9/27/2015 Kettle Complex Update

Oregon Incident Management Team #1 took over command of this incident Sunday September 20th, at 1800. It is planned that command will be transferred to a local Type 4 team on Tuesday September 29th, at 0700. 

Briefing this morning was held in the yurt that will be the only structure left in camp as of this afternoon. This goes to show how the number of firefighters has decreased over the last several days. It was 36 degrees outside, with a wind chill factor of 32, thus the reason for leaving a yurt for briefing, as the weather will only continue to deteriorate as the season progresses.

Today crews will be finishing up all suppression repair work. There is about 1 mile of road left on the Renner fire still to be graded. The crews that are remaining will be monitoring and patrolling the fire. With warm daytime temperatures, and lower RHs, there will continue to be smokes seen on the fire, until a major rain and or snow event happens. All smokes that were seen yesterday were well inside the containment lines.

The weather over the fire area today is forecasted to be sunny. Temperatures will range from 52 -71 degrees, depending on the elevation and exposed areas. Minimum RHs will be 26%-40%. Winds will be out of the Northwest at 7-11 mph with gusts to 18. There is no chance of precipitation until at least Wednesday. These conditions again, are conducive to allowing areas of the fire to smolder, and creep, producing visible smoke.

IC Shawn Sheldon stressed this morning that it isn’t over until it is over, so continue with the great work that is being down. Safety Office Adam Veale stated that the potential occurrence of vehicle vs wildlife encounters is increasing, so please be careful as you are driving out to the line, and returning in the evening.

Fire at a Glance

Stickpin 53,828 acres; 80% contained

Graves Mtn. 8,557 acres; 85% cont

Renner 13,775 acres; 90% contained

N. Boulder 2 232 acres, 100% cont

Total 76,392 acres

Assigned personnel: 225

Location: Colville National Forest

Closures : For current fire area closures please see

www.fs.usda.gov/colville