Siskiyou/blue2 Complex Update 8/26/08
Incident: Siskiyou/ Blue 2 Complex-klamath Theater Wildland Fire
Released: 8/26/2008
The Siskiyou/Blue 2 Complex is expecting warmer temperatures, lower relative humidity and the potential of N to NE winds on the ridges over the next several days. The trend means an increase in the potential, for surface fires to occur and spread. The expected winds will test the suppression and mop-up efforts. Fire managers and personnel have used the cooler weather during the last several days to work on mopping-up and securing areas of concern prior to this weather event.
The east side of the complex had no active fire reported yesterday. Crews are completing their repair and rehabilitation work. Personnel and equipment will be shifted to other portions of the line to continue these efforts.
Crews are carefully inspecting, monitoring and mopping-up hot spots (where appropriate), in the headwaters of Dillon Creek. These efforts are being assisted by helicopters dropping water when requested. Personnel have been given the ground coordinates for these heat sources as provided by the radiometric imaging completed yesterday. Ninety percent of the heat sources have been located and extinguished. The remaining undiscovered hot spots will be monitored and extinguished, if discovered, during the next few days.
"Using the radiometric imaging has been extremely beneficial to our efforts," stated Brett Fillis, Operations Section Chief with the ORCA Incident Management Team. "It has shown us where to better place our resources." The technology uses an infra-red camera to detect different intensities of heat and allows for a very accurate mapping of those sources.
Along the western side of the Blue 2 Fire, 48,000 feet of hose was pulled from the contingency line and brought back into camp for cleaning and to resupply the fire cache for future suppression work. Personnel also continued to monitor the fire along Crescent City Fork and to work on repair and rehabilitation efforts.
Closures: To protect public safety and facilitate fire suppression efforts, closures of trails and roads are in effect for the Klamath and Six Rivers National Forests. The Salmon River Road from Somes Bar eastward is open to the public. For information on the closures, refer to these websites at: www.fs.fed.us/r5/klamath/conditions/ or www.fs.fed.us/r5/sixrivers/conditions/.
