In case anyone was wondering where the Schneider Springs Fire was in relation to the Tieton airstrip. This is an infrared photo updated 8-15-21 2200 Hrs. Started by Lightning on August 3rd. 18,842 Acres, 0% Containment.

Looking west up Rattlesnake Creek.

Thank you for graphical map.

My NOTAM displayed on GARMIN Pilot today:
Visibility VFR at several airports:

I flew from Tieton direct to Cle Ulum in July or August 2019. Pretty sure there was a fire in a very similar spot then.

daedaluscan wrote:I flew from Tieton direct to Cle Ulum in July or August 2019. Pretty sure there was a fire in a very similar spot then.

July 2019 was the Left Hand fire. In the Left Hand Fork of Rock Creek. 3460 acres On July 5th.

From 1968 through 1974 I worked in fire suppression on the Naches Ranger District. The Ranger District was 375,000 acres and had lookouts then and a "Farmers" system of crank phones. We had a Hughes 500 parked in the horse pasture beside our bunk house. When we heard the office ring...one long ring...we would listen in to see if it was the lookout (Little Bald Mountain) reporting a fire. If it was a smoke report, the pilot...a young Vietnam vet...would get his fire shirt on and start the helicopter. From the time the lookout spotted a smoke until we were on the fire averaged about 10 minutes. The pilot would shut down the helicopter, grab a shovel and start digging fire line with the rest of us. The largest fire I can remember was about 250 acres.

Looking west. Schneider Springs fire 2021 on the left and Left Hand fire 2019 on the right.

As of this afternoon, my ForeFlight does NOT show this TFR. It does list it under the NOTAM section for Tieton. I do have TFR’s toggled on and have been relying heavily on Foreflight’s graphics. Is this TFR showing on anybody else’s ForeFlight display? I’ve been hoping that the Boeing buyout wouldn’t degrade the system but maybe that’s been a little too optimistic. Ugh.

Shows on my ForeFlight as a big rectangle about 6 miles north of the airport.

I read the NOTAM as a TFR. It isn’t, its just a NOTAM about firefighting aircraft. I did contact ForeFlight though, and ask. They responded and clarified. I don’t like being stupid but I did like that they did respond. Sorry about the thread drift.

We live 25 miles NE of the fire. Yesterday there were burnt conifer needles falling in our yard. Fire size this morning is 28,356. An increase of 13,307 acres. They were evacuating homes on highway 410 between Rock Creek and the Little Naches road yesterday afternoon.

GOES 17 NASA satellite at 6:41 p.m. August 16. Schneider Springs is the one in the center of Washington.

Not good. Tieton would be a heartbreaking loss.

Zzz wrote:Not good. Tieton would be a heartbreaking loss.

My educated guess is that Tieton airstrip isn't in danger.

A different perspective. Looking east. Bumping Lake in the lower right and the Bumping River drainage runs from right to left from the lake.



Two 415 Super Scoopers filling in Bumping lake. The paved road they cross on the approach is the Bumping Lake Dam.
https://www.facebook.com/SchneiderSprin ... ideos_card

Thread drift. My wife is worried about the Little Bald Mountain Lookout garage. it is still there and used as a snowmobiler warming hut. She was the lookout there in the early 1970s.

Panoramic Photo looking NE from the tower. You can see the shadow of the photographer and Transit camera.

Zzz wrote:Not good. Tieton would be a heartbreaking loss.

I was just there a couple weeks ago.
The airstrip itself would survive a fire--
not much else there to lose except an outhouse & some signage.
Loss of timber (aka scenery) would be a bummer, but it would grow back in time..
More heartbreaking would be any loss of homes & lives.

IR image taken Aug 18 at 23:30 hrs. 56,422 acres. 24,544 acres increase in last 24 hrs. I suspect a lot of the increase was crews burning out along roads last night. The southern perimeter is about 6.5 miles north of the Tieton airstrip.

Here's a map with a few place names in and around the fire. Snheider springs, where the fire started and why it was named that, is right in the middle now.

IR flight at 16:30 Hrs Yesterday Aug 19. Intense heat hugs the perimeter in all directions. Scattered heat fills the center. Very little if any spread to the south toward Tieton Airstrip. 64,500 IR acres. That's 100 square miles. 8,078 acres growth last period. Still 0% Containment. Most increase on the east where crews are burning out behind houses in the Nile.

Edit: There is no issue with using the airstrip. See my next post.

The fire area closure order has been expanded to the south and includes the Tieton airstrip. I don't know how this affects the airstrip. Here's a direct link to the Closure Order and a map of the Closed area on inciWeb. Scroll down and Click on the links "
FIRE AREA CLOSURE ORDER and FIRE AREA CLOSURE MAP. https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/7775/64338/

I made a copy of the map but it is low resolution. If you open the map on the link above you can zoom in with good detailed resolution any where on the map.

I sent the fire Public Information Officer an email and asked how this closure affects the airstrip. His answer is:

Technically this airstrip is south of the TFR and is state owned. The Closure Order is for USFS land. So while you could technically land, the area is under a Level 2 Evacuation Warning...

So, sorry if I got anyone excited about this closure. The level 2 evacuation warning is, in a nutshell: have your valuables packed and be ready to leave.

A few photos of the fire area for more context. See my post above with the place names for where these photos were taken.

Looking west with Devils table in the foreground. The first Peak on the left is Rattlesnake Peaks, elevation 6850 feet. The second peak is Bismark Peak. elevation 7585 feet. The third peak is Mount Aix, elevation7766 feet. It appears to be fairly flat on top but that is due to the haze and perspective. it is actually pointed. The large Butte in the center is Nelson Butte. Named for the first gate keeper at Bumping lake, Jack Nelson. The the flat top mesa on the right is called Meeks table. This photo was taken in May, thus the snow. There's very little snow up there now.





Lava and mud flows in the lower Rattle drainage just west of the community of The Nile.





Looking west from Timberwolf mt. The highest peak, the one to the right of mount Rainier, is Mt. Aix, elevation 7766. In the late 1960s there was a photo of the district packer sitting on his horse on top of it in the District Ranger's office. The trail goes up a knife ridge for the last couple hundred yards to the top A lot of hikers get down on their hands and knees to climb up the last hundred yards or so.



Looking west up the North Fork of Rattlesnake Creek. This is all wilderness.



Tom Fife's cabin at Goose Prairie. He and his father John Fife were the original homesteaders in Goose Prairie. They built the cabin in 1887. I remember it back in the 1950s when it was about 300 yards back from here across the prairie in the edge of the timber. I don't know when, but it was moved and restored at this spot where Tom and his father John are buried Tom hand hewed his father's coffin with an ax.

Overflew the strip today.. Still looking ok...

SloRoam wrote:Overflew the strip today.. Still looking ok...

Thanks for the report. It has been cool and higher humidity the past couple days. That has really slowed down the spread.

IR flight yesterday Aug 22 at 16:10 Hrs. 67,534 acres with 659 acres growth in the past 24 hrs. Red is intense heat, yellow is scattered heat.

SloRoam wrote:Overflew the strip today.. Still looking ok...

Dunno when it changed, but the TFR has expanded and as of 8.23.21 includes Rimrock Lake.