Daily Update for August 23, 2007
Incident: Skyland Wildland Fire
Released: 8/24/2007
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
55%
Start Date
July 23, 2007 - 4:30 pm
Cause
Lightning
Incident Commander
Tom Heintz
Resources on the Fire
7 crews
4 helicopters
1 dozer
5 water tenders
12 engines
Total Personnel
393
Est. Containment Date
unknown
Cooperating Agencies
USFS
NPS
BIA
Blackfeet Tribe
Montana DNRC
Landowners
USFS
Blackfeet Tribe
Private
Part of the fire hose that was in place on the west flank of the fire was recovered yesterday, cleaned, and returned to the supply system. Crews continued to grid search that area and work any hot spots found along the northwestern edge of the fire. Rehabilitation of the suppression lines on the northeast flank of the fire was initiated. The spike camp was established for those crews working in the Badger Guard Station area. Multiple hot spots are being discovered and worked as they move toward the west on that edge of the fire. The fire did produce more interior smoke, and there was some open burning in the afternoon - an indication of a return to the warmer, drier conditions.
Weather and Fire Behavior Forecast for Today:
Winds of 10 mph with gusts of 15-20 are in the forecast. A warming trend with temperatures in the mid- 70's will begin, with drier conditions through the weekend. Humidity lows in the upper 17-19% will bring a return to possible increased fire activity. A dry cold front is expected to pass through the area this weekend.
Today's Planned Actions:
Two more arriving crews will be flown out to the southeast flank of the fire to assist with suppression line construction in the Badger Creek area. Two crews from the northeast flank will be repositioned to assist with the grid searching and hot spot work on the western flank of the fire. This will speed up the work of making sure that any heat remaining on that portion of the fire will be well interior of the perimeter's edge, should the predicted cold front passage come about.
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.
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.
