Incident: Jocko Lakes
Released: 9/19/2007
Firefighters are getting ready to pack their gear and head for home more than six weeks after lightning set off the 36,388-acre Jocko Lakes Fire eight miles west of Seeley Lake, Montana.
Fire-suppression related rehabilitation work will be completed by Thursday evening, with the exception of road grading. Release of existing resources is ongoing and should be completed by mid-day Friday.
The Jocko Lakes Fire Area Closure will be rescinded as of noon Friday. There are several roads in this area that fall under seasonal road closures and gates will be locked accordingly. Please refer to the Lolo National Forest Seeley Lake recreation map for information about seasonal road closures or call the Seeley Lake Ranger District at 677-2233.
Glen McNitt's Type 2 Incident Management Team will turn management of the fire back to the respective agencies; the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the Lolo National Forest on Saturday. "This fire crossed more than one jurisdictional boundary and the success in managing it cannot be attributed to a single entity, said Glen McNitt, Incident Commander of the current Type 2 Northern Rockies Incident Management Team. This was a cooperative effort between the jurisdictional agencies, Seeley Lake Fire department and other rural fire departments, Missoula County Sheriff's department and other cooperative agencies and four Incident Management Teams over the period of more than six weeks. Keeping losses and injuries to a minimum, is a credit to everyone who has been involved in this effort."
On a final note, burned areas have hazards. They include; rolling debris on hillsides, holes in the ground where tree roots have burned out, and burned trees or snags that fall silently without warning. As in any situation, always be aware of your surroundings.
