Latest news with #firemanagement
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wildfire that destroyed Grand Canyon Lodge was 'expertly handled,' Park Service says
The lightning-caused wildfire that burned for days near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon before it became uncontrollable and destroyed roughly 70 structures, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, was "expertly handled," according to the National Park Service. Arizona officials began questioning the management of the Dragon Bravo Fire on July 13, after news broke that the lodge, which opened in 1937, had been lost to the flames. Rachel Pawlitz, a National Park Service spokesperson, defended the fire management strategy in a statement to The Arizona Republic on July 14. "The National Park Service and our interagency partners actively fought the Dragon Bravo fire employing tactics that met the suppression objectives and mitigated risk," Pawlitz said. "Firefighters had constructed containment lines and were prepared to conduct a defensive firing operation before conditions rapidly changed." The fire, which began July 4, had reached 5,700 acres and was 0% contained as of July 14, according to InciWeb, a federal wildfire tracker. Park officials said 295 fire personnel were assigned to the fire, a significant escalation in human resources from the day before, when 70 people were said to be working the fire. Grand Canyon National Park on July 9 posted on its Facebook page that fire officials were using a "confine/contain" strategy that allowed the wildfire to "fulfill its natural role within a defined area." The post noted that such fires reduce the accumulation of fuel and transform dead wood into nutrient-rich ash that promotes new plant growth. The fire grew slowly at first. It was only 10 acres by July 7 and 27 acres by July 8, according to Grand Canyon National Park social media posts. On July 10, it was 120 acres, a post said, and it was still being managed under a "confine and contain strategy." Then, on July 11, the wind picked up and the fire spread beyond containment lines. By 8:45 p.m. that day, it was estimated to be 1,500 acres. Evacuations were ordered, and the North Rim was closed to visitors. Pawlitz said the agency's response to the fire prioritized saving human lives and mitigating risk to firefighter safety. "We've lost buildings, but hundreds of lives were saved due to the fact this fire was expertly handled. The park was quickly and effectively evacuated before any impacts," Pawlitz said. "The firefighters did not put themselves or others at risk when they managed the initial response to this fire. The winds shifted unexpectedly during the firefight, pushing historic wind gusts that caused the fire to jump multiple containment features and move toward facilities instead." No one died, and buildings can be rebuilt, Pawlick said. "The safety of the public and firefighters come first," Pawlick said. "We may be saddened by the loss of buildings, but those can be re-built. Firefighters are continuing to respond to this fire in the safest way possible putting their lives and the lives of the community, park visitors, and park employees ahead of buildings." Arizona officials on both sides of the aisle have called for an investigation into how the U.S. Department of the Interior, the parent agency for the National Park Service, handled the wildfire. Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego pressed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a joint letter on why the fire was initially treated as a controlled burn until 'strong winds allowed the fire to jump multiple containment features.' 'The Grand Canyon is Arizona's crown jewel," Kelly and Gallego wrote in a July 14 letter. "The Dragon Bravo fire has already devastated this natural and cultural treasure, and the fire continues to spread. As the Department of Interior is poised to take on even more wildfire response responsibility under President Trump's wildfire consolidation executive order, our constituents deserve to know that the best wildfire response decisions are being made.' Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, said he'll use his spot on two key committees to call for an investigation. 'The Congressman is both sickened and troubled by the fire. As the dean of the Arizona congressional delegation and as member of both the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee he will be calling for a full and complete investigation. More details very soon,' Gosar spokesperson Anthony Foti said in an email. Do you have photos or video of the Grand Canyon Lodge to share on We'd love to see them and share with readers. Send it to us at our video-photo upload site. Stephanie Murray contributed reporting. Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at or 602-444-2474. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @PerryVandell. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fire that burned Grand Canyon Lodge 'expertly handled': Park Service
CTV News
15-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Lethbridge County downgrades to fire restriction
Calgary Watch Lethbridge County has downgraded its fire ban to a fire restriction, thanks to the weekend's rain and a cool, wet week expected ahead.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
More wildfires rampaging across Western Slope
MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KREX) – Wildfires continue to plague the Western Slope as crews are tackling several blazes on CO Highway 141 near Gateway. Two of the fires, Wright Draw and Turner Gulch, are mapped at 33.5 and 83 acres, respectively, as of Friday. The Upper Colorado Interagency Fire Management Unit, which has responded to around 10 wildfires on Thursday, reported lightning is responsible for the blazes. UCRIFM said several resources have been ordered and are en route or are currently on the scene, including engines and aircraft. Other fires in Western Colorado include two on the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The south rim fire has been mapped at over 1,600 acres. Due to the smoke from the blaze, air quality alerts are in place in Montrose. The county said residents should close their doors and windows and avoid prolonged exposure. Meanwhile, the Deer Creek Fire has spread to 4,000 acres near the Utah-Colorado border. The blaze is about 11 miles west of Paradox. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
05-07-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Michigan DNR issues warning about fires and dry conditions over holiday weekend
The holiday weekend continues with plenty of fun, family friendly activities like camping. But before you head "up north" to celebrate, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has a warning for you: Be mindful of starting fires because some parts of the state are experiencing drought-like conditions. In Michigan, holiday weekends are for spending time out on the water or by a campfire roasting food. "We have had instances where you will find them. They have caused fires over the years," Jeff Corser, Michigan DNR fire management specialist, said. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, some parts of the state are experiencing abnormally dry to severe drought conditions. "There's just areas inside Michigan that did not get the snowpack, did not get the rainfall over the spring, so they're just a little bit drier, a little bit faster than where they're supposed to be," Corser said. Those dry conditions mean a higher risk of fire danger. "Just make sure when you're doing your campfires, they are in proper rings. Just open burning is just not a good idea right now," Corser said. The DNR is reminding people how to put out those campfires when you're done. "Make sure it's wet, and it's how we recommend, just drowning them. Can't get your hand there if you can't get close to it, you know; it's not out. So, water and a shovel, and stir them up good," Corser said. Fireworks are another hazard. "We recommend, you know, wetting down the area that you are lighting these fireworks from, the ones that are kind of a horizontal launching like bottle rockets and stuff," Corser said. Experts say light fireworks over concrete, gravel, or asphalt instead of grass. "They will ignite fires, especially the drier grasses, and even the pine needles on the forest floor are fairly dry right now," Corser said. If a wildfire does catch, the aftermath can be devastating. "Today is supposed to be a fairly windy, dusty day, so in the right fuels, the fine fuels, those can get up and go really quick," Corser said. That's why you want to put safety first while celebrating the holiday this weekend.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Here's how a BYU graduate's research is helping to optimize wildfire modeling
Wind has already played a big role in Utah's wildfire season, combining with heat and low relative humidity to send the flames of the Forsyth Fire toward Pine Valley in Washington County, where it destroyed 18 structures, including 13 primary or secondary homes. While Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has called on his constituents to pray for rain amid worsening drought conditions across the state, a Brigham Young University graduate's research could help make a widely used wildfire tool faster and more accurate when needed most. Jane Housley, who earned a graduate degree in mathematics from BYU, partnered with the U.S. Forest Service's Missoula Fire Sciences Lab with the goal of improving WindNinja, a simulation tool created by the agency and used in real-time by fire crews and analysts to predict how wind will move through terrain during a fire. 'One of the really, really cool things about studying math is you kind of get to end up working on all sorts of different types of problems using your math knowledge,' Housley said. 'I really have become passionate about the project, but it's kind of cool that it just started out as something where somebody just thought, 'Oh, it might be helpful to have a math person on this,' even though I didn't really have any background in wildfire studies.' While WindNinja is a helpful software, it's not perfect. Housley said it struggles to model what's called a 'cavity zone.' 'That's the area directly behind a mountain or ridge where wind tends to swirl backward and create eddies.' Housley said. Eddies are important because they can dramatically alter how and where a wildfire spreads. When using WindNinja, Housley said users have to choose between speed and accuracy. She was tasked with optimizing the software to achieve both of those traits. Her solution? Implementing her math prowess — with a modern twist of AI-powered machine learning — to bridge the gap. To lay the groundwork, she used a mathematical approach inspired by airflow around buildings. Decades-old architectural research showed how wind wraps around square structures in cities, and Housley repurposed that math to approximate how wind might similarly move across complex natural terrain. She then went to work on an algorithm that approximates hills and peaks as 'rectangular buildings,' then applied formulas to predict where cavity zones should appear. 'Instead of thinking of a mountain like this rugged terrain, can we think of it like tons of small skyscrapers all bunched together? And that was kind of the approach we took there,' Housley said. This led to a model that clearly outlines problem areas where wind flow is likely to become turbulent. For the second part of the project, her solution was 'to train a neural network, which ended up working really, really well,' Housley said. Housley built a custom U-net convolutional neural network (a type of AI often used in image recognition) and trained it on nearly 6,000 wind simulation images provided by the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab. Each data pair included terrain, vegetation type, wind direction and outputs from both WindNinja solvers. This enabled the neural network to produce a pipeline seven times faster than industry-leading models, while retaining high accuracy. The results speak for themselves: The model cut one type of error by 75%. It sliced the average error in half. On a test that measures how close two wind maps look — kind of like comparing photos — it scored 0.77 out of 1, a big jump from 0.60. Best of all, it did it in just 0.07 seconds per simulation. 'WindNinja is used in real-time by firefighters when they're trying to predict the path of a fire ... to try and figure out the optimal place to go and defend the forest or the community. In a situation like that, minutes and even seconds are everything,' Housley said. 'Being able to improve the speed by seven times, you know, gives us minutes and even hours back in that front.' With this success, Housley said she only sees the role of AI and machine learning growing when it comes to wildfire modeling. 'We've kind of seen that machine learning is a really valuable thing to test out in wildfire modeling. I think it's going to kind of change the landscape of how wildfire modeling operates in the future,' Housley said.
