From: Appling, Michael W [mappling@blm.gov]
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 8:12 AM
To: LITTLE Jim
Subject: RE: Smoke Intrusiion Report 12-01
Good Morning Jim,
I have reviewed your final
version of the intrusion report for the 13th of January here in
Medford & would like to clarify just a couple of items.
L. Were instructions
adequate?—You indicated that land managers continued burning after winds turned
unfavorable. This is not accurate. Although the smoke was drifting a different
direction than what was predicted they were never unfavorable in terms of wind
direction. At no time was the column drifting toward the SSRA. The smoke
was very visible from Medford & was being monitored closely by two fuels
specialists, a District FMO & a seasoned Meteorologist at the Medford
weather service. The six complaints is not uncommon & actually fewer than
normal for burning on a clear day here in the valley. Winds at the mid level of
the column sent smoke to the SE toward the Wagner Gap area South of Ashland
& the top of the column was drifting to the NW as predicted in the Spot
weather forecast.
M. Comments—I do acknowledge the
spike in the Neph. During the late hours of the 13th & early
morning hours of the 14th. In terms of the use of ACOST in
determining tonnage I would like to bring to attention that this was the third
time in the last 10 years that this unit was burned. The fuels that burned were
the fine dead fuels & the 1 hour fuels. This was a burn to target the
resprouting vegetation within the unit. Therefor the combustion phase was less
than 20 minutes after rapid ignition. Smoldering phase was approx.. 1 hour
& residual smoke the following morning was negligible & could hardly be
seen. Im not familiar with the ACOST modeling system but if it is like any of
the fuel modeling systems we use in fire management in is general is just a
model not site specific. We do our best to estimate the tonnage based on the
percentage of black that was created & the fuels that were consumed during
the burn. We often times register the whole unit & the tons indicated in
the models but report only the consumed tons in the Part Three in FASTRACS.
Thanks for the opportunity to
explain, I apologize if you felt pressured in allowing us to burn on a day you
felt was marginal. We do our best here to work with all to choose the right
burn windows to reduce the hazards here on the Medford District & keep the
smoke out of the valleys.
Thanks again,
Mike
From: LITTLE Jim [mailto:jim.little@state.or.us]
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:19 AM
To: FINNERAN Brian; GOINS Caitlin E; SMITH Cindy; THORPE Dan A;
ALEXANDER Greg P; Appling, Michael W; HIRSCH Nancy; Forecasters - ODF; BELL
Paul C; SMOKE MGT ADVISORY COMMITTEE; MEDEMA Travis S
Subject: Smoke Intrusiion Report 12-01