Sunday Update September 2
Incident: Powell Sbw Complex Wildfire
Released: 9/2/2012
POWELL SBW FIRE COMPLEX
Sunday September 2, 2012
Nez Perce - Clearwater National Forests
Loc
Contact: Bob MacGregor
(208)942-0303
Date Started: 7/20/2012 Total Personnel: 169
Cause: Multiple Lightning Strikes Size: 27,879
Percent Contained: 0% Injuries to Date: 0
Resources: 1 Type 1 Helicopter, 1 Type 3 Helicopter, 4 engines, 1 Type 1 crew, 3 Type 2IA crews, 1 Intial Attack crew, 2 feller-bunchers, 2 skidders, 1 log forwarder and 1 excavator.
Location: The complex consists of three main and numerous small fires situated in an arc running southeast to southwest of the town of Powell, Idaho, straddling the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness boundary. The three main fires are named from east to west as: Fern, Cedar and Freeze Out Queen.
Yesterday' Activities: The smoke lifted from over the fires on Saturday giving firefighters, residents and visitors some clear air to breathe. The sunny conditions also created increased fire activity aided by brisk west winds. There was isolated and group torching on the ridge above Warm Springs Trailhead where the north end of the Freeze Out Queen fire continues to retain a lot of heat. The Cedar fire remained mostly quiet and was put into patrol status. The most active areas on the Fern fire were in the vicinity of the junction of Storm Creek and Maud Creek. The crews on Beaver Ridge were able to achieve their goal of completing a fuel break across the ridge; night operations were begun using a log forwarder to remove the materials from within the fuel break. These operations are being carried out at night to avoid conflicts with traffic on the roads. The Bell Point fire, which is located on the Moose Creek Ranger District and approximately nine miles southwest of Elk Summit Guard Station, was added to the Powell SBW Complex. Initial Attack resources responded to a new fire on Mocus Ridge, just to the west of the Complex, they were assisted by the Type 1 helicopter which was able to fly yesterday due to the clearer air conditions.
Today's Activities: Weather conditions on Sunday are forecast to be clear with cool temperatures, low relative humidity and light winds from the west. These conditions will support fire behavior similar to Saturday with some individual and group torching and some short uphill runs in areas that have retained the most heat. Infrared flights are being flown every night to pinpoint areas where the fire has the most potential to move. Night operations will continue on removing material from the fuel break. Fire managers are looking at the potential for conducting a burnout below the fuel break on Beaver Ridge to further strengthen this line.
For Updates follow this incident at: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3226/
Closures:
The Area within the described boundary beginning at the Idaho-Montana Boundary and the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness (SBW) boundary in Sec. 32, T38N, R17E, Boise Meridian (BM), thence southwesterly along the SBW boundary to the east ¼ section corner of section 6, T37N, R17E, BM, thence westerly to the west ¼ section corner of sec. 2, T37N, R16E, BM, thence southerly to the southwest section corner of section 2, T37N, R16E, BM, thence westerly along the section line to Trail 940, thence southerly along Trail 940 to Road 369 at Beaver Ridge Lookout, thence westerly along Beaver Ridge ridge top to Roundtop Lookout, thence southwesterly along the ridge top to the approximate N 1/16th section corner on the west section line of section 30, T37N, R15E, BM, thence southerly to the southwest section corner of section 30, T37N, R15E, BM, thence westerly to the southwest section corner of section 25, T37N, R14E, BM, thence southerly to the southeast section corner of section 35, T37N, R14E, BM, thence easterly to the northeast section corner of section 1, T36N, R14E, BM, thence southerly to the southeast corner of section 1, T36N, R14E, BM, thence westerly to the southwest section corner of section 1, T36N, R14E, BM, thence southerly to the southeast section corner of section 11, T36N, R14E, BM, thence westerly to the east 1/16th corner of sections 11 and 14, T36N, R14E, BM, thence northerly to center-east 1/16th corner of section 11, T36N, R14E, BM, thence westerly to the ¼ section corner of sections 10 and 11, T35N, R14E, BM, thence northerly to the northeast section corner of section 10, T36N, R14E, BM, thence westerly to the east 1/16th section corner of sections 3 and 10, T36N, R14E, BM, thence northerly to the northeast of the southeast 1/16th corner of section 3, T36N, R14E, BM, thence westerly to the south 1/16th corner of sections 3 and 4, T36N, R14E, BM, thence northerly to the northeast corner of section 4, T36N, R14E, BM, thence westerly to the southeast section corner of section 32, T37N, R14E, BM, thence northerly along the section line to the south bank of the Lochsa River, thence westerly along the south bank of the Lochsa River to trail 469 at Mocus Point Pack Bridge, thence southerly along Trail 469 to the junction of Trail 208, thence southerly along Trail 208 to the junction of Sponge Creek and Fish Lake Creek, thence southerly along Fish Lake Creek to junction of California Creek and Trail 211, thence southeasterly along Trail 211 to the junction of Trail 644 at the Nez Perce and Clearwater National Forests boundary, thence easterly along Nez Perce and Clearwater National Forests boundary to the Idaho-Montana boundary at Blodgett Mountain, thence northerly along the Idaho-Montana boundary to the point of beginning.
