West Mims Fire... Okefenokee

[BridgeTroll]

Best info I can find...

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5153/

Map with details of the West Mims fire

Incident Overview

The lightning-caused fire was reported on April 6, 2017, approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the Eddy Fire Tower in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The Southern Area Type 1 Red Incident Management Team is managing the fire with Georgia Forestry Commission, Greater Okefenokee Association of Landowners (GOAL), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Forest Service, and U.S. Forest Service.

Basic Information
Current as of   5/11/2017, 11:10:35 AM
Incident Type   Wildfire
Cause   Lightning/natural
Date of Origin   Thursday April 06th, 2017 approx. 05:00 PM
Location   7 miles east of Fargo Georgia (Okefenokee NWR)
Incident Commander   Dueitt/Kline/Dolan
Current Situation
Total Personnel   711
Size   143,893 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained   12%
Estimated Containment Date   Wednesday November 01st, 2017 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved   
Timber (Grass and Understory) Southern Rough
Fuel models 2, 4, 9, 12, 13
Significant Events   
Active
Running
Spotting
Flanking

Narrative:
After a somewhat quiet day yesterday, due to an inversion under high pressure, fire activity increased substantially today. Very intense fire behavior began to occur on the southeastern side of the fire. At mid-morning, the fire escaped containment and made a hard push to the south and east, west of St. George. Other areas of the fire experienced smoldering, creeping and active flame from re-burn.

Outlook
Planned Actions
   
Continue to fully suppress fire and strengthen control lines outside the Refuge boundary on commercial timberland and
around residences.
Contain perimeter, check for and contain spots outside existing control line. Monitor for reburn potential in areas
previously contained, and take appropriate action to maintain control.
Direct and Indirect line construction using tractor plows and dozers, utilizing aircraft support to check spread for ground
resources. Heavy utilization of aircraft continue needed to check fire spread towards communities, high valued timber and
highway corridors.
Mop up control lines and continue prep work near and on timberlands.
Continue to implement structure protection around communities and structures at risk, including St. George area,
Moniac, , Taylor, Trail Ridge area, Council, Fargo, Stephen Foster, Chesser Island Homestead, and Okefenokee Wildlife
Refuge structures.
Coordinate suppression with commercial timber salvage operations.

Projected Incident Activity
   
12 hours: The fire will continue to be extremely active during the night, likely well beyond midnight following available fuel south and east.
Extremely dry fuels and near record temperatures will produce high risk of erratic fire behavior including long range spotting and crown runs. High risk that fire could escape control lines. Threats remain for the communities of St. George, Moniac, Taylor and MacClenny. Also threatened are commercial forested properties outside of the Swamp Edge break. Chesser Island boardwalk, Stehan C. Foster State Park, John Bethea State Forest and Florida Hwy 2/Georgia Hwy 94 as well as Okefenokee Parkway.
48 hours: Conditions remain hot and dry. Continue risk of extreme firea behavior. High risk that fire could escae control lines. Fire will continue to consume any areas of available fuel within the fire perimeter. Re-burn potential is also very high. Threats remain to the communities of St. George, Moniac, Taylor and MacClenny. Als threatened are commercial forested properties outside of the Swamp Edge break. Chesser Island boardwalk, Stephan C. Foster State Park, John Bethea State Forest and Florida Hwy 2/Georgia Hwy 94 as well as Okefenokee Parkway.
72 hours: Fuels continue to cure. Very little chance of wetting rain. Return of southwest flow could potentially push fire into lrage blocks of unburned fuel in the swam that are unlined at this time. Fire activity will increase in areas that have been quiescent as those fuels become available. Re-burn potential remains very high. Threats remain to forested properties outside of the Swamp Edge break. Chesser Island boardwalk, Stehan C. Foster State Park, John Bethea State Forest and Florida Hwy 2/Georgia Hwy 94 as well as Okefenokee Parkway.The communities of St. George, Moniac, Taylor, and MacClenny also remain threatened.
Anticipated after 72 hours: Little chance of significant precipitation. Continued hot and dry weather over the fire area.

Remarks   

The Southern Area Red Team is coordinating with Florida and Georgia Emergency Management Agencies on structure
protection and evacuation needs for the southeast portion of the fire.
The Southern Area Red Team is supporting the Joint Information Corrdination Center managed by the State of Georgia.
Other equipment not included in the resource summary:
Tractor/Cutter-PVT-1 (E-73 Div O), Maintainer-PVT-2 (Grader)(Road Maintenance Group).

Current Weather
Weather Concerns
   
High pressure remained over the fire today. More wind created better dispersion and visibility compared to yesterday. Northwest to west winds prevailed around 5-10 mph with gusts near 15 mph at times. Daytime temperatures reached record high values between 92-28 degrees as humidity fell into the lower 20% range.
High pressure will settle farther south and east of the fire tomorrow which will continue a hot and dry westerly flow. Near record high temperatures in the upper 90s are expected with critically low humidity near 20%. Prevailing west winds will become breezy by afternoon with gusts of 15-20 mph. A dominant west coast sea breeze will reinforce the stronger WSW flow across the West Mims during the afternoon and early evening.

[BridgeTroll]

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/5153/35238/

Current Fire Situation: Crews and equipment continue suppression and containment actions in all critical areas around the fire. Fire size increased on Wednesday by several hundred acres, with active fire behavior south of Highway 94 in the Moniac area. Crews responded Wednesday to several spot fires south of Highway 94 that were quickly contained. The potential for continued extreme fire behavior still exists due to continued drought conditions and changes in weather patterns. Smoke continues to settle into the St. George and Moniac areas. Evacuation orders remain in place for all residents with a St. George or Moniac address. Residents are asked to take the evacuation order seriously and leave, particularly those in the St. George to "Georgia Bend" to Moniac area south of Highway 94. There were no reported injuries yesterday.
Weather and Expected Fire Behavior: High pressure will settle farther south and east of the fire, which will continue a hot and dry westerly flow. Near record high temperatures in the upper 90s are expected, with minimum humidity near 20%. Prevailing west winds will become breezy by afternoon with gusts of 15 to 20 MPH. Conditions are favorable for extreme fire behavior, characterized by rapid development and intense fire growth in any areas of available fuel.
Planned Actions: Crews will continue structure protection actions on the southeast portion of the fire, and elsewhere as needed. Aircraft and ground crews will continue to maintain and reinforce containment lines. Additional resources continue to arrive to reinforce existing firefighting capacity. Reconnaissance preparation and control action are being implemented in expectation of shifting winds on Sunday impacting the western side of the fire. Specialized off-road water tenders have been ordered to cool down hot spots in hard-to-reach areas, especially where salvage logging is occurring. Reburn from "needle-cast" (dead pine needles falling into fire lines), continues to be a problem and crews are positioned to patrol and respond to reburns.
Air Quality Report: Expect moderate smoke conditions Thursday, from the fire area eastward. Residents with respiratory conditions who may be affected by smoke are encouraged to leave smoke-prone areas.
Current Evacuations and Road Closures:
· Charlton County Emergency Management Agency: Residents with a St. George address are under an evacuation order, which also includes Canaday Loop and Moniac residents. A shelter is open at the Camden County Recreation Center, 1050 Wildcat Drive in Kingsland. Phone 912-729-5600.
· Hwy 121 is closed from Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge south to the intersection of Hwy 94.
· Hwy 94 is closed from Hwy 121 to Hwy 185.
· Hwy 177 is closed 11 miles north of the intersection with GA 94 at the entrance to Stephen C. Foster State Park.
· Roads may be temporarily closed, as needed, due to smoke, fire, or equipment movement.
Driving restrictions & safety precautions:
Due to fire activity, motorists may encounter firefighters, firefighting equipment, log trucks, and smoke along roads around the refuge. Please avoid driving on roads near fire activity, unless necessary, even if the roads are open.
Temporary Flight Restrictions: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) 7/1766 is in place. Temporary Flight Restrictions apply to all aircraft, including drones, and other unmanned aircraft. Any unauthorized drones or other aircraft entering a TFR over wildfires will ground emergency aircraft critically needed to fight the fire until the drone or other aircraft is removed by Law Enforcement.

[I-10east]

Out of curiosity, why is the West Mims Fire called that? I looked up 'West Mims' and 'West Mims, GA' and nothing comes up but the fire. Anyway, I hope that this pyropolis will be extinguished ASAP!

[Tacachale]

Out of curiosity, why is the West Mims Fire called that? I looked up 'West Mims' and 'West Mims, GA' and nothing comes up but the fire. Anyway, I hope that this pyropolis will be extinguished ASAP!

Good question. Anybody know?

[BridgeTroll]

Out of curiosity, why is the West Mims Fire called that? I looked up 'West Mims' and 'West Mims, GA' and nothing comes up but the fire. Anyway, I hope that this pyropolis will be extinguished ASAP!

Good question. Anybody know?

I cannot find it... I suspect it is a geographic feature or area within the swamp but I have not been able to find it...

[Adam White]

Well, it is west of Mims. But that's a massive stretch.

[BridgeTroll]

I found it... I believe it is in reference to Mims Creek.  Type Mims Creek Georgia into google earth and it will designate a spot southwest of St George... south of highway 94 and west of highway 23.

[Adam White]

I found it... I believe it is in reference to Mims Creek.  Type Mims Creek Georgia into google earth and it will designate a spot southwest of St George... south of highway 94 and west of highway 23.

Thanks for that. I was wondering the same thing. How bad is the fire? Are you getting smoke from it in Jax?

[BridgeTroll]

https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:3:0::NO::P3_FID:318306

[BridgeTroll]

I found it... I believe it is in reference to Mims Creek.  Type Mims Creek Georgia into google earth and it will designate a spot southwest of St George... south of highway 94 and west of highway 23.

Thanks for that. I was wondering the same thing. How bad is the fire? Are you getting smoke from it in Jax?

Yes... last Saturday it looked positively apocalyptic... like living next to a campfire...

[Tacachale]

^Yeah, it's very bad. I don't know how we will contain it at this point.

[Adam White]

Wow. I remember when Florida was burning back in 1998. I think that's the worst I ever saw - though I moved to CT in the middle of it.

[Jim]

I found it... I believe it is in reference to Mims Creek.  Type Mims Creek Georgia into google earth and it will designate a spot southwest of St George... south of highway 94 and west of highway 23.

I also found a Mims Island right on the border inside the swamp.

[Jax-Nole]

I found it... I believe it is in reference to Mims Creek.  Type Mims Creek Georgia into google earth and it will designate a spot southwest of St George... south of highway 94 and west of highway 23.

I also found a Mims Island right on the border inside the swamp.

I'm a little bit late to this thread, but yes that is where the name came from. The creek near St George wouldn't be it because the fire didn't start anywhere near there. It started in Florida on the western side of Mims Island in Baker County. Fires in the Okefenokee are almost always named after islands in the swamp, not waterways.

What fascinates me about this fire though is that it is burning in an area that has burned 3 or 4 times since 1998 and twice previously in the last 10 years. It's amazing that there is enough available fuel to burn 150,000 acres without really getting stuck anywhere due to lack of fuel. I'm not a biology or botany major, but I would bet there are some unique adaptations in the plants that allow the ecosystem to continue to thrive despite burning every few years.

[BridgeTroll]

Thanks for confirming the origin of the fires name... I was certain it was a geologic feature just could not find it.  Often times fires are not "bad" for ecosystems... it provides room for new growth... and can kill off natural pest infestations...

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Wildland-Fire/Prescribed-Fire/The-Natural-Role-of-Fire