavy air tanker has been ordered in, to drop retardant in-between the fire and the structures threatened.


This is the sort of thing that happens when there's lots of lightning...

[BurbankKarl]

Brins fire

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Evening news roundup

[Knitting A Conundrum]

(AP) -- A large part of Arizona's northern forests close tomorrow to reduce the risk of wildfire.

The Tonto, Kaibab and Prescott national forests will implement partial closures tomorrow, while the Coconino National Forest will be totally closed to visitors.

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests will remain open, though there are smoking and campfire restrictions.

Forest officials say closures reduce the risk of human-caused fires.

To report anyone breaking forest rules and regulations on campfires and smoking, please call 928-226-4605.

http://www.kpho.com/Global/story.asp?S=5066754

[Knitting A Conundrum]

SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) - Crews used hand tools to scratch out firebreaks along a canyon as planes dropped retardant Thursday in hopes of keeping a 3,260-acre wildfire from spreading north of this scenic Arizona community. Crews also were standing by to protect roughly 460 homes and businesses in nearby Oak Creek Canyon, which was evacuated when the fire began Sunday as a transient's campfire.

No buildings had burned. "It's looking pretty good in that area right now," said David Eaker, a spokesman for the team fighting the fire.

Nora Walker-Yeager, who was allowed to return to her home briefly Thursday, grabbed her wedding book, her husband's wedding ring, her engagement ring, dog toys, clothes and medications.

"If it burns, we've got the things that are most important to us," Walker-Yeager said.

Eaker said Thursday's diminishing winds worked in the favor of the 700 firefighters battling the blaze. But temperatures forecast around 100 with single-digit humidity would work against them.

In southern Colorado, firefighters were helped by cooler temperatures and higher humidity as they worked to expand containment lines around an 11,800-acre wildfire. Residents of 300 homes were still awaiting word on when they could return, and U.S. 160, a major thoroughfare through the area, remained closed for a fourth day. No houses had been lost.

The fire, burning in drought-stressed grasslands and forests about 150 miles south of Denver, was 30 percent contained.

Firefighters in New Mexico, facing fires that have scorched more than 70,000 acres, were dealing with more hot weather Thursday, plus forecasts for lightning and erratic winds.

"We have to take one day at a time," fire information officer Brian Morris said. "We can plan for the future, but we still have to deal with today."

The largest blaze - the 33,250-acre in southwestern New Mexico - threatened cabins and other structures in the Willow Creek area.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0606/338598.html

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Weather helping, hindering Mato Vega fire fight

By Gary Gerhardt, Rocky Mountain News
June 22, 2006
High humidity on La Veta Pass today is keeping the 12,000-acre Mato Vega wildfire from spreading rapidly, but it’s also hindering firefighters from setting backfires to burn away fuels.

"We really wish we’d get some rain to help out today, but all there is so far is high humidity and low winds," said fire information officer Louis Hayner.

"We tried to try some burnout operations but we can’t get the grasses and other materials to stay ignited and burn back toward the main fire line."

So firefighters are digging a fire line using bulldozers and hand tools, trying to scratch out a line a couple of hundred feet wide between houses and the active fire line.

The active fire line is about a quarter of a mile from U.S. 160 and if the wind shifted to the south, it could flare again and possibly jump the highway to the south side.

Scraping out a line is a slow process and hopes that folks living in the Wagon Creek subdivision south of U.S. 160 would be allowed back into their homes today were dashed because no one is being allowed up the pass except for fire vehicles.

The fire does not interfered with access to the towns of La Veta and Cuchara from on the east side of the pass, which are popular tourist destinations in the summer.

La Veta Pass is about 150 miles southwest of Denver.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/weather/article/0,1299,DRMN_18_4794493,00.html

[Knitting A Conundrum]

NEW CASTLE - A fast-moving wildfire burned probably 100 acres or more on Jolley Mesa west of New Castle Wednesday and prompted a multi-agency counterattack by land and air.

"This is so bad, it's not funny. I think I've lost about 150 acres so far," said Brett Jolley, who owns the mesa top land with his brother, Kent.

Burning Mountains Fire Chief Brit McLin, whose own home was threatened by the fire, placed the initial rough estimate at a slightly more conservative 100-125 acres as of about 9 p.m. He also thought that the fire was perhaps 50 percent contained.

He said no structures had been damaged and he knew of no injuries from the blaze. Crews worked to protect several natural gas wells on the mesa, he said.

Jolley said a cabin he owns on top of the mesa did not appear to be threatened as of about 8 p.m.

"It's not as bad as it was, but it's far from being over," Grady Hazelton, a Jolley family friend who helped respond to the fire, said at about 7 p.m.

The fire began near County Road 335 south of the Colorado River and sent up a plume of smoke that dominated the sky even in Glenwood Springs. Pushed by high winds and encouraged by tinder-dry conditions, the fire raced up a gully and onto the mesa, witnesses said.

"It started out tiny, tiny and just exploded," said Jackie Gray, who lives just across the river from where the fire started. Her son, Casey, 10, saw the fire around 4:30 p.m. and yelled to his father, Alvie, who was among those to call it in to authorities. He said the fire took off while he was on the phone with a dispatcher.

"I'm just dumbfounded at how fast it went," he said.


The fire forced the shutdown of County Road 335 between Silt and New Castle.

A helicopter made numerous water drops on the blaze, obtaining water from the nearby river. A heavy air tanker made slurry drops, which McLin said proved crucial in the battle against the blaze.

"It really made it to where we could get in there and have a chance," he said.

He said fire crews from Meeker, Rifle, the federal government and Glenwood Springs responded to the fire. A team of smokejumpers also answered the call, with their round, blue parachutes visible as they dropped in from the west.

"It's the joint effort that's going to make things go the right way," McLin said.

Business and individuals also pitched in, including EnCana Oil & Gas USA, which sent a water truck. Some of the threatened wells are EnCana's, McLin said.

Several motorists parked on the frontage road south of Interstate 70 to watch the air assault and see trees continue to ignite in flames.

Jack McNeel, who is Jackie Gray's father and lives next door to her, had been a little nervous about the possibility of the fire jumping the river and igniting haystacks by his house. He praised crews for making a stand against the fire at County Road 335.

"They worked really hard to keep it from coming this way," he said.

He said owners of homes to the east on County Road 335 were lucky the fire went up the gully rather than in their direction.

Ironically, McLin said his own home was the closest to the fire, on County Road 335 and about a half mile away. But he wasn't too concerned because the fire was blowing in a different direction.

Fires are becoming commonplace around McLin's home. Last July 4, someone throwing fireworks from a passing vehicle on Divide Creek Road near County Road 335 started a fire on land owned by McLin.

Later that month, another wildfire burned on Jolley Mesa.

McLin said it's pure speculation at this point, but he wouldn't be surprised if a discarded cigarette started Wednesday's fire, given its origin near the road and the lack of recent lightning that might start a fire naturally.

Gray is guessing the same thing, after seeing a car go by on the road just before the fire's start.

http://www.glenwoodindependent.com/article/20060622/VALLEYNEWS/106220037/-1/FRONTPAGE

[WestCoastGal]

Great idea to close the forest area. Summer is difficult enough with tourists carelessly throwing out cigarettes and not extinguishing campfires properly.

I heard earlier today the Sedona fire was burning north toward Flagstaff. Is that still the case?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Jolley Mesa Fire Pics

[Knitting A Conundrum]

some updated news and a few pics starting on message 54