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Louisiana Statewide Burn Ban: The state of Louisiana has declared a statewide burn ban to include any open flame outdoors. The message from the State Fire Marshal’s Office is “don’t burn anything” until further notice. Citations and arrests ARE happening across this state in partnership with local and state law enforcement agencies. 

Personnel and Equipment:   

Tiger Island: 1 Type-2 Crew; 21 Type-6 Engines; 1 Dozer; 1 Type-2 Tractor Plow Unit; 7 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units; 4 Water Tenders; 3 Ambulances.  

Hwy 113: 1 Type-1 Crew; 16 Type-6 Engines; 5 Type-2 Tractor Plow Units; 6 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units; 1 Water Tenders. 

Lions Camp Road: 2 Type-6 Engines; 3 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units and 1 Ambulance. 

Elizabeth: 6 Type-6 Engines; 6 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units and 1 Ambulance. 

Air Resources Assigned to all Fires: 8 Helicopters and 2 Air Attacks. 

Additional support is being provided to all fires by Parish authorities and departments, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Sheriff’s offices, and the Offices of Emergency Preparedness.  

Tiger Island Fire: The Tiger Island Fire was first reported on Tuesday, August 22nd. The fire is located East of Merryville, south of Hwy 190, SW of DeRidder and North of Singer. The fire is burning in pine plantations of multiple ages. Heavy residual fuels because of Hurricane Laura in 2020 exist and contribute to extreme fire behavior.  

Operations: The Tiger Island Fire is currently 71% contained. Crews continued to patrol the fireline. Crews in the northeast side of the fire were able to insert a hoselay utilizing engines into a creek drainage and continue mop up in that area. There was less than a tenth of an inch of rain along the northern edge of the fire with lighting strikes along the eastern edge. Today, the crews will continue to mitigate needlecast, keeping the containment lines clear to lessen the potential for reburn along the fire perimeter. They will continue to target hotspots using the infrared (IR) imagery to focus mop up efforts and will monitor the east side of the fire area for new fire starts from yesterday’s lightning.  

Hwy 113 Fire: Located 14 miles northwest of Oakdale. This fire is burning in loblolly pines and hardwoods. 

Operations:  The Hwy 113 fire is currently 63% contained. The fire received up to two inches of rain on Monday, and access is improving as roads and dozer lines dry out. Yesterday, a hand crew was able to utilize small pumps and hose to mop up within the Tenmile Creek area. Today, crews will continue to assess road conditions and create additional dozer line in the southeast section of the fire. Crews will break up dozer berms that are holding smoldering vegetation and work to improve access through creek drainages to allow access for mop up.  

Lions Camp Road: Five miles northwest of Leesville. This fire is burning in southern rough, timber and brush. 

Operations: The Lions Camp Road Fire is 83% contained. Yesterday, fire crews continued mop up and patrol. Most of the heat sources discovered have been inside dozer berms, so crews will continue breaking down berms and exposing any heat sources. Additionally, they will work to strengthen firelines and continue mop up to reach 20 foot interior of established containment lines by the end of shift today. 

Elizabeth: Located in southwest Rapides Parish. The fire is south of Ten Mile Road and northeast of state Louisiana Hwy 462. 

Operations:  The Elizabeth Fire is 72% contained. Yesterday, crews broke up berms with dozers and mopped up with engines, as well as improved dozer lines within the Tenmile Creek area, focusing on completing mop up in the northwest corner. Today, crews will work to take down hazardous trees around the fire perimeter to increase safety. As dozer lines and roads dry out, they will work to mop up dozer berms that are retaining heat. A utility terrain vehicle (UTV) with water will be utilized to allow for increased access and more efficient mop up within the Tenmile Creek area.  

Weather and Fire Behavior: The Tiger Island Fire received a small amount of rain yesterday. A heat advisory is in place over the fire area, with heat indices up to 112 degrees. There will be a 20% chance of isolated thunderstorms today. There may be severe weather, with gusty outflow winds leading to the chance of dead or damaged trees falling. Lightning from earlier in the week is a concern for possible new fire starts. The overall trend is a drying pattern into the weekend, causing fine vegetation to continue to dry out and return to previous critically dry levels. Continued needlecast is adding to the amount of dry fine fuels, and active fire behavior is possible as relative humidity drops into the mid-20’s. 

Air Quality: Very little smoke is present in communities; light smoke may be present in interior roads or near smoldering large fuels. A possible concern is new ignitions or reburn in areas where heavy needlecast is present. All communities should experience good air quality. For near time air quality information see EPA's Fire and Smoke Map: https://fire.airnow.gov/  

Temporary Flight Restriction: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the Tiger Island Fire and Hwy 113 and Elizabeth Fire areas. This is necessary to protect aerial operations. If you fly, we can’t. If there are drone intrusions into the Temporary Flight Restrictions, we must ground all aircraft.  

Evacuations: Updates on evacuations and shelters for the Tiger Island Fire can be found on the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/beauregardsheriff.