While hundreds continue to battle the destructive Mosquito Fire in the Sierra, a smaller group of Bay Area scientists are trying to learn from it.
A team from the San Jose State Wildfire Center spent several days monitoring the inferno from the ground and air and their research may be key to keeping firefighters and communities safer in the future.
For several days, the team collected critical data via a mobile lab and a special imaging system attached to a NOAA aircraft, an approach scientists say is a game changer .
“For the first time we can look at the wind field around the fire, the plume dynamics using radar and the fire progression at high resolution and those three observations have never been located on any fire anywhere in the world,” said Dr. Craig Clements, director of the SJSU Wildfire Research Center.
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The team is working to analyze the models and improve their accuracy.
At the Mosquito Fire, San Jose State grad student Kate Forrest said her team focused on the clouds generated by the firestorm.
“The presence of those clouds can create erratic conditions at the surface putting firefighters at risk and we are seeing powerful downdraft and updrafts of the mosquito fire indicating dynamic behavior of fire itself,” asid Forrest.
Since no two fires are the same, understanding fire behavior can help scientists improve their ability to forecast what may happen next.
“The outcome of this unique research is improved firefighters safety and community resilience in the future,” said Clements.
Allowing firefighters to better-understand where the flames may be headed next, when to expect the greatest intensity and who to evacuate first -- potentially saving lives.
