Wildfire news, August 21

East Slide Rock Ridge fire

I hate the name of that fire. Whatever happened to one-word names of fires?

But aside from the stupid name, the fire use fire is doing stupid things by starting to burn outside the Jarbidge Wilderness Area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest near the Nevada-Idaho line. The fire has been managed as a fire use fire, not being suppressed, for the last two weeks. However, over the last 2 days it grew from 3,296 acres to over 8,000 acres.

Firefighters are using "multiple air tankers" in an attempt to keep it within the wilderness area in northeast Nevada. One five-person squad and a Division Supervisor were assigned to the fire, but four 20-person crews, engines, and dozers have been ordered.

Helicopter lost power before crash

Some initial findings from the National Transportation Safety Board conclude the Sikorsky S-61 that crashed on August 5 lost power to the main rotor as it took off from the helispot. The NTSB said the ship came to rest on its left side before bursting into flames. Nine on board died, including seven firefighters, a USFS check pilot, and one of the pilots.

Update:

KDRV reports:

Investigators say the crash was similar to other Sikorsky S61 helicopter crashes. In four other instances, the helicopters crashed as they were lifting off due to a clutch mechanism failure. The helicopter belonged to Grants Pass-based Carson helicopters. At this point Carson is not grounding any of its choppers.

The AP has this information:

A fire-damaged voice-data recorder salvaged from the burned aircraft was sent to its British manufacturer, which determined that both the cockpit voice recording and flight data contained on the device were still intact, NTSB spokeswoman Bridget Serchak said. The agency plans to analyze the data in the coming weeks, she said.

18 structures burn in Swanson Lake fire

The fire is 4 miles southwest of Creston, Washington and has burned 19,000 acres, as well as 1 residence, 2 seasonal cabins, and 15 other buildings.

Update on Bridge Creek fire

This fire use fire in central Oregon that escaped from the Maximum Manageable Area on August 16 and burned onto private land is now 45% contained and has burned 4,902 acres, 2,291 of them on private land. The fire received from .05" to .15" of rain.