Zeb Palmer
@zebpalmer
Director of Technical Operations / Site Reliability Engineer / Developer #Idaho #IdahoFire #Progressive #EXvangelical Links: Idaho folks check this out: Signal: zebpalmer.77 (he/him)
Making sure my Garmin InReach Search and Rescue emergency contact info and notes are up to date before we hit the trail in 2 hours... If I ever hit the SOS button, these notes will be shared with the responding agency.
The K-max is one of the coolest and weirdest helicopters flying and it’s as if it were purpose built for doing bucket work. Insanely capable. I remember the first time I saw one, 2000 iirc, at first glance the damn thing looks like an abomination to physics.
It really does seem #IdahoFire thinks "fuck this one canyon in particular" (the blue is a *very rough guess* fire area of Martin 2026, actual fire perimeter should be much smaller than this) ok Hailey folks, what is it about this canyon makes y'all keep burning it? ATVs? Pew Pew?
#IdahoFire I see NWS Poky issued a county wide Fire Warning for the Martin Fire at request of Blaine County. An NWS fire warning is rare in #IdahoFire Most counties only use rev911/code red/etc. I wonder why Blaine chose this? But hell, I’m always happy when a county knows the NWS phone number 🤣
New updated official perimeter for the Claremont Fire (map by me) #IdahoFire Most remaining heat is in Orchard Gulch, where scoopers are currently working. Everything I see atm is mop-up or reinforcing containment. I don't expect significant growth from this perimeter barring a wind event.
Here's the perimeter estimate I shared yesterday (now in blue) with the new official perimeter (in red) Bottom left area that's outside my estimate, I believe, was a late burnout. official map doesn't include a nighttime burnout along the ridge road, next update will. #IdahoFire #ClaremontFire
I am seeing some fairly weak outflow from the storms; radar seems to indicate roughly 20mph winds crossing the valley. Will continue to dissipate, but are terrain-aligned with the Claremont Fire, so I do expect impact, though hopefully minimal. #IdahoFire
And, here's the focus area of the recent tanker drops. Appears they're painting a line along the roads North (Boise Ridge Road) & South of Aldape Summit. Painting it pretty heavily from what I've seen recently. Retardant can be painted hours in advance of fire and still be effective*
Here is my VERY rough perimeter estimate for the Claremont Fire based on what I see. I'm sure there are unburned areas within this affected area. VERY rough... y'all, I'm still on vacation, just got out of the rainforest, we're still hours from home, and it's hot as hell in Lewiston. #IdahoFire
*EVACUATION ORDER* GO NOW issued for Robie Creek zone RC-06 #IdahoFire helicopters working Upper Shaw Mountain Road / Cottonwood Creek. Tankers will continue working the Ridge I'm seeing smoke further up than I'd prefer. But fire behavior in timber will be far different than sage/cheatgrass
We interrupt this off-grid vacation to wish a hearty FUCK YOU to the aggressively stupid but-muh-freedoms people putting on firework shows deep into public forest where all fireworks are illegal for a damn good reason (this is one of several camps up there shooting fireworks). #IdahoFire
We almost ended up here instead of Boise. My wife had just met residency requirement in Idaho when we got married 24 years ago. We both wanted to move here, but math didn’t work paying out of state tuition. so she picked BSU. We planned on moving here when she finished, lol.
Snow is falling in the mountains around Salmon #Idaho The Salmon River Mountains, the Lemhi and the Bitterroot/Beaverhead are getting measurable snow accumulation with the heaviest in the Beaverhead (The continental divide at Salmon) Here’s the current look at Lost Trail Pass #ID #MT #IdahoFire
Yes & no #IdahoFire For lower elevations of SW Idaho fire behavior is dominated by 1-hour & 10-hour fuels. (That's how long the fuel lags to respond to changes in humidity) Yes, this will greatly reduce short-term fire danger/behavior. No, it won't significantly impact long-term at low elevations
My first Tiger trout yesterday at a lake in the Salmon River Mountains. been trout fishing 40 years so kinda crazy to have a new species, but I don’t normally fish stocked waters 🤷♂️ Was also my first 🐟 on Tenkara kid is leaning to fish, he & his grandpa were skunked here. I caught Tiger, cut & bow 🎣
Tiny streams above 9,000’ in the Lemhi Mountains are the best therapy. Caught a dozen in the short time I had to fish before dark. most small like this, one 12” (a beast for this water) #IdahoEscape 🎣
*WINTER STORM WARNING* Moments ago, this was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning. 4-12 inches of WET HEAVY snow... #IDwx #IdahoFire #Idaho
All the models are calling for accumulating snow in the east-central #Idaho Mountains. GFS, NAM, ECMWF (all pictured), & HRRR (not pictured yet, it's a high-res, short-range model, currently only shows the onset of the winter storm). image difference is model resolution #Idahofire #IDwx
The snow totals in the forecast for the Bitterroot are trending deeper... #IdahoFire #IDwx This amount of snow will cause absolute chaos in the forests as trees are at peak summer foliage mass & surface area. Expect lots of trees to be knocked down if we get these snow totals.
Lytle Fire near Vale, OR this morning is putting off a tiny bit of smoke, but as far as I can see it’s knocked down. Looks like it hit irrigated land and ran out of cheat grass to burn. Here’s the current PYRECAST fire progression model just updated. #OregonFire #IdahoFire
Lytle fire officially estimated at 6,500 acres now (I was estimating 5k when I posted last) 20% contained. a ton less heat in the IR, I suspect this fire is largely knocked down after probably a million dollars in retardant drops. Crews should make good progress overnight. #OregonFire #IdahoFire
I love air tankers (when they're effective) But holy fuck, the money we are burning in modern wildland firefighting on long-distance retardant delivery is insane. Redding, CA -> fire near Glenns Ferry, ID -> Redding, CA. for *one* ~3,000 gallon drop It didn't used to be this way. #IdahoFire