9/7/2021 at 8am According to Daniel Swain at Weather West, there is a chance we may see “elevated convection, and possible dry thunderstorms, across central & northern CA for Thu into Fri period. Weak trough offshore will combine with subtropical moisture streaming northward to provide some risk of dry lightning.” Here is our 9/7/2021 Dixie … Read more
9/7/2021 at 8am We are getting great support from volunteers who are contributors on the wildfireintel.org website. Here are incident maps from Keith Flood, retired Situation Unit Leader on one of the Northern California Incident Management Teams, and heat maps plus commentary from Lookout contributor ‘Tumbleweed,’ a retired wildfire captain. From Keith: This morning’s update … Read more
9/6/2021 at 9pm Looking at the 5:20pm IR data, the spot fire near Bogard ran about 120 acres this afternoon, produced two three-acre spots about 1/4 mile in front of it, and was about 3/4 mile from the Bogard Rest Area. Looking closer at the IR last night, I noticed the spot that ran 30 … Read more
9/6/2021 at 9am Here is an update from Lookout contributor ‘Tumbleweed,’ retired wildland fire captain. IR from 2341 (11:41pm) last night. Isolated heat has been removed for clarity. Clear areas do not indicate no heat. There are many reasons for heat not showing on IR runs. Only eyes on the ground can determine when it … Read more
People have been sending me stuff. Here is what it looked like on the Dixie Fire when a spot fire took off in heavy fuels with a good wind. Also it captures the mood for the last day of this crew’s roll on the fire. 9/5/2021, 8pm The same areas we’ve been talking about for … Read more
We just made a quick video about how forest thinning projects helped firefighters contain portions of the Dixie and Caldor Fires. If it is too chunky, maybe wait a few minutes for YouTube to post the HD version. Also, I’m aware about the missing audio. The missing section of audio shows different results of thinning … Read more
Above is a quick video about how forest thinning projects helped firefighters contain portions of the Dixie and Caldor Fires. If it is too chunky, maybe wait a few minutes for YouTube to post the HD version. Also, I’m aware about the missing audio. The missing section of audio shows different results of thinning along … Read more
I’m catching up on sleep and got some mapping help from a fellow who goes by Tumbleweed on one of the fire intel forums I follow. Here are his IR maps for Caldor, using data from 11:15pm on September 3, 2021. Thanks, Tumbleweed! Looking north over Meyers. White line shows 24 hours of fire spread … Read more
Video briefing for 9/4/2021 EARLIER: 9/3/2021, 9pm. A few pieces of new information from today: According to a trusted local source, the 2012 Reading Fire is too green to burn. The team is thinking about using napalm from a flamethrower to get it to go. I am assuming this would be along the lower … Read more
9/3/2021, 6:30am Here is what the fire was doing at 9:15pm on September 2. I did some interpretation of other more detailed imagery flown in the early morning hours and fire hadn’t spread significantly overnight. This 9:15pm imagery makes for a nicer presentation, so I’m using it for these maps. White line shows 24 hours … Read more
Here is a video briefing for 9/3/2021. 5:00am, 9/3/2021 Still quite a lot of action on the Dixie Fire. This writeup is based on interpretation of 9:30pm mapping flights of the southeast and northeast corners of the fire. The big wind-driven run to the southeast has dropped off the escarpment toward Highway 395 right at … Read more
DixieFire Video Briefing from September 2, 2021 The Dixie continues to spread east toward Highway 395. We talk about recent fire spread, tactics being used to protect Quincy and other communities, and about limitations on our ability to fight these monster fires.
Here is a video briefing for the Caldor Fire for September 2, 2021 showing heat mapping from 3:00am.
9/1/2021, 6pm Update: Here is some afternoon infrared from Dixie. The southeast side of the fire, west of Milford, has been very active for several days. Strong SW winds have blown the fire about 20 miles northeast, growing the Dixie by about 65,000 acres in three days. The fire was about six miles from Highway … Read more
Good afternoon. Here are the latest heat maps from the fire, from a flight flown at about 2:40pm on September 1. Orange areas were mapped on August 31 at 9pm. Yellow line is most current info, from 2:40pm on September 1. White line shows fire growth since the evening of August 30. Overview of fire. … Read more
8/31/2021, 7:15am Good morning. If you are evacuated from the Caldor or any other fire, I hope good information can bring you some calm. The fire spread actively yesterday, cascading down off Echo Summit into a large expanse of the west side of Christmas Valley. Around 5pm, a spot fire started on the east side … Read more
8/30/2021 – 10:30pm A huge run on the southeast side of the Dixie Fire today, a smaller run north of Silver Lake, and some activity in Genesee Valley. This post is about events that didn’t go the way firefighters wanted them to over past couple days. The intention here isn’t to trash firefighters who are … Read more
8/30/2021 – 8:00 am Good morning. Sending our best wishes to everyone displaced by this fire and living in fear of losing their home right now. I spent the last month on edge waiting to see if the Dixie Fire would take my parents’ and brother’s homes. I feel your anxiety. I am hoping we … Read more
UPDATE: 8/29/2021, 9:00pm Only got IR mapping at 3pm today, so here is where the fire was at that time. White line is last night’s perimeter. Blue is 2019 Walker Fire, Purple is 2020 North Complex. UPDATE: 8/29/2021, 8:00am Fire continues to spread toward Walker Mine, north of Greenhorn Ranch and south of Genesee Valley. … Read more
Thanks to your donations to The Lookout, we are getting started with video and audio projects. Here is our first stab at a video briefing. We appreciate your support! VIDEO UPDATE: 8/29/2021, 6:00 pm. As of 5:20pm on August 29, the Caldor Fire had run to Phillips, within about 2.5 miles of Nebelhorn/Echo Summit. Heat … Read more
UPDATED 8/28/2021, 10 pm Here is the situation status summary from the incident command team on the fire. These can be downloaded daily from here: Significant Events The overnight inversion lingered in the lower elevations of the incident reducing fire activity until 14:00. Once the inversion broke, activity began to increase in Div D and … Read more
UPDATE: 7:00pm, 8/27/2021 Here is infrared data from a 6:30pm flight showing the fire’s spread to the east. There has not been any new spread over the dozer lines in Station and Cody Creek, but the two fingers of the head of the fire have closed together to the south of Highway 50, and the … Read more
MAP UPDATE: 7:00 pm IR heat mapping The north and south heads of the fire came together on top of Highway 50 between Kyburz and 39-Mile Campground this afternoon. The fire that established itself over the dozer lines in Cody Creek did not appear to grow much this afternoon. As noted in the midday update, … Read more
UPDATED 8/25/2021, 5:30pm Caldor continues to steadily gobble its way across the landscape. It has been spotting up to 3/4 of a mile today and this is helping spread the fire across areas of sparser fuels around Packsaddle Pass. Just got some mapping from a 3pm flight. The fire moved about three miles east from … Read more
UPDATE: 5:00pm – 8/24/2021 Since this morning’s mapping, around 2:30am, there has been about a mile of spread to the east on both the spot fire near Kyburz and the main head of the fire. Also, the southeast flank continues to spread actively, especially in areas north of Mormon Emigrant Trail and the Silver Fork … Read more
Hello and good morning. If you are visiting The Lookout for the first time, please check out my intro from a couple days ago, and read the ‘About The Lookout‘ page. This work is 100% supported by donations, so if you find our information helpful, please consider making a donation to help us expand our … Read more
Good evening! If you are visiting The Lookout for the first time, please check out my intro from two days ago, and the ‘About The Lookout‘ page. This work is 100% supported by donations, so if you find our information helpful, please consider making a donation to help us expand our capacities. The intention of … Read more
7:30 pm UPDATE: Here are heat maps for Genesee Valley from 5:30pm on August 22, 2021. Fire continues to back into Genesee Valley. Not much else to report on the fire. The fire east of Highlands appears to have not crossed Highway 36 and the fire near Mill Creek looks to be cooling down. … Read more
Good morning. If you are visiting The Lookout for the first time, please check out my intro from two days ago, and the ‘About The Lookout‘ page. This work is 100% supported by donations, so if you find it helpful, please consider making a donation to help us expand our capacities. The intention of The … Read more
Good evening, If you are visiting The Lookout for the first time, please check out my intro from yesterday, and the ‘About The Lookout‘ page. 7:30pm update: Here are updated heat maps for the Caldor Fire, captured at about 6:30pm on August 21, 2021. At this time, the eastern edge of the fire is on … Read more