Wildfire news, September 26

Oregon: escaped prescribed fire

Wizard fire

About 20 miles northwest of Bend, Oregon, a prescribed fire that escaped on the Deschutes National Forest, now known as the Wizard fire, is challenging firefighters. The prescribed fire was 30 acres when it moved beyond the control lines, and late on Thursday it was 200 acres. Here is an excerpt from an article at ktvz.com:

...But winds kicked up shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday and a lookout atop Black Butte reported increased fire activity as gusty winds pushed the flames beyond the perimeter of the burn, north and east up Green Ridge.

The Wizard Fire was moving north, away from Camp Sherman but close to the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery and Green Ridge fire lookout, which is unoccupied. It was just 5 percent contained by nightfall Thursday, with more than 100 firefighters already on the blaze and 200 more due Friday from several agencies, along with contract personnel.

The fire initially was battled by 10 engine crews and several retardant-dropping air tankers, when smoke conditions allowed, along with a five-person hand crew and helicopter. Crews from the Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry and Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire District were on the blaze.

Air tankers were being called up, but at first, the smoke was too thick to fly them in, so water-dropping helicopters were working the initial attack, dispatchers told KBND radio.

HERE is a link to a video report about the fire.

Cities at risk from natural disasters

An organization called SustainLane examined the 50 largest US cities to assess the risk from natural disasters. They looked at hurricanes, major flooding, catastrophic hail, tornado super-outbreaks, and earthquakes, taking into consideration potential frequency of disaster as well as the extent of damage.

The cities least at risk:

1. Mesa, AZ
2. Milwaukee, WI
3. Cleveland, OH
4. Phoenix, AZ
5. Tucson, AZ
6. El Paso, TX
7. Colorado Springs, CO
8. Philadelphia, PA
9. Minneapolis, MN
10. Detroit, MI


Of the 50 largest cities, the most at risk:

41. Oklahoma City, OK
42. Long Beach, CA
43. Los Angeles, CA
44. Houston, TX
45. San Jose, CA
46. Honolulu, HI
47. San Francisco, CA
48. Oakland, CA
49. New Orleans, LA
50. Miami, FL

Video about lesson learned from fire entrapment

The Lessons Learned site has a 12-minute video that:

...explains much of what happened to the engine crews entrapped on the Madison Arm Fire. Its "A Story of Survival Inside the Transition From Initial to Extended Attack."