History never repeats itself but it rhymes: Rim Fire redux
The year was 1961. President Robert F. Kennedy was President of the United States. The Central Valley Project had been built and the growing San Joaquin Valley agribusiness gave way to traditional ranchland in the oak savanna of the Sierra foothills southwest of Yosemite National Park. The Harlow Fire started on July 10th. The following day it exploded, burning over 20,000 acres in two hours, vaporizing the communities of Ahwahnee and Nipinnawasee, and killing an elderly couple. Supposedly, that run on the Harlow Fire was one of the fastest ever recorded. The communities would never recover.
A New Hotlist, A New Fire, and a Tragedy
Tragically, a CalFire dozer operator was killed this morning in a rollover accident on the new emergent Ferguson Fire on the Sierra National Forest. The Ferguson Fire started yesterday evening near the bottom of the Merced River Canyon near the junction with the South Fork of the Merced River, and is forcing evacuations throughout the river canyon.
Drop the Rhetoric, Work Together
Originally posted in the Curry Coastal Pilot, Richard Fairbanks presents a brief summary of published findings on wildfire management.
Managing Wildfire: What Works and What Doesn't
We now have solid science and decades of experience managing western wildfires. But in our hyper-partisan age, the issue of fire management is becoming as politicized as timber management was in the 80’s and 90’s. In an attempt to contribute to a fact based debate, I present a brief summary of respected, published findings on wildfire management.
2018 California Incident Management Team (IMT) Workshop Notes
Notes from the 2018 California Incident Management Team (IMT) Workshop.
Hype Conversion Burn
The conversion of the Sims Prescribed Fire to the Grape (Wild)Fire brings up a scary ghost from the past.
Prescribed Fire Escape - Six Rivers National Forest
Wildfires are already a hot button in California, following on the heels of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in the State’s history just last year. Governor Brown holds up the wildfire impact as a certain indicator of climate change in the State’s suit against the U.S. Government headed by climate denier-in chief, President Trump. Local governments are joining in the fray. 2018 looks to be no different.