Incident Publication

Current Situation:  The Tiger Creek fire remains at 534 acres, containment has increased to 83%, and personnel assigned to the fire now stands at 270. Yesterday, spot fires were located to the southwest of Low Ridge. Firefighters assisted by air resources quickly mitigated all areas of concern. Firefighters remain vigilant in patrolling the fire line to ensure the fire is secure. While the fire remains in its current footprint, most of the work is now on mop up and backhaul of equipment. Water bars have been installed on the handline and hazardous trees removed on much of Forest Service Road 65 within the burned area. 

A total of 15 miles of fire hose was utilized on the Tiger Creek Fire. This is the equivalent of the driving distance between Walla Walla and Kooskooskie, or 265 football fields! All that hose is now being backhauled from the fireline. Once backhauled, each hose will be sent to the La Grande fire cache, where it will undergo thorough cleaning, testing, and inspection. After this process, the hoses will be prepared and ready for redeployment to assist with the next incident, wherever that may be. This backhaul effort is a critical step in ensuring equipment is ready for the next wildfire response, and it’s a testament to the dedication and hard work of the fire crews in maintaining the tools needed for future firefighting efforts. 

Closures and Restrictions: Access through Forest Service Road (FSR) 65 up through FSR 64 to the junction with Indian Camp is closed. Government Mountain Road/FSR 6511 is closed from North Fork Walla Walla trailhead to the junction with FSR 65 at Tiger Saddle. Government Mountain Rd/FSR 6511 is open from the west to North Fork Walla Walla trailhead. The current fire danger rating is MODERATE and public use restrictions phase A for Umatilla National Forest are in effect. For more information regarding restrictions, please contact Umatilla National Forest Toll-free Information Hotline: 1.877.958.9663.  

Weather: It will remain sunny with temperatures in the 60s and 70s during the day, with winds about 9 miles per hour, but a cold front will arrive on Tuesday night and bring with it some precipitation, starting out as a light rain, with snow showers later at higher elevations. Wednesday has a 100% chance of precipitation and temperatures in the 50s. 

Smoke: Walla Walla’s air quality for today is good, some residents along Mill Creek may experience smoke as the fire continues to burn. Check out https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/?m=1 for more information.   

Type 3 Incident Command Team, Incident Commander Matt Young   

Location: Bitterroot NF: Railroad Creek/ Skalkaho Creek confluence, 26 miles southeast of Hamilton

               Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF: 20 Miles northwest of Georgetown Lake Dam off  Skalkaho Hwy 38 

Start Date: 7/25/2024  

Cause: Undetermined     

Daly Fire Acres: 10,837  Railroad Fire Acres: 1,546 Completion: 56% 

Total Personnel: 265 

NOTE: Official Transfer of Command will take place on Wednesday 10/16/24 to Justin Abbey, Type 3 IC 

Current Status :Today dozer line was completed from upper Buckhorn Saddle to Gird Cr. Road FS #714. An Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) was utilized in firing operations to remove pockets of fuel between the blackline and the fires edge. Multiple helicopters aided firefighters with buckets of water to suppress areas of heat along fire perimeter. 

 In efforts to prevent hazard trees from falling across Skalkaho Hwy 38, sawyers continued cutting standing dead trees and used a woodchipper to shred limbs into smaller wood chips. 

Today, crews will hold and monitor previous firing operations. After assessment of the fire, firefighters will analyze the need for more UAS firing of unburned fuels between blackline and fires edge. Sawers will continue clean up above Skalkaho Hwy 38 removing the amount standing dead snags and will continue chipping ground fuels. 

Weather and Fire Behavior : Warm and dry conditions are forecast again today. Southwest wind gusts of 10-15 mph are predicted across mid slopes and ridge tops. These conditions will likely bring elevated fire weather conditions and may bring smoke into the Bitterroot Valley today. A cold front is expected to arrive Wednesday evening and may bring gusty winds up to 25mph. This front will bring cooler temperatures and periods of precipitation through the end of the week. Thursday snow is forecast to fall at 4,000 feet in elevation. 

There is a 50% probability for at least 2” of snow over mountain passes by Friday morning. 

EVACUATIONS: On October 9, 2024 the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office issued an Evacuation Warning for residents off of Skalkaho Highway (1700-2500 block) due to the Railroad-Daly Fire. For more information on evacuations visit the Ravalli County Sheriff Facebook page.  

To register your phone number for emergency notifications in Ravalli County visit, http://hyper-reach.com/mtravallisignup.html. 

CLOSURES  : The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest has issued an Area/Road/Trail Closure effective October 4, 2024.  

The Bitterroot National Forest has also issued a road closure effective October 10, 2024. 

These orders are for public and firefighter safety during fire suppression efforts on the Fire.  

Closure information and maps are posted on the Bitterroot and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests’ website www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bdnf/alerts-notices and www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bitterroot/alerts-notices. 

October 14:  The inversion began to lift around 1:00 pm and by 3:00 pm there was clear air on the entire fire area.  With the clear air, fire behavior increased with weather in the 80s and relative humidity dropping as low as 13%.  The perimeter of the fire remains active.  In the Middle fork of Indian Creek, fire activity was observed in the higher elevations of the drainage, in the drainage bottom was fire activity was limited to isolated smokes and some creeping into Indian Creek. In the East Fork on Indian Creek, conditions were similar with fire activity in the higher elevations but in the drainage bottom, the fire was backing and creeping towards Indian Creek. Fire in Mowitch Creek backed down into Indian Creek, there was active fire on the southern side of the drainage where fire made a small run up the timbered south slopes. Fire has not crossed over Indian Creek.  The fire is smoldering and creeping in the creek bottoms. Areas of increased fire activity was also observed on the ridge line between East Fork of an Indian Creek and Pungo Creek.

REMINDER to join members of the Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team and Payette National Forest agency officials for an informational meeting. The meeting is being held TODAY at 12:00 P.M. at the Corner Pub in Yellow Pine, ID. Teams members and agency personnel will be available to answer questions and share updates.

Logan Fire Statistics:

Size: 15,131 acres

Completion: 10%

Total Personnel: 276

Weather: Today the temperatures will be in the mid-60’s and dropping to the low 50’s by tomorrow. Winds will be around 5-8mph with gusts up to 15 mph. There will be cloud cover through most of the day and relative humidity will be around 17%. 

Current Situation:  Yesterday, there was some heat on Hogback ridge in the late afternoon with some isolated torching. Two type 1 helicopters were launched, and they dropped buckets of water to cool the hot spots so firefighters could maintain the holding line. Crews also continued prepping the Big Creek Road down to Jacob’s Ladder Flats. Today, the firefighters are reinforcing the Back Road so it can be used as a contingency line.  A contingency fireline is used to back up primary lines to increase probability of fire containment, decrease fire losses, and improve firefighter safety. Firefighters are also backhauling sprinklers and pumps and leaving the correct amount of plumbing in place to protect the structures. The crews are still working in the Smith’s Creek area around the bridges and making sure they are protected from fire and wrapping them with protective heat shield material. The crews are also removing the fire protective wrap from the Rabbit Lookout in the wilderness area and bringing those supplies back to camp.

Evacuations: Logan Fire Edwardsburg Area - The Valley County Sheriff’s Office has placed a "GO" evacuation notice for the Edwardsburg area due to the movement of the Logan Fire. Evacuation orders will be sent out via, CodeRED. Please download the mobile app and sign up. Information is available via the Valley County Idaho website at https://www.co.valley.id.us/WildfireEvacuation  or the Valley County Sheriff’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064415776390 

Closures:  The Logan Fire has a closure around the fire on the Krassel Ranger District and the map and description are located at  https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/payette/alerts-notices  The Sheriff has closed the Warren-Profile Gap Road between Elk Summit and Profile Creek intersection just north of Yellow Pine (this is a County Road). The Big Creek Airstrip is closed.

Crews prepare for cold front moving in

Red Rock Fire 

Operations: Yesterday crews focused on searching for remaining heat to extinguish south of the cobalt mine. Crews also completed handline on the off Blackbird Road (FR 115) around the mine. More cutting of vegetation further east on Blackbird Road continued, but there are no immediate plans to conduct ignitions off that road unless necessary. Crews and unmanned aircraft used ignitions along the Ridge Road (FR 020) to Williams Creek Summit to remove fuel ahead of the southwest wind shift. Dozer line construction continued off Moyer Peak and engines patrolled and mopped up around structures in Forney, Cobalt and Moyer.

Today firefighters are preparing for forecast change in weather later this week, making sure pumps and equipment won’t freeze. With the incoming cold front, crews are focused on the northeast corner of the fire near Williams Creek Summit where winds could test the control lines.

On the spot fire near Napias Creek, crews built additional line closer to the fire’s edge and mopped up hot spots. Today they will continue mopping up any remaining heat.

Garden Fire

Operations:  No significant fire growth was observed yesterday. Aerial reconnaissance showed many unburned areas within the perimeter. Crews will remain vigilant in their patrol and mop up.

Additional Information

Weather: Little to no change in the temperatures, humidity and winds are forecast for Tuesday. A low-level inversion in the morning will lift in the afternoon giving way to temperatures in the 60s, relative humidities around 15-25%, and southwest winds around 5 mph gusting to 16 mph. A strong cold front is forecast to travel across the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday. There is a chance of light rain in the morning with snow down to 9500 feet by the afternoon. Cool and moist air behind the front will lower snow levels Wednesday night and Thursday with rain and snow likely. Snow levels on Thursday could be as low as 5000 feet down to near 4000 feet Thursday night.

Smoke: Information about how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke is available. A smoke outlook is also available. 

Closures: Salmon‐Challis National Forest has implemented a reduced Red Rock and Garden Fires Closure, Order Number: 04‐13‐24‐026. 

Safety: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the Red Rock and Garden fire areas, which includes uncrewed aircraft systems or drones. Reminder that if you fly we can’t, unauthorized drone flights pose serious risks to firefighter and public safety and the effectiveness of wildfire suppression operations.

Please stay out of the fire area. There is still active fire behavior in the fire area, including group torching and crown runs. There are multiple roads and bridges that have been destroyed or are impassable. Entry into evacuation zones that are in “Go” status is prohibited. The updated forest closure notice that encompasses both the Red Rock Fire and Garden Fire areas includes multiple road and area closures. Barricade closures will be posted at road intersections and forest boundaries.

Evacuations: Evacuation information in Lemhi County regarding both the Red Rock and Garden fires is available. please go to: 

Sheridan County Press Release: Updated to list of area road closures due to the Elk Fire

See the updated list of changes to road closures due to the Elk Fire. See information regarding recent road openings as well as the current closures. 

Roads are closed to allow fire personnel to travel the roads safely, ranchers in those areas to move cattle safely, and the residents who live in those areas to travel safely as well. This list is updated when changes occur.

This is the most current information:

These Roads will reopen today 10-14:

• Columbus Creek Road
• All of Soldier Creek Road
• Beckton Road is open from Dayton to the Soldier Creek Road intersection

These Roads Are Closed to the Public Except for Fire Crew and Local Residents Only:

• All of Pass Creek Road to the Wyoming/Montana State Line 
• Slack Road at the Wyoming/Montana State Line
• Little Horn Canyon Road
• Twin Creek Road at the Parkman Access
• Smith Creek Road
• Tongue Canyon Road
• Beckton Road from the intersection of Big Goose Road to the intersection of Soldier Creek Road
• Big Goose Road from the Intersection of Big Goose Road and Beckton Road
• Rapid Creek Road
• Beckton Hall Road
• Big Horn Road
• Little Goose Canyon Road

Hard Closures for Sheridan County Roads (No One Allowed except for Fire Personnel Only) 

• All of Red Grade Road
• West of Highway 335 at the intersection of Highway 335 and Brinton Road. Local traffic and fire and law enforcement only. 

These are hard closures. There will be a heavy law enforcement presence in these areas.

Conditions are changing rapidly. We encourage everyone to monitor the Sheridan County Facebook page and the Sheridan County website for the most up-to-date information.

Thank you for your cooperation as we work to ensure the safety of all residents.

Sheridan County Emergency Management
Phone: 307-752-2174, 307-675-2569, scema@sheridancountywy.gov 

Sheridan County Web Site: www.sheridancountywy.gov
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SheridanCountyGovernment for live updates.

The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office and Incident Command are working closely together to reevaluate the evacuation status levels for the areas in proximity to the Elk Fire.  Here is today’s update.

The following area is now being downgraded to a “Set” status: 

Residences West on Tongue Canyon Road at the intersection of Tongue Canyon Road and Amsden Road to milepost 3.25. 

All residences in the Horseshoe Subdivision

IXL and Horseshoe Ranches

The area West of Beckton Road from Eaton’s Ranch Road to PK Lane. This includes that area West of Beckton Road to the black fire containment line. (The main Eaton’s Ranch Headquarters remains in a “Go” status.

There are no other changes to this afternoon’s evacuation map.

Officials will continue to monitor fire behavior and assess the need to change any evacuation levels. 

We encourage everyone to monitor the Sheridan County Facebook page and the Sheridan County website for the most up-to-date information.

Thank you for your cooperation as we work to ensure the safety of all residents.

Sheridan County Emergency Management
Phone: 307-752-2174, 307-675-2569, scema@sheridancountywy.gov 

The Elk Fire hotline number is: 307-303-7642

Sheridan County Web Site: www.sheridancountywy.gov
Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SheridanCountyGovernment for live updates.

WYDOT opens portions of US 14 and US 14A previously closed due to Elk Fire

Sheridan, Wyo – The Wyoming Department of Transportation has opened US 14 from Greybull to Burgess Junction and US 14A from Burgess Junction to Lovell.

US 14 Burgess Junction east to Dayton remains closed. 

Due to the heavy fire-fighting traffic of crews working the Elk Fire north and east of these routes, motorists are asked to watch for their presence and yield to them when necessary.

The Bighorn National Forest Service has closed access to the following forest service roads. These roads are within the fire boundary and are not accessible to motorists. These roads include Forest Service Road 26 /Dead Swede to Red Grade on US 14 and Forest Service Roads 14,15, and 178 on US 14A. 

The Wyoming Highway Patrol will be monitoring the closure gates at Dayton and Burgess Junction.

Middle Fork Complex (Nellie-Bulldog-Flat Fires) 

Post-Fire BAER Soil Burn Severity Map Released

October 14, 2024

USDA Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and analysis for the Middle Fork Complex wildfire burned areas to produce a post-fire Soil Burn Severity (SBS) map. 

The BAER assessment team used initial remote sensing imagery with their field-validated soils data, to develop and produce a map showing soil burn severity levels for the burned area. The SBS is broken into four different classes: unburned/very low (green), low (blue), moderate (yellow), and high (red). For more information on these different SBS classifications, see the BAER Information Brief at: Idbof Boise Nf Postfire Baer 2024 - | InciWeb (wildfire.gov).

The BAER SBS map and data display categories of unburned/very low, low, moderate, and high soil burn severity in different colors for the different categories along with a table displaying these GIS data totals:

• For the Nellie Fire, approximately 66% of the 50,158 acres analyzed by the BAER team are either unburned/very low or low soil burn severity, while 30% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and about 4% were identified as having high soil burn severity.
• For the Bulldog Fire, approximately 74% of the 11,420 acres analyzed by the BAER team are either unburned/very low or low soil burn severity, while 25% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and about 1% were identified as having high soil burn severity.
• For the Flat Fire, approximately 67% of the 3,762 acres analyzed by the BAER team are either unburned/very low or low soil burn severity, while 22% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and about 11% were identified as having high soil burn severity.

There are several types of fire severity and intensity maps that you may see. Although the maps look different for the same fire, they are accurate. This is because fire severity or intensity are different metrics of the fire effects on a specific resource such as soils, tree canopies, vegetation or wildlife habitat. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) maps are primarily measures of fire effects on soils. See also Fire Intensity vs. Soil Severity Effects BAER Information Brief at: Idbof Boise Nf Postfire Baer 2024 - | InciWeb (wildfire.gov).

The BAER team relies on their final soil burn severity map to produce data, which they are using in their subsequent modeling and determination of post-fire runoff, erosion, and sedimentation. The BAER team, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) utilize the soil burn severity map as an analysis tool to estimate post-fire watershed response to precipitation events. In specific areas that experienced moderate to high burn severity, there could be increased runoff from steep hillslopes which could result in increases of post-fire soil erosion, sedimentation, and potential debris flows.

The Middle Fork Complex (Nellie-Bulldog-Flat) SBS map can be downloaded at the Boise NF Post-Fire BAER 2024 InciWeb site: Idbof Boise Nf Postfire Baer 2024 Information | InciWeb (wildfire.gov) under the “Maps” tab.

BAER SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains and increased water runoff. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events--be prepared to act. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/boi/.

###

Fire Information: 530-338-0317

Media Line: 909-855-4233

Hours: 08:00am to 7:00pm

Location: Shasta County, CA                                          

Start Date:  Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 6:57 p.m.       

Cause: Human caused, still under investigation             

Size: 3,231 acres                                                         

Percent Contained:  7%                                                   

Vegetation: Timber, Chapparal

Number of Personnel Assigned: 485

Last night, during the evening shift on October 13, activity continues to increase in the Beartrap area.

Additional resources have arrived and been put into place to bolster existing equipment and personnel. Fire fighters have reported successful firing operations along with the utilization of dozer lines in the north and west sides of the fire to create containment lines. The south and east sides of the fire, primarily in the Beartrap creek continue to have an increase in fire behavior. Dozers have had some limited capabilities due to road access. Aircraft and dozer operations will remain a key priority to create access to the south and east sides of the fire. Dozers continue to work to gain better access for direct fire line attack. The safety of our firefighters is priority and they will continue to make progress in a safe manner.

Fire is progressing northward fueled by down slope and down valley winds. Constant changes in wind direction will be observed today along with wind gusts, gusting between 10 to 15 miles per hour.

Mandatory evacuations remain in place for zone LKH-1448-B. Residents who have not evacuated are encouraged to do so. Evacuation information and alerts can be found by visiting protect.genasys.com

Information staff for the Shoe Fire are working diligently to provide timely and accurate information to the public. Fire updates can be found on the Shoe Fire 2024 Facebook page: www.facebook.com/2024ShoeFire/

Additionally, the Shoe fire was named after Shoeinhorse Mountain which is in close proximity to this incident.

WEATHER: The forecast for the area indicates a warming trend over the next few days with increased winds.

EVACUATIONS:  Zone LKH-1448-B 

ROAD CLOSURES:

• Fenders Ferry Road at Pit River 7 Bridge: West-Bound Fenders Ferry Road (Also known as 34N17 - Forest Service Road 27) at the Pit River Bridge/Pit 7
• Ferry Road is closed at McCloud Bridge: East-Bound Fenders Ferry Road at the McCloud River Bridge