Tuesday, August 25, 2015

8/25/2015 Kaniksu Complex Fire Update



Kaniksu Complex—Tower Fire

Idaho Panhandle & Colville National Forests, Washington DNR Alaska Incident Mgt. Team — Tom Kurth, Incident Cmdr. AUGUST 25, 2015, 10:00  am

For Immediate Release                                                                                       Pete Buist, 907-750-1639 towerfireinfo@gmail.com                                                                          Jill Cobb, 208-443-6835 (msg)

Kaniksu Complex: The Tower Fire along and six smaller fires located on the Colville National Forest are all part of the Kaniksu Complex. Total acreage of all fires in the Kaniksu Complex is 11,159 acres. Firefighters are monitoring the smaller fires but the majority of firefighting resources are assigned to the Tower Fire.

Fires, other than the Tower Fire that are included in the Kaniksu Complex, include the following:
·    Baldy Fire:  Located 16 miles north of Ione, WA (515 acres)
·    Onata Fire:  Located about 8 eight miles east/southeast of Ione (300 acres)
·    Hall Mountain Fire: located on Hall Mountain (20 acres)
·    Grease Creek Fire: located south of Hall Mountain (75 acres)
·    Slate Creek (1 acre) & South Fork Slate Creek (1 acre): located near the NW boundary of Salmo- Priest Wilderness

Current Resources: The number of firefighters on the incident is 682. Equipment includes: 20 crews, 8 dozers, 15 engines, and 7 water tenders, 1 skidgen and 1 helicopter.

Tower Fire:

Current Size: 10,238 acres                            Containment: 5%
Strategy: Full Suppression                             Situation: Lighting, started Aug 11
Location: 17 mi. north of Newport, Wash. and 12 mi. southwest of Priest Lake, Idaho

Update: A significant temperature inversion and heavy smoke blanketed the Tower Fire for most of Monday. This layer of smoke prevented the significant fire movement that had been expected with Red Flag conditions.

While the fire did not move as much as expected, it did expand in several areas.  On the northeast end, the fire moved downhill and across the Squaw Valley Road. On the south end, north of Ojibway Knoll, the fire breached a previously constructed dozer line and hit the road designated as control line.  The breach was caught and contained.

There was considerable activity on the west side of the fire, including north of Browns Lake in the upper reaches of the Cee Cee Ah drainage. A bit further south, the main fire spotted over the line near Browns Lake. This 3-acre spot fire was caught and contained with retardant and quick action on the part of ground crews.

Military strike teams from Task Force 1st Round were fully integrated with the firefighters already working on the Tower and Onata fires today. The first day of this new teamwork went smoothly and was deemed a success by both military commanders and the incident management team.

·  Red Flag warnings are in effect for the fire complex area.

·  There are no mandatory evacuation orders for these fires. If that happened, it would be called
Level 3 Evacuation Order , which means it is time to go.


·  A Level 2 Evacuation Alert remains for Big Meadow/Squaw Valley.  Simply stated, Level 2 means you should be set to leave on very short notice.

·  A Level 1 Evacuation Alert remains for the Bear Paw area and the Hwy 57 corridor from Priest River North. The Level 1 Evacuation for Hwy 57 has been issued because fire managers are concerned that Hwy 57 is the only logical escape route south from the Priest Lake community. It is not because of imminent fire danger to the area. In Level 1, residents should be ready to leave and should monitor emergency services. Those with special needs, pets, livestock or that need transportation assistance should take early precautionary movement to relocate.

·  Priest Lake Area: Highway 57 is open to all traffic. All businesses along with Federal and State
Campgrounds at Priest Lake are open.

For more information, including closures in the area check: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4508/

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