I’m listening to the Tuolumne County Sheriff, Fire, and Police scanner feed via Broadcastify. The scanner chatter includes the usual traffic reports but also the distinctive cadence of firefighting operations – calls for “Charlies” (?), water tenders, and other fire equipment, and a fire coordinator asking a crew leader what additional resources they need.
This webcam photo from within Yosemite shows the intense smoke that characterizes this fire.
Much more information about the Rim Fire, including maps, is available through InciWeb system. The August 25 update reads as follows:
> The Rim Fire continues to burn on the Stanislaus National Forest, Yosemite National Park, Bureau of Land Management and State responsibility land. The fire is exhibiting continued growth to the northeast and east. On the western side of the fire, crews successfully conducted firing operations to bring the fire line down to the Tuolumne River in efforts to keep the fire from spreading to the west toward the Highway 108 corridor. Aerial resources continue to be effective in reducing the spread of fire toward the Highway 108 corridor. Crews continue to construct line construction where accessibility and safety allows. In addition, structure defense and contingency planning continues in the Mather area.
On Friday, August 23, California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for San Francisco, noting that the fire threatens both power and water resources for the city.
> WHEREAS the wildfires that started in Tuolumne County have caused damage to electrical infrastructure serving the City and County of San Francisco, and now threaten damage to property, equipment, and resources of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department; and
> WHEREAS the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has been forced to shut down transmission lines with the result that the City and County is affected by the wildfires in the County of Tuolumne and is likely to be further affected should the fire cause additional damage to the City and County of San Francisco’s water and electrical assets in Tuolumne County, including the possible temporary interruption of electricity and/or water delivery;
A view from space:
Our orbit took us directly over California’s Rim Fire about an hour ago. Devastating. August 26. pic.twitter.com/sCYXZPZTWq
— Karen L. Nyberg (@AstroKarenN) August 26, 2013
My thoughts go out to all of the firefighters who are fighting this fire – and all of the 100+ fires burning across the west.
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