Daily Update for August 26, 2007
Incident: Skyland Wildland Fire
Released: 8/26/2007
Yesterday's Activities:
Quick Fire Facts
Location
32 miles ESE of Kalispell, MT-Skyland Road, 3 miles south of Marias Pass
Approximate Size
45,760 acres
Increase since last update
No IR flight
Fire Containment
70%
Start Date
July 23, 2007 - 4:30 pm
Cause
Lightning
Incident Commander
Tom Heintz
Resources on the Fire
7 crews
4 helicopters
1 dozer
3 water tenders
11 engines
Total Personnel
375
Est. Containment Date
unknown
Cooperating Agencies
USFS
NPS
BIA
Blackfeet Tribe
Montana DNRC
Landowners
USFS
Blackfeet Tribe
Private
Crews prepared for the passing of the cold front that has been predicted for several days. Hand held heat detection devices were again used as mop-up work continued along the Hiway 2 corridor and on the north perimeter of the fire. Resource advisors from the Blackfeet Tribe and the Forest Service worked with the crews in the rehabilitation efforts on the suppression lines. Crews in the Badger Cabin area continued to work on creating direct and indirect line to the east and west. Winds as high as 69 mph were recorded on the ridge tops, with 50 mph recorded over the fire area.
Weather and Fire Behavior Forecast for Today:
A Red Flag warning is in effect again today over the fire area because of predicted high winds with gusts to 60 mph on the ridges and 40 mph on the fire itself. The relative humidity will be up over yesterday in the 25%-30% range. Temperatures will top out at 65-70.
Today's Planned Actions:
Another windy day on the fire will see the firefighters sticking with the dirty work of working the heat out of the fire, while watching for any increased weather driven fire behavior. Rehabilitation work has been progressing well and that will continue. The southeast flank will continue to see additional suppression line work in the Badger Cr area along trail 101.1, where there is remaining heat on the fire.
Last evening a young Daschund dog was found by firefighters on the BIA Hiway 2 (East Glacier to Heart Butte road). This lost dog is at the Incident Command Post and would like to find her owners.
U.S. Hwy 2 remains open with a speed restriction in the fire area. All entrances to the Glacier National Park are open. 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.
