Fontenelle Fact Sheet, Thursday, July 12, at 9:00 Am
Incident: Fontenelle Fire Wildfire
Released: 7/12/2012
Fontenelle Fact Sheet for Thursday, July 12, 2012, at 9:00 a.m.
Status: The Fontenelle Fire began on June 24, 2012 and is burning on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, BLM High Desert District, and state and private lands approximately 18 miles west of Big Piney, Wyoming. The fire is burning in heavy, dead timber with occasional areas of grass and sage in the lower elevations. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Fire Statistics: 64,083 acres burned or 100 square miles | 80% contained | 574 personnel on scene
Recent Events: Because of the decreased complexity of the Fontenelle Fire, the National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) has transitioned control of the fire over to Chris Ourada's Type 2 Great Basin Incident Management Team. A plan is still in place to transition down to a Type 3 organization by the weekend.
A Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) Team has arrived and is assessing the necessary work to limit damage by erosion and to mitigate negative impacts to waterways on US Forest Service lands.
Operations have resumed at the helium plant and also at some of the gas and oil sites. Grazing permittees have been allowed to move cattle back into summer pastures within and around the fire perimeter.
Strong winds over the fire area caused some torching to occur, and a smoke column was visible from Big Piney during the afternoon. However, the active fire behavior occurred on the interior of the fire. The fire's total acreage remains unchanged since Monday morning, July 9th. Resources from the fire did assist with local initial attack fires yesterday afternoon.
Today's Strategy: Today, fireline resources will patrol and mop-up existing portions of fireline as well as continuing to secure the western edge of the perimeter. Rehabilitation efforts are nearly complete on several areas of the fire which were successfully contained.
Forecast: Isolated showers and thunderstorms are possible once again this afternoon. The warm airmass is expected to last into the weekend, when monsoonal moistures will bring cooler temperatures back to the region.
Closures: Road closures extend south from Bare Pass, west to N. Piney Meadows and Tri Basin Divide, south to Cheese Pass, Mount Isabel, and Red Park, east to the junction of LaBarge Creek Road, and north to Bare Pass along the forest boundary. Further closures may be needed to ensure firefighter and public safety. The public is asked to be cautious when driving on the Middle Piney and LaBarge roads between Highway 189 to the closure at the Forest boundary as there may be fire traffic and limited vision due to smoke.
More Information: Please visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/btnf, http://www.inciweb.org, www.tetonfires.com, or www.wildlandfires.info.
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