Mudslide Along Warm Springs Road
Incident: Castle Rock Wildland Fire
Released: 9/5/2007
This afternoon a hand crew engaged in suppression rehabilitation efforts was stuck in a mudslide on the Warm Springs Road west of a bridge near Warfield along Frenchman's Bend. Approximately 20 firefighters traveling in two crew transport vehicles and a supervisory vehicle were unable to move for several hours until front end loaders cleared the slides from the road. Three separate slides, that spanned at least one mile, occurred late Wednesday morning following an intense rain that dropped approximately .2 to .5 inch of rain in about one hour.
No injuries occurred and the crew was not in any danger from these slides.
The road has been cleared, but remains closed due to possible further slides.
Fire managers were concerned today due to the potential for heavy rainfall, combined with the reduction in ground cover resulting from of the Castle Rock Fire.
A Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response Team will form Thursday to develop a plan over the next several days for mitigating erosion and slide potential.
