9/1/2015 Cougar Creek Update

GLENWOOD, WA -

Cougar Creek Fire crews took advantage of the cool wet weather over the weekend and continued to construct containment lines. Today clear skies allowed for the Incident Commander and the Fire Operation Section Chief to fly over of the fire. With this additional info our plan is to have hand crews continue to build direct containment line along the north and northwest section of the fire while continuing to improve contingency lines along Potato Hill Road. The east portion of the fire remains in patrol status as crews continue to mop up and extinguish hotspots. Crews continue to patrol and reinforce completed containment line along the east, south, and west flanks of the fire.

Though the south end of the fire received a wetting rain, the rain did not penetrate the tree canopy in the northern portion of the fire.  These areas will continue to dry out as the effects of the rain dissipate over the next few days. Resident’s should be advised as vegetation continues to dry out smoke may become more visible and fire activity may pick up.

High pressure will build today and another significant cold front will move into Western Washington Tuesday night and not exit until Friday night. This air mass will be cold and unstable producing scattered showers but it does not have a tropical moisture connection so the chance of wetting rains will be minimal, except on the southwest portion of the fire. Warmer and drier conditions are expected for the weekend. 

  Southern California Interagency Incident Management Team 3 (SCIIMT3) took command of the Cougar Creek Fire as of 8/31/2015 at 0600.

CLOSURES for the safety of firefighters and the public:   DNR - All DNR State Trust lands and recreation sites within the Glenwood Block are closed. Yakama Nation – All forest resource lands are closed to the public, including tribal members.  USFS – The Pacific Crest Trail through the Mt Adams Wilderness, the Mt.  Adams Wilderness in its entirety, and all trails on the south and east sides of Mt.  Adams are closed between Forest Road 23 at Williams Mine to the eastern boundary of the Forest. Forest Roads 80 & 82 are also closed.

Future daily updates will be posted by 9 a.m. each day on InciWeb: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4484/

                                                                       Information Office Phone:  (509)364-3369 Email:  cougarcreekfireinfo@gmail.com