Friday, September 22, 2017

9/22/2017 Diamond Creek Fire Update

 

Diamond Creek Fire: Friday September 22, 2017

Completion reaches 70% on Diamond Creek Fire


Location:  11 miles NNW of Mazama, WA                                
Total Personnel: 
 231
Acres:  127,498 total acres                                                      
Cause:  
Under Investigation
Containment:  70%                                                                  
Start Date:  July 23, 2017
Note:  The containment reflects the percent of operational objectives completed.
 
Update: 
Heavy fuels continue to burn in the areas of Monument Creek, Pat Creek, Tungsten Mine, Tatoosh and along the Canadian side of the border. Due to more accurate mapping, a breakdown of acreage in the U.S. and Canada has been released. Approximately 97,043 acres in the U.S. and 30,454 acres in Canada have burned. No significant growth is expected in the U.S; however, increased fire activity is possible with a drying weather pattern in the forecast.
During yesterday’s operational period, helicopters flew recon on the fire and suppression repair work continued. Efforts included work near the 860 Road. Ground resources also continued suppression repair work in the southern and eastern flanks of the fire work near the 500 Road. 
Today’s Activities: The same objectives will be utilized for today’s operational period; with a focus on completing excavator work, logging and piling. Suppression repair work will continue on the 500 Road and other areas along the contingency fire lines. Crews will continue to remove and stack felled trees using feller bunchers, and pile/chip debris created during construction of the primary and contingency lines. Chipping is near completion on Eightmile Road, and should be finished after today’s operational period. Completion of the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessment over the coming days and weeks will address public safety.  
Six crews, three engines, two helicopters, one dozer, and other heavy equipment remain on the incident.
With this weekend being closing weekend of high hunt; please make sure to use caution when driving, hunting, or recreating within the open areas of the forest. Look out for fire apparatus and personnel.
Weather:  Today, the first day of fall, is also the final day of the upper trough moving over the fire area. There will be a 20% chance for isolated snow and rain showers today, with a 0% chance for wetting rain. Additionally, light winds of 4-8 mph are forecasted. The upper trough continues to exit the fire area to the east, leaving a potential 6 degree increase in temperature. This potential raise in temperature and possible lower humidity may cause a slight increase in fire activity. However, no significant growth is expected.

Smoke:  Expect good air quality conditions over the next couple of days with the possibility of smoke and haze in valley bottoms in the nighttime hours.

Closures: Due to moderating fire behavior and completed line construction, areas on the east and west sides of the Diamond Creek Fire are being opened for public use effective September 18. On the west side, Hart’s Pass Road, Robinson Creek and Middle Fork of the Pasaytan River are now open. Open on the east side are Falls Creek, Black Lake, the lower section of Andrew’s Creek and the Chewuch 510 trail to the confluence of Basin Creek. Maps have been posted to the Diamond Creek Fire InciWeb and Facebook pages.

 
Evacuation Alert Level:  The Evacuation Level remains at a Level 1 “Alert”.

Information: (509)996-4040 from 8 am – 6 pm
Website: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5409/
Facebook: facebook.com/diamondcreekfire2017
Smoke Conditions: wasmoke.blogspot.com
#DiamondCreekFire #WaWildfire

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