rj85 | Blind Bat News

At about 18:00, 09AUG2022, I noticed a lot of smoke northeast of where I live in Chubbuck, Idaho.

The fire grew as the sun went down.

It glowed through out the night. The wind was blowing north, northeast. During the night a strong windstorm blew in from the west (it was not forecasted). The next day, local news media reported the fire was located on the east side of the Fort Hall Reservation, homes were evacuated, burning at least 2-thousand-5-hundred acers (more than 1000 hectares). By the afternoon there were conflicting reports about the fire; TV news said it was under control and evacuations canceled, while newspapers reported it had re-ignited, was spreading and forcing more evacuations. I believe the newspapers because there was a sudden non-stop bucket brigade of water bomber flights from the Pocatello Airtanker Base.

Some video I made from my backyard, of Air Tractors and a MD87, flying over Chubbuck, on their way to bomb the Ross Fork Fire:

It should be noted that the Pocatello Airtanker Base, on the Pocatello Regional Airport, was undergoing an expansion of its ‘pit’ operations for water bombers, and was not expected to be operational until July, or “until further notice”. Obviously, the U.S. Forest Service airtanker operations are now up and running. That is what you call ‘perfect timing’!

Some video I made of an Air Tractor and RJ85 being put to bed after a busy day of water bombing (they can only water-bomb during daylight):

As of 23:30, 10AUG2022, the Ross Fork Fire is still burning. The wind changed direction and kicked-up, this time we got teased with a little bit of rain. Thunderstorms are forecasted, but they’ve been bringing us more lightning than needed rain. There was also a wildfire in Power County, west of here, but it is supposedly extinguished.

The same area has a history of catching fire, July 2013: