Fires around the world



Updated: Aug. 21, 2021 7:37 p.m. Front Snip:
UPDATE Aug. 21 7:31 p.m. The Caldor Fire has grown to 90,107 acres and remains at zero percent containment, according to Cal Fire's update on Saturday evening.

Aug. 21 4:20 p.m. A spot fire was reportedly seen on the north side of Highway 50 near Kyburz, according to KCRA 3.

A 46-mile stretch of California's Highway 50 remained closed Saturday morning as high winds are expected to pick up this afternoon and could push the 82,000-acre Caldor Fire northeast of the main roadway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.

The closure is in both directions impacting the section through El Dorado County, running between Sly Park Road and the Highway 50/89 roundabout in Meyers, officials said.

Highway 50 will remain shut down to traffic in both directions until at least Monday, Caltrans District 3 said.

For updates, visit the Caltrans Twitter account.

Evacuations remained in effect in El Dorado County and pushed farther into the neighboring Amador County, inching closer to South Lake Tahoe.

The coastal marine layer pushed all the way into the Sacramento Valley Saturday morning, bringing down temperatures and carrying moisture into the region, the National Weather Service said. While the cloud cover didn't stretch all the way into the Sierra Foothills where the Caldor Fire has been burning for a week, the region will benefit.

Weather service forecaster Craig Shoemaker said relative humidity levels over the fire have ranged from 10% to 15% in recent days and today levels are likely to range from 25% to 30%.

That's the good news. There's also some bad news. Winds were light Saturday morning, ranging from 5 mph to 10 mph, but Saturday afternoon, especially between 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Shoemaker said they will pick up with gusts up to 40 mph. The forecast winds led the weather service to issue a red flag warning for the central part of El Dorado County Saturday.


GRIZZLY FLATS (CBS13) — Detectives are searching for a man who was evacuated from the Grizzly Flats area due to the Caldor Fire and has not been seen or heard from since Wednesday, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said.

Marvin Hardy Creel, 57, attempted to call a family member just before noon that day but had poor reception, leaving the pair unable to speak to each other.

READ MORE: Red Flag Warning Conditions Create Challenges in Caldor Firefight

Detectives said friends and family repeatedly tried to call Creel back but got no answer. He was driving a Dodge pickup truck that was later found by deputies abandoned in the Grizzly Flat area.

READ MORE: Caldor Fire Update: Flames Jump Highway 50, Nears 100K Acres Burned

Creel is a white man with blond hair and blue eyes. He stands 5 feet six inches tall and weighs around 200 pounds. Detectives say he may be wearing eyeglasses.

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MORE NEWS: Arrest Made In Connection To Yuba City Storage Unit Burglaries

Anyone with information on Creel’s whereabouts is asked to contact the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

Video / 02:35
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — From the recall debates to the Assembly and Senate floors, the number of acres recently treated to prevent wildfires has become a political hot button heading into the recall.

A year ago this month, the governor, the US Forest Service and other stakeholders signed an agreement committing to treat a combined million acres of forest land each year by 2025.

This built on the state’s existing commitment under former Governor Jerry Brown to treat 500,000 acres a year by adding 500,000 acres of federal land.

However, in the year since it was signed, it appears neither the state nor the feds treated a half-million acres—and it’s not clear if anyone actually knows how many were treated.

“We’ve actually been able to treat well over the goal that we were trying to get at, which was sixty thousand acres a year,” said Cal Fire Chief Daniel Berlant. But, he notes, Cal Fire is only responsible for a portion of the half-million acres of state land.

Under the agreement, he says the rest of the state land is supposed to be treated by other state agencies, parks, conservancies and private landowners—including timber companies.

But who’s keeping track of who’s making sure that they’re doing the job? Berlant says the governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resiliency Task Force is in charge.

“A lot of people and a lot of agencies are working towards fuel reduction efforts,” Berlant said. “And how we get our arms wrapped around how much everybody is doing is an important task.”

Right now, it’s not clear how many state acres were actually treated since the million-acre-per-year agreement was signed.

The US Forest Service tells us they’ve treated over 300,000 acres of federal land over the past two years—212,000 acres in 2020, and 110,000 acres so far in 2021.

Cal Fire reports treating more than 84,699 acres of state land between June 2020 and June 2021. They expect that number to increase as more reporting comes in.

But the task force could not tell us how many state acres were treated by others as their still trying to reconcile records from multiple state agencies and other stakeholders.

Pending legislation would require the governor’s task force to “track and ensure the achievement” of the goals. But in the meantime, the exact progress is unclear. Berlant says it’s safe to say the state has not met the 500,000-acre-per-year goal yet. Though, notably, they have until 2025.

“While we are definitely are making good strides and we’ve increased the pace and scale, we still have some work to go over the next couple of years,” Berlant said.

So, could any of the fires we’ve seen this season have been prevented if the state and the feds had met the million-acre goal this past year?

“If our forests were healthier, if they were in better shape, if they were thinned out, we absolutely would have a greater chance of being able to stop the fires,” Berlant said.

He says the Caldor Fire has now burned up to the border of one project area. However, the area where the fire ignited was not part of the project.
 



Front Snip Video August 23, 2021 at 10:45 pm
EL DORADO NATIONAL FOREST (CBS SF) — The Caldor Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada has become the top firefighting priority in the nation and the Cal Fire chief Monday afternoon acknowledged the possible threat to the Lake Tahoe area.


The wildfire has burned 114,166 acres, or nearly 178 square miles, in the El Dorado National Forest since it began on August 14 East of Omo Ranch and south of the community of Grizzly Flats. Containment was reported at nine percent as of Monday night.

Cal Fire Thom Porter told reporters at a Monday press conference the Caldor Fire is getting top priority in the allocation of firefighting resources because of its proximity to Tahoe.

“It is that important,” he said. “It is knocking on the door to the Lake Tahoe basin. We have all efforts in place to keep it out of the basin, but we do also need to be aware that that is a possibility based on the way the fires have been burning.”

Chief Clive Savacool with the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department said crews were working with Tahoe officials to come up with backup plans, just in case the flames move further east.

“The evacuation warnings aren’t into the Tahoe Basin yet, they are not into South Lake Tahoe, we don’t want to have anybody panic, we just want to be able to keep up to date with constant information, accurate information from reliable sources,” said Chief Savacool.


Firefighters battle flames during the Caldor Fire in Kyburz, California, U.S., on
Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. (David Odisho/Bloomberg via Getty Images)


After a week of zero containment, fire officials reported five percent containment Monday and more containment is expected especially along the southern edge of the fire throughout the day.

At a California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services news conference Monday afternoon, officials announced that two Galt police officers were severely hurt in a head-on collision early Sunday morning along Highway 99 as they headed to help in Caldor Fire. Two other civilians were injured in the fire last week.

Washoe County AQMD@WashoeCountyAQ 7:21 PM · Aug 24, 2021
To get an idea of what Reno/Sparks looks like right now compared to one of the cleaner days in the last month. Left is the current view from @NWSReno's webcam (AirNow NowCast AQI of 289) w/ #CaldorFire smoke Right was on 7/20/21 (AirNow NowCast AQI of 58) w/ #TamarackFire smoke

 



Two new fire's erupt in California. The #AirolaFire, and the #Bennett Fire, in Grass Valley.


August 25, 2021 at 11:22 pm Video / Teaser snip:
GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) — Plumes of smoke 200 feet high, airdrops from above and hand crews on the ground brought an aggressive approach to a fast-moving fire in Grass Valley.

“It was a wall of flame. It actually started out as a size of a car and it was a wall of flame in a matter of seconds,” explained resident Larry Huntington.

Huntington lives on the property of the Bennett Industrial Park Trailer storage facility. He was in his trailer when the Bennett Fire started and tried to fight the flames with his own water truck.

“Panic starts setting in. I couldn’t see. It was white and dark smoke, trees erupting,” he explained.

Officials issued evacuations for 4,269 people and shelter in place orders for an additional 2,709 residents. Shelter-in-place orders were for some facilities directly in the line of the fire, including assisted living facilities Atria and Crystal Ridge Care Center. Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital was also placed under a shelter-in-place order.
 


Caldor Fire Smoke Outlook for 8/27/21

Bill Gabbert Posted on August 26, 2021 Snip:
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MAFFS 8 at Sacramento McClellan Airport August 8, 2021. Photo by Mike McKeig.

It looked like it was not going to happen, but the eighth military C-130 Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) has been activated. On August 9 five were working. The last three were added (approximate dates) on August 10 (Colorado Air Force Reserve), August 23 (Wyoming Air National Guard), and August 26 (California Air National Guard).

For now they are all based at Sacramento McClellan Airport. It is the first time all eight aircraft in the MAFFS program have been activated since a series of large wildfires in Colorado in 2012.

Only eight MAFFS roll-in systems exist in the United States. They can enable an only slightly modified military C-130 to spray up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant using equipment powered by compressed air. Their role is to assist with fighting wildland fires when needed to supplement the privately owned large air tankers under contract to the federal government.

Skipping Down:

The issue of a shortage of air tankers came up when President Biden met virtually with the Western Governors July 30 to talk about the wildfire situation. Several of them asked the President for aerial assets, firefighters, help in obtaining aviation fuel, and aggressive initial attack. California Governor Gavin Newsom was adamant about needing more air tankers.

“We have four DC-10s, Mr. President, four,” Governor Newsom said. “Now, DC-10s aren’t the answer to every problem …They have restrictions; there are legendary restrictions. But the reality is there is four for the country, and we’re competing. They’re all contracted. We compete with you. We compete with other states. We don’t even have access right now to DC-10s. We lost that 747 — that iconic 747 — that now has been converted to a cargo plane.”

California had the 747 on a CWN contract when the company went out of business. If they had activated it, the aircraft would be flying fires today.

On July 14 the National Interagency Fire Center upgraded the Preparedness Level to 5, which was the earliest date in 10 years. Today 15 Type 2 Incident Management Teams and all but two of the available Type 1 Incident Management Teams are committed. An Area Command Team has been activated, something that rarely happens, and nearly 27,000 personnel are assigned to wildfires. The National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) decreed on July 18 that all requests for Area Command, National Incident Management Organization (NIMO), Type 1, and Type 2 IMTs must be approved by them, an action that has not occurred in recent memory. There are 76 large uncontained fires being fully suppressed in the United States, and another 31 are being managed rather than suppressed

California Wildfires: Caldor Fire Thursday night update
Aug 28, 2021
As more evacuation orders are issued, the Caldor Fire approaches closer to South Lake Tahoe while firefighters combat the flames.
 
Another shot of the spectacular Firenado at the #ChaparralFire. One gets a better idea of its size girth and volume.


6h ago
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Caldor Fire growth slowed on Saturday due to calm winds and officials are “attacking it with everything they have” to keep flames away from the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The fire expanded by less than 3,000 acres on Saturday and burned another 4,000 overnight as the inversion layer lifted and winds became more active. The fire has burned 156,515 acres as of Sunday morning. Containment remains at 19%, but there is no containment on the eastern edge as flames chew through dry timber and steep, rugged terrain and is within about 5 or 6 miles of Meyers and 7-8 miles away from South Lake Tahoe, according to officials on Saturday.

What winds the fire itself created spit embers out in front of the blaze causing firefighters to chase down spot fires.

Operation Section Chief Cody Bogan said near U.S. Highway 50 firefighters are working on primary lines and patrolling. On the northside of US 50 near Kyburz firefighters are working on dozer lines to bring the fire back down to the highway.

“In Division Juliet troops are in a firefight right now, as we speak,” Bogan said Saturday evening.

Division J is on the eastern flank.

Firefighters will have part of Sunday to further suppress the blaze before strong winds return to the area.

The National Weather Service on Sunday morning issued a red flag warning for gusty winds and low humidity that goes into effect at 2 p.m. Monday and last through Tuesday evening.

The Tribune incorrectly said the service issued a warning on Saturday when it was just a fire weather watch. But a day later, the warning for critical fire danger was issued.

Winds are expected to come from the southwest at about 15-20 mph which would further push the fire towards Tahoe. Higher gusts of about 35 mph are expected over exposed terrain and up to 50 mph for ridgetops.

Winds are expected to reach up to 15 mph on Sunday.

Officials reported that a third fire responder has suffered injuries in the fight to suppress the blaze.

A Galt police officer lost his life in a car crash responding to the incident a couple of days ago which could be considered a fourth injury.

Overall, 18,347 structures are threatened, 471 single residences have been destroyed, 39 structures damaged, 11 commercial properties have been lost and another 170 minor structures have been burned

The amount of personnel on the fire continues to grow with 3,352 battling the blaze from the ground and air, including 306 engines, 78 water tenders, 25 helicopters, 74 hand crews and 76 dozers.

Even more resources are expected to arrive soon from the Department of Defense, the U.S. Forest Service announced Saturday.

The DoD is sending 200 U.S. Army soldiers from Washington state and equipment including eight U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft to help firefighters in Northern California. The soldiers are expected to arrive in California in early September after a week-long training. The C-130s have been converted into air tankers that can dump thousands of gallons of water on the flames.

Officials have tenuously set Sept. 8 as the full containment date.

“We’re attacking it with everything we have,” said one of Cal Fire’s incident commanders, Dusty Martin, during Saturday evening’s briefing.

The fire has blanketed the basin in a toxic layer of smoke for the past several days, although conditions were somewhat improved on Saturday, but ash continued to fall from the sky.





(Maps of the geographical terrain)
 
A massive effort is underway with keeping the Caldor fire from the Lake Tahoe basin.



Caldor Fire Update: Wildfire containment drops from 19% to 13%
Red Flag conditions accelerate Caldor Fire activity, approaching Tahoe Basin
Aug 30, 2021



Cal OES
Click below for an online evacuation map:

5:50 PM · Aug 29, 2021 from Alicante, Spain·
Images of the intervention.@AcifSalinas@GVA112@BomberosDipuALC@_FACIF
 
Resorts burn and fire tornadoes rage in blaze-ravaged California, as entire CITY ordered to evacuate (VIDEOS)
Fresh evacuation orders have been issued in the resort city of South Lake Tahoe, California, as a devastating wildfire closes in. Meanwhile, fires to the south of Los Angeles have whipped up intense tornadoes of flame.
Some 24,000 people have already left their homes along the highway connecting South Lake Tahoe with Sacramento, CBS San Francisco reported on Monday. The fire has destroyed nearly 500 structures, injured five people, and burned more than 177,000 acres, according to data from Cal Fire.
I look at this article and think about Deep State agents causing fires to drive people out of their homes and force them to accept that "You now live in a rented home and own nothing. You'll be happy!".
Also:
The journalist says that he thinks the rumor that BlackRock is buying up homes is fake-news, while he links to his earlier article, where he looks at the fact that when we look who in the world owns everything, all assets, all companies, BlackRock comes second.. Vanguard is first..
 
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Erratic wind patterns could be the game changer for the jewel of the sierras.


During this fly-through, Kurtis Ming shows the latest heat map depicting where the fires are burning, including in Kirkwood, and near neighborhoods in Meyers.



 
At least 10 people have been killed in a fire that broke out at an modular Covid-19 hospital in the town of Tetovo, Macedonia. Unofficially according to Sitel TV, there are about 30 victims, including patients and medical personnel.

8 Sep, 2021

Published on Sep 8, 2021 (0:55)
 
The FawnFire kicked up yesterday north of Redding in Shasta County (very Northern California):


Burn footprint so far, 7,000 acres:


And of course started by climate change, err, no…more arson 🧐

 
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