Northwest Interagency Coordination Center: 7/18/2018 NWCC Morning Brief

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

7/18/2018 NWCC Morning Brief

Date/Time Stamp: Wednesday, Jul 18, 2018, 07:21

Northwest Activity Summary

Yesterday precipitation was limited to extreme Northcentral Washington associated with thunderstorms in Canada. No lightning occurred in the region. Temperatures, while still hot across the geographic area, were slightly down overall from the previous couple of days. Gusty and dry conditions prevailed in the Columbia Gorge, Columbia Basin and the Okanogan Valley. Relative humidity was at or near single digits in areas of Southwest Oregon and many areas of Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington. NW Team 13 (Gales) is mobilizing to the Sugar Pine incident on the Rogue-Siskiyou NF. There was 47 new fires for 22,208 acres, 1,313 acres from existing fires.

Preparedness Levels

Northwest PL

Current	3-Day	10-Day	30-Day
3 (7/17)	3	4	3

National PL

3 (6/29)

Northwest Incident Activity

New Fires and Acres
47 fires for 22,208 acres
OR: 30 fires for 22,088 acres
WA: 17 fires for 120 acres

Large Fire Summary
New large incidents: 4
Reported incidents: 9 (OR: 7 WA: 2)

1,313 acres growth on existing incidents.

Northwest IMT Activity

NIMOs Committed: 0

Type 1 IMTs committed: 1
Type 2 IMTs committed: 5

National Fire Activity
Initial attack activity: Moderate (243) new fires

New large incidents: 9
Large fires contained: 13
Uncontained large fires: 44

National IMT Activity
Area Command Teams: 0

NIMOs committed: 0
Type 1 IMTs committed: 3
Type 2 IMTs committed: 5

*Nationally, there are 20 large fires being managed under a strategy other than Full Suppression

Northwest Current Incident Details

Incidents listed below meet large fire criteria and/or incidents with a Type 1 or 2 IMT assigned. Large incidents are defined as fires which are 100+ acres in timber or 300+ acres in grass/brush. For additional information on incidents no longer listed below please refer to the NW Large Incident Summary or Northwest Fires Utilizing Monitor, Confine, Point Zone Protection Suppression Strategies (YTD)

Incidents not Previously Reported: 4

Garner Complex. OR-712S-016619. IMT1, ODF Team 2 (Cline). Josephine County. Start 7/15. Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 539 acres. Timber. Active fire behavior. Steep terrain. Threats to timber resources, T&E species habitat, utilities, and air quality. Complex includes Grave, Pleasant, Section 14, Swamp, Spencer Creek, and several other incidents less than 5 acres.

Substation, OR-PRD-000730. Unified Command OSFM Red Team (Yocum) & Prineville BLM. Start 7/17. Full Suppression. Cause: unknown. 20,000 acres. Grass and brush. Structures threatened. Limited information at this time.

South Umpqua Complex. OR-UPF-000264. Near Tiller, OR. Start 7/15. Cause: Lightning. 200+ acres. Specific incidents for inclusion into the complex are still being identified. IMT2, NW Team 6 (Sheldon) will assume command today.

Ben Lane. OR-WSA-000065. ICT3. Start 7/16. Full Suppression. 437 acres. 70% containment. Minimal fire activity. No new information.

Incidents Previously Reported: 5

Natchez. OR-RSF-000348. IMT2, NW Team 10 (Lawson). 15 miles SE of Cave Junction, OR. Start 7/15. Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 200 acres (+140). Timber. Active fire behavior. Fire growth is expected. Steep terrain. Threat to infrastructure, timber resources, riparian habitat, and air quality.

Cemetery 0701 RS. OR-PRD-000701. IMT2, NW Team 8 (Johnson) is mobilizing. 32 miles ESE of Prineville, OR. Start 7/16. Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 1,300 acres (+1,000). Timber. Minimal fire behavior. Well-established in timber, heavy dead and down fuel. Threat to infrastructure, sage grouse habitat and old growth.

Hendrix. OR-RSF-000278. IMT2, NW Team 12 (Harrod). 3 miles SW of Ashland, OR. Start 7/15. Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 170 acres. Timber. Active fire behavior. Threat to residences and private timber. Steep, rugged terrain. Ashland watershed concerns.

Rocky Reach. WA-SES-000322. ICT3. 7 miles N of Wenatchee, WA. Start 7/13. Full Suppression. Cause: Unknown. 3,386 acres. 70% containment. Grass and Brush. Minimal fire activity. Structures threatened.

Rattlesnake. WA-COA-180090. IMT3. 19 miles NW of Davenport, WA. Start 7/12. Full Suppression. Cause: Unknown. 2,773 acres (+173). 100% containment. Grass and Brush. Minimal fire behavior. Steep terrain. Lined. Last report on morning briefing unless significant activity occurs.

Northwest Fire Weather Summary

Onshore flow continues to bring slight cooling to the region for the rest of the work week, along with gusty afternoon and evening winds in mountain gaps and the east side basins. Red Flag Warnings are out for combination of wind and low relative humidity for this afternoon and evening. Check your local NWS for details and timing for your area. A thermal trough will set up each night potentially shifting winds to a northeasterly orientation along the Oregon coast in the early morning hours, with onshore flow resuming during the day. Warm and dry conditions will persist through the work week for most of the region. An upper level low is expected to move down the British Columbia coast and slide across southern BC this weekend, potentially drawing monsoonal moisture from the south for a chance of thunderstorms across southern Oregon. The weather models are not in complete agreement on this system however, so stayed tuned for updates.

Northwest Fire Potential Summary

Gusty winds in the Columbia Gorge and the basins east of the Cascades will boost the behavior of new and existing fires again this afternoon and evening. The marine air mass will slightly moderate any increases to fire danger indices, but they will remain well above average for this time of year, keeping the risk of significant fires at normal to moderately high levels through the forecast period for all but northwestern Oregon and western Washington.

More info, see NW 7-Day Significant Fire Potential Forecast, and National 7-Day Significant Fire Potential Forecast

National Incident Management Situation Report (IMSR): https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf

Other GACC Morning Reports: