Acres: Miriam Fire – 4,228 Clear Fork Fire -51
Percent Containment: 40%
Start Date: 07/30/18
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Washington SE Incident Management Team 1 (Team 1) arrived yesterday to prepare to replace Northwest Incident Management Team 8 (NWIMT8) as managers of the Miriam and Clear Fork Fires. Management will transfer to the Team 1, Lonnie Click incident commander, on Mondayat 6:00 am. This will be the last update from NWIMT8, Doug Johnson incident commander. NWIMT8 would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to the community, cooperators, agency staff, and firefighters for the unwavering support during our management of the Miriam and Clear Fork Fires.
Area Closures are issued and placed for the protection and safety of the public and firefighters. Area Closures have been in place on the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot National Forests for areas, trails, and roads near the Miriam and Clear Fork Fires since August 8 and 15th. An interactive map on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest webpage, allows for determining if your favorite hunting or hiking area is within an Area Closure. See the following website for more information and interactive maphttps://tinyurl.com/yb67jobt Intrusions potentially have the effect of halting all fireline suppression activities. For your safety, please refrain from entering these closures.
Personnel/Resources: 2-Type 2 hand crews, 3-Type 2 IA hand crews, 1-camp crew, 1- heavy lift helicopter, 2-medium lift helicopter, 1-light lift helicopter, 8-engines, 1-dozer, 6-water tenders, for 281 total personnel.
Location: Two miles east of White Pass Ski Area, within the Goat Rocks Wilderness on the Naches Ranger District, 13 miles east of Packwood, WA.
Cause: Lightning
Values at Risk: White Pass area and ski resort; homes and organizational camps at Clear and Rimrock Lakes; Wilderness; late successional reserve; northern spotted owl and other wildlife habitat; bull trout habitat; and state highway 12.
Estimated Incident Containment or completion: 9/30/2018
Current Situation on the Miriam Fire: The Miriam Fire remains a full suppression fire. Cooler, moist weather has moderated fire behavior. The spot fire located on the east side of the Tieton River has a hose lay with sprinklers running around the fire perimeter to keep the spot in check The spot has not grown. In other areas of the fire, intense heat remains but very little fire spread has been observed. All perimeters will be monitored and patrolled. Vegetative debris generated from preparing FR 1204 as contingency lines is on-going. The chipping activity under the powerlines along FR 1200-540 has been completed. Structure protection group continues to monitor the organizational camps. A large contingent of firefighters are prepared to defend the White Ski Pass lodges if the fire reaches the area. Foldable tanks of water and hoses with sprinklers have been laid out and prepared along High Camp Lodge. Fire managers have a high confidence these areas are secure.
Current Situation on the Clear Fork Fire: A low intensity ground fire continues to spread gradually due to the rolling of burning debris. The burning material rolls down, becomes established, and then burns back up the steep slope creating spread. This fire will continue to be monitored closely with aerial resources.
Weather and Fire Behavior: Cooler temperatures, gusty winds, and afternoon showers are forecasted for today. Temperatures are forecasted for 60 degrees with relative humidity of 47%. West/northwest winds of 6-12 mph with gusts to 20 mph are predicted. The gusty winds will test established containment lines. Fire behavior for today is predicted to include creeping and smoldering on the majority of the fire area as well as more active fire behavior when a favorable aspect, exposed to winds, or with large diameter fuels are present.
Evacuations: Evacuation levels remain the same. The need for these levels are evaluated daily. Please see the Yakima
Closures: Area Closures are in effect on the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot National Forests. Find maps and a list of affected sites at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6066/ Fire managers are aware of the upcoming hunting seasons and closures will be assessed frequently. Increased fire restrictions have been implemented on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Please seehttps://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/fire-restrictions for a full description. The Pacific Crest Trail is closed from Elk Pass to White Pass. A detour is available. Please see the Pacific Crest Trail Association website athttps://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/closures/ for current closure maps.
A Temporary Flight Restriction remains in place over the two fire areas as a safety precaution to aerial firefighting resources. Please consult the notice to airmen for specifics.
Please show your support to the community by shopping local.
In the Pacific Northwest alone, nearly 2,000 human caused fires have occurred already this fire season. Please do your part to avoid one fewer wildfire.
For Online Miriam Fire Updates visit:
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