Paradise Fire Daily Update July 12, 2015

Paradise Fire Update  

Sunday, July 12, 2015

For Immediate Release
360-797-5366

Welcome rain showers fell Saturday on the Paradise Fire. This wet weather is predicted to last through Monday, helping firefighters in their efforts to "confine" the fire north of the Queets River and East of Bob Creek.

It is important to note that these rain showers will not put the fire out.  Although they are helping to extinguish fire in the light fuels, the heavier fuels (like burning logs) will continue to smolder and burn until a longer and heavier period of precipitation occurs.  As the weather dries and warms in the weeks ahead, we can expect these smoldering heavy fuels to resume more active burning and pose a continuing risk of fire spread. Firefighters will remain on the fire for the foreseeable future, continuing the confinement strategy.  

Saturday, the Washington Conservation Corp crew continued its work clearing overgrown brush and improving the surface of the trail, completely finishing about 1.5 miles. They established a base camp about five and ½  miles from the trailhead and will work out of that camp for the next few days.  The 20-person Central Oregon Type 2 Initial Attack crew arrived at the camp Saturday evening and will begin working with the WCC crew this morning. All 30 people are being supported by a Park Service pack string which brought in two loads Saturday.

The lightning-caused Paradise Fire is within a designated wilderness area.  The Olympic National Park's Fire Management Plan allows naturally occurring fires to be managed or suppressed, depending on location, values at risk, and other critical factors.  The decision was made to suppress this fire because of extremely dry conditions and the fact that it started so early in the fire season.  However, because of concerns about firefighter safety and the limited effectiveness of conventional fire-fighting techniques in this rainforest environment, a "confinement strategy" was chosen with the objective of keeping the fire within park boundaries and preventing the fire from spreading south across the Queets River or moving west toward the park boundary.

Olympic National Park officials would like to remind the public that there is a ban on open fires in the park's wilderness backcountry, including all locations along the coast. Campfires are permitted only in established fire grates at established front country campgrounds.

More information is available on Inciweb at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4305/.  For real time information, visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paradise-Fire/831205013596015. For current information about visiting Olympic National Park, as well as information about the history and role of fire in the Olympic ecosystem, please visit the park's website at http://www.nps.gov/olym

Paradise Fire Information Staff

360-797-5366