#Carpente1fire Update Monday, July 22, 2013, 9 a.m. Fire Facts – Date Started: July 1, 2013 Location: Spring Mountains National Recreation Area Size: 27,881 acres Percent contained: 95 Cause: Lightning Structures lost: 6 Number of Personnel: 125 Crews: 2 hotshot (Type 1s) Engines: 8 Water Tenders: 2 Helicopters: 3 Cost: $18.8 million njuries to date: 2 Low clouds passed across the Spring Mountains most of the day Sunday, and some fire areas received light drizzle overnight into Monday. Relative humidities never dropped below 25% Sunday, so smokes stayed small. The chance of further Carpenter 1 fire growth has lessened over the weekend as isolated smoking material has begun to go out, said Incident Commander trainee Mark Redfox, Fire Operations Specialist for the Spring Mountains National Recreational Area. Fire danger sits at “Moderate” for the neighborhood. Hotshot crews and a strike team of engines remain near the fire edge, staged days in Kyle Canyon and at Mountain Springs. Weather The National Weather Service predicts a 70% chance of heavy rain Monday into Monday night. Overnight, temperatures should drop to the 40s on the ridgetops of the Mt. Charleston Wilderness, as clouds limit daytime heating. Daytime temperatures may not reach 60 degrees for several days high on the mountainside. Recreation Opportunities, Remaining Closures Much of the Mt. Charleston area, including Lee Canyon and some portions of Kyle Canyon, is open to everyone. Lee Canyon holds many opportunities including Bristlecone and Robber’s Roost trails, and rec sites such as Lee Meadows, Deer Creek, Sawmill, Hilltop campground, and Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort. In Kyle Canyon, Mary Jane Falls, Trail Canyon and Fletcher Canyon trails are open for day use, as are picnic areas at Cathedral Rock and at Fletcher Canyon. Please drive extremely slowly and safely on the narrow two-lane roads, which are full of people returning to enjoy the mountains, as well as fire equipment. Areas near the fire itself are closed for public safety, mostly south of Kyle Canyon Road, such as the North and South Loop, Griffith Peak, Echo, Little Falls, and Lovell Trails. Trailheads are closed at Cathedral Rock and Echo. Dispersed camping is closed in Harris Springs and CC Springs. Some outlying roads such as Harris Springs Rd remain closed. Visitors must stay out of closed areas due to the closure order and for their own safety. Hazards in the closed burned areas include snags (standing dead trees that topple without a breath of wind), widowmakers (branches that crack onto hikers’ heads without warning), stumpholes covered in ash, and the risk of flash flooding. Wilderness develops from wildfire To protect lives and homes, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest worked only to extinguish the Carpenter 1 fire from its first hours. Due to strong firefighting, the effects of the fire are seen mostly in the Mt. Charleston Wilderness of the Forest. In the 1964 Wilderness Act, the U.S. Congress decided the nation deserves spots “untrammeled by the hand of man,” where human influence is not felt. Mike Rowan, Recreation/Wilderness Program Manager for the Forest, said, “Our wilderness is not a place where we do nothing. We try and manage it to preserve its character. Lightning strikes are part of our world’s natural processes.” Some may think that burnt forests don’t look very good, but it’s a matter of perspective, Rowan said. From a wilderness perspective, there’s no difference in value between a burnt and a green tree. A green tree earns more for lumber, but that’s not why we keep wilderness a part of our heritage of America. We value the importance of maintaining places where natural processes rule. “It’s a three dimensional piece of art you can walk through. You can smell it; you can touch it. If we allow ourselves to go in and modify the land, it’s like taking art and messing with it. We destroy it by inflicting our values on something greater than ourselves. It’s presumptuous to think we can improve the woods when they’ve been operating their own way for a long, long time.” Rarely a Forest Supervisor authorizes a special exemption for use of aircraft and chain saws in a Wilderness. The Carpenter fire received this exemption only to protect human safety and property. Bulldozer use, for example, was permitted along Kyle Canyon Road, but not in Wilderness. Hikers should enjoy watching the neighborhood rebound. Sure, the landscapes will hold hazards such as snags, widowmakers (trees that fall silently), and ash pits. Yet the fire offers an opportunity to watch the landscape evolve. Some areas “go from being totally nuked to turning lush, and it doesn’t take that long,” said Rowan. Raptors follow predators -- that follow birds -- that follow insects -- into a new burn. It doesn’t take that long. We can see new connections among species and the landscape in our lifetime or, in lightly burned areas, even in a few months. Phone: (702) 799-4610 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., then messages) public information: inciweb.nwcg.gov or gomtcharleston facebook and twitter: GoMtCharleston email: carpenter1fire@gmail
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 16:17:51 +0000
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