Flying near wildfire smoke

Skyscraper

Skyscraper

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Skyscraper
Well, threw my flight bag in my trunk on the way to work today. All jazzed up to go fly for the first time in a week or so, and there's a 200 acre fire burning not far from my home airport. I'm not experienced with guidelines regarding the safety of flying near fires, but I'm probably not flying today. Bummed as this was one of the only days I could get up this week. Who's got experience/knowledge to drop on this subject? Specifically with flying within the vicinity of smoke. I know flying through it is obviously very dangerous, but are there specific guidelines or regulations?
 
Smoke isn't as much of a hazard as other aircraft. Within minutes of the discovery there will likely be a spotter plane, air tankers, and helicopters. A TFR is usually put over the fire at the same time air assets are ordered.

Here's an animated illustration to fire airspace.
http://www.airspacecoordination.org/coord/fta.html
 
Yeah I usually give a wide birth for Forrest fires. Don't want to breath it in if at all possible and if they snuck a TFR in on me I don't want to violate it. Also in some cases the vis can get downright nasty inside.
 
Watch the smoke. It can raise havoc with in-flight visibility. Ran through a smoke plume from a fire in the Cascades last September and had to go on the guages for 5 minutes or so as I couldn't see anything. Fortunately, I was on an IFR plan, so it didn't matter in that respect, but it sure can get your attention.
 
There is a fire burning in Banning Pass as I write this - and its up to 8000 feet- yes - Eight THOUSAND. Kinda puts a crimp in the being able to get throught he pass - but - its 94F out with a minus 1 dp - winds howling from the East. Ugly day in SoCal
 
comanchepilot said:
There is a fire burning in Banning Pass as I write this - and its up to 8000 feet- yes - Eight THOUSAND. Kinda puts a crimp in the being able to get throught he pass - but - its 94F out with a minus 1 dp - winds howling from the East. Ugly day in SoCal
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Yeah, very windy here too adding to the problem. I think with all that plus water choppers dipping from the lake etc etc it's safer to just suck it up and stay on the ground :sad:
 
Skyscraper said:
Well, threw my flight bag in my trunk on the way to work today. All jazzed up to go fly for the first time in a week or so, and there's a 200 acre fire burning not far from my home airport. I'm not experienced with guidelines regarding the safety of flying near fires, but I'm probably not flying today. Bummed as this was one of the only days I could get up this week. Who's got experience/knowledge to drop on this subject? Specifically with flying within the vicinity of smoke. I know flying through it is obviously very dangerous, but are there specific guidelines or regulations?
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Jesse and I left Montana during one of the worst wildfire seasons I can remember this past summer. Smoke won't cause much of a problem except visibility. The fire TFRs are generally small and you wouldn't want to be in them VFR to being with. If IFR, they'll route you around.
 
Last Summer, I flew from Montana to California with thick smoke all the way to Northern California. Visibility was down to 5 mi or so most of the route and it was not comfortable VFR. But, I was able to just get above it to see better by climbing to 14K or more. It was amazing how widespread the smoke was.
 
Out here in the plains they do a lot of controlled burning of large pastures to clear dead grass, and CRP ground to control cedar trees. I fly them all the time, fun to watch. It is easy enough to stay out of the smoke which is a bad thing for engine combustion, ie, lack of O2.

I've gotten close enough to feel the heat of the flames. :yes:
 
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In south florida we have controlled burns, wild fires, and the occasional farmer burning his field(at least that is what it looks like). I check for TFR's and avoid the smoke. Not good for my lungs or my engine, and soot is just another thing to clean off the plane, not to mention the vis issues. I once got tweaked by ATC for flying around a smoke ploom, while on flight following, and not telling them fast enough. So now if I am flight following, maintain VFR, I tell them first and the avoid the ploom.
 
Right now at the house:

Temp 94F, dew point M01F Relative Humidity 0.02.

I swear I can watch the pool evaporate and the level drop before my very eyes.

I am 70nm away from the Camarillo SPrings fire and just got a whiff of smoke - at least I hope its from there.
 
At altitude, treat the smoke like a cloud or haze, depending on whether or not you can see through it. As a student, don't lose sight of the ground, even if you're in cleat air .

The smoke can travel very far from the source -- potentially over 1000 miles for a large fire. It will get denser when the wind dies down, especially if an inversion forms.

Stay away from the source, as there will either be a TFR or sightseers around it. Use flight following for everything, even zipping out to a practice area.
 
comanchepilot said:
Right now at the house:

Temp 94F, dew point M01F Relative Humidity 0.02.

I swear I can watch the pool evaporate and the level drop before my very eyes.

I am 70nm away from the Camarillo SPrings fire and just got a whiff of smoke - at least I hope its from there.
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I am about a mile from the NE edge of the Camarillo Springs fire and have been watching it from my office window all day. I even had lunch within 1/2 mile of it, and not even a hint of smoke smelled here. It is GOOD to be upwind of these things.

OTOH, half of my staff commute up the grade and were delayed at least an hour getting in this morning.
 
South Georgia would occasionally catch fire. In 2006 or 07 there were pretty significant fires in waycross GA. smoke was so bad my flight instructor at the time advised she had to land her plane in a field and leave it for a few days.
 
Nasty stuff. I would avoid if at all possible. Heading from WA to MN a number of years ago, we had to nurse the Stinson up over 11,000 to stay out of the smoke from some raging fires near Glacier NP. I would rather deal with a bit of hypoxia than inhale the smoke

We had some nasty fires burning this past August. for over two weeks, it was IFR at Cashmere airport.

I live about a mile from the airport. This is normal view from my backyard.
before_zpscb1e611b.jpg



This is what it looked like for two weeks. You really want to breath this crap?
after%202_zps6b4083e9.jpg
 
Corpsmaide said:
South Georgia would occasionally catch fire. In 2006 or 07 there were pretty significant fires in waycross GA. smoke was so bad my flight instructor at the time advised she had to land her plane in a field and leave it for a few days.
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The smoke from those fires made it all the way north to virginia. I was headed south and started smelling something burning, just a whiff of smoke at first. It scared the crap out of me until I got a better sniff of it and realized it was wood smoke. That was at 6000 feet right about the Virginia. north Carolina line.
 
Vaflier said:
The smoke from those fires made it all the way north to virginia. I was headed south and started smelling something burning, just a whiff of smoke at first. It scared the crap out of me until I got a better sniff of it and realized it was wood smoke. That was at 6000 feet right about the Virginia. north Carolina line.
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Wow that's crazy it made it all the way there. It sucked living in that crap. I was working the flight line at moody, eyes burning, nose tingling, and it snowed ashes
 
LOL. The FBO I learned to fly at was 95% fire guys. They'd be in C-182s, C-337s and 182RGs going around in circles right in the middle of the fire TFRs 8 hrs per day. The 337 had air conditioning, I was always wondering why they got so sideways about keeping the AC running when none of the other rigs even had it, one day I asked.. They said it was the one the Forest Service guy rode in and they would cancel the contract if a government employee got in it and the A/C didnt work :) The last flight I took out of there there were several thousand acres on fire within a few miles of the airport. I recall having to turn prematurely after takeoff to avoid a TFR.
 
The TFR is about 3 hundred yards short final to 26 in KCMA. They were taking off 26 and landing 08. Surprised how many pilots did not know about the TFR.
 
Luvrv8 said:
The TFR is about 3 hundred yards short final to 26 in KCMA. They were taking off 26 and landing 08. Surprised how many pilots did not know about the TFR.
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Unfortunately, I'm not at all surprised.:mad2:
 
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