Currently, 102 large fires have burned 4.4 million acres in 12 states. More than 26,000 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents throughout the country. Unprecedented weather conditions have created emergency situations near wildfires throughout California, Oregon, Washington, and other states. Almost half of the large fires reported today have evacuation orders in place.
Two hundred thirty-three soldiers from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington are deployed in support of the August Complex.
One RC-26 aircraft with Distributed Real-Time Infrared (DRTI) capability and support personnel from the 141st Air Refueling Wing (Washington Air National Guard) has been deployed to Fairchild AFB (Spokane, WA), in support of wildland fire operations.
Two MAFFS C-130 airtanker and support personnel each from the 153rd Airlift Wing (Wyoming Air National Guard) and the 146th Airlift Wing (California Air National Guard) have been deployed to support wildland fire operations in California.
Three wildland fire suppression crews and three overhead personnel from Quebec, Canada are supporting fire suppression efforts in the Northern California Area.
During this unprecedented time, the safety of the public and all wildland fire responders is always the number one priority for all wildland fire agencies. For more information and links to the Geographic Area Plans, visit the NIFC COVID-19 page.
Weather
A cold front will stall off the West Coast while pushing into northern Mexico and stretching northeast through the southern Plains into the Ohio Valley. Precipitation will over spread the Southern Rockies and southern and central Plains with snow over the higher elevations. Gusty offshore winds amid a dry airmass will continue across the West Coast with critical fire weather conditions expected. Dry and breezy post-frontal conditions will continue across portions of the Great Basin and into the Desert Southwest as well. Thunderstorms are likely along the Gulf Coast and through portions of the Southeast into the Mid-Atlantic, especially near the coast.
