Fire officials in a tri-county area said they're seeing extreme fire behavior in areas with trees killed by the mountain pine beetle.
Sonny Stiger, a fire behavior analyst, told a group gathered in Helena Wednesday for a forum on the impact of the rice-size beetles, that he's seeing flame lengths of 200 to 300 feet in places they wouldn't expect it; they're experiencing unusual embers being thrown farther ahead of fires and groups of treetops torching; and ponderosa pines' low-hanging dead branches are creating ladder fuels that allow blazes to spread more rapidly than in the past.
"The kind of things we're dealing with is one fire grew to three acres in two minutes, 10 to 15 acres in the next eight minutes - that's moving - and over 100 acres in the first hour," Stiger said. "So we are experiencing unusual, extreme fire behavior now."
During the past decade, mountain pine beetles have devoured about 9 million acres of forest in the Rocky Mountains from Colorado to Montana, and about 40 million acres in British Columbia. They kill mainly lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees by burrowing into them to lay eggs; when the eggs hatch, the young "girdle" the tree by eating around it in horizontal circles, cutting off the flow of nutrients, before they fly to new trees and re-create the deadly cycle.
Wildfires
Dallas - State officials said Tuesday that a wildfire burning about 70 miles from the Dallas-Fort Worth area has blackened an area twice as big as previously estimated, and that strong wind gusts and hot temperatures would make it tougher to fight the blaze.
© The Associated Press / LM Otero
Texas Gov. Rick Perry takes a break from making photos to look at an area burned by wildfires from a jet plane during a low altitude tour of Stonewall County near Swenson, Texas, Tuesday, April 12, 2011.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry takes a break from making photos to look at an area burned by wildfires from a jet plane during a low altitude tour of Stonewall County near Swenson, Texas, Tuesday, April 12, 2011.
Strong winds and drought-stricken grasses and shrubs are fueling the fires that forced hundreds of evacuations, including an entire town, and destroyed at least 60 homes on Friday. Firefighters worked overnight as the blazes burned across about 655 sq. miles, according to the Texas Forest Service.
Some of the fires have been burning for a week or more, including three in West Texas that have charred a combined 400,000 acres.
Volunteer firefighter Gregory M. Simmons, 51, died while battling a 3,000-acre blaze Friday afternoon near Eastland, a town about 130 miles west of Dallas, Eastland Mayor Mark Pipkin said. Simmons had been a firefighter for two decades, including 11 years in Eastland, the mayor said.
"Apparently he was overcome by smoke, fell in a ditch and was consumed" by the fire, said Justice of the Peace James King, who pronounced Simmons dead at the scene along a rural road.
No other injuries have been reported.
© NASA Earth Observatory
NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using Landsat 5 data provided by the United States Geological Survey.
NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using Landsat 5 data provided by the United States Geological Survey.
© NASA Earth Observatory
Acquired April 9, 2011
Acquired April 9, 2011
The fires, called El Bonito and La Sabina, were caused by lightning strikes in mid-March and had burned 99,000 hectares (245,000 acres or 380 square miles) as of April 11. The fires are among the largest in Mexico's history, according to news reports. The burned land is brick red in the lower image. Hot areas glow orange in infrared light, revealing the active fire front on the south and west sides of the burned area. (The orange horizontal stripes are satellite sensor artifacts.)
Wildfires scorched more than 230,000 acres in Texas on Sunday, roaring through a West Texas town, destroying an estimated 80 homes and buildings and critically injuring a firefighter.
The Texas Forest Service reported more than 60,000 acres burned and 40 homes lost in one blaze that raced through West Texas and into the small mountain town of Fort Davis. The fire rushed across 20 miles in 90 minutes.
Officials at the scene, however, estimated at least 100,000 acres in two counties had burned from the fire, which continued to grow Sunday evening.
"I can only describe it as an ocean of black, with a few islands of yellow," State Representative Pete Gallego said.
The Texas Forest Service reported more than 60,000 acres burned and 40 homes lost in one blaze that raced through West Texas and into the small mountain town of Fort Davis. The fire rushed across 20 miles in 90 minutes.
Officials at the scene, however, estimated at least 100,000 acres in two counties had burned from the fire, which continued to grow Sunday evening.
"I can only describe it as an ocean of black, with a few islands of yellow," State Representative Pete Gallego said.
A wind-whipped wildfire forced the evacuation of 9,500 homes southeast of Denver on Thursday just as firefighters were gaining the upper hand on a separate blaze that has burned stubbornly for five days west of the city.
Deputy Michelle Rademacher of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said the latest fire has scorched about 1,600 acres in the wooded bluffs near Franktown, Colorado.
"We're not aware of any structures lost, but the high winds are pushing it close to heavily populated neighborhoods, so we called for mandatory evacuations," she said.
The fire grew quickly as sustained winds of 40 miles per hour fanned the flames through dry brush, grasses and trees.
Deputy Michelle Rademacher of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said the latest fire has scorched about 1,600 acres in the wooded bluffs near Franktown, Colorado.
"We're not aware of any structures lost, but the high winds are pushing it close to heavily populated neighborhoods, so we called for mandatory evacuations," she said.
The fire grew quickly as sustained winds of 40 miles per hour fanned the flames through dry brush, grasses and trees.
© Unknown
The fire threatens a fragile, protected rain forest, officials said.
Authorities do not know when they will be able to contain the spreading fire, which was being fanned by strong, gusty trade winds, said Gary Wuchner, a spokesman for the National Park Service.
© AP Photo/US Geological Survey
Park firefighters said Monday that the blaze has burned at least 30 hectares since Sunday. They say the lava is from the Kamoamoa eruption.
Park ranger Mardie Lane says the fire is creeping through Ohia forest in an area that has been burned at least twice due to lava flows.
Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been in constant eruption since Jan. 3, 1983.
Firefi ghters plan to fly over the area Tuesday to assess the situation.
© Associated Press/Will Powers
A fire truck blocks traffic on Left Hand Canuon Road north of Boulder, Colo. Friday, March 11, 2011. High winds on the front range akes the fire difficult to manage. A wildfire that has prompted the evacuation of more than 200 homes north of Boulder, Colo., has spread to about 200 acres.
A fire truck blocks traffic on Left Hand Canuon Road north of Boulder, Colo. Friday, March 11, 2011. High winds on the front range akes the fire difficult to manage. A wildfire that has prompted the evacuation of more than 200 homes north of Boulder, Colo., has spread to about 200 acres.
An air tanker from New Mexico started dropping fire retardant on the flames by afternoon as wind gusts that had reached 60 mph eased to between 20 and 30 mph.
About 100 firefighters also battled the blaze, which was burning near an area where a wildfire charred nearly 10 square miles and destroyed 169 homes in September.
Maribeth Pecotte of the U.S. Forest Service said the fire had grown to between 200 and 300 acres and was threatening 12 structures, none of which were homes. No buildings have been damaged.
Firefighters in Texas continued efforts to contain fast-moving wildfires that have destroyed nearly 60 homes, burned more than 110,000 acres and caused an accident that killed a 5-year-old child, state forestry officials said Monday.
The fires broke out about noon Sunday, said Lewis Kearney, a spokesman for the forest service's Texas State Lone Star Incident Management Team. Officials believe many were started by power lines that fell from high winds.
Since that time, forestry officials, who were called in to help local fire departments, have responded to 25 fires in 15 counties across the Texas Panhandle, Kearney said.
The fires broke out about noon Sunday, said Lewis Kearney, a spokesman for the forest service's Texas State Lone Star Incident Management Team. Officials believe many were started by power lines that fell from high winds.
Since that time, forestry officials, who were called in to help local fire departments, have responded to 25 fires in 15 counties across the Texas Panhandle, Kearney said.
