Thursday, July 17 Daily Fire Update
Incident: Abraham Canyon Wildland Fire
Released: 7/17/2008
Both the Abraham Canyon Fire and the Wilmont Fire were declared 100% contained Tuesday evening.
YESTERDAY'S FIRE ACTIVITY: Fire activity was very quiet, stump holes and concentrations of dead and down material in the interior of the fires remain smoking. Personnel continued with mopping up hot spots throughout the fires. Hand held infrared scanners (Palm IR's) were used today to help locate hot spots along the fire lines.
Abraham Canyon: Three crews and seven engines worked to mop up 200 feet inside the fire perimeter. As that was completed, they worked farther interior to locate and extinguish all significant hot spots. The Tribal Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation Team (BAER team) began rehabilitation work on the access roads, removing the berms and installing water bars. Power was restored to the last home on Elbow Lake Road.
Wilmont: Three crews and seven engines worked to secure the fire lines and mop up along the perimeter. The Tribal BAER team completed assessments of the fire area on Tribal lands, and equipment will start road rehabilitation efforts on Friday.
TODAY'S PLANNED ACTIONS:
Abraham Canyon: Mop up will continue today with the same resources as Wednesday. The objective is to extinguish all fire within 200 feet of the perimeter and extinguish all significant hot spots interior to that perimeter, prior to returning the fire to the local agencies. They will again utilize Palm IR instruments to locate hot spots. The Tribal BAER team will continue their efforts of rehabilitation of access roads on their lands by installing water bars and leveling the berms. Wilmont Fire: Palm IR instruments will also be used on this fire to locate hot spots along the perimeter. Three crews and seven engines will work extinguishing hot spots. The mop up objective for Wilmont is the same as for the Abraham Canyon fire.WEATHER: Winds will continue to be light from the south to southwest in the morning 2 to 5 mph, and increasing 5 to 11mph over the ridges in the afternoon. The high temperature will be 85 to 90 degrees, with minimum relative humidity 15% to 18%. Friday could bring some gusty north winds to both fires.
SAFETY ALERT: Safety of the firefighters and the public is our top priority, and vehicle accidents are the number one cause of injuries on fires. We would like to remind drivers along the Hall Creek, Elbow Lake, Silver Lake and Wilmont Road systems that there are still fire crews and equipment working off these roads. PLEASE slow down in the area, and yield the right of way to fire suppression activities. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Quick Facts:
Location:
6 miles NW and 15 miles SW of Inchelium, WA, on the east side of the Colville Reservation
Start Dates:
Abraham Canyon
Wilmont
July 10, 2008
July 13, 2008
Cause:
Abraham Canyon
Wilmont
Down Power Line
Under Investigation
Containment:
Abraham Canyon
Wilmont
100%
100%
Acres:
Abraham Canyon
Wilmont
372
154
Total Personnel:
Crews:
Engines:
Dozers:
241
6
14
2
Injuries:
None
Threatened Structures:
None directly threatened
Landowner:
Tribal and Private
