Fire Marshal

Rice County, Kansas Touched by Wildfires | 1

/ NW Fire Blog (TM)

RICE COUNTY, KANSAS

Photo Credit | Hutchinson Fire PIO

Incident Summary |  Three active wildfires are burning in Rice County.  Fire #1 has entered McPherson County from Rice County with other counties beginning to report additional fire starts.

Kansas Division of Emergency Management has activated the KS EOC in Topeka, Kansas to a partial Level 2 due to very high and extreme fire weather conditions across the State.  the State EOC will be staffed with personnel from the KDEM, KS National Guard, Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Kansas Forest Service.

Location | The fire is located on Buhler Road in SE Rice and SW McPherson Counties, about 8-10 miles southeast of Lyons, Kansas.

Cause | Unknown.  There has been a known drought.

Units working south of Ave Q during firing operations. Photo Credit | Hutch Deputy Fire Chief Hanen

Incident Cooperators | Hutchinson FD, Reno County TF, Kansas National Guard,  Kansas Governor Jeff Coyler’s Office, Rice County EMA, Kansas State Police, Rice County Sheriff Office, KS EMA, State Fire Marshal and the KS Forest Service, Sterling Police Department.

Resources | Resources from the Hutchinson Fire Department and the Reno County Task Force.   UPDATE | The Reno County TF has been released from the fire as of 2058 CDT and will return back to the fire at 0800 on Thursday, March 15, 2018.

Photo Credit | Hutch Deputy Fire Chief Hanen

UPDATE -1154 CDT | Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer issued an emergency declaration for three fires in Rice County. Kansas National Guard along with several Black Hawks were deployed to the incident.

Air Assets | One UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter (KSNG) with one out of Salina.  Three helicopters on standby with one in Salina and two in Topeka, Kansas.

Photo Credit | Hutchinson Municipal Airport (HUT)

Damage Assessment | No injuries reported.  One abandoned home was destroyed.

Social Media | Though there is no known name of these wildfires, we have dubbed them the #RiceCountyFires #KansasFires #KSwildfire2018

(c) 2018 NW Fire Blog – 2215 PDT / 0014 CDT

#MonumentHillFire | Grant County WA | New!

/ NW Fire Blog (TM)

GRANT COUNTY, WASHINGTON

Monument Hill is the second highest peak in Beezley Hills at an elevation of 2,882 feet.  It is located near Quincy, just South of Ephrata. (Wikipedia)

INCIDENT SUMMARY

Fire crews were dispatched to a brush fire around 2019 hours on Wednesday, August 16, 2017, located on Monument Hill  is located near Quincy, Washington.  (FireCAD)

EVACUATIONS

Level 3 (LEAVE NOW!) Evacuations were ordered forAdams Rd N, areas of Rd 13NW and Rd J8 NW.  (this was approximately around 2100 hours PDT from GCSO)

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Level 1 (Get Ready) Evacuations for Painted Hills area.  For what you need to bring during an evacuation or learn of which areas are in evacuations, check out the Grant County Sheriff Office website here —-> https://www.nixle.us/9JCSD

RESOURCES

Initial resources (BATT-17 BLM-11 BLM E-6695) were originally dispatched. We have heard since the original call time, pages out for mutual aid from Spokane city firefighters and others. (Scanner Feed)  Additionally, State fire mobe has been approved as well bringing out additional resources. (WSP PIO)

Press releases are coming out of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) and Washington State Patrol (WSP), as well as Grant County PUD.

SIZE UP

Grant County Sheriff is reporting the brush fire is approximately 500 acres(as of 2300 hours PDT) and is growing quickly. No containment status has been achieved as of yet. Homes and crops are currently being threatened.  State Fire Mobe has been approved. (Released around 2225 hours PDT)

#MonumentHillFire night fire operations. Credit: WSP PIO 6, Trooper Brian Moore)

ALERTS

Power Outage – Douglas County PUD stated as of 2200 hours PDT, about 350 residents were affected by the power outage in the Palisades area due to the fire in Grant County.  Crews are out and working very hard to restore power as quickly as possible.

Stay Out of the Area –The WA State Patrol reminds everyone to STAY OUT OF THE AREA and not park on the shoulders. Fire crews need the space to work in and with heavy traffic they cannot reach the fire ground.  Please help them put this fire out by leaving enough space for emergency vehicles and support personnel access to various roadways.

Evacuation orders/alerts – To receive Nixle alerts (evacuation notices), if you live in Grant County, text your zip code to 888777. You can also follow us on Twitter @GrantCoSheriff #MonumentHillFire (GCSO)

Red Cross Shelter – will be set up for evacuees at midnight tonight.  This will be opened up at the Quincy High School in Quincy. (GCSO)

HISTORICAL FIRE INFORMATION

This area is familiar to large wildfires and also previously called the #MonumentHillFire when the last one in July of 2015, caused evacuations in the Baird Springs Road of Rd Q NW, just North of Quincy.  Evacuations were ordered on July 1 and listed on July 5, 2015. (News Media)

This what it looked like on July 1, 2015.  Fire was out around 1900 hours on July 5, 2015.  Over 2,000 acres.

Credit: GCSO.

Here it is on August 16, 2017. Fire started August 16, 2017 and growing.  500 acres and growing.

Credit: WSP PIO 6, Trooper Brian Moore

SOCIAL MEDIA

You can follow us here on our Official Fire Blog, on Twitter @nwfireblog and on our Facebook Page, The NW Fire Blog.

#MonumentHillFire #WAwildfire2017 #WaWILDFIRE #NWFB #GrantCoWAFire

(c) 2017 The NW Fire Blog – Updated 8/16/2017 @ 2320 Hours PDT

 

#SnakeRiverFire | Washington State | 4

/ NW Fire Blog (TM)

NEAR POMEROY, WASHINGTON  

Incident Summary | A wildfire that some are reporting started on Saturday, July 15th at 0600 hours while others are saying it started much sooner than that is located near Nisqually John Landing along the Snake River near Pomeroy, Washington State.  It is also said to be burning near its neighboring County, Asotin’s border.

Snake River Fire 20170715

Size | The Snake River fire was reported earlier today as consuming up to 2,500 acres with a 0% containment status.

Fire Fuels | Tall grasses.

Cause | Lightning.

Current Conditions |  Active fire behavior with flanking, backing and uphill runs.

Resources |  230 personnel. 2 dozers, 5 strike teams via a State mobilization around the State, plus 25 engines. (as of 7/15/2017)

We are hearing of a  SE WA IMT Team 3 PIO, Spokane County Fire District 8 (2 ), Pullman Fire (Medic + R32), Lewis County Fire District 5 sent a staffed brush truck,

Command |  SE Washington Team 3, a type 3 team. The Incident Command Post (ICP) is working out of the Pomeroy Junior/Senior High School.

 

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Photo Credit: Pullman Fire

Significant Events | The Corral Creek in Idaho is burning near the Snake River fire is listed at 600 acres and growing.  Due to steep and very difficult slopes, apparatus cannot drive down them.

Fire Tactics |  This fire will be mainly handled by hand crews due to steepness of the terrain and it is difficult for engines to maneuver. Bulldozers have completed 1/4 of the perimeter Saturday.

Sunday’s activities consist of the implementation of (6) Type 1 Hand Crews, (5) Strike Teams, and (3) Dozers on the ground. In the air will be a single heavy Helicopter, a fixed wing aircraft, and (4) Fire Bosses using the Snake River for water. The goal is to keep the fire on the river’s slope and away from homes and cropland.

 

Threats | Homes, crops and cell phone towers.

Weather Forecast |  Sunday’s weather forecast during the day is 20% chance for showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny with highs near 93*F.  East wind 5 to 8 mph.  Tonight is mostly clear, with a low around 73*F. SE wind 6 to 9 mph.

Cost-to-Date | $300,000.

A DNR Rotor takes off from the helibase on the Snake River. (Photo Credit: Danny Boyle)

Social Media | We are using #SnakeRiverFire and #WAwildfire2017 #WAwildfire #GarfieldCoFire as hashtags.  You can also find Fire coverage on our Social Media Channels on Facebook and Twitter (@nwfireblog).

Thank you for reading our post!

ABOUT GARFIELD COUNTY

Pomeroy is the only City and County seat inside this least populated County inside the State of Washington.  Pomeroy has the most amount of residents topping out at a whopping 1,389 (2015 estimation), while other communities such as Gould City, Pataha, Peola and Ping carry the remainder of residents.  The County has a total of 2,247 inhabitants.

Garfield County is known as an iconic town for being created in the 1800’s and has a minimum of 10 blocks that are on the State Historical maps.  The County was created out of a large piece of Columbia County in 1881 then split off in half, creating Asotin County in 1883.

Map of Washington highlighting Garfield County

Photo & Source Credits: Wikipedia

The County is about 718 square miles with 711 as land and 7.5 as water.  US Route 12 and State Route 127 run through the County while it also features the Snake River and the Umatilla National Forest.

The County’s Northern border is with Whitman County; Eastern border is Asotin County; Southern border is Wallowa County (OR) and its Western border is Columbia County.

 

(c) 2017 The NW Fire Blog – Updated @ 1405 hours PDT

#SnakeRiverFire | Washington State | 3

/ NW Fire Blog (TM)

NEAR POMEROY, WASHINGTON  

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Photo Credit: Methow Valley News (Republished with written permission)

Incident Summary | A Washington wildfire is burning 15 miles East of Pomeroy (Garfield County) and about 2-2.5 miles from the Asotin County Line,

The cause of the fire is from lightning.  Many reported there was a huge lightning storm that passed over the fire on Friday evening, initially igniting the landscape near the Snake River.

Photo Credit: Spokane County Fire District 8 Firefighters IAFF 3711.

Size | The Snake River fire was reported earlier today as consuming up to 3,000 acres. No word on what the acreage is this evening.

Resources |  Around 2000 hours on Saturday evening (7/15/2017), State mobe was approved for this fire.

The Public Information Officer (PIO) SE WA IMT Team 3 has arrived on the incident as of 2100 hours.

On order:

1 crew on order for the Baker River Hotshots along with  the SE WA IMT Team 2.

3 additional strike teams ordered by the State Fire Marshal.  2 are already on-scene.

Current Conditions | Terrain is very rugged and steep, which firefighters are working through as challenges.

One fire source stated, “It was awesome watching the two rotors dropping water,  a WA DNR 8 and another rotor.  Great work by both, working the fire. ”

Fire crews have successfully lessened the fire.

Threats | Homes, crops and cell phone towers.

Social Media | We are using #SnakeRiverFire and #WAwildfire2017 #WAwildfire #GarfieldCoFire

ABOUT GARFIELD COUNTY

Pomeroy is the only City and County seat inside this least populated County inside the State of Washington.  Pomeroy has the most amount of residents topping out at a whopping 1,389 (2015 estimation), while other communities such as Gould City, Pataha, Peola and Ping carry the remainder of residents.  The County has a total of 2,247 inhabitants.

Garfield County is known as an iconic town for being created in the 1800’s and has a minimum of 10 blocks that are on the State Historical maps.  The County was created out of a large piece of Columbia County in 1881 then split off in half, creating Asotin County in 1883.

Map of Washington highlighting Garfield County

Photo & Source Credits: Wikipedia

The County is about 718 square miles with 711 as land and 7.5 as water.  US Route 12 and State Route 127 run through the County while it also features the Snake River and the Umatilla National Forest.

The County’s Northern border is with Whitman County; Eastern border is Asotin County; Southern border is Wallowa County (OR) and its Western border is Columbia County.

 

(c) 2017 The NW Fire Blog – Updated @ 1405 hours PDT

HOT JOBS! | Chief – Officer – HQ | Mar 26

/ NW Fire Blog (TM)

ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF

 Town of Wayland, Massachussetts.  $73,602 – $95,059 /  year.  http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=5960fe3ffa914f08&from=recjobs  ** Closes 3/31/2016.

ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF – OPERATIONS

City of Plymouth, Minnesota.  $83,689 – 107,814 / year. http://agency.governmentjobs.com/plymouthmn/default.cfm?action=viewJob&jobID=1392030 **  Closes 4/11/2016, Monday.

ASSISTANT FIRE MARSHAL

NEW — > City of Durham, North Carolina.  $48,112 – $74,293 / year.  http://agency.governmentjobs.com/durhamnc/default.cfm?action=viewJob&jobID=1377773 ** Closes 4/1/2016.

University of Merced, California.  Fire and Building Safety.  http://jobs.ucmerced.edu/n/staff/position.jsf?positionId=6607  ** No Closing Date.

DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF

NEW — > State of Arkansas.  Military Department.  Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.   $33,861 – $57,514 / year.  https://www.ark.org/arstatejobs/index.php?ina_sec_csrf=ccf67ff33bcd2209a1d1769c44771200&ac:show:show_job=1&agencyid=43&jobid=81693 ** No Closing Date.

DEPUTY FIRE MARSHAL

NEW — > City of League City, Texas.  $39,034 – $48,793 / year.  http://agency.governmentjobs.com/leaguecity/default.cfm?action=viewJob&jobID=1392494 ** Closes 4/8/2016.

Skagit County.  Mt. Vernon, Washington.  Planning and Development Services Department.  $52,624 – $66,976 / month.   https://www.governmentjobs.com/jobs/1385962/deputy-fire-marshal?utm_source=Indeed&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Indeed ** Closes 4/15/2016.

EMERGENCY SERVICES SPECIALIST 1

NEW — > City of Homer, Alaska.  Temp Position. $21.12 / hour.  https://cityofhomerak.applicantpro.com/jobs/361159-25500.html ** Closes 4/6/2016.

FIRE CAPTAIN

NEW — > City of Omaha, Nebraska.  $72,567.04 – $88,612.16 / year.  https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?jobId=2416944&partnerid=25660&siteid=5375 ** Closes 4/11/2016.

NEW — > City of Unalaska, Alaska. $26.04 – $27.62 / hour. http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=6050b98f6751880a&q=firefighter&tk=1aestlpfub9fqajh&from=web ** Closes 4/25/2016.

FIRE CHIEF

NEW — > City of Colorado Springs, Colorado.  $128,188 – $160,235 / year. http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=89625cef146752d0&from=recjobs

NEW — > City of Port Orange, Florida.  $75,459 – $122,998 / year. http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=d06e402fd577844b&from=recjobs

NEW — > City of Providence, Rhode Island.  http://www.indeed.com/cmp/Public-Safety-Consultants,-Inc/jobs/Fire-Chief-c08067eae5c63736?q=firefighter

FIRE INVESTIGATOR

NEW — > City of Sacramento, California.  $34,40 – $41.82 / hour.  http://agency.governmentjobs.com/saccity/default.cfm?action=viewJob&jobID=1329545 ** Closes 4/8/2016.

FIRE LIEUTENANT

NEW — > City of Pensacola, Florida. https://fl-pensacola.civicplushrms.com/CareerPortal/JobDetail.aspx?enc=QPQDKqwXNuJybHyCBjvzp1VrmMR6pbiP9Svk68/myZwkrz99ozb0CMQLP11IfsFy6JUAAQ5rJoIsJzjcjITVIg== ** Closes 4/8/2016.

FIRE MARSHAL

State of West Virginia.  Various Locations Statewide.  This is for a Fire Marshal-in Training. $24912 – $46092 / year.  http://agency.governmentjobs.com/wv/default.cfm?action=viewJob&jobID=26137  ** Continuous openings.

Washington State Patrol.  Multiple Locations Statewide.  $4340 – $5701 / month.
https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/jobs/1341622/deputy-state-fire-marshal  ** Closes 4/25/2016.

FIRE TRAINING CAPTAIN

NEW — > City of Hutchinson, Kansas.  $48, 022 – $64,600 / year. https://hutchinsonjobs.hyrell.com/UI/Views/Applicant/VirtualStepPositionDetails.aspx?TemplateId=221463&IsAutoRefresh=True&r=Indeed&tzi=Pacific%20Standard%20Time ** No Closing Date.

PARAMEDIC / FIELD TRAINING OFFICER

Travis County ESD 2.  Pflugerville, Texas.  $52,000 / year. http://www.indeed.com/cmp/Travis-County-ESD-No.-2/jobs/Paramedic-Field-Training-Officer-Firefighter-a04399d0a4cdeed3?sjdu=QwrRXKrqZ3CNX5W-O9jEvWRHsaEnBQ0hSEj1n3t_CoL8I-kJO4WWDrxaXVZpuP5Q80zvXX1Iy5pYoUpw_f1j-LL5esOj7vyEi6ZuH8j4kodsPLGv2MreE5vVEdT-3RBj  ** Closes 4/7/2016.

(c) 2016 The NW Fire Blog