Incident: Madison Arm
Released: 7/10/2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: July 8, 2007
Contact: Steve Till Phone: 406-823-6962
Fire Name: Madison Arm Fire Start: June 27, 2007
Cause: Human Total Acres: 3,660 acres
Percent Containment: 100% Structures Lost: 0
The Madison Arm Fire is located two miles north of West Yellowstone on the Hebgen Lake Ranger District of the Gallatin National Forest. In order to insure public and firefighter safety, work is continuing within the fire area. Yesterday afternoon the fire area received light rainfall. Predicted lower temperatures and higher relative humidity will assist firefighters as they search for hotspots and begin rehabilitating dozer lines. The Madison Arm Road between Highway 191 and the Madison Arm Resort remains closed to the public as part of the fire area closure. Large dust whirls may be visible in the burned area.
Part of fire crew's duties at this stage of a fire involves rehabilitation of disturbances directly caused by fire suppression. Crews are currently knocking down berms created by dozer lines and are dragging brush and other materials onto the bladed area in order to protect the soil from wind and water erosion. Water bars are built on hand and dozer lines in steeper areas. These initial efforts are designed to prevent immediate fire suppression-related damage to the land.
During suppression or soon afterward, a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team is assigned to evaluate the fire site and make recommendations for longer term protection of the land. The BAER team considers soil burn severity, vegetation burn effects and site specific values that might be at risk.
On this site, burn severity was low on about a third of the area and moderate on the remainder. This means vegetation recovery will likely be successful since the structure of the soil was not destroyed. The area is fairly flat, so water caused erosion should not be a problem. The major value at risk found during the evaluation is the potential for noxious weed invasion/expansion.
Small infestations of yellow toadflax and spotted knapweed exist in the burn area with larger infestations at the old airport used as a base camp. Disturbances in the fire area and camp site make them vulnerable to rapid spread of weeds, especially as vehicles, people and animals move through and scatter seeds. To help mitigate this, the BAER team recommended treating the known weed infestation areas as soon as effectively possible-the summer of 2008 when the plants emerge. A monitoring program on 100% of the area is proposed in order to make sure treatments are effective and to find any new infestations.
*Special Notes: The western gateway to Yellowstone National Park through West Yellowstone is open. Yellowstone National Park and West Yellowstone Montana businesses and facilities are open. All campgrounds, residences and the Madison Arm Resort are open in the Madison Arm area. The Resort may accessed via Highway 20.
Special Remarks: Stage 2 Fire Restrictions are in effect for the Hebgen Lake Ranger District. The Stage 2 Restrictions prohibit all campfires and limits smoking areas and chainsaw use. Today's cooler temperatures and higher humidity temporarily lessen fire danger, but a warming trend is forecast. That trend, along with a potential scarcity of firefighting resources due to large fires throughout the central west could make another fire locally very serious. Please be careful and follow the fire restrictions.
Folks can also check out the Inciweb site at http://www.inciweb.org/ , www.bozeman.net/des , or the Gallatin National Forest website, www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin, for more information.
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