Daily Update for August 22, 2007
Incident: Skyland Wildland Fire
Released: 8/22/2007
Yesterday's Activities:
Quick Fire Facts
Location
32 miles ESE of Kalispell, MT-Skyland Road, 3 miles south of Marias Pass
Approximate Size
45,215 acres
Increase since last update
No Infrared Flight because of cloud cover
Fire Containment
51%
Start Date
July 23, 2007 - 4:30 pm
Cause
Lightning
Incident Commander
Tom Heintz
Resources on the Fire
5 crews
5 helicopters
1 dozer
6 water tenders
14 engines
Total Personnel
390
Est. Containment Date
unknown
Cooperating Agencies
USFS
NPS
BIA
Blackfeet Tribe
Montana DNRC
Landowners
USFS
Blackfeet Tribe
Private
Yesterday was not a significant day for fire behavior. Rain fell periodically throughout the day at the ICP location, but did not impact the fire locations. Crews took advantage of the cooler temperatures to work further into the fire area edge to cool remaining heat. Some internal smoke could be seen but fire did not exhibit any significant burning. The fire was active again in the upper Badger Cr area. More line was hardened as mop up of hot spots along the west and north flanks of the fire progressed.
Weather and Fire Behavior Forecast for Today:
Winds are expected to be rather variable at 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph today. The area may be under an inversion until 10:00 a.m., which will impact the air operations until later in the morning.
Today's Planned Actions:
Crews will be flown into the west flank of the fire to continue mop-up. If the fire situation allows it, the crews will begin to backhaul the approximately 23,000 feet of hose line that is in place on this division. Rehabilitation of suppression lines will begin where possible. Crews will also be flown into the Badger Guard Station area where they will begin work on direct suppression line at the fire edge. They will remain in a "spike" camp for 2 nights to complete that effort.
Incident Commander Tom Heintz reminded his staff last night that "we have other fires out our back door, and do not forget about the safety aspects of those fires, as well as this one."
All entrances to Glacier National Park are open. U.S. Hwy 2 remains open with a speed restriction in the fire area, and short delays when helicopters fly over the highway. Visit www.nps.gov/glac for more information.
For fire restrictions, visit www.mt.blm.gov/fire/restrictions. Much of the Rocky Mountain Ranger District is closed to public use. There are closures in the Hungry Horse Ranger District as well.
Evacuation Level 1 (notification) is in effect for Little Badger, the U.S. Hwy. 2 Corridor and Glacier Acres.
Visit http://www.inciweb.org/ and click on Skyland Fire for details, or call the ranger districts - Hungry Horse (406) 387-3800; Rocky Mountain (406) 466-5341.
