Forest Fire Danger Increased To High ravallirepublic/news/local/article_3e0e8962-0c8f-11e4-96a2-001a4bcf887a.html Facing conditions that are deceptively dry, Bitterroot National Forest officials raised the fire danger up a notch from moderate to high Monday. High fire danger means that all fine dead fuels ignite readily and wildfires start easily. Bitterroot Forest fire management officer Mark Wilson said firefighters saw that occur on the lightning-caused Wapiti fire discovered Friday four miles northeast of Paradise Campground. The initial report said the fire was burning through timber and brush over an acre or two. By the following morning it had grown to 21 acres. Ground-based firefighters – with help from helicopters dropping water – were able to keep the fire from spreading beyond that point, Wilson said. The wilderness fire is currently staffed with 20 wildland firefighters and one type 2 helicopter. It was considered 50 percent contained Monday morning. One firefighter was transported to the hospital Sunday, where he was treated for dehydration after temperatures along the fire line neared 100 degrees. Even with all that heat, there was still snow on the high peaks and relatively green vegetation on the forest floor. Wilson said initial attack crews remarked at how green the forest appeared as they arrived on the scene. “We are kind of in that phase where everything still looks somewhat green as it’s transitioning to dry,” Wilson said. “It’s a little deceptive.” It can also be dangerous for those not paying attention to the dry conditions. Last Thursday, firefighters responded to three wildfires within an hour, Wilson said. “All of them were human starts,” he said. “It just says that things are getting a little drier than what folks are expecting and they are getting caught.” So far this summer, Bitterroot National Forest fire crews have extinguished 10 wildfires. Due to the quick response of the crews, most of the fires were kept under half an acre in size. Hamilton Fire Chief Brad Mohn said volunteer crews responded last week to a fire that burned nearly an acre after someone walked away from a campfire. “Everything is drying out fast in these very hot conditions,” Mohn said. County fire officials met Monday to discuss the growing fire danger. They opted to leave burning in the county open for the time being. If people must burn at this time of year, Mohn said, they need to be extremely careful. “If they have to burn this time of year, they should burn in the morning and not in the late afternoon when temperatures are high and the winds pick up,” he said. “Sometimes, people just decide to burn because they can. It would be better if they could wait until September and October when the rains return.”
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:21:52 +0000
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