Wildfire Info from the Wright Family

Tom's Wildfire Info Page

Tom on a reconnaissance flight over Yellowstone National Park, August 2001		Tom was a forecaster and Incident Meteorologist (IMET) for the U.S. National Weather service from 2001 to 2004. That job was one of Tom's favorite jobs of his career and he often wishes he were still doing it! Being an IMET allowed Tom to travel all over the western U.S., working on fires in such places as Yellowstone Park, WY, Glacier Park, MT (twice), and Gila National Forest, NM. Not being one to shy away from a camera, Tom's coworkers in the NWS started calling him "media boy" as he was interviewed for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, CBS Evening News (weekend edition), and numerous local TV, radio and newspapers. Tom was also featured in a 3-part series on wildfire on The Weather Channel in 2002.
Tom has received numerous awards for his work in fire weather and has pins for having worked with 9 different national incident management teams. Tom's most difficult assignment was the Black Mountain Fire in his hometown of Missoula, MT in late August and early September, 2003. The fire raged for 2 weeks within sight of Tom's house and although his own home was never directly threatened, numerous homes in Missoula were lost. Fortunately, and thanks to the heroic efforts of the fire crews, no lives were lost. Below are some pictures of the Black Mountain fire as well as other photos Tom took, or otherwise acquired, during his stint as in IMET. Click on each picture for the full sized version. Black Mountain Photos (Aug/Sep 2003):
_	These two photos are looking at the fire from base camp along Mullan Road in Missoula, north of the fire at about 4 pm. A mountain wave had formed in the lee of the Bitterroots to the west of the fire bringing 20-30 mph winds to the area. The fire jumped a canyon to it's south, found fresh new fuel and aided by the wind exploded into an inferno. The resulting convective column increased inflow into the back of the fire to over 50 knots. Winds on a nearby weather station were clocked as high as 60 mph.
_	Left: closeup of the column at approximately 5 pm. Although not apparent from a still photo, the column could be seen rotating. Right: Sunset on a day of hell.
_	The fire exploded from a little over 1,000 acres to over 7,000 acres in just over 4 hours. These two photos were obviously taken inside the fire line, shortly after sunset.
_	More night-time photos of Black Mountain's fury. Although basked in an eerie glow, the house in the photo on the right was saved.
Other Fire Photos:
_	Left: A rather large dust devil forms near a fire in South Dakota. Right: The same dust devil moves over the fire, giving it a kick in the pants.
_	Left: Dust devil from above. Notice the strong inflow as seen by the dust in the foreground. Right: A fire burned under this grove of Aspen near Divide, CO, creating an eerie scene. Aspen is resistant to fire so it was not able to (climb the ladder) and burn into the canopy.
_	Left: A tree torches out like a candlestick on a fire in Glacier National Park. Right: Same fire burns through a slash pile. This photos was taken over 100 yards away but the fire was so hot, Tom had to crouch near the ground to take it.