After Smoke Clears Rombo Mountain Fire Stands at 2
Incident: Rombo Mountain Wildland Fire
Released: 8/20/2007
For Immediate Release Contact: Fire Information
406-821-0082
Date: August 20, 2007 8 p.m.
After Smoke Clears Rombo Mountain Fire Stands at 20,300 Acres
West Fork, Mont. - For several days, until today, heavy smoke conditions and high winds grounding aircraft have prevented getting a clear picture of where the Rombo Fire had burned. Significantly cooler temperatures, higher relative humidity and some rain, and more manageable southwest winds helped to clear the air and to keep fire behavior and spread today to a minimum. Some of the spot fires on the east side of the fire that resulted from Sunday's wind event were located and contained. Aerial retardant drops to strengthen a critical anchor point on the southwest portion of the fire were completed today. Holding and mop-up operations continued today along the containment line on the west and northwest side of the fire. Structure protection work along the East and West Forks of the Bitterroot River continued. The Ravalli County Sheriff lifted the Stage II Evacuation Order for Zone 17 from just south of Trapper Creek Job Corps Center south along West Fork Road to Lloyd Creek and downgraded the order to a Stage I Pre-Evacuation Alert/Notice. All existing Stage I Pre-Evacuation Notices remain in effect. The fire was caused by lightning on July 31 and is located 16 miles south of Conner, MT and 4 miles northeast of Painted Rocks Lake.
The rain and cooler weather being enjoyed today is not expected to extinguish the Rombo Mountain Fire. Minimal fire behavior is expected over the next 2-3 days; however, warmer, drier conditions will begin to return later in the week, and fire behavior will, undoubtedly, pick up.
Actions planned for Tuesday include continuing to locate and contain spot fires on the east side of the fire, west of Highway 93; continuing to hold and mop-up the fire line to the west and northwest of the fire; continuing to search for additional locations for line construction in the Porcupine Saddle vicinity; and continuing structure protection operations and planning.
Transfer of Command for the Bitterroot Wildland Fire Use Complex from Svalberg's Incident Management Team to Perkins' Fire Use Management Team was completed this morning. Transfer of Command for the Rombo Mountain Fire from Svalberg's Incident Management Team to Quesinberry's Type I Incident Management Team will occur at 0600 hours Tuesday morning.
The existing closure order remains in effect. Maps and area closure descriptions are available at Forest offices, and on line at www.fs.fed.us/r1/bitterroot. The Forest is under Stage 2 fire restrictions which prohibit campfires and smoking other than in a vehicle, building or cleared area due to the high fire danger.
Though there are a number of active fires with necessary closures, most of the Bitterroot National Forest is still open for hiking and fishing. Contact your nearest Ranger District Office or the Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor's Office for current recreation activity opportunities.
A total of 214 personnel are assigned to the fire and additional firefighting crews, helicopters, and equipment to provide support have been requested, but may not be available due to the large number of fires burning in Montana and other states at this time.
Public and firefighter safety are the highest priority that Svalberg's incident management team, in coordination with the local forest personnel, take into consideration when planning and implementing fire management actions.
For additional information call Rombo Mountain Fire information at 821-0082 or visit the website, www.inciweb.org.
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