marsh
On TB every waking moment
http://srrc.org/news-info/index.php
Lightning from a dry thunderstorm on July 29, 2014 started several fires in the Salmon River watershed. Additional fires started on August 11 following another lightning storm. The Whites Fire located in the North Fork drainage is currently the largest fire, and it continues to grow. As of August 19, it has burned within a 30,000 acre perimeter, destroyed three unoccupied structures, and continues to pose a threat to numerous other residences, including the entire town of Sawyers Bar. The much smaller Man Fire, in the Wooley Creek drainage in the Marble Mountain Wilderness is also a part of the July Complex of wildfires.
A type 1 incident management team is on site to coordinate the firefighting effort. Official information for the Salmon River fires is posted on the July Complex Inciweb page. Additional information, photos, and frequently updated reports from local residents and SRRC staff can be found on the Salmon River & Orleans Complexities Facebook page. SRRC posts a frequently updated Google Earth file of the Whites Fire daily infrared map on this page.
The Whites Fire has exhibited extreme fire behavior at times, most notably during a period of hot, dry, windy, and unstable weather from August 9-12. During this time, the fire made big runs on its northwestern side and on its southwestern side near Tanners Peak and the greater Sawyers Bar community. On August 10, the fire unexpectedly and quickly crossed the North Fork Salmon River and the Sawyers Bar Road, becoming established on the lower flanks of Tanners Peak. Several residents of the Finley Camp area evacuated as flames approaced.
Whites Fire Blowup, 8-11-2014. Video: Scott Harding.
On August 11, the fire made a fast run up Robinson Gulch to the top of Tanners Peak, sending a massive smoke plume overhead and ultimately forming a large pyrocumulus cloud that evolved into an even larger pyrocumulonimbus cloud. This storm cloud, which may have entrained other nearby non fire-related cumulus buildups, topped out at 23,000 feet of altitude and moved northwest across the Marble Mountains to the Happy Camp area, sparking off approximately 30 new lightning-caused wildfires along the way, including the Man Fire and the Happy Camp Complex fires. The storm then merged with pyrocumulonimbus developments from the Beaver Fire and continued north into Oregon, continuing to spark off new lightning fires along the way.
During this time, the SRRC office was evacuated of important equipment and documents in preparation of the fire's arrival, although the office and organization continue to operate out of the Sawyers Bar office at this time.
Ongoing fire updates from the SRRC staff are being posted on the Salmon River & Orleans Complexities Facebook page. Please check there for more frequent and current local fire news.
Download a Google Earth link to the map below, showing the Whites Fire on August 18, 2014 (also includes all IR flight image for the Whites Fire, beginning August 6, 2014). Download a Google Earth link showing 2003-2013 fire perimeters.
Whites Fire IR Map, August 19, 2014.
The image below depicts the August 11, 2014 weather radar image of the storm development coming from the Whites Fire blowup in Robinson Gulch. Note the direct path of the storm toward Happy Camp.
Lightning from a dry thunderstorm on July 29, 2014 started several fires in the Salmon River watershed. Additional fires started on August 11 following another lightning storm. The Whites Fire located in the North Fork drainage is currently the largest fire, and it continues to grow. As of August 19, it has burned within a 30,000 acre perimeter, destroyed three unoccupied structures, and continues to pose a threat to numerous other residences, including the entire town of Sawyers Bar. The much smaller Man Fire, in the Wooley Creek drainage in the Marble Mountain Wilderness is also a part of the July Complex of wildfires.
A type 1 incident management team is on site to coordinate the firefighting effort. Official information for the Salmon River fires is posted on the July Complex Inciweb page. Additional information, photos, and frequently updated reports from local residents and SRRC staff can be found on the Salmon River & Orleans Complexities Facebook page. SRRC posts a frequently updated Google Earth file of the Whites Fire daily infrared map on this page.
The Whites Fire has exhibited extreme fire behavior at times, most notably during a period of hot, dry, windy, and unstable weather from August 9-12. During this time, the fire made big runs on its northwestern side and on its southwestern side near Tanners Peak and the greater Sawyers Bar community. On August 10, the fire unexpectedly and quickly crossed the North Fork Salmon River and the Sawyers Bar Road, becoming established on the lower flanks of Tanners Peak. Several residents of the Finley Camp area evacuated as flames approaced.
Whites Fire Blowup, 8-11-2014. Video: Scott Harding.
On August 11, the fire made a fast run up Robinson Gulch to the top of Tanners Peak, sending a massive smoke plume overhead and ultimately forming a large pyrocumulus cloud that evolved into an even larger pyrocumulonimbus cloud. This storm cloud, which may have entrained other nearby non fire-related cumulus buildups, topped out at 23,000 feet of altitude and moved northwest across the Marble Mountains to the Happy Camp area, sparking off approximately 30 new lightning-caused wildfires along the way, including the Man Fire and the Happy Camp Complex fires. The storm then merged with pyrocumulonimbus developments from the Beaver Fire and continued north into Oregon, continuing to spark off new lightning fires along the way.
During this time, the SRRC office was evacuated of important equipment and documents in preparation of the fire's arrival, although the office and organization continue to operate out of the Sawyers Bar office at this time.
Ongoing fire updates from the SRRC staff are being posted on the Salmon River & Orleans Complexities Facebook page. Please check there for more frequent and current local fire news.
Download a Google Earth link to the map below, showing the Whites Fire on August 18, 2014 (also includes all IR flight image for the Whites Fire, beginning August 6, 2014). Download a Google Earth link showing 2003-2013 fire perimeters.
Whites Fire IR Map, August 19, 2014.
The image below depicts the August 11, 2014 weather radar image of the storm development coming from the Whites Fire blowup in Robinson Gulch. Note the direct path of the storm toward Happy Camp.