Rattle Fire Update, September 1, 2008
Incident: Rattle Wildland Fire
Released: 9/1/2008
Northwest Oregon Interagency Incident Management Team
Carl West, Incident Commander
Monday September 1, 2008
Today fire crews will continue work on contingency lines within the wilderness area, focusing on brushing out the 3810 road to serve as a fire line. Felling crews will continue removing snags to provide for greater safety as vehicles travel the road. Crews will also have a second and final day of work removing brush on the Pine Bench trail, which will establish safe firefighter access to the interior fire area, offering more options for potential future management tactics.
Two heavy helicopters dropped approximately 230 tons of water on the south and southwest sides of the fire beginning Sunday morning, cooling the hottest parts of the fire. Intermittent rain showers throughout the day increased humidity in the fire area, and temperatures dropped as much as 13 degrees on some portions of the fire. By the end of the day, the activity of the Rattle was reduced to fire in heavy logs and snags.
In addition, a small group of rappellers successfully attacked a new fire start on the northeast corner of the Umpqua National Forest near Mt. Thielsen.
As fire behavior calms, threat to nearby communities, area power lines and forest resources reduces each day. While weather this week is forecasted to become warmer and drier, it is expected that fire behavior will continue to moderate. As fire activity lessens, managers anticipate moving toward a smaller fire organization to staff and monitor the fire through a season-ending event.
For further information contact: Rattle Fire Information at (541) 496-9609. Online information is available at: http://www.inciweb.org/ under "Rattle Fire."
Rattle Fire at a Glance (9/1/08)
Size: 945 acres
Location: Approximately 26 miles NE of Glide, OR:1 mi. SE of Illahee Lookout
Containment: 0 %
Expected Containment: 9/30/08
Cause: Lightning. August 8/18/08
Resources: Crews: 3 Type 1, 1 Type 2
Helicopters: 2 Type 1 (Heavy Lift); 1 Type 2 (Medium Lift);1 Type 3.(Light)
Engines: 2
Tenders: 2
Total Personnel Assigned: 383
Closures: Boulder Creek Wilderness
Trail Closures: A portion of the Jessie Wright Trail #1414; Skipper Lakes #1486; Perry Butte #1487; Cinder Prairie #1488; Bradley #1491; unnamed #1492; Soda Springs Connection (along road) #1493; Illahee Flat #1539; Bulldog Rock #1534; Wild Rose #1535; IllaheeLookout #1539; Fuller Lake #1543; Boulder Creek #1552; Spring Mountain #1553; Boulder West #1554. Additional information may be obtained from the Umpqua National Forest website: www.fs.fed.us/r6/umpqua.
