Thursday 9/20/12 Powell Sbw Complex Updat
Incident: Powell Sbw Complex Wildfire
Released: 9/20/2012
POWELL SBW FIRE COMPLEX
Thursday September 20, 2012
Nez Perce - Clearwater National Forests
Contact: Molly Puchlerz Phone # (208)942-0303
Date Started: 7/20/2012 Total Personnel: 55
Cause: Multiple Lightning Strikes Size: 50,505 acres
Resources: 1 Type 1 Helicopter, 5 Engines, and 2 Water Tenders. Injuries to Date: 2
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: Fire behavior consisted of: creeping surface fire, group torching, and a few small crown runs. Ground operations continued patrols along the Beaver Ridge containment line, along the Lochsa River and highway 12, and around the Elk Summit guard station and campground area. Last night infrared flight shows the current acreage to be 50,505 acres.
Today's Activities: Today's activities and fire weather will be similar to yesterdays. Morning and afternoon inversion will continue to cause poor visibility in river corridor. Poor visibility and speeding along Hwy 12 is still a major concern. By late the afternoon the inversion should break and allow increased visibility. With increased visibility helicopters may be utilized to cool down any active fire along the Highway 12 corridor and/or recon the fires. Ridge tops and areas above the inversions will have increased temperatures and lower relative humidity; this is where fire managers except to see the most activity. Ground forces will continue to patrol Beaver Ridge, the Elk Summit area, and the Highway 12 corridor.
Remarks: Motorists travel along US Highway 12 between mile posts 140 to 160, especially near the Warm Springs Trailhead (access trailhead for Jerry Johnson Hot Springs), are urged to use extreme caution. Smoke from the surrounding fires is settling in the river corridor making visibility very limited. Please drive slowly, with your headlights on, be extremely careful when passing, and only pull over on the shoulder if you are experiencing an emergency, in which case make sure your flashers are on.
