Clik here to view.
Better video of the Australian fire tornado
Loyal readers of Wildfire Today will remember back to September 18 when we posted a video of a fire tornado shot by Chris Tangey of Alice Springs Film and Television while he was scouting locations...
View ArticleClik here to view.
More research minimizes the effect beetles have on fire behavior
More researchers have recently come to the same conclusions others have about the effect that bark beetles have on wildland fire behavior. Some people see beetle-killed trees and intuitively think that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
As fast as a freight train with a broken throttle
The American Red Cross of Los Angeles — I guess their heart is in the right place. They produced a video that tries to impress upon viewers the speed at which a vegetation fire spreads. They convinced...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Another Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory — this time, Arizona and New Mexico
One of the Predictive Services offices has issued another Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory. The last one, issued June 10, was for California. This new one, dated June 16, is for portions of Arizona and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Southern California fuels and fire behavior advisory
One of the Predictive Services offices issued a Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory for southern California. In this new one, most of Northern California has been temporarily removed due to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Excellent video from the West Fork Complex
This video was obviously shot by a firefighter on the West Fork Complex and has some excellent images of the fire. Be sure and notice the horizontal roll vortex at 1:35. The description of the video as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Understanding Wildland Fire Behavior Project
A research project is underway which seeks to solicit information from wildland firefighters about unexpected or extreme wildfire behavior they have experienced. More information is at their website,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Scientists set up equipment in front of a spreading fire
(Note from Bill: A Fire Behavior Assessment Team (FBAT) has been studying the King Fire east of Placerville, California. Rae Brooks, an Information Officer at the fire, sent us this article describing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Second generation of Simtable being developed
In May we recorded the video above and told you about the Simtable which projects 3-D wildfire simulations onto a sand table which can be molded to resemble the topography in a specific area. Fire...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Which areas have the most variable weather?
Even though I hated taking statistics classes in college, I am now an interested consumer of compilations and analysis of data that help to explain our world. One of the best statisticians at doing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Still another revision of safety zone rule
A safety zone constructed on a wildfire in 2014. Is this like a tactic used in the Vietnam war? “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” (Screen grab from the video below.) In May of this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wildfires in South Africa and Australia
A fire in South Africa on Thursday exhibited extreme fire behavior, in the form of a fire whirl. It appears that firefighters in Australia have their hands full with this fire near Adelaide.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Long-term changes in dead wood reveal new forest dynamics
Healthy forest ecosystems need dead wood to provide important habitat for birds and mammals, but there can be too much of a good thing when dead wood fuels severe wildfires. A scientist with the U.S....
View ArticleClik here to view.
More science indicates pine beetle outbreaks do not lead to catastrophic fire
Mountain pine beetle Scientists continue to develop evidence showing that pine beetle outbreaks do not lead to catastrophic wildfires. This should not be a shocking development to those who have been...
View ArticleClik here to view.
USFS: “Largest fire seasons since the 1950s”
The U.S. Forest Service has produced another graphic about wildfires. The new one, like the one we showed you on March 5 and later analyzed here, has an interesting choice of words. This time it is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Colorado to use new system to predict wildland fire behavior
Gov. John Hickenlooper traveled to an Arvada fire station to sign the bill that will implement a wildfire prediction system. Dr. Janice Coen, one of the developers of the system, is on the left. Photo...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Proposal: plant oak trees to limit spread of a brush fire
Tony Shafer and Shea Broussard have developed a fire simulator or model they say can predict the spread of a brush fire. With their “FlameMapper” program they have focused primarily on the Santa Monica...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spot fire from Sleepy Hollow Fire burned commercial structures 1.2 miles from...
3-D map of the Sleepy Hollow Fire in Wenatchee, Washington, looking west, 1 a.m. PT, June 30, 2015. Note the spot fire near the river that is 1.2 miles east of the main fire. (click to enlarge) The map...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Some of the vegetation that burned in the North Fire was 70 years old
Bob Eisele sent us this map of the North Fire — the “Carmegeddon” fire that trapped scores of vehicles on Interstate 15 in southern California July 17, burning 22 of them. His data points out that much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vane mount for Kestrel weather meter
Kestrel Portable Vane Mount. Kestrel photo. Many wildland fire crews carry some sort of pocketable weather monitoring device, ranging from a sling psychrometer to an electronic weather meter which can...
View Article