In ancient Rome, gladiators would face the crowd and say, "We who are about to die salute you".
Today, we have the meteorological version of this.
Look at the visible satellite image this morning. There are two west-to-east smoke plumes, hundreds of miles long.
One originates on the Olympic Peninsula (the Bear Gulch Fire) and the other on Vancouver Island (Port Alberni fire)
Neither fire was that large.....they are NOT megafires (sorry Seattle Times and NY Times). Each is around 5000 acres.
But they are smokers, burning in areas that have been logged with lots of flammable debris on the ground (see example near the Port Alberni fire)
Fortunately, the days of these fires are numbered.
As mentioned in my last blog, heavy rain is coming to the coastal mountains.
Below is the current forecast precipitation total through Saturday at 5 PM. Three to five inches of rain on west-facing slopes. Substantial rain over eastern Washington.
A less-than-average wildfire season so far is going to end that way.
I’ve been doing wildland fire for 5 years now. The dryness and heat doesn’t help at all obviously… but the condition of the woods from decades of logging is why western Washington, Oregon bc and Idaho get these bad fires now. And more logging/ fuel brakes isn’t the answer. Logging makes the woods thicker, dryer and with more 1 and 10 hour fuels then is even close to natural in this area. Wana make the fires less bad in the future? Let some burn/ manage them and change the way we log and destroy the temperate rainforest. carry on though 🙂. Also bear gulch is being managed not suppressed as it’s in national park now.. but no one will tell u that..
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the discussion. I worked for the forest service and park service for 9 years. Hot shot crew, hand crews and a type 1 wildland fire module that focused heavily on managing fire for resource benefit and prescribed fire. I agree with most aspects of what you are saying. Young monoculture plantation forests that are on their second, third or even fourth rotation are not particularly fire resistant under favorable burning conditions. Contrary to popular belief, fire IS a natural part of the ecosystem, even in our wet west side rainforests. Olympic national park has a recorded history of fires in the park, as well as the Olympic national forest lands surrounding. Unfortunately this only dates back to 1911. There is evidence that most of the east side drainages on the Olympic peninsula burned nearly completely 3 or 4 times between ~1500 and 1900. Even the wet west side of the peninsula has evidence of stand replacing fires. The San Juan islands are another area that has quite a bit of fire history. Mt constituion on Orcas island has burned several times in the last 300 years, likely due to maintenance burns set by the natives. Lightning is fairly rare in the San Juan’s. I don’t believe logging prevents large fires on the west side. However, I don’t want to alienate the logging industry from discussions on land management. I live in a wood framed structure, use toilet paper etc. I appreciate a supply of domestic timber. I’m actually a big proponent of smart harvesting and timber sales on forest service land. Use selective harvesting, target forests that are appropriate for harvest, protect values at risk, watersheds etc. leave old growth timber alone, wilderness areas, parks and legacy forests with nice age and species diversity. Unfortunately we have altered every forest system on the continent through climate change and fire suppression, even the old growth forests in wilderness areas. We all need to come to the table and manage it the best way science dictates. Thank you for your work out there. All wildland firefighters have my upmost respect.
DeleteBeen doing wildland fire for 5 years now. The main issue and reason these fires get so big now is from decades of logging. The forest isn’t even close to a natural state of equilibrium these days. And more logging and fuel brakes isn’t the answer. That just adds more 1 and 10 hour fuels which is what burns hot and fast and gets these big fires going. Most aren’t even native to the area at this point like blackberry and scotchbroom. The damage is done and now the hotter drier weather just wreaks havoc here. Get used to the smoke at this point
ReplyDeleteSorry Jose, the Bear Gulch fire is not in an area that has been logged. The main reason this fire got big is because irresponsible people lit off fireworks at the bottom of an extremely steep south-facing slope on a hot day. Suppression is also tough in steep rocky ground with no roads. Let’s hope the firefighters stay safe, and that the rain helps cool things off.
DeleteRW...you are not correct..the initiation area and initial growth area all were logged and were full of debris. I checked this is Goggle Earth..cliff
DeleteHas an official cause been determined for this fire? The idea that it may have potentially been caused by irresponsible people is very troubling.
DeleteI think we can all agree that idiots with fireworks should be made an example of and nailed to the nearest convenient wall, in terms of legal and financial consequences. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
DeleteA less than average fire season as far as acres burned but not because the potential was not there for a bad fire season. It has been very dry and warm since spring in Eastern Washington and the woods were more than ready to burn. Once again, it looks like we will get by without the feature that usually produces the big fires east of the Cascades; dry lightning. There has been almost no lightning activity this summer. When we did have a dry lightning storm, in early June, we had the Pomas fire starting in a higher elevation forest area which in most years would have been too early to have a large fire. Even if there hasn't been much fire activity west of the Cascades so far, it is not usual to have a fire as large as the Bear Gulch fire or the Port Alberni fire in those coastal areas, an indication of how dry it has been there. You call these small fires but they are large ones for these areas. While the incoming rain may end the serious part of the fire season, the west side must still get past the possible east wind periods that can occur in September and October. It has been so dry over there that even with a good rain from this storm, an east wind episode could quickly dry things out. I was on a project fire near Camp Grisdale in the southwestern Olympics in mid October of 1972 that started only about a week or two after nearly 10 inches of rain fell in that area.
ReplyDeleteBear Gulch smoke is passing through the Kittitas Valley (Ellensburg). At the north edge of the Valley (about 8 miles from I-90) the smoke moved south about 1 pm just enough to make a big difference in air quality. The WSDOT camera on Upper Manastash Ridge shows the smoke, as does Franklin Falls at the Pass.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing on the radar. Where is this moisture coming from??
ReplyDeleteThe weather models are forecasting it. Nothing will show on the radar until the system arrives late tomorrow (Thursday). Check out Windy.com for a look at the large scale weather patterns and the movement of systems around the region and the world.
DeleteRain.
DeleteHawaii
DeleteIf anything, the UW model appears to be calling for substantially less precipitation than the current NOAA and Weather Channel/Weather Underground forecasts which indicate 1.5 - 2” is possible in the Bellingham area. Similar to the very wet storm(s) of late last August, it appears that record amounts of precipitation may be in store!
ReplyDeleteThe Bear Gulch fire is now over 8,000 acres burned as of around noon, 8/13. The majority of the area burning around Lake Cushman hasn't been logged in many decades. The area to the NW of Staircase is protected lush forest that isn't and hasn't been logged in decades...uncertain why folks here are suggesting otherwise. Look up "Spike Camp" on Google Maps for photos of the area...they don't look at all like what's been posted here.
ReplyDeletetime2lose...you are not correct in this. Check out the area where the fire started and initially spread. FULL of logging debris and open area. Prime conditions for fire start and spread...cliff
DeleteWenatchee won the Air quality award yesterday with 153 (red) on department of ecology map. NOAA smoke graph showed the plume directly from the Bear Gulch fire all the way east to Spokane along I-90.
ReplyDelete