Dillon Interagency Dispatch Center Fire Update – 3 PM
Incident: Bielenburg Fire Wildfire
Released: 7/20/2009
NEWS RELEASE
Dillon Interagency Dispatch Center
Covering the following counties:
Beaverhead
Jefferson (southern part)
Madison
Silver Bow
Powell (southern part)
Deer Lodge
Granite
Cooperating Agencies:
USDI Bureau of Land Management
Montana Dept. of Natural Resources & Conservation
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
National Park Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Beaverhead County, Madison County
USDA Forest Service
For Release Immediately
July 20, 2009
Contact:
Sonja Shadow
Office: (406) 683-3984
Cell Phone: (406) 660-2347
Dillon Interagency Dispatch Center Fire Update - 3 P.M.
Bielenburg and Jobe Fires
DILLON, Mt. - The Dillon Interagency Dispatch Center (DDC) found the smoke that they were looking for last week. The lightning strke remained a 'sleeper' until this afternoon around 2:30 when it awoke and rekindled to burn what is currently estimated to be 300 acres of beetle-killed timber that lies about 10 miles due north of Anaconda and three miles west of Racetrack Campground.
The following personnel and equipment are fighting the blaze that is said to have a potential of an additional 500 acres if it continues down drainage and 20,000 to 30,000 if it moves up drainage:
Three helicopters for bucket work dropping water and shuttling crews
Three fixed wing aircraft - one lead plane for the heavy airtanker dropping retardant and an Air Attack providing "eyes in the sky" to the ground forces
Five 20-person hand crews - three Hotshot Crews from the Lolo, Bitterroot and Lewis & Clark National Forests, one inmate crew out of Deer Lodge and the last hand crew is made up of local firefighters
A Type II Incident Management Team (IMT), comprised of the incident commander and appropriate general and command staff personnel, will be briefed this evening by the local fire officials who have been managing the Bielenburg Fire. The IMT will assume responsibilities for the operations and management this fire tomorrow.
An area closure continues to remain in effect for the Bielenburg Road #5147 and Racetrack Road #169 on the Pintler Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The Racetrack Campground is located on the Racetrack Road as is the Racetrack Rental Cabin. Both drainages are under emergency closures and were evacuated.
The JOBE FIRE, located about three miles south of Sheep Mountain in the Snowcrest Mountains of the Madison Ranger District, burned about 1/10 of an acre after a lightning strike ignited a single tree and smoldered around mainly in the duff layer of the forest floor. Four firefighters successfully contained this fire by 2 p.m. today.
Find updates and other information on the Bielenburg Fire by visiting http://www.inciweb.org/. To report a fire, call 911.
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