CURRENT FIRE SITUATION
Yesterday, the
fire was moderately active again north of
Buck Mountain as it burned
toward Forest Road (FR) 42. South
of
Peacock Meadow, some interior islands of trees on both sides of
the Loup Loup Canyon Road
continued to burn. Crews discovered and contained
a two-acre spot fire near FR
300, the result of
Saturday’s extreme
weather. Okanogan Complex firefighters joined
the
Conconully Fire Department and a DNR crew to respond to a new fire start near the
junction of FR 42 and FR 420. The fire is less than one acre. Although the cause is under investigation,
fire officials do know that the
fire was
not the Okanogan
Complex spotting across containment
lines.
Depending on a variety of
factors, crews working on FR
42
today may conduct defensive burning operations to
secure the fireline, or they may let the fire burn to the road on its own. This western
side of the fire is producing
some visible smoke, and it is
the last portion of the perimeter that firefighters need to contain and mop up. All
other areas of the fire perimeter are being patrolled and mopped up. Suppression-repair
crews are working on
repairing dozer lines
around
the fire’s perimeter and through
the interior.
WEATHER AND FIRE BEHAVIOR
Yesterday the cold front moved
into the area as expected. Winds at the Omak airport gusted to 25 mph and the relative humidity dropped to 6 percent. Winds were mostly from the southwest rather than northwest, but that
did
not negatively affect fire behavior on the west side of the fire. This week will be much
cooler than last week, with rain likely midweek. Firefighters will take advantage of the weather’s moderating effect on fire behavior as they
mop
up remaining hot spots on the western
side. The moisture content of all fuels—from heavy to fine—in the fire area is below 8 percent; kiln-dried lumber has a
moisture content between 16 and 19 percent.
SAFETY
Forest Service roads on the west side of the fire within the area closure (see below) are closed to the public.
Law-enforcement personnel
are
enforcing road closures, which are identified with a sign or barricade. Although not every closed road is staffed, fire managers ask the public to respect the closures for firefighter and public
safety.
EVACUATIONS AND ROAD CLOSURES
· Call the Okanogan County Emergency
Operations Center (EOC) at 509-422-7348 to report primary residences
that were damaged or destroyed in this year’s wildfires. The EOC also provides information on
evacuations and road closures https://www.facebook.com/Okanogan.County.Emergency.Management
·
The Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest issued an area closure,
effective September 4, 2015, for federal lands
in the fire area: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/4534/29367/ or http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/okawen/alerts-notices
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