Morning Update for The Stewart Fire
Incident: Stewart Fire Wildfire
Released: 9/10/2011
Fire Information
NEWS RELEASE
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
420 Barrett Street
Dillon, MT 59725
http://fs.usda.gov/goto/bdnf/news
Northern Rockies
Incident Management
Team
Tom Heintz,
Incident Commander
For Immediate Release
Contact: Leona Rodreick INFORMATION OFFICER: Patrick McKelvey Contact phone:406-689-3915
(BDNF Public Affairs)
Phone: (406) 683-3984
Cell: (406) 660-2347
September 10, 2011 8:00 a.m.
Daily Fact Sheet from the Stewart Fire
The fire is located 8 miles Southeast of Wisdom, Montana on the Beaverhead-Deer Lodge National Forest.
INCIDENT COMMANDER: Tom Heintz
Cooperating agencies on this fire include the U S Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, MT-DNRC, and Beaverhead County.
Fire Size: 2,430 acres Cost to date: $250,000
The strategy that can be used during a wildfire has been greatly modified to provide flexibility necessary for fire management to work with fires such as this one. These strategies may range from quickly putting out the wildfire to monitoring a wildfire benefiting the land. Or a combination of both as might be required to provide protection and suppression actions where required. This fire fits the latter where there is truly the benefit of allowing the naturally ignited fire to reduce a decadent, heavy fuel laden forest, so the next generation of a healthy forest can begin, while providing protection to infrastructure and nearby private property. There are no structures that are at immediate risk from this fire. There are structures and outbuildings that are from 1.5 to 5 miles from the fire.
Personnel numbers on the fire are now at 110. Those numbers will vary as well on an almost daily basis as the operational needs change based on the fire behavior. Equipment numbers and types will also change rapidly. The fire currently has 3 crews, 2 helicopters, and 1 engine assigned to it.
Weather is playing a most dynamic role in this fire, which is holding on to the late developing fire season in this area. While it was only 33 degrees at the base camp outside of Wisdom, MT, the temperature remained in the 50's overnight at the fire elevation of 8,000 feet. High pressure remains over this area and daytime temperatures are predicted at 65-75 for today with relative humidity at 16-26%. The humidity has not been recovering to more than 50% at the fire at night..
The fire may become more active today with the expected warming. That will produce smoke with possible columns visible throughout the area.
Media desiring to visit the fire should contact the number on this release and a tour of the fire area will be arranged.
SPECIAL CONCERNS: Safety of our firefighters and the public on this incident will not be compromised. Private in-holdings within the National Forest and forest infrastructure protection will be included in the planned actions. Homeowners need to be thinking of protective actions and mitigation measures they can take for fire protection considerations.
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