Laura: HIGH STEVE BASSET,  THANKS FOR JOINING ME TODAY.

Bassett: GREAT TO BE HERE.

Laura: YOU HAVE BEEN MAPPING HERMIT'S PEAK AND CALF  CANYON FIRE.

I HAVE BEEN SEEING YOUR MAPS  EVERY DAY.

I WAS WONDERING IF WE COULD  START WITH WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR DATA AND HOW ARE YOU  PUTTING THESE TOGETHER.

Bassett: I HAVE BEEN MAPS  USING DATA PROVIDED BY THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE.

THE DAILY PROGRESSION MAPS THAT I HAVE BEEN POSTING  ONLINE INCORPORATE INFRARED FLIGHT DATA SO EACH EVENING  THE FOREST SERVICE OR ITS CONTRACTORS FLY OVER THE FIRES  AND THE HOT SPOTS AND PERIMETER OF THE FIRE IS  EASILY MAPPABLE FROM THAT HEAT DATA.

AND, SO, THEY UPLOAD IT TO A SERVER, AND IT TYPICALLY SITS  THERE UNTIL A PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER HAS TIME  TO DEVELOP IT INTO A FORMAT THAT WORKS FOR THE PUBLIC.

AND WITH THE SKILLS THAT I HAVE AND KIND OF DESPERATION I  WAS FEELING I WENT OUT AND GRABBED THAT DATA AND DID  SOMETHING WITH IT TO GET SOME MORE INFORMATION OUT IN THE  PUBLIC HANDS AND SHOWING THIS DAILY PROGRESSION, DAILY  GROWTH, COMMUNICATES A LOT OF THE INFORMATION THAT PEOPLE  NEED WHEN THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT THESE FIRES.

IS MY WATERSHED BURNING?

IS MY COMMUNITY BURNING?

WHERE  IS THE FIRE HEADED?

WHAT ARE THE FUELS   IN FRONT OF IT.

AND TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT MAP, USING THAT AUTHORITATIVE  DATA HAS JUST HELPED ME FEEL LESS HELPLESS AND FEEL LIKE I  AM HELPING DURING THIS CATASTROPHE.

Laura: I HAVE REALLY APPRECIATED LOOKING AT YOUR  MAPS EVERY MORNING.

LIKE YOU SAID, YOU'RE SHOWING HOW THE  FIRE IS MOVING, WHERE IT IS MOVING, AND THE THING THAT I  HAVE REALLY APPRECIATED IS YOU LAY OUT THOSE NUMBERS EVERY  MORNING OF HOW MUCH THE FIRE GREW THE PREVIOUS DAY.

I KNOW THE HERMIT'S PEAK CALF CANYON FIRE NOW HAS BEEN  BURNING SINCE APRIL.

IT IS BIG, IT IS COMPLEX BUT I  AM CURIOUS IF THERE ARE A FEW THINGS MAYBE WITHIN THE PAST  WEEK THAT HAVE REALLY JUMPED OUT AT YOU ABOUT ITS PROGRESS  OR ITS BEHAVIOR?

Bassett: FIRST I WANT TO  ACKNOWLEDGE THE TREMENDOUS JOB THAT THE INCIDENT COMMAND TEAM  AND ALL THE FIREFIGHTERS HAVE -- ALL THE EFFORTS THEY  HAVE PUT IN TO SHAPE THE WAY THIS FIRE SPREADS AND  PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES AND WATERSHEDS.

THE MAPPING IS KIND OF INCIDENTAL TO THAT BUT I AM  GLAD TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT.

HATS OFF TO THOSE FOLKS AND THOSE COMMUNITIES.

THE BIGGEST PATTERNS THAT I HAVE SEEN IN THESE DATA LATELY  HAVE BEEN FIRE SPREADING MORE TO THE WEST INTO THE PECOS  WILDERNESS BUT ALSO TO THE NORTH, JUST THE TRENDS IN THE  WIND PATTERNS HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY ERRATIC THAT WE  DON'T KNOW WHERE THIS FIRE IS GOING TO BURN.

ITS PERIMETER IS HUGE SO ANYWHERE THERE IS ACTIVE  BURNING WITHIN THAT PERIMETER HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SPREAD  USUALLY PUSHED BY THE WIND.

I'LL SHARE THE MAP FROM THIS  MORNING.

YESTERDAY'S GROWTH IS THE  DARKEST RED AND IT WAS A REALLY GREAT DAY RELATIVE TO  THE PRECEDING WEEKS, JUST OVER 1600 ACRES BURNED YESTERDAY.

SO, THE INCREASED HUMIDITY HELPED WITH THAT.

YOU CAN SEE A DASHED LINE REPRESENTING THE BOUNDARY OF  THE PECOS WILDERNESS.

IT IS STARTING TO GET A  FOOTHOLD OVER THERE.

LOTS OF CONTINUOUS FUELS FOR  IT TO BURN THROUGH, BUT THIS GROWTH TO THE NORTHWEST HAS  BEEN KIND OF THE MOST EXTREME GROWTH RECENTLY.

SOME OF THESE LARGER AREAS, FROM PAST WIND EVENTS, PAST  EXTREME RED FLAG DAYS, WERE REALLY SHOCKING, THE SCALE OF  THE FIRE SPREAD WITHIN A DAY.

THESE DARKER GRAYS ARE WHERE  THE FIRE WAS ALMOST TWO WEEKS -- OVER TWO WEEKS AGO AS  IT MADE SOME BIG RUNS TOWARDS THESE COMMUNITIES,  THROUGH AND TOWARDS THESE COMMUNITIES.

SO, WE HAVE SEEN MODERATION OF  FIRE BEHAVIOR SINCE THEN BUT STILL A LOT OF POTENTIAL OUT  THERE FOR GROWTH.

Laura: THERE WAS ONE DAY  LAST WEEK, I RECALL YOU POSTING ONE OF THE MAPS AND  THE PREVIOUS DAY THERE HAD BEEN LIKE 30,000 ACRES OF  GROWTH.

I MEAN THAT JUST SEEMS  DEVASTATING AND REMARKABLE.

SO, WHEN WE LOOK AT A FIRE  PERIMETER MAP LIKE THAT, I LIKE YOUR MAPS BECAUSE THEY  KIND OF SHOW THE CHANGES OVER TIME, BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT A  MAP LIKE THAT, DOES THAT MEAN THAT THERE IS FIRE BURNING OR  THAT A FIRE HAS BURNED WITHIN THAT ENTIRE PERIMETER OR ARE  THERE POCKETS WITHIN THERE THAT MAYBE HAVEN'T BURNED OR  HAVE BEEN BURNED PAST?

Bassett: SO, WITHIN A  PERIMETER LIKE THAT, THERE WILL BE VARYING LEVELS OF FIRE  INTENSITY AND BURN SEVERITY.

I AM GOING TO SHARE A SATELLITE IMAGE.

THIS IS A FALSE COLOR IMAGERY OF THE CALF CANYON FIRE FROM  MAY 13 AND SOME OF THE NOTABLE ELEMENTS OF THE FLAME IN FRONT  SHOWING UP IN ORANGE, THE BRIGHTEST ORANGE COLORS, THE  SMOKE VISIBLE.

YOU CAN SEE THE BURNED,  DARKEST BURNED AREAS IN PURPLE.

THEY WOULD SHOW UP BLACK IF WE WERE UP IN A SATELLITE LOOKING  DOWN, BUT WITH THE FALSE COLOR, DIFFERENT BANDS THAT WE  CAN'T SEE INFRARED MADE VISIBLE, THEY SHOW UP AS THIS  DEEP PURPLE.

YOU CAN SEE A MOSAIC OF BURN  SEVERITIES IN SOME PARTS OF THE FIRE BUT OTHER AREAS IT IS  ALL PURPLE AND THOSE ARE THE PLACES WHERE TREE MORTALITY IS  GOING TO BE VERY HIGH.

ON A HUGE MAP LIKE THIS OF  THIS HUGE FIRE, THOSE PATCHES LOOK RELATIVELY SMALL BUT SOME  OF THEM ARE MILES ACROSS IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

MORE RECENTLY WE HAVE BEEN SEEING HIGH SEVERITY FIRE JUST  ABOUT EVERYWHERE, NO LOW SEVERITY FIRE.

I IMAGINE IT IS STILL HAPPENING OUT ON THE GROUNDS.

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING SOME ADDITIONAL  ANALYSIS TO LOOK AT THE EFFECTS OF FOREST RESTORATION  TREATMENTS AND THE KIND OF PATTERNS WITHIN THAT BURN  SEVERITY.

Laura: LET'S TALK ABOUT  THAT.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT FOREST  TREATMENTS IN THE AREA THAT HAS ALREADY BURNED OR THE  AREAS WHERE IT IS MOVING?

DO WE HAVE A SENSE OF WHAT IS  ON THE GROUND THERE?

Bassett: I DON'T HAVE A MAP  OF THOSE TREATMENTS BUT THERE IS A GREAT MAP PRODUCED BY  FOLKS AT HIGHLANDS UNIVERSITY.

THEY HAVE AN INTERACTIVE MAP  VIEWER.

THE NEW MEXICO FOREST AND  WATERSHED RESTORATION INSTITUTE HAS PRODUCED A MAP  THAT SHOWS THE OVERLAY OF THE CURRENT FIRE PERIMETER AND ALL  THE TREATMENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO DATE.

THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF THEM BUT PROBABLY NOT TO A  DEGREE WHERE IT ALTERED THE TRAJECTORY OF THE FIRE ON THE  LANDSCAPE SCALE, MAYBE LOCALLY PROTECTED RESOURCES AND  RESERVED SOME OF THE HABITAT AND ECOSYSTEM, HELPED WITH  THOSE AREAS.

Laura: AS YOU HAVE BEEN  PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS AND, OF COURSE, THIS WEEK, THIS  PARTICULAR FIRE, THE HERMIT'S PEAK CALF CANYON FIRE  SURPASSED THE WHITEWATER BALDY FIRE IN SIZE.

ARE THERE PARTICULAR -- AS YOU HAVE BEEN WATCHING AND  MAPPING, ARE THERE CERTAIN THINGS THAT HAVE SURPRISED YOU  OR IS THIS KIND OF ACTING LIKE A FIRE WOULD ACT IN OUR  CLIMATE CHANGED WORLD?

Bassett: YEAH.

UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVEN'T BEEN SURPRISED.

AS WE ARE LOOKING AT THE EXTENT OF THE DRYING AND THE  WIND, THIS IS THE TYPE OF FIRE THAT HAPPENS UNDER THOSE  CONDITIONS.

THE CONTINUITY OF FUELS, ONCE  A FIRE STARTS THERE IS VERY LITTLE STOPPING IT IN THIS  LANDSCAPE.

I HAVE GOT A CONTEXT MAP HERE  THAT JUST SHOWS, IT IS CONTINUOUS FOREST VIRTUALLY  ALL THE WAY TO COLORADO AND BEYOND WHERE WE ARE SEEING THE  THREE ACTIVE FIRES IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO, CERRO PELADO, CALF  CANYON HERMIT'S PEAK AND COOKS PEAK.

THERE IS VERY LITTLE -- THERE IS A FEW BURN SCARS.

SOME FIRES CERTAINLY OFFER SOME FUEL ALTERATION BUT IT IS  AN OLD ENOUGH FIRE SCARS THAT THE FIRE IS BURNING THROUGH  IT.

THERE HAS BEEN A FEW FIRES  NORTH OF THE CURRENT FIRE PERIMETER BUT VERY CONTINUOUS  FUELS OVER A LARGE AREA, VERY LITTLE TO BREAK UP THE SPREAD  OF FIRE.

Laura: WELL, THANK YOU,  STEVE, FOR JOINING ME.

I APPRECIATE YOUR MAPS WHICH,  LIKE YOU MENTIONED, ARE COMING FROM THE OFFICIAL SOURCES OF  DATA BUT YOU'RE PUTTING THEM UP THERE IN REALLY HELPFUL  WAYS, SO THANK YOU.

Bassett: THANK YOU, LAURA.