Western US wildfires: updates, fatalities

Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency as 23 large fires burn throughout the state. (See fire map HERE.) Many fires, especially in the far northern part of California, were started by lightning late last week as dry thunderstorms moved over southern Oregon and northern California. More than 8,000 firefighters are at work on the blazes and hundreds of residents have fled homes at risk of burning. The Frog Fire in Modoc National Forest, northeast of Redding, has claimed the life of David Ruhl, 38, of the US Forest Service.  He was a fire management officer on temporary assignment from the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota. As Ruhl drove around the still-small Frog Fire late Friday looking for the best way to attack it, wind gusted, the fire shifted rapidly and he was trapped. He is survived by his wife and two children. 


(CNN) David Ruhl of Rapid City, South Dakota, lost his life fighting the Frog Fire near Adin,
California. Rescuers searched for him overnight, and found his body Friday, the Forest
Service said. Ruhl had been on temporary assignment in the area since June.  Source

Many of California's fires, including the Frog Fire, have grown significantly in size today (Saturday).

The largest blaze has forced hundreds of people to evacuate and destroyed more than a dozen homes. Experts have predicted a long and volatile summer wildfire season in California in its fourth year of crippling drought.

The Frog Fire, which broke out on Thursday and is about 5 percent contained, has grown to 1,850 acres (750 hectares) and erratic winds have pushed it in all directions, he said.


...
The Rocky Fire, in the foothills and canyons on the inland flanks of California's northern coastal range in Lake County north of San Francisco, has also ballooned in size and now covers 22,500 acres (9,100 hectares).  [Source]

Flames from the Rocky Fire approach a house on Friday [July] 31, in Lower Lake, California.
Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Source

Other information from Inciweb

Approximate location:
Frog fire CA.kmz (1.16 KB)

The Rocky Fire in Lake County, California, grew to 46,000 acres overnight. Two highways are closed and 12,000 people evacuated. Temperatures are currently in three digits and winds are erratic.  Source

  
Photo: Noah Berger, European Pressphoto Agency (see link above)


General area:
Rocky fire.kmz (752 B)

Three firefighters died today in the Twisp Fire, Washington state, and three others were injured. None have yet been identified.

Twisp Fire fatalities.kmz (891 B)

The firefighters were killed when winds shifted unexpectedly near the towns of Twisp and Winthrop and turned back on crews fighting a small new fire, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said. All residents of both towns — almost 1,000 people — were ordered to evacuate immediately.

There are more than 100 wildfires in the western states, burning more than 1.1 million acres so far. Heavy smoke throughout the region is causing problems for vulnerable groups. See source for more info and videos.


  Map from Inciweb  

Washingtom fires

Names of the three firefighters killed in the Twisp fire were released yesterday. (See kmz file in above post for the Twist fire location.)

BY MATT VOLZ AND BRIAN SKOLOFF

Associated Press



TWISP, WASH.

One was a college student for whom fighting fires was a summer job. Another had graduated and wanted to make firefighting his career. The third was already a professional firefighter who had gone back to school to earn his master’s degree.



Tom Zbyszewski [20], Richard Wheeler [31] and Andrew Zajac [26] – the three men who died Wednesday when flames consumed their crashed vehicle in Washington state – were typical of the wildland firefighters who start out as fresh-faced college kids making as little as $12 an hour then find themselves hooked on the work.



Four others were injured in the canyon, one critically. But their firefighting brothers and sisters had little time to mourn as raging fires forced entire communities to flee their homes 60 miles away.



Read more here

              Photos
                         Zbyszewski, 20                                             Wheeler, 31 (wife Celeste)                                                Zajac, 26



                     
                    Jackson Hotshots' firefighters, from Jackson, Miss., stand with hands and helmets over their hearts as they watch a motorcade
                    carrying the bodies of firefighters killed a day earlier while fighting a wildfire drive past Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015, in Twisp, Wash.
                    Elaine Thompson AP



President Obama declared an emergency in Washington State. "The declaration, which mobilizes FEMA and provides federal resources 'is welcome news for the communities on the front lines battling the wildfires,' said Gov. Jay Inslee in a statement. The large number of wildfires in the Western United States has created a large scale fuel supply shortage for firefighting activities in Eastern Washington. At least 16 massive fires have swept through 400,000 acres of Washington, according to the governor's office. More than 100 homes have been destroyed, and 5,000 remained under threat in eastern Washington alone." 

More than 70 firefighting experts from Australia and New Zealand will travel to the United States to help tackle deadly wildfires across the West as local officials warned they could not keep up with the spread of the flames.
...
Nearly 29,000 firefighters — 3,000 of them in Washington — are battling some 100 large blazes across the drought and heat-stricken West, many so large they are visible from space.


                                                Firefighters flee as the Twisp River fire advanced unexpectedly on Thursday. DAVID RYDER / Reuters            

Source. 

Active fires in Canada, US, and Mexico.

Overlay from MODIS via Inciweb:
CONUS MODIS 1km Fire Detections.kmz (1.09 MB)

New member Carolyn alerted me by PM to this very informative Youtube map by Kenji Kato:

  
Thanks, Carolyn! 

Four California firefighters were burned Saturday (9/12/15) in the Lake Fire, a new one in Lake County north of Santa Rosa. It broke out about 1:30 p.m., grew very rapidly to 10,000 acres during the day, and by Saturday night it was 25,000 acres (39 square miles). The firefighters had second-degree burns and are in the UC Davis Medical Center.  

The community of Cobb, an area of about 1,600 people, was under mandatory evacuation orders.

All Cal Fire personnel were called back into duty late Saturday because of fire activity statewide, and all days off were cancelled, a fire official said.

Lake Fire.kmz (757 B)

Elsewhere in California, more than 3,000 firefighters were battling a huge wildfire east of Sacramento that has destroyed 86 homes homes and threatens around 6,400 other structures.

The explosive Butte Fire in Amador and Calaveras counties was at nearly 65,000 acres Saturday, and has been spurred on by "unprecedented fire conditions" and steep terrain that has helped the blaze spread, Cal Fire said. The fire was 15 percent contained by Saturday evening, the department said.

  

Butte Fire.kmz (777 B)

Mandatory evacuation orders are as follows:

Amador County -- Canyon View, Fig Tree Lane, and Ponderosa Way; the Town of Pine Grove to include all areas South of Hwy 88 from West Clinton Road, East to Ranch Drive. Inclusive of the Communities of Ranch House Estates, Pine Acres, Jackson Pines, Pine Drove Ranchettes and Lake Tabeau.

Calaveras County -- Town of Mokelumne Hill, East of Hwy 49 from the Amador/Calaveras County line South to Goldstrike Road. South on Goldstrike Road to the Community of San Andreas. Rural areas East of San Andreas to Mountain Ranch Road. Mountain Ranch Road to Calaveritas Road to Fourth Crossing. Fourth Crossing to Hwy 49. East side of Hwy 49 South to North side of Hwy 4 (Angels Camp). North side of Hwy 4 East to Town of Arnold. All of SR 26 from Mokelumne Hill North to the Amador/Calaveras County line. To include the communities of Glencoe, Westpoint, and Wilseyville.  [Source: video and quote] 

The Valley Fire at Harbin Hot Springs and Middletown, California, has burned 585 houses and hundreds of other buildings in just a few days. To date, 67,000 acres have burned and over 13,000 people remain evacuated, most still unable to check on their properties. A retired disabled woman died in her home, unable to evacuate. Residents had no more than a few minutes to evacuate, in some cases, as winds whipped flames in all directions.  




Photos and more information HERE. 

Valley Fire.kmz (757 B)