Hells Half Update July 14, 2008 8 Am
Incident: Hells Half Complex Wildfire
Released: 7/14/2008
YESTERDAY
Once again dense smoke and poor visibility hampered fire fighting efforts on the Hells Half Fire. Helicopters were unable to fly for the second day in a row. However, dense smoke helped hold fire behavior in check giving fire fighters time to improve and strengthen existing dozer and hand lines and mop up hot spots up to 200 feet from fire lines. Structure protection and assessment continued with separate groups on both the east and west sides of the South Fork Trinity River, including a night shift. Dozer line construction continued east towards the river, through the old Sims fire. On the north end of the fire, crews continued to lay hose line and held and improved dozer line built from the 6 road east towards the River. Mop up along the entire eastern flank of the fire continued in Coon Creek. Dozer line originally constructed two years ago along the perimeter of the Old Panther Fire to the river was reopened, strengthened and improved.
TODAY
Patrolling will continue on the northeast part of the fire, south of Hennessy Peak. Fire fighters will also look for chances to burn out and improve line. Dozer line and hand line will continue to be secured on the eastern flank of the fire near the Shasta-Trinity forest border. Contingency dozer line construction will continue along the perimeter of the old Panther Fire and tie into the South Fork Trinity River. Mop up and line improvement will also continue through the old Sims Fire as well as structure protection and assessment in the Manzanita Ranch area. Mop up will continue along the western flank of the fire in Coon Creek and a dozer line continues to punch north from the 6 Road and then east towards the South Fork Trinity River. Burn out operations to strengthen and improve dozer lines will continue in the north end of the fire, weather permitting. Helicopters will support this action if visibility allows.
There will be a community meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16 at the Hyampon Community Center.
Area or Road Closures
The following area is closed until further notice: Beginning at the intersection of Forest Road No. 5N01 and Forest Route No. 6, then continuing south along Forest Route No. 6 to the Six Rivers National Forest boundary, then continuing northeasterly along the forest boundary to the northwest ¼ of Section 28, Township 5 North, Range 6 East (Humboldt Base and Meridian), and then continuing west to the starting point.
For Hell's Half Fire Complex information email lowertrinityrd@gmail.com,
call 530-629-2184 or log on to the Hell's Half Fire at www.inciweb.org.
