Reporting wildfires?

What do you do when you're flying over remote wilderness and see a fire?
If I'm talking to ATC and mention it are they going to report it? Should
I talk to fligh****ch or the nearest FSS? What sort of things would be
useful to note about a fire, besides its location?


When I used to fly fire patrol missions for Civil Air Patrol, we would
report location, size, direction of movement, and threatened structures. If
you just give them a location with lat/lon or radial/distance, they'll
report it for you. You should do it, you may be saving somebody's home by
allowing fire crews to get there quicker. If it was serious enough, we
would stay on station to continue reporting on it until the cavalry arrived.

The Gipper is right. Tell ATC about it, they are hooked up to the right
people, and they will consolidate reports to eliminate duplicate sightings.

The morning after a thunderstorm is when they need the help the most.
Most of the fires you see then are new. Your warning does make a difference.
I used to fly fire spotter for the USFS, and there have been times when a
few reports saved us hours of flying around looking for smoke.
Al Gerharter


"Gipper" wrote in message
...
What do you do when you're flying over remote wilderness and see a fire?
If I'm talking to ATC and mention it are they going to report it?
Should
I talk to fligh****ch or the nearest FSS? What sort of things would be
useful to note about a fire, besides its location?


When I used to fly fire patrol missions for Civil Air Patrol, we would
report location, size, direction of movement, and threatened structures.
If
you just give them a location with lat/lon or radial/distance, they'll
report it for you. You should do it, you may be saving somebody's home by
allowing fire crews to get there quicker. If it was serious enough, we
would stay on station to continue reporting on it until the cavalry
arrived.