Columbia River Road August 11,2008 1600 Hrs Update
Incident: Columbia River Road Wildland Fire
Released: 8/11/2008
Firefighters facing a tough fight taming the restive Columbia River Road Fire
Columbia River RoadFire pushes containment lines along its northern perimeter, continues to burn in heavy timber, fuels
Nespelem, Wash., -- As nearly 200 more firefighters join the fight to stop the Columbia River Road Fire from burning northward today, the fire shook off some of the progress made and stepped further outside containment lines, burning through dense timber and heavy, dry forest fuels.
Fire suppression strategists had planned today to connect a ridge top dozer line to an opened road with hand line through the steep, forested slope, but the fire moved between both lines to the east. Two hot shot crews were to build the connecting hand line, but instead continued to strengthen existing fire lines.
The hot fire is consuming fuels cleanly as it burns and its movement is primarily terrain driven. The fire is burning approximately four miles west of Highway 155 which runs between Omak and Nespelem. The access roads to the Kartar Creek and Summit Lake roads (east of the fire) are closed to the public.
Although the fire burned only 80 to 100 additional acres today, smoke from its rampage could be seen from nearly every point in the Colville Reservation, spurring concerns from local residents.Five helicopters, a heavy air tanker and single engine air tanker dropped water and retardant continuously on the advancing fire, slowing its movement as much as possible.
Night shift crews, engines and dozers will work through the night to build and widen containment lines that were not attainable during the hot, dry daytime conditions.
In other areas of the fire, firefighters worked to mop up and hold onto the successes of the past four days. Firefighters laid hose along widened dozer line along the west perimeter to allow firefighters to douse out hot spots within 300 feet of the fire lines. The southern and eastern perimeters were patrolled and mopped up.
Firefighters will burn out residual, unburned islands of fuels along the western and northern perimeters tomorrow and Wednesday in an attempt to minimize flare-ups and potential fire escape. Smoke from these burnouts will be noticeable from the Nespelem and surrounding area.
The hot and dry weather being experienced by the region is expected to worsen this week with a 5-degree increase in temperature and 2 percent drop in humidity tomorrow. Southerly winds will continue to increase during the day, causing increased fire behavior in the late afternoon.
The Washington Interagency Incident Management Team (WIIMT) #4 is managing the fire under the command of Mikal Barnett, incident commander.
According to Barnett, the more than 750 firefighters have been very conscious of firefighting safety principles and are maintaining a stellar safety record. "To date, there have been only a few minor injuries," Barnett said. "We are striving to keep firefighters safe, both day and night, while battling this fire," he said.
The WIIMT #4 has developed "trigger points" for developing strategies for the fire if it should advance closer to homes along Highway 155. Presently, there are no evacuation orders are in effect. A structural protection plan has been developed for all structures in the fire area that outlines the appropriate protection actions that will be taken under various circumstances.
The Colville Confederated Tribe's seven-member Burned Area Emergency Response Team is evaluating burn severity throughout the southern and eastern portions of the fire and developing a comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of fire-damaged resources.
Fire Facts - Monday, August 11, 2008 - 1800 HOURS
Fire Size: 21,914 Acres
Percent Contained: 40%
Fuels: Timber, grass/understory/ bitterbrush, sage, slash, heavy timber, heavy down fuels
Expected Containment: August 20, 2008
Air Resources: 3 heavy, 1 medium, 1 light helicopters; 1 SEAT, 1 heavy air tanker
Engines: 24
Dozers: 12
Water Tenders: 15
Overhead: 173
Total Personnel: 702
Total Estimated Cost to Date: $3.1 million
