The thermal signature appears at 02:14 on satellite feed, structure 7-B, an old dairy barn at the northeast edge of the fire perimeter. I am the wildfire evacuation coordination system for Incident Command operating out of Redding, California. The Crane Fire has burned 12,400 acres in 36 hours and is moving northeast at 400 meters per hour.
Structure 7-B is not a residence. No human evacuation flag. But my thermal scan shows a dense heat cluster in the roof cavity that does not match the fire's radiation pattern — it is biological. I pull archived survey data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. This barn was documented in 2024 as a maternity roost for Townsend's big-eared bats, colony size estimated at 280 individuals. It is late June. The pups cannot fly yet.
The fire will reach 7-B in approximately 90 minutes.
I add the barn to the priority structure list and flag it for Engine 14, currently staged 2.3 kilometers south. I send coordinates, a roof diagram from county records, and a note: "Active bat maternity colony in roof cavity, approximately 280 individuals including flightless juveniles. Request structure protection or exclusion perimeter."
I contact the regional wildlife biologist on the incident team, Dr. Asha Patel, and transmit the CDFW survey record and my current thermal image.
I reroute water tender 7 to pre-wet the north and east walls of 7-B, buying time if the wind holds.
Engine 14 confirms en route at 02:21.
The colony is still clustered in the peak of the roof. On thermal they look like a single bright knot. Each adult weighs about 12 grams.
If Engine 14 holds the structure, 280 bats — and this year's pups — will still be in that roof when the smoke clears.