Fire Update: August 22, 2018
Goldstone and Beaver Creek Fires public meeting tonight in Salmon
August 22, 2018 Daily Update
General Information: The Incident Management Team will host a community meeting for the Goldstone and Beaver Creek Fires today at 6:00 P.M. at the 17 Mile Fire Station located south of the QB Corporation Plant (1420 HWY 28) 16 miles south of Salmon, Idaho. The meeting will be recorded and posted on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Salmon-Challis National Forests’ Facebook pages (see links below) for those unable to attend in-person.
Goldstone Fire Operations: The Goldstone Fire has burned 1,463 acres on the Salmon-Challis National Forest and 7,801 acres on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The strategy for both the Goldstone and Beaver Creek Fires remains 100% suppression. There are approximately 400 dead standing lodgepole pine trees per acre throughout the fire area. When fire passes through the forest, the shallow root structure of lodgepole pine loses grip on the soil; the slightest wind may cause the trees to fall. These conditions create a dangerous environment for firefighters to work directly on the fire’s edge, therefore fire managers are implementing an indirect attack on the fire. On the east side, the Bloody Dick Road is providing a safe location for a hotshot crew to drop snags along the road’s edge to reinforce firelines. Heavy equipment taskforces continue to build fireline to the south and north. Primary control lines have been identified on the Salmon-Challis National Forest and will be implemented based on fire progression.
Beaver Creek Fire Operations: The recording of last night’s community meeting in Wisdom may be viewed on both National Forest Facebook pages. Recent rainfall has dramatically reduced fire behavior on the Beaver Creek Fire. One crew and ten local firefighters will remain on the fire today and continue to improve the Howell Creek Road as a contingency plan to stop the fire’s spread toward private lands. With most of the resources redirected to the Goldstone Fire, the spike camp in Fish Trap will be dismantled.
Evacuations: There are currently no evacuation orders in effect for the Goldstone and Beaver Creek Fires. Residents should be aware of the dangers that may exist in their area, and monitor emergency services websites and local media outlets for information. For more information regarding evacuation preparedness, check with your local County Sheriff’s offices: http://beaverheadcounty.org/departments/sheriff/and http://lemhicountyidaho.org/Sheriffs%20Office.htm.
Fire Weather: After a few days of wet and cooler conditions, Wednesday will represent the start of a developing warmer and drier pattern. Abundant morning sunshine will lead to warming temperatures and allow for a chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Winds will increase out of the southwest in the afternoon, with gusts to 20 MPH over the ridgetops. Winds and possible showers and thunderstorms will taper off through the evening, with slightly warmer temperatures compared to Tuesday night. On Thursday, no precipitation is expected and temperatures should climb into the low to mid 70s. Southwest to west winds will continue to increase to 10-20 MPH, especially over higher terrain.
Closures: The area around both fires remains closed for public safety. Roadblocks have been set up on forest roads accessing the two fire areas. In support of these closures, the Continental Divide Trail has been rerouted around the fires. The trail reroute maps and closure orders for both forests can be found on the InciWeb pages shown below.
Restrictions: Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are currently in effect. For information, please visit the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/bdnfand Salmon-Challis National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/scnf.
