Tag Archives: Wildfire

Montana wildfire triggers hundreds of evacuations

By Keith Coffman

(Reuters) – A lightning-sparked wildfire burning for more than a month in western Montana has flared anew, prompting the evacuation of nearly 750 homes on Thursday as firefighters braced for more hot and windy weather forecast for the weekend, authorities said.

The so-called Lolo Peak fire, burning about 12 miles south of Missoula, has scorched more than 15,000 acres of timber since it erupted in mid-July, as tinder-dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blaze.

“When the winds kicked up last Sunday, it made a run of one and a half miles in an hour and has been growing since,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman James Stone said.

Erratic winds pushed flames close to housing subdivisions in two counties on Thursday, prompting mandatory evacuations of residents from 743 homes, said Jordan Koppen, a spokesman for the fire management command.

Fire retardant drops from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft have been deployed to douse the flames in an effort to assist some 500 firefighters on the scene.

No property losses have been reported, but a 29-year-old member of an elite “hotshots” firefighting crew from California was killed this month when a falling tree struck him.

Koppen said weather forecasters have issued red-flag warnings for the area on Friday, and he expects the burned acreage to increase when the fire is mapped again Thursday night.

The northern Rocky Mountain region has been in the grips of a prolonged drought, and this year wildfires have blackened 393,000 acres in Montana and parts of neighboring Idaho, Stone said.

In Oregon on Thursday, Governor Kate Brown authorized the state’s fire marshal to mobilize additional resources to aid local firefighting efforts near the Cascade town of Sisters, where a wildfire threatened more than 400 structures. An estimated 1,200 residents of the area were advised to stand by for possible evacuation notices.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Steve Gorman and Leslie Adler)

U.S. wildfire preparedness raised to highest level

FILE PHOTO: Rose fire burns near Lake Elsinore in Western Riverside County, California, U.S. in this undated photo obtained by Reuters July 31, 2017. Riverside County Fire Department via Facebook/Handout via REUTERS.

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. fire managers on Thursday raised the nation’s wildfire readiness status to its highest level for the first time in two years, as California and several other Western states faced heightened danger from lightning storms.

The National Fire Preparedness Level was elevated one notch from “PL-4” to “PL-5,” the top ranking on a five-point scale, recognizing that firefighting resources have been strained to their limits by the large number and scope of blazes in the west.

It also reflects the probability that severe weather conditions conducive to wildfires will continue for at least a few days.

The move allows for emergency assistance to be called upon from the U.S. military and even other countries, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

“Wildfire activity has escalated in recent days after thunderstorms, many with little or no moisture, moved across parts of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, sparking hundreds of new fires,” the fire center said.

The decision to raise the preparedness level was made by a multi-agency group of federal and state fire managers. The readiness status had been posted at PL-4 during most of July and into August before Thursday’s move, said fire center spokesman Randy Eardley.

The higher alert level means fire managers may be forced to let some large blazes they otherwise would have fought in remote locations burn unchallenged in order to make resources available to suppress fires posing a greater threat to life and property, Eardley said.

Nearly 41,000 individual wildfires of all sizes have scorched more than 6 million acres in the United States so far this year, well above the 4.2 million acres burned on average over the last 10 years, according to the fire center.

The last time an alert level of PL-5 was invoked was in August 2015. That same year, 200 U.S. Army soldiers were assigned to battle fires in Washington state for 30 days, while personnel and aircraft were brought in from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to support fire suppression efforts in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies.

Thursday’s elevation to PL-5 marked the fifth time the highest point on the readiness scale has been reached since 2007.

The National Interagency Fire Center reported 38 large, active wildfires burning across seven Western states on Thursday, primarily in California, Montana and Oregon.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Elite firefighter killed while battling western Montana blaze

(Reuters) – An elite California firefighter was killed by a falling tree while battling a blaze in western Montana, the second firefighting death in the area over the last two weeks, officials said.

Brent Witham, 29, of Mentone, California, was killed on Wednesday while fighting the so-called Lolo Peak Fire about 30 miles (50 km)south of Missoula in the Lolo National Park. It was sparked by lightning on July 15, the Missoula County sheriff and coroner said.

Witham was given CPR at the scene, but could not be revived, the Missoulian newspaper reported.

“Please keep wildland firefighters on the Lolo Peak fire and firefighters across the nation in your thoughts and prayers,” Leigh Golden, the fire department’s public information officer, said in an emailed statement to the newspaper.

Witham was a member of the Vista Grande Hotshots, an elite firefighting crew, one of 113 20-member specially trained squads in the United States that fight wildfires at close range with hand tools.

Witham’s death comes two weeks after Trenton Johnson, 19, was struck by a tree and killed while fighting the Florence Fire, a blaze in the Lolo National Forest, on July 19.

An elite squad of 19 Arizona firemen were killed in Arizona in 2014, the worst U.S. wildland firefighting tragedy in 80 years.

Witham was one of about 350 firefighters battling the Lolo Peak Fire that has burned 6,500 acres (2,600 hectares) of high elevation timber 10 miles (26 km) southwest of Lolo, forcing some evacuations.

 

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; editing by Clelia Oziel)

 

Evacuation order lifted as wildfire threatens California homes

Evacuation order lifted as wildfire threatens California homes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An evacuation order was lifted on Monday at the edge of a national forest in Southern California, after a wildfire threatening dozens of homes in the path of the flames.

The so-called Rose Fire, which broke near foothill communities east of the Cleveland National Forest in mid-afternoon, had charred some 150 acres (61 hectares) within several hours, according to the Riverside Fire Department.

The blaze was zero-percent contained at 8 p.m., as local television showed images of the flames bearing down on several homes. There were no immediate reports of injuries or structures destroyed.

Fire officials lifted all evacuation orders at about 8 p.m. local time.

More than 200 firefighters were deployed to battle the flames, assisted by three helicopters and six fixed-wing air tankers.

Investigators determined that the fire was caused accidentally by equipment, the Riverside Fire Department said.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Crews gain ground against Montana wildfire, largest in U.S.

Wildland Firefighters battle the Bridge Coulee Fire, part of the Lodgepole Complex, east of the Musselshell River, north of Mosby, Montana, U.S. July 21, 2017. Bureau of Land Management/Jonathan Moor/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Fire crews gained ground on Tuesday against a nearly week-old wildfire that has torched more than two dozens buildings and charred hundreds of square miles of Montana prairie and is currently the biggest fire burning in the United States.

By Tuesday evening, a firefighting force consisting of 650 personnel had managed to carve buffer lines around 36 percent of the blaze’s perimeter, up from a containment level of 20 percent reported earlier in the day, fire officials said.

Enough progress was made that authorities on Tuesday lifted evacuation orders that had been in place for about 50 property owners since late last week, fire command spokesman Tim Engrav said.

“We’ve turned a corner,” he told Reuters, saying that hand crews and a small fleet of water-dropping helicopters had taken advantage of diminished winds, cooler temperatures and higher humidity levels during the past two days.

The aim was to consolidate gains before the weekend, when drier, gusty, hotter conditions were forecast to return, Engrav said.

The so-called Lodgepole Complex fire has so far laid waste to an estimated 270,000 acres (109,000 hectares) of sagebrush, grasslands and timber near the Missouri River in eastern Montana, Engrav said.

At least 16 homes and 10 other structures have been destroyed, but no serious injuries have been reported, fire officials said.

The Lodgepole ranked as the biggest of 45 large active fires burning across 10 Western states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Montana accounts for 16 of those fires, more than any other state, the agency said.

Residents of Montana’s sparsely populated Garfield County, where the Lodgepole fire was burning, collected and transported relief supplies to people whose property has been damaged or destroyed.

Garfield County spokeswoman Anne Miller said in a telephone interview that donations of groceries, hay and money were pouring in to the tiny town of Jordan, Montana, about 220 miles northeast of Billings. Volunteers were mending fences, preparing food and gathering livestock.

“A house is considered a major loss, but the livelihood of most people here is the livestock, the pasture and grazing land,” Miller said. “The majority of these people would have rather lost their homes than their grassland.”

The Lodgepole Complex began last Wednesday as a cluster of four, smaller fires that erupted following a lightning storm and then converged two days later, though the official cause remains under investigation.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by W Simon, David Gregorio and Christian Schmollinger)

Montana blaze rages as California crews gain ground on wildfire

FILE PHOTO: A house stands amid blackened range where the Lodgepole Complex fire jumped the Montana 200 highway, near Mosby, Montana, U.S. July 23, 2017. Bureau of Land Management/Handout via REUTERS.

By Ian Simpson

(Reuters) – The biggest U.S. wildfire torched buildings and parched grassland forcing evacuations in eastern Montana while California firefighters gained ground on a massive blaze near Yosemite National Park on Monday, authorities said.

The two-blaze Lodgepole Complex in Montana, the biggest wildfire in the United States currently, was only 5 percent contained on Monday after racing through 226,000 acres (91,500 hectares) of timber, brush and range land near the Missouri River, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.

The 215 firefighters have had to rely on bulldozers and harrows to plow fire breaks since water alone cannot put out the flames driven by high temperatures, lack of rain and gusty winds, said Tim Engrav, a spokesman for the firefighter command center.

“Folks who’ve been fighting fires in this part of Montana since the early ’80s said they’ve never seen it so difficult,” he said by telephone from Sand Springs, Montana. Engrav said about 50 people have been evacuated from their homes.

The Lodgepole fire was started by lightning on Wednesday and has destroyed 22 structures, the coordination center said. Much of the state is under a National Weather Service “red flag” warning because of dry weather and gusty winds.

In California, the Detwiler Fire that has threatened historic gold rush towns in the Sierra Nevada mountains was 50 percent contained, up from 45 percent on Sunday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

The fire has burned 76,500 acres (31,000 hectares), but higher overnight humidity has helped the 5,100 firefighters despite sunny, dry daytime weather, said Heather Williams, a Cal Fire spokeswoman.

The Detwiler fire has destroyed more than 130 structures, including 63 homes, and most of the 5,000 people ordered from their homes are now allowed to return, according to the Cal Fire website.

The Lodgepole and Detwiler fires are among the 38 large U.S. wildfires, the coordination center said.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)

Evacuation orders lifted but California wildfire rages on

Charred grasslands remain after the Long Valley fire came through the Fort Sage Off-Highway Vehicle Area.

(Reuters) – Residents of a historic gold-mining town in central California began returning home on Friday as evacuation orders prompted by a massive wildfire were lifted, but some 1,500 structures remained threatened by the flames.

Around 2,000 residents of the town of Mariposa, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, fled their homes on Tuesday as the so-called Detwiler Fire bore down on them.

The blaze, which has blackened more than 75,000 acres, destroyed 125 structures, 61 of them homes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Detwiler, one of dozens of major wildfires burning across the U.S. West, was 25 percent contained as of Friday evening, Cal Fire said on its tracking website.

“Even though the fire has grown in one area, there’s containment in other areas and those are safe for the owners to go back,” Cal Fire spokesman John Clingingsmith said.

A total of 5,000 residents in the small communities on the edge of the Yosemite National Park have been evacuated since the fast-moving fire broke out on Sunday, including the town of Coulterville.

“Except for (Wednesday), this fire doubled in size every day,” Tim Chavez, a state fire official said during the community meeting. “That is really unusual for it to progress like that.”

More than 3,800 firefighters, working in temperatures of 90 to 96 degrees Fahrenheit (32 to 36 Celsius), were battling the fire, Cal Fire said.

Chavez blamed the fire’s growth on spot fires, drought and grassy vegetation. The area’s rough topography made fighting the blaze harder, he said.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County on Tuesday.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A total of 44 large fires across 11 western states were burning on Thursday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s website.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Gina Cherelus in New York and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Larry King and Bernadette Baum)

Evacuation order may be lifted Friday as California wildfire slows

A firefighting truck is seen parked along a firebreak beneath a burning ridge during the Detwiler fire in Mariposa, California. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

(Reuters) – Some residents of a historic gold-mining town in central California may be able to go home on Friday as a wildfire nearby slowed its progress after destroying dozens of houses over the past several days, the local sheriff said.

About 2,000 residents of the town of Mariposa in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains fled their homes on Tuesday as the so-called Detwiler Fire approached. It eventually destroyed 99 structures, including 50 houses, in the area, according to local and state officials.

“We are in very detailed conversations about repopulation,” Mariposa County Sheriff Doug Binnewies said during a community meeting on the fire on Thursday. He said authorities hoped people from Mariposa could go home on Friday.

At total of 5,000 residents in the small communities on the edge of Yosemite National Park have been evacuated since the fire began on Sunday. The community of Coulterville was evacuated on Wednesday.

The fire, which has burned 70,596 acres (28,570 hectares), is just 10 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on its website.

After expanded by more than 22,000 acres overnight, the fire’s progress slowed on Thursday, taking only 500 acres during the day, Cal Fire said.

“Except for (Wednesday), this fire doubled in size every day,” Tim Chavez, a state fire official said during the community meeting. “That is really unusual for it to progress like that.”

More than 3,700 firefighters, working in temperatures of 90 to 96 degrees Fahrenheit (32 to 36 Celsius), were battling the fire, Cal Fire said.

Chavez blamed the fire’s growth on spot fires, drought and grassy vegetation. The area’s rough topography made fighting the fire harder, he said.

“I am not try to make excuses … it’s been a tough fire for us,” he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Montana, officials said that a 19-year-old fireman was killed on Wednesday when part of a tree fell on him while he was fighting the so-called Florence Fire north of Seeley Lake.

A total of 44 large fires across 11 western states were burning on Thursday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s website.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, editing by Larry King)

Massive wildfire destroys 29 structures in California

A firefighter walks near a home as flames from the fast-moving Detwiler fire approach in Mariposa, California U.S. July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

(Reuters) – More than 3,000 firefighters on Thursday battled a raging wildfire in central California that has destroyed 29 structures and forced thousands to flee their homes as it threatened a picturesque gold rush town outside Yosemite National Park.

Just seven percent of the Detwiler Fire has been contained as it threatens the town of Mariposa and tiny communities in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Cal Fire state agency said on its website.

“Everybody’s heart is in the game,” Battalion Chief Jeremy Rahn told a community meeting on Wednesday night, noting that about 3,100 firefighters from across the region were battling the blaze, according to the Fresno Bee newspaper. “We are totally invested in this.”

The blaze has mushroomed to 48,000 acres (19,424 hectares), an increase of about 23,000 acres (9,307 hectares) compared to the day before. The fire has destroyed 29 structures and damaged five others as it threatens some 1,500 more structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

The small communities of Coulterville and Greeley Hill were ordered evacuated on Wednesday.

Mariposa’s 2,000 residents were told to leave town on Tuesday after its power and water links were damaged. In total, nearly 5,000 people are under orders to vacate their homes, officials said.

The town’s hospital, called the John C. Fremont Healthcare District, and its 14 patients did not evacuate, at the advice of fire officials, said the facility’s interim CEO Matthew Matthiessen.

The California blaze was among 37 active large fires spread across 12 western states as of Wednesday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s website.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County on Tuesday, dispatching resources to the area.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

California wildfire almost doubles in size as blazes torch U.S. West

Flames from the Detwiler fire burn on a hill near the John C. Fremont Hospital in Mariposa, California, U.S., July 18, 2017. Picture taken July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

By Stephen Lam

MARIPOSA, Calif. (Reuters) – A fast-growing California wildfire has forced about 5,000 residents from their homes and nearly doubled in size as about four dozen major blazes scorch the U.S. West, authorities said on Wednesday.

More than 2,000 firefighters have contained just 7 percent of the Detwiler fire, which is threatening tiny communities in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Cal Fire state agency said on its website.

The blaze has mushroomed to 46,000 acres (18,000 hectares) since Tuesday and is threatening 1,500 structures. Firefighters are facing “extreme and aggressive fire behavior” with solid walls of flame and sparks from the main blaze setting secondary fires, Cal Fire said.

Flames have destroyed eight structures and threaten 1,500 while homes and businesses were ordered evacuated southwest of Yosemite National Park. The fire is threatening power lines to the park, Cal Fire said.

Mariposa’s 2,000 residents were told to leave the town on Tuesday, after its power and water links were damaged, news reports said.

Dan Ostler, a Mariposa business owner, said he was staying behind to offer fire crews bathrooms and water. “It’s something I want to do, I can do. I’ve got my escape route planned,” he told Sacramento’s KOVR television.

Smoke pouring from the Detwiler fire has drifted as far northeast as Idaho, according to satellite photos from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

The California blaze was among 46 active large fires spread across 12 western states as of Tuesday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center’s website.

Around 4.4 million acres (1.8 million hectares) have been burned since the start of 2017, compared to 2.7 million acres (1.1 million hectares) in the same period last year, according to the website.

Dry and windy conditions have intensified the wildfires and thousands of people have been evacuated, including in neighboring Oregon and Nevada.

Cal Fire did not report any injuries from the Detwiler fire as of Wednesday morning.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Mariposa County on Tuesday, dispatching resources to the area, as the fire was approaching.

(Additional reporting by Al Golub in Mariposa, Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Tom Brown)