Forest Fires in the United States: 10 May 2000

LOS ALAMOS FIRE UPDATE
Los Alamos nuclear laboratory closes as forest fire looms - Hundreds flee New Mexico wildfires
The Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory in New Mexico was closed down on Monday and hundreds of people were evacuated from nearby homes as a forest fire raged perilously close to the top secret U.S. facility. It was decided to close the laboratory down on Sunday evening out of concern for the safety of the 10,000 to 12,000 people who work their each day. Public schools in the city of Los Alamos were closed and about 500 homes were evacuated as a precaution. There were no reports of injuries or damage to buildings but authorities said it might take several more days to control the blaze. 500 people drawn from local, state and federal agencies were battling the blaze with the aid of fire trucks, bulldozers and aircraft. Drought and high winds have helped the fire spread but additional manpower and hardware is due to arrive on Tuesday. The fire had started on Thursday as a controlled burn to clear the area of material that could cause a wildfire. The fire was more energetic than anticipated and the winds were unpredictable. The laboratory's plutonium facility was located on the northeast side of the complex, far away from the western perimeter that was threatened by the fire, adding that there was very little material to fuel a fire in its vicinity. There was also explosive materials on the laboratory's grounds, but these were stored safely in underground bunkers made of concrete and steel.

In a second blaze hundreds of people in Ruidoso, New Mexico, were forced to flee Monday as one of two large wildfires burning in New Mexico swept within a few feet of their homes and spread across more than 5,000 acres (2,023 ha).

Several active fire signals were recorded by NOAA/OSEI with the NOAA-14 AVHRR HRPT satellite on 8 May 2000 in New Mexico.

Fig.1. Heat signatures (red) are visible from fires burning in northcentral and southcentral New Mexico.
(Source: NOAA/OSEI)

The Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS) is a contribution of "The Fire Behavior Research Work Unit", Missoula (Montana USA). The broad area component of the Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS) generates maps of selected fire weather and fire danger components. Fire Danger (Potential) is a normalized adjective rating class across different fuel models and station locations. It is based on information provided by local station managers about the primary fuel model, fire danger index selected to reflect staffing level, and climatological class breakpoints. Low danger (class 1) is green and extreme potential (class 5) is red.

Fig. 2., 3. & 4. Fire Danger Forecast Maps of the United States and Alaska for 9 May (observation time) and 10 May (forecast) 2000.
(Source: Fire Behavior Research Work Unit, Missoula)

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is a soil/duff drought index that ranges from 0 (no drought) to 800 (extreme drought) and is based on a soil capacity of 8 inches of water. Factors in the index are maximum daily temperature, daily precipitation, antecedent precipitation, and annual precipitation. KBDI = 0 - 200: Soil moisture and large class fuel moistures are high and do not contribute much to fire intensity. Typical of spring dormant season following winter precipitation. KBDI = 200 - 400: Typical of late spring, early growing season. Lower litter and duff layers are drying and beginning to contribute to fire intensity. KBDI = 400 - 600: Typical of late summer, early fall. Lower litter and duff layers actively contribute to fire intensity and will burn actively. KBDI = 600 - 800: Often associated with more severe drought with increased wildfire occurrence. Intense, deep burning fires with significant downwind spotting can be expected. Live fuels can also be expected to burn actively at these levels.

Incident Management Situation Report (9 May 2000)
Current Situation:
Major growth occurred on the large fires in New Mexico and Texas. The National Interagency Coordination Center mobilized air tankers, helicopters, lead planes, infrared aircraft, radio equipment, meteorological equipment, engines, and miscellaneous overhead. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Indiana, and Michigan.
Outlook:
A FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS POSTED FOR LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES IN NORTHERN FLORIDA TODAY.
Florida will be partly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly over the west and southwest coast. High temperatures will be in the 80's.
New Mexico will be partly cloudy in the north and mostly sunny in the south. Winds will be west at 15 to 25 mph. High temperatures will be in the 80's and 90's, with cooler temperatures in mountainous areas. Minimum afternoon humidities will be 10 to 20 percent.
Arizona will be mostly sunny and breezy with winds of 15 to 25 mph. Afternoon humidities will be 10 to 25 percent. High temperatures will be in the upper 70's to the upper 80's.
West Texas will be mostly sunny and breezy, with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms over extreme southwest Texas. Winds will be northwest at 10 to 20 mph. High temperatures will be in the 90's to 100. Low relative humidities will be 10 to 15 percent.
Detailed information and data about fires, prescribed fires, wildland fire use fire and burned areas for all geographic areas of the United States can be gathered from the "Incident Management Situation Report"

National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)
Current Wildland Fire Information (8 May 2000):
There are currently five large fires burning in New Mexico, Arizona, Florida and Texas. Dispatchers at NIFC have moved various fire suppression resources to areas with increased wildland fire activity.
Large wildland fires in New Mexico, Arizona and Florida have required the assistance of national management teams to manage the resources necessary to contain the blaze.

Fire conditions are also very high to extreme in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Almost 450 wildland fires were reported to the National Interagency Fire Center during the past three days for a total of nearly 28,000 acres (11,331 ha) burned. So far this year, more than 31,000 wildland fires have burned 791,000 acres (320,201 ha) from every region of the country.

Long-range, 30-day weather forecasts are predicting above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation for the southern tier of states from southern California to Florida and throughout the Midwest (see Fig.5. 30 and 90-day forecast maps).

Tab.1. Five-Year Wildland Fire Comparison Statistics Year-to-Date for the United States (8 May 2000)
(Source: National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)

As of 05/08/00	Number of Wildland Fires	Area burnt
As of 05/08/00	Number of Wildland Fires	Acres	Hectars
2000	31,415	791,236	320,201
1999	33,677	619,869	250,852
1998	16,938	283,138	114,581
1997	22,705	358,174	144,947
1996	50,837	1,325,783	536,525

Remarks on Prescribed Burning
At this time of the year prescribed burning operations are conducted routinely.
Fire is an important natural tool for ecosystem management. It can reduce dense vegetation improving wildlife habitat and lessening the potential for large, wildfire disasters. Land managers are directed to prepare a prescribed fire/burn plan for every area of public land that can burn. Some areas require total suppression while others will benefit from a wildland fire. Those areas that will benefit from a fire can be treated by a prescribed fire.
Especially, for the moment, in the southern and southeastern regions of the United States prescribed fire activities will be carried out in the following weeks and months. In this case, fire signals on satellite images can be traced back to this kind of land management activities.

In the Prescribed Fire Position Paper of the Forest Protection Bureau by the Division of Forestry in Florida, prescribed fire activity is described as a land management application that is essential to the practice of forestry, management of wildlife, preservation of endangered plant and animal species, improvement of range conditions and reduction of wildfire damage in the wildland/urban interface areas. While there is general public and landowner concern with increased smoke, reduced air quality, and liability; the general public and landowners benefit significantly from the reduction of devastating wildfire, improved wildlife habitat and forage, preservation of endangered and threatened plant and animal species, and improved management of forest resources. The prospect of severe reductions in the utilization of this management tool is of major concern to Florida's natural resource managers and conservationists due to the subsequent loss of derived public and private benefits. They suggest the need for legislative attention.

A set of photographic documents on prescribed burning techniques and objectives in the Southeast can be visited in our photo archive.