RED FLAG WARNING

[doug_e 0]

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for this area. This is not something that normally occurs in our area.

A Red Flag event is defined as an event where ten-hour fuel stick moisture* must be 8% or less, along with afternoon relative humidity levels 25% or below, and 20-foot winds are expected to exceed 15 mph. All three requirements must be met.

*Fuel sticks are used to assess woody fuel moisture. Fuel sticks are wooden dowels that act as surrogates for woody plants. Two sets of standard 10-hr fuel sticks and a calibrated scale are placed at a sampling station. Fuel sticks are used to assess woody fuel moisture. Fuel sticks are wooden dowels that act as surrogates for woody plants. Data collected is used to determine relationships between woody fuel moisture and weather varibles. Ten-hour fuel moisture sticks are dowels that are 18.5" in length and 0.5" in diameter. A 100-hr fuel moisture stick will also be placed at the sampling station. The 100-hour stick is 18.5" in length and 1.5" in diameter.

Stay on your toes, as an IC do not allow your vehicle to become blocked in by additional resources. Make a mental note of the prevailing weather conditions, e.g, wind direction and speed, temperature, time of day, etc., as part of your initial size-up at all calls. Fire brands can quickly turn your 10-75 into a major conflagration. Be prepared to call additional units as a fire patrols to contain spot fires caused by brands.

In daylight hours personnel hydration is of utmost importance. Get additional drinking water sources deployed early on. Avoid drinking from fire hoses.

Get out of your turnouts ASAP. It is totally acceptable to fight wildland fires in long pants, tee shirts, and work shoes. Traversing the woods in full PPE will exhaust your resources very quickly.

Establish your accountability procedures immediately upon arrival and size-up. Enforce working in teams of at least 2. Each team should have a radio.

Good luck and be safe....

RED FLAG WARNING...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY

524 AM EDT WED APR 20 2005

CTZ005-006-NJZ002>006-011-NYZ067>077-201530-BERGEN NJ-BRONX NY-EASTERN PASSAIC NJ-ESSEX NJ-HUDSON NJ- KINGS (BROOKLYN) NY-NASSAU NY-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN) NY- NORTHERN FAIRFIELD CT-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN CT-NORTHERN WESTCHESTER NY- ORANGE NY-PUTNAM NY-QUEENS NY-RICHMOND (STATEN IS.) NY-ROCKLAND NY-SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER NY-UNION NJ-WESTERN PASSAIC NJ-524 AM EDT WED APR 20 2005

...A RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON NY HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING.

THE COMBINATION OF GUSTY WINDS...A LACK OF RAINFALL AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL TEAM UP TO CREATE A HIGH FIRE DANGER FOR THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS MUCH OF THE TRI-STATE REGION.

THE AREA HAS NOT SEEN ANY RAINFALL IN OVER 10 DAYS AND FOREST UNDERSTORIES HAVE BECOME VERY DRY. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. ALL OF THESE CONDITIONS ARE CONDUCIVE TO FIRE IGNITION AND A RAPID SPREAD OF ANY FIRES THAT DO START.

RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION WHILE OUTDOORS TODAY. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT JUST THE SMALLEST SPARK COULD IGNITE A WILDLAND FIRE WITH POTENTIAL DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA ALL HAZARDS RADIO OR VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/OKX FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.

$$

[Guest]

WHAT!!! I thought this only happens in SoCal. We haven't even had a red flag day this year...but then again, we had a ton of rain. Should make for a big brush season on Sept. and Oct. Theres going to be a lot of flash fuels down here.

[doug_e 0]

Yeah....We've been wet up until about a week and a half ago then nothing. Looks like we'll get some rain tonight and through the weekend that will put an end to this period.

[Guest]

Do you guys pre-deploy strike teams / engine companies to a staging location during Red Flag alerts? Also, do you guys call in the air support and place them on stand by?

[doug_e 0]

This is the first Red Flag I can remember.

We very, very rarely get wildland fires. Out on Long Island in the pine barrens they had a good one a few years back. That was the only time I've seen air drops utilized. As for staging there is no formal arrangement in Westchester County to address that need and I don't know of anything being planned for this occurance. There are, however, inter-department agreements between neighboring departments to coordinate resources such as engines and tankers. The county governmental level only "assists" the local departments with mutual aid coordination needs. They aren't mandated to provide more than that.

Ordinarily our Spring seasons are wetter leading into humid Summers. This area of NY is generally humid due to the proximity to the ocean. We are really a coastal region in terms of climate. Droughts usually don't last for more than a half a year.

A few years back we had a "forest fire" at a military base here in Westchester. It was started by a practice artillery shell. Got goin' pretty good and burnt up a sizable amount of real estate, maybe 200 to 300 acres. A general call went out for bodies to help stamp it out. But as I said before it isn't something we run across often. If we lose a acre or two that's a lot.

[doug_e 0]

Fire Weather page from NWS

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/okx/okxfirewx.html

[Guest]

300 acres... That a small grass fire here...LOL Just kidding. Its funny how we are on the west coast and we have hardly any humidity. I should have some great photos this year for the coming season. I'll make sure to have Seth post them...maybe Seth can get a chance to shot some action out here in September...

[CAM502 6]

Doug,

Good post. Talk about a rare warning. Well at least it look like rain is coming. Anyone have dates of past Red Flag Warnings in the NY metro area?? I think I heard this warning once before but it was way upstate during a hot dry spring. :-k Not sure though.

[doug_e 0]

I guess this was timely...

This just in from North Bergen NJ's multi-alarm brush fire...

1600hrs- CMD reporting a "3-block long" area burning. S/C NJSP Aviation for bucket-drops. Also S/C North Hudson Regional FD for thier reserve tanker.

See the details on the Regional IA...

[Guest]

Where my cabin is in Hawley PA, there is a burn ban in effect. Well at least there was last weekend when I was there. Around Bethlehem PA, there has been several brush fires in the Lehigh Valley.

[JBE 328]

300 acres... That a small grass fire here...LOL Just kidding. Its funny how we are on the west coast and we have hardly any humidity. I should have some great photos this year for the coming season. I'll make sure to have Seth post them...maybe Seth can get a chance to shot some action out here in September...

It's definitely apples and oranges to out there. Different weather patterns, fuel loads, firefighting tactics. Mutual aid is probably the common feature. Strike teams are moreso mutual aid units just lined up from wherever to assist in containment/extinguishment.

See ya in September Boss!!!