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Helm, California

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1925 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the San Joaquin-Tranquillity census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93627. The Survey maps it on the Helm quadrangle. It stands 187 feet above sea level.

Helm within Fresno County

Then and now

1925 to 1982

The same ground, surveyed 57 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Helm, surveyed 1982
Topographic sheet of Helm, surveyed 1925

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

49 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 49 fires within 5 miles of Helm between 1993 and 2020, burning about 697 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined23
Equipment and vehicle use13
Debris and open burning8
Smoking3
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Arson/incendiarism1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresFresno-Kings Unit8FKU038631
8 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitGRAHAM RD /W FLORAL AVE
8 September 1993Debris and open burning40 acresFresno-Kings UnitMADERA I.C
22 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined20 acresFresno-Kings UnitKAMM FIRE
18 September 1993Debris and open burning1.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitFKU-9948
7 August 2012Smoking1.0 acresFresno-Kings UnitGRADE
19 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionW KAMM AV HELM
16 August 1999Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresFresno-Kings Unit9FKUOO8351

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Fresno County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Helm: 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Phosphorus-Phosphates. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Helm Phos-Acid PlantPhosphorus-PhosphatesUnknown

Every working recorded in Fresno County

Storms near this place

5 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Helm in 5 storm reports between 1998 and 2011: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 hail, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 1998Thunderstorm WindHelm$10,000NWS HNX WSR-88D detected no cell activity but high based cumulus evidently supported a weak microburst. A small indication was present on the radar at the time of occurrence but was already dissipated by the completion of the volume scan. This dry microburst wind speed likely was less than 50 MPH but due to the decrepit condition of one of the small telephone poles in this rural area, one pole sustained damage and did fail. In so failing, 4 adjacent poles also snapped off. Again, this was NOT A SEVERE EVENT but more one of interest despite the minor damage.
February 2011FloodHelm$2,000The California Highway Patrol reported flooding on Stanislaus Avenue at Mount Whitney Avenue.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindHelm-Outflow winds from a severe thunderstorm reported by a Fresno County official.
June 2009HailHelm-A trained spotter reported Quarter-sized hail 4 miles north of Five Points.
May 2006Heavy RainHelm-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Fresno County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Nares (historical)0.4 miles17
Caldwell (historical)4.2 miles15
Burrel6.7 miles22
Five Points7.1 miles18
San Joaquin7.1 miles15
Westside9.3 miles18
Bender (historical)9.9 miles22
McMullin (historical)11.1 miles19

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on HelmAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q14682187The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 225143. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.