Washington Fire

[Russ Hobbs]

I seldom miss a day reading the forum news, but as most of you already know we are currently fighting a 22,000 acre fire in Cle Elum, WA. The fire is being compared to the perfect storm. My crews were fighting a string of fires set off by an old pick-up that was running rough and backfiring as it pulled a hill. Each time it backfired it started a fire along the roadside. We had a series of small arson sets days prior and so the volunteers were already nervous and so the response was unusually quick and well manned. In route to the fire, I witnessed and reported yet another fire just on the edge of town. Cle Elum fire responded to that fire. On arrival at the roadside fire, another fire was reported on the opposite side of the fire district. My duty officer asked me to respond to that fire. On my way there a neighboring fire chief reported he was on the scene of a rapidly growing brush fire and requested his department respond to assist. Another fire was reported moments later on Interstate 90 in his jurisdiction, moving fast adjacent to the freeway. I radioed to the Chief that I was in position to respond to his fire, and he requested I respond. I had responded with an engine company, and on arrival we quickly extinguished the freeway fire and turned it over to one of his engines that had responded to assist us. My crew and I could see the brush fire from the freeway, I immediately called for a countywide response, and requested a state mobilization of resources. I asked for 20 engines, five hand crews and 3 water tenders. That number would triple in two days to 900 personnel fighting the fire. Tonight we have one active fire front, and some hot spots that still need attention. The fire prediction for tomorrow is a level 5 for extreme fire growth on any new fires. Tonight at 11 pm the fire front made an active run, with considerable fire growth. Tomorrow will tell, stayed tuned.

[robo_nipsy]

That's horrible Russ!
You must be exhausted! Thanks for taking the time to post.
You didn't mention anything about property loss....
Good luck and stay safe my friend!
Denis

[Master Roda]

Dang Russ that sucks. It's been really hot around here. I'm surprised we havent had a few fires down here.

Stay safe.

[phantom]

sounds like you need a BE 200 or two, we had a fire about a mile from my lodge in june and it took two days to put out with the CL 415 toy water bombers, a BE200 could have done it in less than 1 hour. good luck and be safe.

Norm

[Russ Hobbs]

The fire jumped the line this afternoon, by this evening it turned into another 80 acres. There was a potential to lose a couple of thousand acres or more of timber, so they brought in 2 military Chinooks, a black hawk and a K-max with buckets. The helicopter pilots put on an extraordinary Airshow. They had a large pond within a five minute or less turn around. Each ship would drop their load and circle back around to fill over and over again. The K-max is a twin rotor machine and very narrow. The pilot can look out on either side to see their objective. The Chinook pilots were absolutely awesome, making precision drop on the fire fronts. The fire potential today was very high and we saw a lot of torching. Tomorrow is a red flag day for winds and dry lightning. Denis we've lost 70 plus homes so far, and many more outbuildings. The fire has had only one minor burn injury to date.

[Scary Gary]

Evergreen has a 747 water bomber that could knock these fires out in no time.
But the government refuses to use it.

[Master Roda]

It looks like the heat will be less today (if that helps). I hope you guys are doing well with the current fires.

[All_In]

Thanks for the heads up and please be careful.

[Russ Hobbs]

The lightning storm that was predicted for today never developed, which gave the firefighters a unexpected break. The incident management team is predicting full containment by Monday. There was considerable growth early in the day, but the water fight with the 4 helicopters kept the fire in check. Tonight the mountain is red with small hot spots, I think they just about have this thing under control. It is truly amazing to see all the donations of water, supplies and signs thanking the firefighters for being here. Pretty heartwarming and humbling considering 23,000 acres went up in flames. 49 homes have been confirmed lost, not counting the many outbuildings.