Watch Fire Update Thursday 07 18 2024
Related Incident: Watch Fire
Publication Type: News
Watch Fire: 2,162 acres
Start Date: July 10, 2024
Cause: Human Caused, Under Investigation
Fuels: Cottonwood, Brush, Understory
Containment: 100%
Resources: 127
Location: 7 Mile and Peridot Districts, San Carlos Reservation
Firefighters Continue to Patrol the Watch Fire, All Evacuations Lifted
Overview: Heavy fuels well within the containment lines of the Watch Fire will continue to smoke as unburned materials are consumed. There is no threat to containment and crews will continue to monitor the fire. All areas that were in “SET” (be alert) status have been moved to “READY” (be prepared.) Although the Watch Fire is 100 percent contained, the hot, dry conditions mean fire danger is still extremely high. Residents should always be “READY” to evacuate in the event of emergencies. Information regarding what to pack in a “go bag” and how to prepare for evacuations can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5305121.pdf
Weather: Today temperatures should be around 100-105 degrees in lower elevations with light west/southwest winds between 5-15 mph and gusts up to 25 mph. Storm cells will continue to develop erratically with a high probability of lightning which may cause new fire starts.
Safety: Residents can expect to see occasional pockets of smoke within the interior of the Watch Fire. Areas of unburned fuel will continue to smoke within the established fire perimeter. This is normal and will continue for the next several days.
Reminder: Stage 1 Fire Restrictions remain in place on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. No burn permits will be issued at this time. For more information call Fire Prevention (928) 475-2326 Ext: 352, 321 or (928) 961-0515 or email asteele@forestry.scatnsn.gov or wsteele@forestry.scatnsn.gov.
Evacuations: Lower Seven Mile Wash, New Moonbase, Farmers Station, Downtown San Carlos, and Peridot Siding. have all been reduced to “READY” Residents are asked to avoid burned structures due to hazardous materials that may have long term health effects. For more information, call the San Carlos Apache Tribe Emergency Response Commission at 928-475-2008 or visit the TERC or the San Carlos Police Department Facebook pages. See below.
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Ridge Fire Daily Update 7182024 07 18 2024
Related Incident: Ridge Fire
Publication Type: News
Wilderness Ranger District to assume command of the Ridge Fire
Daily Update – Thursday, July 18, 2024
Acres: 4,123
Start Date: 7/4/2024
Location: 19 miles east of Glenwood, NM
Personnel: 252
Containment: 23%
Fuels: Timber, grass, understory
Highlights: At 6:00 PM on Thursday, July 18, the Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team 4 will transfer command of the Ridge Fire to Incident Commander Victor Alcorta from the Wilderness Ranger District. Team 4 extends its sincere thanks to the local communities for their support, gratitude, and hospitality throughout this incident. Due to successful firefighting efforts, the Ridge Fire is now 23% contained, and resources are either demobilizing to return to their home units or reassigning to assist other wildfires.
Future Fire Information: The Ridge Fire Information phone number and email address will no longer be active after 6:00 PM this evening. For future updates, please contact the Gila National Forest Public Affairs Officer, Maribeth Pecotte, at maribeth.pecotte@usda.gov, 575-388-8211, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM.
Operations: The Ridge Fire activity remains mild, and monsoonal activity is expected to continue through the weekend. The fireline near Gilita Creek on the north side is holding steady. Yesterday, aerial flights detected a portion of the fire that moved into Cooper Creek, as well as slow movement toward the southeast on the rim above Iron Creek. Crews maintained control of the north side of Iron Creek as the fire moved south into Cooper Canyon. All observed fire activity remains low, producing favorable effects as it slowly creeps through leaf litter along the forest floor. Minimal movement is expected due to increased humidity and precipitation. Disturbed areas are receiving woodchips produced from vegetation removal along the roads leading into the Willow Creek community, a strategy used to reduce erosion and repair the land following suppression activities. Road grading resumes tomorrow on Forest Road 159 to maintain safe conditions for firefighters and community members.
Weather: Showers and thunderstorms are expected to become widespread over the area during the afternoon and evening today as monsoonal moisture increases. Rain may be heavy at times, which could result in localized flash flooding. Gusty and erratic winds in the vicinity of thunderstorms are also possible. Temperatures will be cooler with increased humidity levels due to greater moisture and the expected showers.
Smoke: Smoke may be visible from Mogollon, Willow Creek, and Snow Lake. An interactive smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/ allows you to zoom into your area to see the latest smoke conditions. Smoke monitors are in place at the Glenwood Ranger Station, Cliff, and Gila Cliff Dwellings.
Closures: The Gila National Forest has issued an emergency temporary closure of trails and trail segments for the Ridge Fire. The purpose of the closure order is for the protection of firefighters and public health and safety during emergency wildfire suppression activities occurring in and around the trails. The full closure order (No. 03-06-05-24-002) and map are available on the Gila National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/gila.
Safety: The health and safety of firefighters and the public are always the first priority. A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place over the area, which includes uncrewed aircraft or drones. Flying drones near wildfires is dangerous for pilots and firefighters and can bring wildfire suppression efforts to a halt. Know before you fly. If you fly, we can’t. More information can be found at: https://uas.nifc.gov/.
More Information: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmgnf-ridge-fire /
575-323-8994 / https://www.facebook.com/GilaNForest / 2024.ridge@firenet.gov
Bench Lake Fire Update07 18 2024
Related Incident: Bench Lake Fire
Publication Type: News
Start Date: July 11, 2024
Cause: Under Investigation
Size: 1,850 acres
Percent Containment: 3%
Helicopters: 2
Scooper Planes: 2
Engines: 13
Crews: 9
Total Personnel: 331
Crews on the Bench Lake Fire were able to continue backburning operations to successfully guide the fire into Fishhook drainage yesterday, where wet and marshy terrain have lowered the intensity of the main fire. Today, crews will be working on building line along Fishhook Trail to the west to bolster defenses between the main fire and the north, including the Redfish Lodge area. On the south end of the fire, crews made good progress digging handline among the rocky terrain. Initial containment along the lake’s edge will enable firefighters to continue safely and effectively constructing fireline and increasing the containment to the south and west.
To date, aerial resources have dropped over 900,000 gallons of water on the fire. Together, scoopers and helicopters have flown more than 100 hours. The proximity of the fire to a large lake like Redfish will continue to be an asset throughout the containment process.
West to northwest winds of 10-20 mph are expected today with temperatures in the mid-80s. As the fire moves through trees impacted by insect and disease north of Redfish, the dark, gray smoke visible in the past few days is likely to persist. Due to smoke concerns, an Air Resources Advisor joined the incident this morning. Smoke reports and air quality information for the Stanley Basin and its surrounding area will be made available soon.
Restrictions: The Sawtooth National Forest has initiated Stage 1 fire restrictions within the National Forest System lands boundaries on the Sawtooth and Cassia zones. Under these restrictions, campfires are allowed only in recreation sites within metal or concrete fire pits. Fires of any kind are not allowed in any dispersed camping areas.
Speirs Fire Daily Update July 18 2024 07 18 2024
Related Incident: Speirs Fire
Publication Type: News
Recent increasing moisture trends throughout the fire area have led to a decrease invisible fire activity over the last few days. A mixture of direct and indirect line has been established along the heel of the fire. Direct line is the removal of burnable material along the blackened edge of the fire to ensure the fire is unable to continue burning through the area. In regions where firefighters are unable to directly engage the fire, indirect line is being constructed. Crews were able to begin engaging in “mopup” procedures around sections of line that have been marked as secured. Mop-up is the act of walking sections of burned ground and extinguishing remaining heat sources.
As crews continue to work towards the containment of the Speirs fire, two “Spike Camps” have been established to decrease the duration of travel that crews experience while reaching the fire. Additional resources have been ordered to assist in the fire control effort. An increase of showers entering the fire area has been forecasted to start around 12:00 PM and will likely continue through the end of the day. Thunder and lightning have been predicted around the fire area. Thunderstorms are often accompanied by strong and erratic winds that have potential to stimulate dormant hotspots. This can lead to unexpected and rapid growth of the fire.
In conjunction with the fire suppression effort, the primary goal of the team is to focus on firefighter and public safety. Incident Commander Brett Waters emphasized the mitigation of risks that firefighters take while working in challenging terrain and focused on the need to ensure firefighter safety. Waters said, “Let’s make sure we are making steady progress, while being safe, and doing the right thing.”
Closures:
Being on or within the following campgrounds, roads, and trails are prohibited on the Flaming Gorge Ranger District on the Ashley National Forest: Firefighters Memorial Campground, Greendale Group Campsite, Forest Service Road (FSR) 610, FSR 689, Lowline trail FST103 its junction with the Pipe Creek Trail, FST 003. Forest Service Trail 003 from the beginning at the junction with FST 103 to the junction of Forest Service Trail 004 and Forest Service Trail 004 to Greens Draw Road 049.
For more information on existing closures, please visit the Ashely National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/ashley/alerts-notices The Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area remains open to the public for recreational opportunities.
Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR): A TFR is in effect over the Speirs Fire area. Using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS)/drones is illegal within the TFR.
Start date: July 13, 2024
Location: Approximately three miles south of the town of Dutch
John, Utah and south of Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
Fire size: 759 acres
Containment: 3%
Total personnel: 283
Cause: Naturally-Caused, Lightning
Speirs Fire Information Number: 435-709-8209 (8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.)
Trout Fire Closure Forest Order No 15132412 07 18 2024
Related Incident: 2024 SQF Lightning
Publication Type: Closures
The Sequoia National Forest issued Forest Order No. 0513-24-12 to temporarily close lands, trails, roads, and recreation sites around the Trout Fire. This order goes into effect July 18, 2024 and expires July 28, 2024.
See the attached PDF for the official Forest Order and accompanying map.
Hill Fire Forest Closure Order 07 17 2024
Related Incident: Hill Fire
Publication Type: Closures
Six Rivers National Forest Forest Order No. 24-10-07 Hill Fire Closure
Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.50(a) and (b), and to provide for public safety,
the following acts are prohibited within the Lower Trinity Ranger District of the Six Rivers
National Forest. This Order is effective from July 18, 2024, through September 15, 2024.
1. Going into or being upon National Forest System lands within the Hill Fire
Closure Area, as described in Exhibit A and shown on Exhibit B. 36 C.F.R.
§261.52(e).
2. Being on any National Forest System road within the Hill Fire Closure Area, as
shown on Exhibit B. 36 C.F.R. § 261.54(e).
3. Being on any National Forest System trail within the Hill Fire Closure Area, as
shown on Exhibit B. 36 C.F.R. § 261.55(a).
4. Entering or using East Fork Campground or Big Rock River Access. 36 C.F.R.§ 261.58(b).
Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 261.50(e), the following persons are exempt from this Order:
1. Persons with Forest Service Permit No. FS-7700-48 (Permit for Use of Roads,
Trails, or Areas Restricted by Regulation or Order), specifically exempting them
from this Order.
2. Any Federal, State, or local officer, or member of an organized rescue or firefighting
force in the performance of an official duty.
3. Owners, lessees, or residents of private landholdings in the area, to the extent
necessary to access their land.
These prohibitions are in addition to the general prohibitions contained in 36 C.F.R. Part 261,
Subpart A.
A violation of these prohibitions is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual
or $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. 16 U.S.C.
§ 551 and 18 U.S.C. §§ 3559, 3571, and 3581.
Executed at Eureka, California this 17th day of July, 2024.
Exhibit A
The Hill Fire Closure Area comprises a portion the southwestern quarter of the Lower Trinity
Ranger District of the Six Rivers National Forest as shown on Exhibit B. The closure area begins
where Highway 299 and the South Fork Trinity River intersect, the closure continues south along
the South Fork Trinity River to the Shasta Trinity National Forest boundary. The closure
continues west along the Shasta Trinity National Forest boundary until it intersects with
Township 4 North, Range 5 East, Section 25. The closure follows the northern section line of
Township 4 North, Range 5 East, Section 25 through 30, west until it intersects the western
boundary of the Six Rivers National Forest. The closure area then continues north along the Six
Rivers National Forest boundary until it intersects with Forest Road 4N06 (Cow Creek Road).
The closure area follows Forest Road 4N06 northwest until it intersects with Forest Route 1. The
closure area continues north on Forest Route 1 until it intersects with Township 3 North, Range 4
East, Section 2. The forest closure area continues west along the southern edge of Township 3
North, Range 4 East, Section 2 to the western edge of Township 3 North, Range 4 East, Section
3. The forest closure area turns north at the southwest corner of Section 2 until it intersects Forest
Route 1. The closure area follows Forest Route 1 north, and Titlow Hill Road, until it intersects
with Highway 299. The forest closure area continues to the east along Highway 299 until it
returns to the starting point at the South Fork Trinity River.
Signed by Ted Mcarthur, Forest Supervisor, Six Rivers National Forest
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Texas Fire
Unit Information
Incident Contacts
Falls Fire Update07 16 2024
Related Incident: Falls Fire
Publication Type: News
Falls Fire Update for July 16, 2024
(541) 208-4370 Staffed 8 am to 8 pm
The Falls Fire experienced significant growth again yesterday due to hot and dry conditions and strong outflow winds from passing thunderstorms. The fire is now estimated at 85,348 acres with 0% containment. The fire is burning approximately 13.5 miles north of Burns, 15 miles southeast of Seneca, and 3 miles west of Highway (Hwy) 395. Highway 395 remains closed from milepost 60 north to Seneca.
A community meeting is planned for 6:30 p.m. at Seneca City Hall tonight, July 16. Fire managers intend to host the meeting in person and stream it live on the Malheur National Forest and Falls Fire 2024 Facebook pages. If fire activity or fire-related road closures makes it unsafe or unpractical for fire managers to travel from Burns to Seneca, the meeting will only be live streamed on Facebook. The meeting will include time for questions.
Yesterday afternoon the fire grew significantly in the northeast corner. Initially, the fire grew northerly toward Forest Service Road (FSR) 31 and it then shifted southeasterly toward the FSR 3110 pushed by strong, shifting winds. The fire also challenged anchor points in the northwest corner and southeast corners of the fire. Firefighters, on both day and night shifts, lined spot fires and continued to hold the northwestern and southern perimeters of the fire along the FSR 43. Firefighters held the fire to minimal growth on the southeastern corner near Lake Creek and worked to establish dozer control lines to tie into the Silvies River area to the east toward the FSR 3110 area. One OSFM Structure Task Forces worked on the fire throughout the night to triage and provide structure protection. Firefighters continued to scout for opportunities to establish additional control lines.
Aerial resources, including three helicopters, two cranes, six single-engine air tankers (SEATs), two large air tankers (LATs), and two very large air tankers (VLATs) helped to slow the fires growth, and supported firefighters as they made progress securing containment lines.
Today, the fire is predicted to be very active with elevated rates of spread. Firefighters will work to construct additional control lines and to hold the fire along established control lines using both aerial and ground resources. Firefighters will continue to scout for future control lines to the north and east.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) Blue Incident Management Team and seven task forces have been assigned to the fire. The task forces are structural firefighters from Oregon and Washington. They include Washington County, Lincoln County, Douglas County, Tillamook County, Yamhill County, Clackamas County, Snohomish County, and Thurston County. Their primary focus will be structure protection, structure assessment, and supporting the overall mission of the Falls Fire. Fire activity in the area remains extreme and certain areas may not be safe for assessment. As weather and fire behavior allow, OSFM Task Forces will assess cabins, ranches, and structures in and around the fire. Crews are documenting damage or lost structures using GPS software. They will be working on Lone Pine Road, Hines Logging Road, east of Highway 395, and west of Hwy 395 toward Silvies Ranch.
The incident command team continues to increase the number of resources working on the fire and to build greater capacity for fire suppression efforts. Currently there are 891 personnel on the fire; this includes 19 20-person hand crews, 41 fire engines, 13 bulldozers, and 14 water tenders.
Today’s predicted weather calls for dry and very unstable conditions with temperatures near 90 degrees and humidity around 15%. Winds will generally be from the west-southwest at 5-8 mph. There is a chance of thunderstorms with gusty winds up to 30 mph.
Evacuation notices remain in effect in Grant and Harney Counties. For the most accurate evacuation information, please visit the Harney County Sheriff’s evacuation map here: https://tinyurl.com/3zst4sjy, or the Grant County Emergency Management Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068819321423.
The Malheur National Forest issued an updated fire area closure Sunday, July 14. A detailed map and additional information about the fire area closure are available at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/malheur/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1188914. A temporary flight restriction (TFR) remains in place over the fire area.
Fire Restrictions are in effect across Oregon; Know Before You Go, and use extreme caution while recreating in these hot and dry conditions. #OnlyYouCanPreventWildfires
BAER INFORMATION BRIEF Fire Severity and Fire Intensity Effects 07 17 2024
Related Incident: Basin Post-Fire BAER
Publication Type: Announcement
BAER INFORMATION BRIEF: Fire Severity and Fire Intensity Effects
There are several types of fire severity and intensity maps that you may see. Although they look different for the same fire, they may also all be accurate. This is because fire severity or intensity are different measures of the fire effects on a specific resource such as soils, tree canopies, vegetation or wildlife habitat. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) maps are primarily measures of fire effects on soils. The following is a description of BAER fire severity mapping for soil burn severity levels.
SOIL BURN SEVERITY RATING OVERVIEW:
High Soil Burn Severity Rating: (severe damage to the soils): deeply burned soils with high water repellent soils (tend to be places where the fire burned the forest canopy, ground cover, roots, and organic matter in the topsoil).
Moderate Soil Burn Severity Rating: burned soil with moderate water repellent soils (much of the root, soil structure, and organic matter stayed intact and could help buffer the rainstorms that might cause erosion) can produce increased water run-off and soil erosion depending on the timing, magnitude, and duration of future precipitation. The remaining vegetation could quickly re-sprout and provide some cover from dead needles and leaf fall to reduce erosion.
Low Soil Burn Severity Rating: light soil burning includes land that may have burned in recent occurrences with brush or young timber growing on it.
KEY MESSAGES:
• Fire severity and intensity are separate measures of the effects of fire on a defined resource.
• All fire severity or intensity maps view landscapes from different perspectives, so various maps of the same fire can look very different, and all be accurate.
• The BAER soil burn severity maps specifically focus on severity to soils and watersheds.
• There are also several other types of fire severity or intensity maps – many of which focus on different aspects of vegetation such as, Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) and Vegetation severity or intensity maps are both vegetation maps but will also look different for the same location and time.
• Vegetation severity and intensity maps also come from a number of different perspectives and can be short-term or long-term views.
• During post-fire assessments, the BAER team uses the term “soil burn severity” to differentiate post-fire soil properties from fire effects on vegetation (such as tree mortality), and/or general fire effects on the long-term ecosystem health.
• When a fire slowly consumes fuel (long residence time), the fire (soil burn) severity is usually high.
• Ground cover refers to the organic material on the top of the soil layer, and includes vegetative litter, duff, and woody debris.
• When organic material within the ground cover and within the soil structure burns at high intensity, some of the water repellent components vaporize, and condense on the soil at the surface or deeper depending on the severity of the fire.
• The correlation between fire intensity and soil burn severity is not always direct because the amount of heat generated and time duration both plays a critical role in the fire effects to soil.
• Because of the variability of fuel consumption, soil heating typically is non-uniform across landscapes.
• Wildfire does not always impact soils and vegetation in the same way.
• A hot, fast-moving fire can consume much of the vegetation and move through so quickly that the soils remain largely intact.
• Soil scientists evaluate preliminary burn maps from satellite imagery to determine the effects and create a soil burn severity map.
• Hydrologists use that information to model storm runoff over the burned area to estimate potential flood impacts to lives and property.
• Foresters use the same satellite images to create a different map that displays post-fire impacts to the trees.
• A hot, fast-moving fire (wind-driven) can consume the majority of vegetation (especially when dry with low fuel moistures) in a burned area and can be classified as a high intensity fire area by fire ecologists/fire behavior analysts.
• When the duration (also described as residency time) of the fire is short (fast moving, wind-driven), it can result in a low-to-moderate soil burn severity rating by BAER soils scientists because the soil did not get a lot of lingering heat on the ground.
BAER SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains and increased water runoff. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events--be prepared to act. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/hnx/.
Basin PostFire BAER Soil Burn Severity Map Released 07 17 2024
Related Incident: Basin Post-Fire BAER
Publication Type: News
BURNED AREA EMERGENCY RESPONSE
BASIN POST-FIRE
BAER SOIL BURN SEVERITY MAP RELEASED
JULY 17, 2024
Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and analysis for the Basin Fire burned area to produce a soil burned severity (SBS) map. This map and data display categories of unburned/low, moderate, and high. Approximately 56% of the total 14,059 acres analyzed by the BAER team are either unburned and/or low soil burn severity, while 42% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and only about 2% identified as high soil burn severity. Note: InciWeb Basin Fire information currently shows that the fire is 95% contained at 14,023 acres. The team’s burned area analysis included 26 additional acres outside of the current fire perimeter.
The BAER assessment team used initial remote sensing imagery with their field validated soils data, to develop and produce a map showing soil burn severity levels for the burned areas The SBS is broken into four different classes: unburned (green), low severity (blue), moderate severity (yellow), and high severity (red). For more information on what these different SBS classifications mean, see BAER Information Brief at: Casnf Basin Postfire Baer - | InciWeb (wildfire.gov).
The BAER team relied on their refined soil burn severity map to produce data which they are using in their subsequent modeling and determination of post fire runoff and sedimentation. The BAER teams and the US Geological Survey (USGS) both utilized the soil burn severity map as an analysis tool to estimate post-fire flows and debris flow probability. In specific areas that experienced moderate to high burn severity, there could be increased runoff from steep hillslopes and resultant increases in post-fire soil erosion and potential debris flows.
The Basin soil burn severity (SBS) map can be downloaded at the Basin Post-Fire BAER InciWeb site: Casnf Basin Postfire Baer Information | InciWeb (wildfire.gov) as a JPEG or PDF version under the “Maps” tab.
BAER SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains and increased water runoff. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events--be prepared to act. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/hnx/.
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