GFMC: Forest Fires in the United States, 8 August 2000

President Clinton to tour Idaho wildfire zone
President Clinton was to visit the federal agency's headquarters in Boise on Tuesday to survey Idaho's biggest fires and meet with some of the crews fighting them. The president's visit comes as dozens of fires are burning hundreds of thousands of acres in 10 states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
An estimated 20,000 military and civilian firefighters are working to contain blazes in Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Arizona, California, Colorado and Montana -- the hardest hit by wildfires in the West. An additional 500 U.S. Army troops got orders this week to join some 1,200 troops already battling the wildfires, the Pentagon announced. The 500 troops from the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, are expected to deploy as soon as Sunday, following several days of training with personnel from the NIFC, an Army statement issued Monday said. Troops of the 20th Engineering Battalion will get several more days of training on the ground in Montana before going to the front lines of the fires in the Lolo National Forest near the town of Superior, Montana.
Nineteen large wildfires were raging in Montana on Monday, consuming more than 167,000 acres. Pat McKelvey, fire information officer at the Blodgett fire in western Montana, said the smoke appears to be everywhere. Evacuations were ordered Monday in southwestern Montana as wildfires approached and thousands of acres of forest went up in flames. Idaho and Montana together have nearly half of the current 66 large fires reported by the NIFC. Idaho's governor said this could be the toughest fire season in the state's history. "Every night we have 40 to 50 new lightning strikes; 95 percent of those are being extinguished before they get started," said Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. But those fires that continue burning have the potential to become an inferno. Kempthorne described the rapid growth of one fire that now has consumed more than 100,000 acres. He said the fire took only four hours to expand from only 200 acres to 25,000 acres.
Firefighters reported making headway against fires in California, but Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, remained closed for the second time this year as flames crept to within several hundred yards of ancient cliff dwellings and within a mile of a center housing 2 million Southwestern artifacts.
Forecasts offered little hope of relief from the hot, dry weather baking parts of the West. "The reality is, many of these fires will not be extinguished until the snows fly later this fall," Kempthorne told CNN.
Fire center spokeswoman Sue Vap said firefighters from Canada were assisting against Montana blazes, while their counterparts from Mexico were on duty in Arizona. In all, she said, about 20,000 firefighters and support personnel were battling wildfires in the United States.
Most fire crews are working 14 days straight with just one day of rest. Throughout the country, the amount of land that has burned this year is larger than the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Apple said this year was on track to surpass 1988, when 7.4 million acres burned, more than in any year since the 1950s.
(Information Source: CNN Correspondent Charles Zewe, CNN National Security Producer Chris Plante, and The Associated Press, 8 August 2000)

US fires: State by state
US officials say brush fires raging across 11 western states are the worst in 50 years. There have been more than 60,000 fires so far this year, burning nearly 1.6 million hectares of land.
Among the worst hit has been Idaho. In the state's mountainous north, a wall of flame is licking through virgin forest, reducing everything in its path to ash - at the last count, 100,000 acres had been burnt.
Across the state line in Montana, hundreds of people in the Bitterroot Valley have been evacuated from their homes as the fires rage towards them. "The northern Rockies area is the hottest place in the country at the moment," said a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Centre.
In south-western Colorado, a fire in the Mesa Verde National Park had spread across 5,000 acres by late on Sunday. Firefighters have no estimate of when they might bring it under control.
Exhausted teams in Arizona, meanwhile, have received reinforcements from Mexico, which has sent one of its crews to help.
In California and Utah, firefighters made headway against fires over the weekend. California's biggest fire burned more than 70,000 acres in the Sequoia National Forest before being contained last week.
Over the border in Nevada, several large fires were reported to be near containment, but winds fanned one grass and brush fire east of Reno out of control on Sunday just as firefighters were starting to gain the upper hand.
Wilderness areas have also been ablaze in Washington, Wyoming and Oregon, which declared a state of emergency at the weekend.
And in Los Alamos, New Mexico, an operation has begun to clean up after a prescribed fire got out of control three months ago, destroying 200 homes and threatening America's main nuclear weapons laboratory.
(Information Source: © BBC News, 7 August 2000)

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.

Dead fuel moisture responds solely to ambient environmental conditions and is critical in determining fire potential. Dead fuel moistures are classed by timelag. A fuel's timelag is proportional to its diameter and is loosely defined as the time it takes a fuel particle to reach 2/3's of its way to equilibrium with its local environment. Dead fuels in NFDRS have four timelag classes:
1-hr: Fine flashy fuels, less than 1/4" (< 0.63 cm) diameter. Responds quickly to weather changes. Computed from observation time temperature, humidity and cloudiness.
10-hr: 1/4 to 1" (0.63 to 2.54 cm) diameters. Computed from observation time temperature, humidty, and cloudiness, or may be a standard set of "10-Hr Fuel Sticks" that are weighed as part of the fire weather observation.
100-hr: 1 to 3" (2.54 to 7.62 cm) diameter. Computed from 24 hour average boundary condition composed of day length, hours of rain, and daily temperature/humidity ranges.
1000-hr: 3 to 6" (7.62 to 15.24 cm) diameter. Computed from a 7-day average boundary condition composed of day length, hours of rain, and daily temperature/humidity ranges.


10-HR Fuel Moisture	100-HR Fuel Moisture	1000-HR Fuel Moisture

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.
For further information on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) by Florida's Division of Forestry / Forest Protection Bureau please refer to Keetch-Byram Drought Index Revisited: Prescribed Fire Applications.

NESDIS/OSEI NOAA-14 AVHRR HRPT satellite images, 6 August 2000 [conversion table]
Two IR channel 3 images from Saturday evening and Sunday evening show how the fires in the
Bitterroot National Forest in western Montana expanded within 24 hours. A third multichannel color
composite image from the same NOAA-14 pass on Sunday provides a different view of the heat
signatures and a view of the smoke from the fires.
Right image: Heat signatures (red) are visible from the 5,000 acre fire burning in the Mesa Verda National Park
south of Cortez, Colorado.

NESDIS/OSEI NOAA-12 AVHRR HRPT satellite images, 7 August 2000 [conversion table]
Left image: Heat signature (red) and smoke plume (light blue) are visible from the 10,000 acre Pachenga fire
burning about five miles east of Temecula, California.
Right image: Heat signatures (red) are visible from the 73,000 acre Manter fire burning northeast of
Kernville, California, in the Sequoia National Forest.
(Source: NESDIS/OSEI)

The SeaWiFS Project is a part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, which is designed to look at our planet from space to better understand it as a system in both behavior and evolution. On Sunday, 6 August 2000 SeaWiFS collected this image of the smoke from many of the fires burning in the western U.S.A. Major fires can be seen burning along the Idaho/Montana border with a large fire in central Oregon.

California was not the only western state affected by fire during the last weekend of July. Parts of Montana and Wyoming were covered by a thick pall of smoke on 30 July 2000. This true-color image was captured by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). It is much easier to distinguish smoke from cloud in the color SeaWiFS imagery than the black and white Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imagery.

Smoke over Montana and Wyoming
Image provided by the SeaWiFS Project,
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

On 27 July 2000, fires were burning in Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado), Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and California. The Mesa Verde fire has threatened some prehistoric archeological sites. Ironically, other sites have been unearthed as vegetation was burned away by the fire and as firefighters dug trenches to serve as firebreaks. In a bizarre coincidence, one of the fires came close to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the third nuclear site affected by fire this year.

Extensive Fires in the Western U.S.
This image from GOES 11, the newest NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES),
shows smoke plumes and heat signatures (red) from many of fires
in the western United States on the evening of 27 July 2000.

Smoke spreads across the western US
NOTE: Aerosol index in the lower right (south and east of Florida) indicates dust blown from Africa.
The surface background image used here is NOT part of the TOMS aerosol index retrieval.
(Source: TOMS Global Aerosol Hot Spots Page)

The BLM - Alaska Fire Service Initial Attack Management System (IAMS) is suite of computer applications developed by BLM/Fire to aid dispatchers and fire managers. IAMS Maps is one of these applications and provides graphical representation of various kinds of geographic data. Maps has been modified to produce output to a Web site to allow internet access to the data that IAMS stores. Dynamic data such as lightning (available May - September), fires, etc. are updated at the homepage of the BLM - Alaska Fire Service (select Maps / AFS IAMS Maps Viewer) every 15 minutes during the fire season.

Fire and Aviation Management Morning Report (7 August 2000) [conversion table]
Montana
HIGH ORE ROAD: This 1,150 acre fire is burning on lands under the jurisdiction of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, 3 miles northeast of Basin, Montana. 85% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. The number of people assigned to the fire is unknown.
MONTURE/SPREAD RIDGE COMPLEX: (two or more fires in the same general area assigned to a single incident commander). Formerly known as the UPPER MONTURE COMPLEX and, prior to that, the SEELEY COMPLEX. This 15,100 acre complex is burning on the Lolo National Forest, 34 miles northeast of Missoula, Montana. There is no estimate of containment. 398 people are assigned to this fire.
CANYON FERRY COMPLEX: This 41,922 acre complex is burning on Montana State Department of Natural Resource administered land, 15 miles east of Helena, Montana. This complex includes the Buck Snort and Cave Gulch Fires. 236 members of the Montana Air and Army National Guard are being trained to work on this fire. 80% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 1,004 people are assigned to this fire.
COUGAR CREEK: This 3,983 acre fire is burning on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, 15 miles southwest of Philipsburg, Montana. 45% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 380 people are assigned to this fire.
SPREAD RIDGE: See MONTURE/SPREAD RIDGE COMPLEX.
McDONALD II: This 1,300 acre fire is burning on the Lewis and Clark National Forest, Bob Marshall Wilderness, 36 miles southwest of Choteau, Montana. Structure protection was successful. There is no estimate of containment. 2 people are assigned to this fire.
VALLEY COMPLEX: This 42,000 acre complex is burning on the Bitterroot National Forest, 7 miles south of Darby, Montana. Evacuations from Sula to Lost Trail Pass and the east fork of the Bitterroot River have been ordered. There is no estimate of containment. 696 people are assigned to this fire.
BLODGETT TRAILHEAD: This 3,900 acre fire is burning on the Bitterroot National Forest, 5 miles northwest of Hamilton, Montana. Residences in the area are threatened. A mandatory of the community of Pinesdale was ordered. 30% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 309 people are assigned to this fire.
WILDERNESS COMPLEX: This 8,900 acre complex is burning on the Bitterroot National Forest, burning in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, south of Hamilton, Montana. Fire lookouts have been evacuated and structure protection efforts are in place at nearby administrative sites. There is no estimate of containment. 32 people are assigned to the this fire.
MUSSIGBROD COMPLEX: This 11,500 acre complex is burning on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, 12 miles northwest of Wisdom, Montana. Structures remain threatened. 2% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 257 people are assigned to this fire.
BOULDER HILL: This 2,600 acre fire is burning on Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation jurisdiction, 2 miles north of Bilder, Montana. 70% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. Number of people assigned to this fire is unknown.
CROOKED: This 2,900 acre fire is burning on the Clearwater National Forest, 50 southwest of Missoula, Montana. 30% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 592 people are assigned to this fire.
MIDDLE FORK COMPLEX: This 2,100 acre complex is burning on the Beaverhead –Deerlodge National Forest, 30 miles southwest of Philipsburg, Montana. Structure protection is in place. There is no estimate of containment. 168 people are assigned to this fire.
THOMPSON FLAT COMPLEX: (formerly known as the FLAT CREEK COMPLEX): This 1,900 acre complex is burning on the Lolo National Forest, near Superior, Montana. This complex includes 10 fires. 10% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 239 people are assigned to this fire.
CLEAR CREEK COMPLEX: This 13,000 acre complex is burning on land administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Flathead Agency, 60 northwest of Missoula, Montana. This complex consists of Clear Creek, Vanderburg, Seagull, and Magpie fires. 10% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 76 people are assigned to this fire.
PARKE PEAK: This 1,300 acre complex is burning on the Glacier National Park in the northwest corner of the park in the Red Medicine Bow Creek area. 40% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 40 people are assigned to this fire.
UPPER NINEMILE COMPLEX: This 1,347 acre complex is burning on the Lolo National Forest, near Houson, Montana. This complex consists of the Seagull Pass #7, East Fork Beechers, Pats Creek, Grave Creek, Big Blue, Alpine Divide and Lower Blue fires. Voluntary evacuations in the area. There is no estimate of containment. Number of people assigned to this fire is unknown.
Idaho
THREE BEARS: This 12,000 acre fire is burning on the Nez Perce National Forest, 29 miles from Elk City, Idaho. Structure protection is in place. There is no estimate of containment. 12 people are assigned to this fire.
SULA COMPLEX: This 15,000 acre complex is burning on the Bitterroot National Forest, near Sula, Montana. Structures are threatened and evacuations remain in effect.
Two residences have been destroyed. There is no estimate of containment. 330 people are assigned to this fire.
CLEAR CREEK: This 102,382 acre fire is burning on the Salmon-Challis National Forest, 26 miles northwest of Salmon, Idaho. The 3rd Batallion 5th Marines from Camp Pendleton, California, is assigned. Structures remain threatened and structure protection remains in place. Powerlines have sustained damage. 40% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 1,488 people are assigned to this fire.
BURGDORF JUNCTION: This 23,149 acre fire is burning on the Payette National Forest, 23 miles north of McCall, Idaho. The 3rd Batallion 16th Field Artillery of the U.S. Army is assigned to the fire. 40% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 1,276 people are working on this fire.
COFFEE POINT NORTH, FLATTOP, FISHER SPRINGS, GENTILE VALLEY, TIN CUP, SUPON: See EASTERN IDAHO COMPLEX
EASTERN IDAHO COMPLEX: This 192,450 acre complex is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Upper Snake River District administered land. All of the fires are south of Pocatello, Idaho. The fires include: Coffee Point North, Flattop, Fisher Springs, Rattlesnake (Idaho), Moonshine, Gentile Valley, Tin Cup, Supon, West Fork, Camus Creek, Sheep Station, Putnam, and Station Creek. 90% of the work has been completed to contain these fires. 271 people are assigned to the fires.
FLOSSIE COMPLEX: This 5,000 acre complex is burning on the Payette National Forest, 50 miles northeast of McCall, Idaho. Structures are threatened and evacuations remain in place. There is no estimate of containment. 8 people are assigned to this fire.
GRASS: This 1,400 acre fire is burning on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, Lower Snake River, north of Three Creek Town, Idaho. Structures remain threatened. 20% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 60 people are assigned to this fire.
BUTTS: See NORTH FORK WILDERNESS COMPLEX
NORTH FORK WILDERNESS COMPLEX: There are 10 fires in this complex, including the Butts and Filly Fires. This 1,377 acre fire is burning on the Salmon-Challis National Forest, 40 miles northwest of Salmon, Idaho. There is no estimate of containment. 3 people are assigned to this fire.
MCDONALD CREEK: This 8,000 acre fire is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Lower Snake River District, 3 miles north of Rowland, Nevada. 100% of the work has been completed to contain this fire and this will be the last report unless conditions change. 69 people are assigned to this fire.
GOODRICH: This 3,710 acre fire is burning on Payette National Forest, 2 miles from Goodrich, Idaho. 75% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 61 people are assigned to this fire.
Utah
WASATCH COMPLEX: This 3,246 acre complex is burning on the Wasatch Cache National Forest, southeast of Sandy, Utah. The complex includes the Iron Mine Lake, Cottonwood, Oak Hill, and Wallsburg Fires. The Timpanogos National Monument remains closed. 80% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 362 people are assigned to this fire.
BROAD, YANCE, MONA WEST: See OLDROYD COMPLEX
OLDROYD COMPLEX: This 59,528 acre complex is burning on the Fishlake National Forest, near Richfield, Utah. The complex includes the Oldroyd, Mona West, Broad, Mourning Dove, and Yance Fires. 94% of the work had been completed to contain these fires. 524 people are assigned to these fires.
BISMARK, WEST CEDAR AND ARAGONITE: See SALT LAKE DESERT COMPLEX SALT LAKE DESERT COMPLEX: This 44,000 acre complex is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Salt Lake District, 3 miles north of Eureka, Utah. The complex includes the following fires: Aragonite, Bismark, West Cedar and Box Canyon fires. 80% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 55 people are assigned to this fire.
BRUIN POINT: This 1,860 acre fire is burning on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, Moab Field Office, 30 miles east of Price, Utah. 47% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 183 people are assigned to this fire.
TEN MILE PASS: This 5,500 acre fire is burning on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, Salt Lake District, 17 miles east of Vernon, Utah. 45% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 19 people are assigned to this fire.
Wyoming
BOULDER: This 3,360 acre fire is burning on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, 15 miles east of Jackson, Wyoming. 5% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 116 people have been assigned to this fire.
Nevada
CHERRY: This 7,500 acre fire is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Ely Field Office administered land, 30 miles northwest of Ely, Nevada. 75% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 60 people are working on the fire.
TWIN PEAK: This 7,500 acre fire is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Carson City Field Office administered land, 60 miles east of Fallon, Nevada. 20% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 56 people are assigned to this fire.
O’NEIL BASIN COMPLEX: This 33,700 acre complex is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Elko Field Office administered land, 39 miles north of Wells, Nevada. 40% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 158 people are assigned to this fire.
NORTHEAST ELKO COUNTY ZONE: This 73,694 acre complex is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Elko Field Office administered land, in Elko County, Nevada. This complex consists of nine fires. 100% of the work has been completed to contain this fire and this will be the last report unless conditions change. 288 people are assigned to this fire.
CRUSOE: This 3,100 acre fire is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Ely Field Office administered land, 13 miles northwest of Ely, Nevada. Several ranches are threatened. 100% of the work has been completed to contain this fire and this will be the last report unless conditions change. 68 people are assigned to this fire.
FIREBALL: This 7,000 acre fire is burning on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca Field Office, northeast of Fernley, Nevada. 80% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 32 people are assigned to this fire.
Arizona
PEAK: This 1,450 acre fire is burning on the Tonto National Forest, 6 miles south of Globe, Arizona. 35% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 275 people are assigned to this fire.
Southern California
MANTER: This 73,343 acre fire is burning on the Sequoia National Forest, near Kernville, California. 80% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 1,158 people are assigned to this fire.
PECHANGA: This 10,626 acre fire is being managed by California Department of Forestry and is burning in the Pechanga India Reservation and the Cleveland National Forest, 5 miles east of Temecula, California. Structures are threatened. 45% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 1,575 people are assigned to this fire.
CHANCE: This 1,200 acre fire is burning on land that is under the jurisdiction of Kern County Fire Department, 15 miles north of Tehachapi Pass, California. 100% of the work has been completed to contain this fire and this will be the last report unless conditions change. 42 people are assigned to this fire.
GOLDEN 2: This 2,150 acre fire is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Bakersfield District, near Walker, California. 80% of the work has been completed to contain the fire. 472 people are assigned to this fire.
KING: This 2,900 acre fire is burning on the land that is under the jurisdiction of Kern County Fire Department, 2 miles southeast of Havilah, California. Structure protection is in place. One structure has been destroyed. 25% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 1,568 people are assigned to this fire.
PEAK: This 1,100 acre fire is burning on the land that is under the jurisdiction of Kern County Fire Department, 15 miles west of Tehachapi, California. 100% of the work has been completed to contain this fire and this will be the last report unless conditions change. 16 people are assigned to this fire.
NORTH FORK: This 1,651 acre fire is burning on the land that is under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 2 miles west of King City, California. 50% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 402 people are assigned to this fire.
Wyoming
MIDDLE ENOS COMPLEX: This 13,666 acre complex is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Worland District administered land, 15 miles south of Meeteetse, Wyoming. 100% of the work has been completed to contain this fire and this will be the last report unless conditions change. 426 people are assigned to this fire.
Colorado
PONY: This 5,000 acre fire is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Ute Mountain Agency, 20 miles south of Cortez, Colorado. The fire burned east into Mesa Verde National Park forcing the evacuation and closing of the park. Structure protection remains a priority. 5% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 364 people are assigned to this fire.
TAMARACK CREEK: This 8,880 acre fire is burning on the Oregon Department of Forestry, 50 miles west of John Day, Oregon. Structures are threatened. 60% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 515 people have been assigned to this fire.
KERN: This 11,000 acre fire is burning on the Bureau of Land Management, Vale District, administered land, 25 miles south of Vale, Oregon. 90% of the work has been completed to contain this fire. 136 people have been assigned to this fire.

National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) Wildland Fire Update (7 August 2000) [conversion table]
New fire activity on Sunday was light to moderate, with ten new large fires reported. "It was a break-even day for us, more or less," said a spokesperson at the National Interagency Fire Center. "Large fires in Montana continued to burn actively, but elsewhere, initial attack held its own." Currently, 65 fires are burning about 826,802 acres in the United States. For the year, 63,623 fires have burned 4,034,362 acres. That compares with the ten-year average to date of 54,323 fires burning 2,211,771 acres. Winds gusting to 25 miles-per-hour will be a problem in parts of Montana and central Idaho today. A small low-pressure system off the northern California coast is a concern to fire meteorologists. It could spawn a series of thunderstorms from southern Oregon through western Montana. "Wednesday and Thursday will be the big days for the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains," a fire meteorologist said. "There will be little moisture with these thunderstorms." People and equipment continue to be in high demand. About 200 Canadian firefighters are working blazes in Montana. President Clinton is scheduled to visit firefighters near McCall, Idaho, on Tuesday. He will visit the Burgdorf Junction fire and join firefighters for a meal, then return to Washington D.C. in the afternoon. There are currently 65 large wildland fires burning in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

As of 7 August 2000	Number of Wildland Fires	Area burnt Acres
2000	63,623	4,034,362
1999	61,222	3,430,876
1998	50,502	1,695,625
1997	42,852	2,492,196
1996	78,685	3,536,815
1995	56,310	1,309,135
1994	51,933	2,172,230
1993	39,134	1,460,740
1992	65,184	1,000,009
1991	55,053	1,910,187
1990	42,357	3,109,898
1989	40,099	1,405,248
1988	62,176	2,678,001

NIFC Incident Management Situation Report (7 August 2000) [conversion table]
Current Situation:
Initial attack activity was light to moderate nationwide. Ten new large fires were reported in the Eastern Great Basin, Rocky Mountain, Southern California, Northwest, Northern Rockies and Southwest Areas. Crews reached containment goals on ten large fires, most of which were in Rocky Mountain and Southern California Areas. The National Interagency Coordination Center continues to process numerous orders for aircraft, equipment, crews and overhead. An Area Command Team was mobilized to Northern Rockies Area. No major changes in the weather pattern are forecast in the near future. All eleven western states, plus Oklahoma and Texas, are reporting very high to extreme fire danger indices.
Outlook:
A weak wave of air moving through the northern states will bring cooler air and more stable conditions to Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. Montana will be a bit more unstable with isolated to scattered afternoon thunderstorms. Utah will be dry with isolated afternoon thunderstorms in the mountains. Afternoon thunderstorms are also expected in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. An upper level low off the California coast will bring isolated mainly dry thunderstorms to northern California, southwest Oregon and the northwest corner of Nevada. Southern California will remain dry. High temperatures will reach into the 80's and 90's in most areas and up to 110 in the western deserts of Utah, Arizona and southern Nevada. Temperatures will be between 110 and 115 degrees across the deserts of southern California and southwestern Arizona. Minimum relative humidities will drop to the single digits and teens in the southern portion of the west and range from 10 to 20 percent across the north. Winds are forecast to be generally 10 to 20 mph during the afternoon hours.

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 30 and 90-day forecast maps).

NIFC Wildland Fire Potential Assessment (8 July to 10 August 2000):
ALASKA - Potential: normal.
Temperatures and precipitation have been normal for the last four weeks. Conditions in the interior of the state continue to support fire activity. The Fire Weather Index (FWI), which represents the intensity of a spreading fire in tundra and forest fuels, is currently high in the central interior in many places. Long-range forecasts call for above normal temperatures and normal rainfall.
NORTHWEST - Potential: Normal to above normal.
Temperatures have been above normal and precipitation has been below normal for the area for the past month. Live fuel moistures are average or slightly below average in most areas and have been measured at 80% in central Oregon to 100% in eastern Washington. 1000 hour dead fuel moistures have been normal in the west and slightly below normal in the eastern portions. Measurements range from 13% in eastern Washington to 25% in northwestern Oregon. The central portions of the area are showing moderate drought conditions as measured by the Palmer Drought Index (PDI). Long-range weather forecasts call for normal warm and dry conditions for the month.
CALIFORNIA - Potential: Normal.
Precipitation has been below normal in the south and normal in the north. Temperatures have been above normal in the south and normal in the north. Live fuel moistures are in decline in both zones with timber fuels at around 90% and between 60 to 100% in southern forests. Some moderate drought conditions still exist in southern California and in eastern portions of the Sierra Nevada in the north as measured by the PDI. 1000 hour fuel moisture is below normal for this time of year with measurements of 12%. Actual fire occurrence numbers are near normal and acres are slightly above in the north and below in the south as compared to the 5 year averages. Long-range climate prediction calls for above normal temperatures and normal rainfall for the month.
NORTHERN ROCKIES - Potential: Normal to above normal.
Precipitation has been below normal in much of the area and temperatures have been mostly normal. Live fuel moisture is ranging from 50 to 200% and 1000 hour dead fuel moisture is measured between 9 to 25%. North Dakota is expected to see below normal fire activity due to above average precipitation received during last month. Long-range climate prediction calls for normal temperature and rainfall to occur for the month. PDI indicates moderate to severe drought conditions exist in mainly eastern and central Montana. Fire occurrence and acres reported burned are well above the 5 year averages.
GREAT BASIN - Potential: Above normal.
Temperatures have been above normal during the past month while precipitation has been below normal through the area. Live fuel moisture are around 100% in the north and 65 to 100% in the south which is below the average values for the area. 1000 fuel moisture is being measured at 10% in the West Great Basin and 5 to 20% in the East Great Basin, which is below normal and normal. PDI indicates moderate and severe drought for most of the area. Long-range forecasts call for above normal temperatures and normal precipitation for Nevada and above normal precipitation for southern Utah. Overall, weather conditions are being reported as two to three weeks ahead of normal. Lightning activity in the past two weeks indicates that the northern edge of the monsoonal flow pattern has arrived.
SOUTHWEST - Potential: Normal to above normal.
Precipitation has been normal to above normal everywhere except in northern New Mexico, where it has been below normal. Temperatures have been normal in most parts of the region except northern Arizona, where they were above normal. Live fuel moisture has been measured at 60 to 120% which is normal for most of the area. 1000 hour fuel moisture is 9 to 14% in Arizona and 8 to 20% in New Mexico which is normal for this time of year. The PDI indicates that a large part of New Mexico and all of Arizona is in moderate to severe drought. The exception is south central New Mexico, which is near normal. Fire occurrence is up slightly from the five year average and acreage for the year is up 355% this year. Some significant precipitation has been received since mid June and fire danger has lessened considerably. With the arrival of the monsoon season, it is reasonable to expect this trend to continue.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN - Potential: Normal to above normal.
Temperatures and precipitation have been normal to below normal for the last four weeks. Live fuel moistures have been normal in the north and below normal in the south and west portions of the area with measurements of 95 to 130% in ponderosa pine, pinyon pine and juniper at 80 to 90% and sagebrush at 95%. 1000 hour fuel moistures are measured at 6 to 10% in the west and 11 to 15% east of the Continental Divide which is a little below average for this time of year. Fire activity is expected to be normal with the arrival of the monsoon pattern and above normal if the monsoon is weaker than average and does not move up into the area.
EASTERN - Potential: Normal to below normal.
Temperatures and precipitation have been normal in most of the Eastern Area. Live fuel moisture is at the seasonal normal for this time of year. 1000 hr fuels are being measured in the 20 to 25% ranges for this time of year and are mostly normal. PDI indicates some moderate drought in the western and central portions of the area. Increased precipitation over the past month has contributed to lessening the fire danger situation in the area. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness blow down area continues to be of concern.
SOUTHERN -Potential: Normal.
Temperatures have been normal to above normal and precipitation has been normal to below normal through most of the area last month. Live fuel moisture is averaging 150% which is slightly below normal. 1000 hr fuels are being measured from 16 to 35% and are mostly average. PDI indicates moderate and severe drought conditions continuing through much of the area. July historically has a low occurrence of fire activity and the long-range climate prediction calls for above normal temperatures and normal precipitation, except for portions of the Carolinas and Tennessee, which is forecast for below normal.
Temperatures and Precipitation reflect conditions over the past four to six weeks. The long range forecast is for the next 30 days. Above and below normal is indicated above in the narrative, areas not mentioned fall in the climatological category which means there are equal chances of being below normal (33.3%), normal (33.3%) or above normal (33.3%).

Map describing the wildland fire potential (6 July - 10 August 2000) for areas throughout the country.
(Source: National Interagency Fire Center)

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.

3 August 2000	4 August 2000
5 August 2000	6 August 2000