Fire Update: August 16, 2018
Beaver Creek Fire Update
...A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM MDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MIDNIGHT THURSDAY … ...A FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING...
The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest is at VERY HIGH Fire Danger.
Started: August 11, 2018 Acres: 1,996 0% Contained Cause: Lightning 2 Hand Crews 1 Helicopter 2 Dozers 4 Engines 60 Total Personnel
Location: approximately 18 miles NE of Wisdom in the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness.
Summary: The Beaver Creek and Elk fires have burned together, Fire managers have been assessing the fire to develop a suppression strategy. Currently the fire is moving towards the southeast and firefighters along with two dozers are working to establish a defensible fireline along an old road system that will keep the fire from advancing from the National Forest onto private land.
Fire officials are also coordinating with Beaverhead and Deer Lodge County Sherriff Offices to make contact with property owners and visitors in the area.
All visitor facilities, services, and businesses in surrounding communities are not impacted by the fire and remain open.
Closures: an area closure is in effect. For detailed information go online to https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bdnf/alerts-notices.
Cooperators: Beaverhead County, Deer Lodge County, MT DNRC
Fire Restrictions: Stage 1 fire restrictions are in effect on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and apply to campfires and smoking. See full restrictions at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bdnf/alerts-notices/…. Additional information about fire restrictions can be found online at: https://firerestrictions.us.
Fire Weather: The ridge will be dominant for one more day, but a plume of monsoonal moisture will move over the region later today. Convection is anticipated to be fairly limited, but any storms that develop will be capable of lightning and gusty winds. Southwest Montana has the best chance of convection today, so a fire weather watch continues. A decent disturbance passes through the region Friday into Saturday. This feature will increase the coverage of storms by Friday afternoon and these storms appear to be capable of moderate to heavy rain. The Northern Rockies appear to be transitioning to an active weather pattern. View Fire Weather Briefing videos on the National Weather Service YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/NWSMissoula.
Prevention: During this time of high fire danger, people are reminded to be careful with all fires; be sure to extinguish campfires completely and to keep motorized vehicles on roads and trails.
Fire Activity and Smoke: Currently, there are 57 uncontained large fires in the nation, which are filtering smoke into the valleys of Montana.
Goldstone Fire Update
Acres: 7,060
Start Date: August 2, 2018
Cause: Lightning
Containment: 0%
Total personnel: 75
Location: 18 miles south of Jackson, Montana
Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Salmon Challis National Forests
Fuels: Timber (litter, grass, and understory)
General Information: Recent severe fire behavior caused the Goldstone Fire to grow in size and complexity. Those increases required the ordering of additional resources and a Type 2 incident management team to safely support and direct fire operations.
The Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4, led by Deputy Incident Commander Carl Schwope, took command of the fire at 8 p.m. last night, August 15th. SWAIMT4 will continue to pursue the objectives set forth by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Salmon-Challis National Forests, and the Type 3 fire organization, the first of which is firefighter and public safety.
Fire Operations: The Goldstone Fire is under a 100% suppression strategy. With limited resources available due to the high number of wildfires across the western U.S. firefighters must prioritize actions where they can be the most effective. During periods of high wildfire activity, it is not uncommon for wildfire suppression resource requests to exceed supply. During these periods, managers work together to prioritize incidents. Wildfires that threaten lives, property, community infrastructure and valuable natural and cultural resources receive assets first. All other incidents receive suppression assets as quickly as possible.
The most imminent priorities are to keep fire west of the Bloody Dick Road 181, south of the Goldstone Mine Road 7327, north of private property inholdings to the south, and east of communities in Lemhi County, Idaho. Yesterday, the one Hotshot crew assigned to this fire prepared FS 181 to conduct firing operations and utilize it as a fire containment line. Tuesday, the crew burned out around the Bloody Dick cabin to remove flammable materials and set up a sprinkler system to protect the structure. One heavy equipment task force is improving FS 7327 to the north of the fire, while another is building fireline to the south. The fire has crossed the Continental Divide onto the Salmon-Challis National Forest. A four person heli-repellng crew worked diligently attempting to hold the fire from spreading to the west. Aircraft supported the operations by applying fire retardant. However, the fire is now established in the Kenney Creek and Sandy Creek drainages. No evacuations are ordered at this time.
Fire Weather: A Fire Weather Watch has been announced for Thursday and Friday with a chance of dry thunderstorms that may create outflow winds in excess of 40 m.p.h. Some increasing mid-level moisture and instability may trigger isolated thunderstorms, with little rainfall, across the Goldstone Fire area. A better chance of showers and thunderstorms in the area is expected Friday.
Closures: The area around the fire remains closed for public safety. Roadblocks have been set up on forest roads accessing the fire area. In support of this closure, the Continental Divide Trail has been rerouted around the fire closures. The trail reroute map and a copy of the closure orders for both forests can be found on our Inciweb page at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/maps/6091/.
Restrictions: STAGE 1 FIRE RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT AS OF AUGUST 15,2018. For information on current fire restrictions, please visit the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/bdnf and Salmon-Challis National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/scnf.
Smoke Situation: Currently, there are 47 uncontained large fires in the nation, which are filtering smoke into the valleys of Montana. Further information on smoke can be found from the MT Department of Environmental Quality’s web page at http://bit.ly/wildfiresmokereport.
