National Preparedness Level 5; Northeast flash flooding; Idaho declares disaster on Big Grass Fire

The nation holds at Preparedness Level 5 with 84 large fires and more than 26,000 personnel committed, and the Northwest carries 45 uncontained large fires across Oregon and Washington. Idaho’s governor declares a fire disaster emergency and deploys the National Guard to the Big Grass Fire, while Washington’s Kaiser Canyon Fire expands Level 3 evacuations. In the East, flash flooding from the Catskills to New England drives county emergency declarations, water rescues, and an Amtrak Hudson Line suspension, with two deaths in New Jersey. Also in this episode: CISA adds an actively exploited Cisco firewall vulnerability to the KEV catalog, Kilauea wraps eruption episode 52, a federal grid emergency order stays active for Southwest Power Pool through August 3, and Missouri requests a federal disaster declaration for July’s floods. 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• National wildfire posture: The country remains at Preparedness Level 5 with 84 large fires, 309 new starts, and 26,036 personnel committed; the Northwest holds 45 uncontained large fires with international support on the ground.• Idaho and the Big Grass Fire: Governor Little declares a fire disaster emergency and deploys the National Guard; Level 3 Go Now evacuations remain in Owyhee County on a fire near 300,000 acres.• Washington evacuations: The Kaiser Canyon Fire expands Level 3 evacuations at 126,402 acres and 16 percent containment; the Bradeen Hill Fire holds Level 3 orders near Gifford at zero containment.• Oregon fire siege: About 24,000 residents remain under evacuation notices, and the state invokes its 11th conflagration of 2026 for the Grasshopper Fire.• Northeast flash flooding: Five to 10 inches of rain bring emergency declarations in three New York jurisdictions, evacuations, water rescues in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, two deaths, and an Amtrak Hudson Line suspension.• Grid and heat: A federal emergency order keeps Southwest Power Pool dispatching needed generation through August 3; Texas is under widespread heat advisories and Jacksonville opens cooling centers.• Cyber: CISA adds CVE-2026-20316, an actively exploited Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center credential flaw, to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; hot fixes are available.• Volcano and tropics: Kilauea’s episode 52 ends with fountains near 500 feet and episode 53 is likely; post-tropical Fausto keeps dangerous surf on Hawaii’s east-facing shores; the Atlantic stays quiet.• Missouri: The governor requests a presidential major disaster declaration for nine flood-damaged counties with damage topping $26.5 million.SponsorsThe NIMS Store - https://thenimsstore.com/Descript, Edit video by editing text - https://link.bcolburn.com/DB-DescriptESET, Cyber Security Progress. Protected. - https://refer.eset.com/hip7rSourcesNIFC and InciWeb• NIFC National Fire News: Preparedness Level 5, 84 large fires, national statistics• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report: federal fire rollup for July 29, 2026• InciWeb incident list: current large fire acreages and updatesCISA• CISA alert: one Known Exploited Vulnerability added July 29, 2026 (Cisco Secure FMC CVE-2026-20316)USGS• HVO daily update: Kilauea episode 52 ends, episode 53 likelyTropical weather• National Hurricane Center: active tropical cyclone information, Atlantic and East Pacific• Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Fausto becomes remnant low north of HawaiiCalifornia• CAL FIRE: Raleigh Fire incident page, Fresno County• GV Wire: Auberry evacuation orders issued as Raleigh Fire burns• CAL FIRE: Fish Fire incident page, Kern CountyFlorida• News4Jax: Jacksonville opens cooling centers amid extreme heatIdaho• Office of the Governor: fire disaster emergency declared, National Guard deployed to Big Grass Fire• Idaho Capital Sun: Little declares wildfire disaster emergency, authorizes GuardKansas• KDHE: boil water advisory issued for portion of Pottawatomie County RWD 4• KDHE: Valley Falls boil water advisory rescindedLouisiana• Department of Energy: Section 202(c) emergency order 202-26-37 for Southwest Power Pool• WWL-TV: federal government steps in to prevent blackouts amid heat waveMaryland• Baltimore Sun: BGE restoration status after storm outagesMassachusetts• Boston.com: flash flood warnings as state sees heavy rain• Weather.com: Northeast flash flooding recapMissouri• St. Louis Public Radio: Kehoe requests federal disaster declaration for July floodsNevada• Elko Daily Free Press: Secret Pass Fire threatens residences in Starr ValleyNew Jersey and Pennsylvania• CNN: Northeast storm flash flooding, rescues, and deaths• New Jersey Office of Emergency Management: news and activation updatesNew York• Spectrum News: Capital Region...