9-8 Trinity Ridge Fire Update
Incident: Trinity Ridge Fire Wildfire
Released: 9/8/2012
Current Situation:
Fire activity on most of the Trinity Ridge Fire was light on Friday. However, moderate fire behavior was seen near West Warrior Peak and Rainbow Basin, where trees and other fuels are still actively burning. Helicopters were used to cool the fire in these heavier fuels to ensure the containment lines held.
Firefighters are nearly finished with the contingency line east of Idaho City, from Thorn Creek Butte to Rabbit Creek Summit. These contingency lines are constructed with a mix of dozers, firefighters, and large machines called masticators that chew through brush and timber alongside the line.
Firefighters will continue to monitor fire activity within the perimeter and resources are available for any new fire starts.
Today's weather forecast is for mostly sunny skies over the fire area with high temperatures around 90F in canyon bottoms. There is an increased chance of showers and thunderstorms on Sunday.
Suppression Rehabilitation Plan:
As the Trinity Ridge Fire moves into its final stages, the focus shifts to rehabilitation. Rehabilitation efforts will be directed towards mitigating impacts from fire suppression activities and Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) work. Rehabilitation tasks include restoring firelines and disturbed areas, cleaning campgrounds and trailheads used by fire crews, maintaining safe road and trail conditions, and protecting cultural resource sites. Tasks for BAER include stabilizing soil; controlling water, sediment and debris movement; preventing impairment of ecosystems; and mitigating significant threats to health, safety, life property and downstream values at risk. Preventing the spread of noxious weeds will be another significant focus of all rehabilitation and BAER work. Fire managers will work closely with Boise National Forest resource specialists to coordinate these efforts. For more information about BAER, visit http://www.nifc.gov/BAER/Page/NIFC BAER.html.
The Pine-Featherville road, as well as the road to Baumgartner campground, is open to all traffic. The Boise National Forest reduced the size of the closure area around the fire effective September 6, 2012. The revised area closure is 0402-00-0024 (Revision #6) dated September 5, 2012. Details and a map of the current closure are available on Inciweb:http://inciweb.org/incident/map/3088/2/.
