Sept. 1 Halstead Fire Update
Incident: Halstead Wildfire
Released: 9/1/2012
Start Date: July 27, 2012 Cause: Lightning
Current Size: 124,892 acres Containment: 7%
Location: Approx. 3 miles north of Stanley, Idaho
Jurisdiction: USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Region, Salmon-Challis National Forest
Resources on the fire: 544 personnel, including 6 hand crews, 33 engines and 8 helicopters
Community Meeting: Stanley Community Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Center.
What Happened Yesterday: The fire had a mellow day and grew only about 900 acres yesterday. There are 242 miles of perimeter of burned area. The fire was still hung up in Marsh Creek on the west side of the fire which means it was still burning, but not advancing too quickly towards the creek. The fire north of Vanity Lakes is established in the Silver Creek area. Firefighters turned on the sprinklers that they put around the Seafoam Guard Station and wet down the area around that structure to protect it from the advancing fire. A spot fire was discovered over Pinyon Peak Ridge and is in alignment to burn towards Lost Packer Mine. There is a canyon of trees leading up to the mine so firefighters used a sprinkler system around the mine as well. With the help of firefighters using some firing techniques, the fire burned the upper two-thirds of the slope above Highway 75 which makes it safer and lessens the chance of fire coming down to the roadway. There was no spotting across the Yankee Fork Road or across the Salmon River. The fire in Lightning Creek is still burning into the old 2006 Potato Fire burn area. Firefighters also worked around the Stanley Creek Road area and have established line around the Doc Day cabin.
The Plan for Today: The firefighters will work today to keep the west side of the fire from crossing west of Marsh Creek. It has reached the creek in a few spots and the plan is to use the creek as a natural barrier to hold it. Firefighters will go in to the Lost Packer Mine area this morning and recharge the sprinkler system and fill the pumps with gasoline so the sprinklers can operate throughout the day. Firefighters will also monitor the fire in the Ibex and Lightning Creek drainage and make sure it doesn't go around the 2006 Potato fire burn area into other stringers of unburned fuel. Firefighters will also be working in the Harden Creek and the Sunbeam area to keep the fire from crossing the roadways. Firefighters will continue working along Stanley Creek and around the Doc Day cabin to tie into established fire lines and roadways and ultimately tie into Anderson Creek.
Highway 75 Update: Highway 75 is open with no restrictions.
Closures: Know before you go. A large area around the Halstead Fire is closed. For information on the closure area visit: www.fs.usda.gov/sawtooth and www.fs.usda.gov/scnf . For a high resolution map of the closure area go to the Flickr site www.flickr.com/salmonchallisnf.
For more information follow us on Twitter @scnf fire info
http://inciweb.org/incident/3062/ www.flickr.com/salmonchallisnf
