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Wyoming's Moonshine Fire doubles at zero containment; CISA sets Sunday deadline on two exploited MikroTik flaws
Episode 256 • 11th September 2026 • EM Morning Brief • Brian Colburn
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Today's EM Morning Brief covers a national preparedness level 3 wildfire picture with 58 uncontained large fires and 13,193 personnel committed, led by Wyoming's Moonshine Fire at 3,928 acres and zero containment. Kauai's Hurricane Lowell recovery reaches roughly 66 percent power restoration with all three hospitals energized, while island-wide closures, a brown water advisory and degraded emergency phone lines continue. CISA adds two actively exploited MikroTik RouterOS vulnerabilities with a Sunday remediation deadline, CDC issues a rabies post-exposure prophylaxis advisory, and flash flooding drives water rescues across southeastern Ohio and western West Virginia. EM Morning Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news. Produced by Sitch Radio, an EOC Voices podcast.

Key Takeaways

  • Wildfire posture: National preparedness level holds at 3 with 58 uncontained large fires, 13,193 personnel and 8,410,639 acres burned year to date, 154 percent of the ten-year average.
  • Highest-risk incident: Wyoming's Moonshine Fire is at 3,928 acres with zero containment, active torching and spotting, ridgetop winds of 20 to 40 miles per hour and residences threatened.
  • Kauai lifelines: Power restoration reaches roughly 66 percent, all three hospitals are energized, but the north shore has no restoration timeframe and Lihue Airport runs on a single backup generator.
  • Kauai communications: Emergency management and police non-emergency lines are down with alternate numbers in use; 911 remains functional.
  • New California evacuations: The Lucas Fire in Lake County is at 1,099 acres and 5 percent contained with orders in eight zones; a PG&E shutoff could affect 14,000 customers in 11 counties starting Saturday.
  • Cyber deadline: Two MikroTik RouterOS vulnerabilities carry a federal remediation deadline of Sunday, September 13, an unusually compressed three-day window.
  • Healthcare cyber exposure: CISA advisories cover NextGen Healthcare Mirth Connect and Orthanc DICOM Server, both relevant to hospital IT and biomedical teams.
  • Public health: CDC HAN 00533 addresses rising rabies exposures and PEP administration errors, with guidance to complete risk assessment before treatment.
  • Flood response: Water rescues, hospital-adjacent flooding and dozens of road closures across Gallia and Jackson counties, Ohio, with continuing flood warnings into Friday morning.
  • Assistance deadline: FEMA Individual Assistance for Hawaii County under DR-4936 is open through November 1 for May 22 Kona earthquake damage.
  • Water systems: New boil water orders or advisories in Kansas, Arkansas, Michigan and Illinois, with the Niles Charter Township, Michigan order following confirmed coliform bacteria.

Sponsors

B. Colburn Coaching - https://calendly.com/briancolburn/virtual-coffee

Wild Tone Labs - https://wildtonelabs.com/

The NIMS Store - https://thenimsstore.com/?utm_source=em-morning-brief

NATURAL DISASTERS EXPO HOUSTON - https://disasterexpotexas.com/registration?utm_source=emmorningpod&discount_code=EM100

Descript, Edit video by editing text - https://link.bcolburn.com/DB-Descript

ESET, Cyber Security Progress. Protected. - https://refer.eset.com/hip7r

Sources

DHS

CISA

CDC and FDA

Wildfire and NIFC

FEMA

Weather and tropical

Seismic and volcano

Hawaii

California

Ohio

Washington

Oregon

Wyoming

West Virginia

Alaska

Nevada

Kansas

Arkansas

Michigan

Illinois

Nebraska

Iowa

New Mexico

Texas

South Dakota

Colorado

Guam

Transcripts

Cedric:

Good morning, I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief

2

:

for Friday, September 11, 2026.

3

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The national wildfire picture stays heavy.

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The National Interagency Fire Center

holds the national preparedness

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level at 3, with 58 uncontained large

fires burning and 13,193 personnel

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committed across 108 active incidents.

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Initial attack is light, with

69 new fires reported, but the

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season total keeps climbing.

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Year to date, 53,940 fires have burned

8,410,639 acres, which is 154 percent

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of the ten-year average for acres.

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Committed resources include 229 crews,

661 engines and 76 helicopters, along

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with two 15-member incident management

teams and 212 fireline personnel from

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Australia and New Zealand assigned

to the Northwest and Great Basin.

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The most volatile incident on the

board is Wyoming's Moonshine Fire,

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which nearly doubled in a day to

3,928 acres at zero containment.

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On the cyber and public health side,

CISA adds two MikroTik RouterOS

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vulnerabilities to the Known

Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog,

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CVE-2026-67277 and CVE-2026-86060,

both carrying a federal remediation

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deadline of Sunday, September 13.

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CISA also publishes four industrial and

medical device advisories, including

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one covering NextGen Healthcare

Mirth Connect and one covering

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AVEVA Pipeline Integrity Monitor.

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CDC issues Health Alert Network

advisory 533 on a nationwide increase

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in rabies exposures and errors in

post-exposure prophylaxis administration,

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directing clinicians to complete a risk

assessment before starting treatment.

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FDA flags a most-serious-type correction

for epidural kits containing recalled

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sodium chloride ampules, and a broccoli

sprout recall tied to a multistate

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Salmonella outbreak with 22 cases.

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The Department of Homeland

Security has no active National

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Terrorism Advisory System bulletin.

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Weather and seismic activity are moderate.

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Tropical Storm Norbert is in the

Eastern Pacific with 60 mile per hour

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sustained winds, tracking west over

open water with no coastal watches

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or warnings and no threat to U.S.

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land.

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The Storm Prediction Center tops out

at a Slight risk for severe storms over

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the upper Mississippi and mid Missouri

valleys, and the Weather Prediction Center

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carries Slight risk excessive rainfall

over the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic.

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Extreme Heat Warnings run through

this evening in southwest Arizona

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and southeast California, with

afternoon highs of 102 to 111.

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A magnitude 5.3

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earthquake struck 151 kilometers

west-southwest of Adak, Alaska early

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this morning, and the National Tsunami

Warning Center issued an information

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statement confirming no tsunami danger.

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Let's run through the states.

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Hawaii: Kauai carries the heaviest

operational load in the country as

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Hurricane Lowell recovery continues.

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Kauai Island Utility Cooperative restored

more than 12,000 additional customers in

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24 hours, bringing the island to roughly

66 percent restored, up from 32 percent,

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and all three hospitals are energized.

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The north shore still has

no restoration timeframe.

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County offices, state offices and

schools are closed through today, traffic

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signals remain out island-wide, and

three refuge areas stay open after two

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closed for lack of overnight evacuees.

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The county Department of Water asks

customers to limit use to essential

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needs, and the state Department

of Health has an island-wide

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brown water advisory in effect.

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Lihue Airport is running on a

single backup generator, cutting

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TSA screening to one line.

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Emergency management and police

non-emergency phone lines are

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down, though 911 is working.

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Preliminary damage assessments total

231 properties, with 54 homes sustaining

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major damage and at least seven destroyed.

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Separately, FEMA opens Individual

Assistance for Hawaii County

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residents affected by the May 22

Kona earthquake under DR-:

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registration open until November 1.

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Kilauea holds at volcano alert level

Watch, with episode 55 fountaining

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still forecast but not yet underway.

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California: A new fire is driving

evacuations in Lake County.

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The Lucas Fire started Thursday morning

near the Lake and Mendocino county

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line and has grown to 1,099 acres at

5 percent containment, with evacuation

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orders covering eight Lake County

zones and warnings covering nine more.

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A temporary evacuation point and

animal shelter are open at the Lake

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County Fairgrounds in Lakeport,

and PG&E cut power along Elk

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Mountain Road Thursday evening.

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PG&E has also notified roughly 14,000

customers across 11 northern counties of

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a possible public safety power shutoff

beginning Saturday afternoon, with

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westerly gusts of 35 to 50 miles per

hour forecast across the Northern Sierra.

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Seven community resource

centers will open.

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On the Central Coast, Monterey County

lifted Plaskett Fire evacuations in 14

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zones and downgraded two more to warnings

as containment reached 79 percent.

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The Timber Fire near Big Sur stands

at 25,380 acres and 27 percent

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contained, and Highway 1 remains

closed through the burn area.

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Ohio: Flash flooding across

southeastern Ohio drove water rescues

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and closures Thursday and is still

affecting operations this morning.

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Gallia County crews pulled multiple

vehicles from high water and evacuated

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homes, and county emergency management

reported the Holzer Medical Center

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complex surrounded by significant

flooding from Chickamauga Creek.

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State Route 160, Bulaville Pike and

State Route 554 took the worst of

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it, and Mill Creek Road is damaged.

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In Jackson County, dispatch

reported dozens of road closures

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including sections of U.S.

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35 and State Routes 279, 139 and

93, with multiple fire departments

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running water rescues and Jackson

City Schools closed for the day.

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The National Weather Service in

Charleston extended a flood warning

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for north central Gallia and northern

Jackson counties through 8:30 this

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morning, citing emergency management

reports of lingering high water.

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Washington: Kittitas County reduced

evacuation levels in three areas

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around the Three Queens and Goat fires,

dropping cabins along Baker Lane to

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Level 1 and moving part of the Lake

Kachess area from Level 3 to Level 2.

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Three Queens stands at 9,528 acres and 14

percent contained with 420 personnel, and

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the Goat Fire is 813 acres at 3 percent.

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In Spokane, a brush fire near U.S.

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195 prompted Level 1 evacuations

for a mobile home park before

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crews stopped forward progress.

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FEMA's administrator visited

wildfire-damaged communities in

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eastern Washington Thursday, meeting

with more than 20 tribal leaders and

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surveying Spokane Complex Fire damage.

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Oregon: Three fires on the Mt.

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Hood National Forest still

have evacuations in effect.

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The Austin Fire southeast of Estacada is

12,831 acres at 36 percent containment

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with 886 personnel, and the Grasshopper

Fire southwest of Dufur is 93,999 acres

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at 96 percent with 33 structures lost.

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In the northeast, the McCully Fire

northwest of Baker City holds at

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13,561 acres and 61 percent contained,

with Baker and Grant county sheriffs

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maintaining Level 1, 2 and 3

evacuation orders and a Wallowa-Whitman

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National Forest closure in place.

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We have more to cover this morning, but

first, a quick word from our sponsors.

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Thanks for supporting our sponsors who

help make EM Morning Brief possible.

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Now, back to this morning’s updates.

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Wyoming: The Moonshine Fire 17 miles

southwest of Wheatland is the most

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active incident in the country this

morning, sitting at 3,928 acres with zero

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containment and 254 personnel assigned

across Albany and Platte counties.

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Fire behavior includes torching,

rapid runs through available fuels

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and short-range spotting, with

ridgetop winds of 20 to 40 miles

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per hour and relative humidity in

the single digits to low teens.

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NIFC lists residences as threatened,

and a Red Flag Warning is in effect.

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West Virginia: Heavy rain

triggered flash flooding in the

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mid-Ohio Valley Thursday morning.

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The National Weather Service reported

4 to 7 inches of rain and multiple

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water rescues in Jackson County, and

Mason County emergency management

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closed eight roads for high water.

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Mason County Schools closed for the

day, and the county 911 center logged

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more than 30 calls after 4 a.m.

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for downed trees, road damage and water

rescues, with no injuries reported.

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Flooding continued overnight

into Gilmer County, where U.S.

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33 near Glenville was impassable

in multiple locations.

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Alaska: A magnitude 5.3

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earthquake struck 151 kilometers

west-southwest of Adak at 3:47 a.m.

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Alaska time.

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The National Tsunami Warning Center

issued an information statement

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within three minutes confirming no

tsunami warning, advisory or watch,

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and no damage has been reported.

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On the Mukluk Fire near Tok, more

than two dozen fire-killed trees fell

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onto power lines, and Alaska Power and

Telephone de-energized the affected

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lines so crews could work safely.

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The fire stands at 7,339 acres

and 45 percent contained.

148

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Great Sitkin remains at

volcano alert level Watch.

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Nevada: NV Energy issued a public safety

outage management watch covering 13 zones

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in northern Nevada and roughly 10,845

customers, including Incline Village,

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Glenbrook, Stateline and Winnemucca.

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If the utility de-energizes,

outages would begin around 11 a.m.

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Saturday and run until about 11 a.m.

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Sunday.

155

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Kansas: State health officials issued

boil water advisories for part of

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Sedgwick County Rural Water District

4 and for the city of Burns in Marion

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County, both following waterline breaks.

158

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Arkansas: The state health department

placed Altheimer Waterworks in Jefferson

159

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County under a system-wide boil order

Thursday morning for maintenance-related

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work, with no lift posted.

161

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Michigan: Niles Charter Township issued

a boil water order after confirming

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coliform bacteria in the township

water system, and Kalamazoo issued a

163

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precautionary boil advisory for the West

Douglas neighborhood after a main break.

164

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Illinois: Peoria Heights issued a

boil order covering three blocks of

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Vincent Avenue after a water main

break, and the order remains in

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place after service was restored.

167

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Nebraska: A BNSF train derailed near

Mitchell northwest of Scottsbluff

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Thursday afternoon, blocking the

main track with no injuries and no

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hazmat involvement, and the railroad

estimates reopening late tonight.

170

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Iowa: Governor Reynolds issued the

annual statewide harvest disaster

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proclamation, suspending permit

and registration requirements for

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overweight agricultural loads up

to 90,000 pounds on non-interstate

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highways through October 10.

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New Mexico: Flash flooding

closed roads along U.S.

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70 near Mescalero in Otero County

Thursday afternoon after 1.5

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to 2 inches of rain, with

emergency management reporting

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life-threatening flooding.

178

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Texas: The Ross Fire in Palo Pinto and

Jack counties remains at 90,400 acres

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and 76 percent containment with 380

personnel assigned and a temporary flight

180

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restriction still over the fire area.

181

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South Dakota: Area and road closures

remain in effect around the Lookout

182

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Fire north of Spearfish, which

stands at 444 acres and 29 percent

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contained with 170 personnel.

184

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Colorado: The state emergency

operations center reports all

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community lifelines stable, with the

Willow Fire near Leadville holding at

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7,534 acres and 80 percent contained

and no evacuations in effect.

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All other states have no significant

updates in the last 24 hours.

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Let’s talk territories.

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Guam: A magnitude 5.1

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earthquake 162 kilometers south-southwest

of Merizo Village produced light shaking

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Thursday with no damage, no tsunami

message and no official response.

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All other territories and the District

of Columbia have no significant

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updates in the last 24 hours.

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That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.

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New episodes drop Monday through

Friday in the 5:00 AM hour P.T.,

196

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so the day starts with

clarity instead of catch-up.

197

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Subscribe on the Emergency Management

Network on Substack, or follow

198

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on your favorite podcast player.

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EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.

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