Dugan Fire BAER Work Begins and Area Closure Modified
Incident: Dugan Fire Wildfire
Released: 9/21/2012
Ekalaka, MT... The 10,675 acre Dugan Fire burning near Ekalaka, Montana is now 100% contained. A Type IV Incident Management Team lead by Incident Commander Dirk Giles will continue rehabilitating bulldozer line and cutting snags along roadways through a portion of the weekend. People will continue to see dust and ash blowing from the fire area until some moisture is received.
The Custer National Forest has amended a small portion of the Dugan Fire area closure to open the area between Rimrock Carter Road (Forest Road #3104) and Highway 323 (the Camp Needmore area) to the public. The new closure area will go into affect Monday, September 24, 2012 at 6:00 a.m. The rest of the original closure remains in effect.
Emergency stabilization work has begun on the Dugan Fire to help prevent further damage to life, property or natural resources. The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team is comprised of specially trained professionals who rapidly evaluate the burned area and prescribe emergency stabilization treatments. Hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, and others from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Montana Department of Natural Resources, and Farm Services Agency comprise or provide input to the BAER work.
There are a variety of emergency stabilization techniques a BAER team might recommend including re-seeding of ground cover, mulching with straw or chipped wood, construction of dams in small tributaries, and placement of logs to catch sediment on hill slopes. The team also assesses the need to modify road and trail drainage infrastructure including installing debris traps, modifying or removing culverts to allow drainage to flow freely, and adding additional drainage dips and constructing emergency spillways to keep roads and bridges from washing out during floods. The initial assessment work is completed very quickly followed by the implementation of the recommended treatments.
For more information please contact the Custer National Forest, Sioux Ranger District at (605) 797-4432. Information about the BAER assessments, once available, can also be accessed under the Dugan Fire at http://www.inciweb.org/ .
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