Fire Update, August 1

Fire activity on the Ridge fire remains very low with some surface spread with an occasional single tree torching. When the fire was flown today, the Operation Section Chief counted eight single smokes on the fire. Most were well within the interior of the fire. Crews will continue to focus on mopping-up hot spots and suppression repair.
Fire containment objectives are being met on the southwest and west flanks of the fire. All suppression repair has been completed on these flanks. Tomorrow the Division and Safety Supervisors will go into the southwest and west divisions and finish up the back hauling of equipment.
Large portions of the fire have been and will remain unstaffed due to rugged terrain and accessibility issues. Fire fighters have engaged on roughly half of the fire's perimeter. The containment strategy includes using natural barriers, previous burns, and monitoring the fire in areas with low spread potential. Fire fighters are close to reaching the containment objectives.
The Blue Ridge and Payson Hotshots came down off the fire this evening and will be released tomorrow to head home. A local Lowman Ranger District crew was flown in today to take their place. We appreciate the hard work of all the hand crews on this incident:
Blue Ridge IHC, Payson IHC, Midewin IHC, Gila IHC, Geronimo IHC, Southern Pauite, Dromedary Peak, UFA Salt Lake County, Eastern Nevada, Utah County, and Lowman Ranger District Crew #5.

Fire Update - July 31 AM

Yesterday, the fire burned additional acres into the Red Lakes burn of 2006.
Helicopters with water drops helped secure the area. Smoke is still visible within the interior
of the fire on the north end. This is due to piles of dead and down logs that are burning. Over the last few days the fire experienced windier conditions, which was a good test to see what the fire was going to do. The Jason Butler, Operations Section Chief said, “a few things showed up so we still have some work to do.” Crews will continue to work towards containment on the northwest and northeast flanks of the fire.

 Along the west side of the fire, mop-up was complete and crews began the process of suppression repair of the area. Suppression repair is the process of restoring fire lines by placing debris, limbs, installing water bars, and displaced soil onto hand lines.

As crews reach their 14 day assignment more will be demobilizing to their home units. Crews will be replaced as needed.

July 30 PM Update

Mop-up work continued today along the west side of the fire and crews found relatively little fire activity. The south and east perimeters both have some smoldering activity on the inside of the fire. The northern end continues to be the area of highest fire activity with torching and a slight fire growth in the Cat Lakes Basin.

Hand crews began demobilizing out of the mopped-up divisions and going into to tomorrow, three crews will remain on the fire. Some helicopter resources will be released, but the incident will retain 5 helicopters to address any unexpected fire activity.

Update July 30

Update - July 30

Start: 7/17/2013

Location: 14 miles Northeast of Lowman, ID

Cause: Lightning

Size: 5,263 acres

Containment: 38%

Fuels: Subalpine Fir with intermixed Lodgepole Pine and Douglas Fir

Observed Fire Behavior: Fire behavior yesterday remained minimal with creeping, smoldering and single tree torching. The fire experienced minimal growth in the past 24 hours due to limited fuels and cooler temperatures.

Assigned Resources: 348 personnel

·         9 twenty person fire crews

·         6 helicopters

·         Miscellaneous overhead

Today fire crews will construct and improve existing handline on the northeast portion of the fire area while crews on Division Delta continue to mop up the northwest perimeter with assistance from water dropping helicopters and extensive hoselays. Firefighters will work towards containment objectives as they take advantage of limited perimeter growth due to sparse fuels and favorable weather conditions over the next 24 hours. The southwest portion of the fire has been contained and will be monitored by aviation and crews on the ground.

Over the next week, various fire crews will begin to reach the end of their 14 day operational assignment and will begin being demobilized back to their home units. Helicopters will assist with transporting of fire crews and fire gear back to Warm Springs Air Strip as they end their two week shift.

Ridge Fire

A lightning strike about 15 miles northeast of Lowman ignited the Ridge fire on the afternoon of July 17. It burned aggressively and by the end of the day, the fire was estimated at 400 acres.

The fire was fought by heavy air tankers, helicopters with water buckets, and the Centennial Job Corps Center fire crew. Due to firefighter safety the fire crew was pulled off the fire Wednesday morning as the fire burned hot on all flanks and there was no opportunity to establish an anchor point for a fire line.

This fire is burned in very dry fuels with extensive dead timber stemming from bark beetle insect attacks in recent years. The main fuel of sub-alpine fir torched easily, and cast hundreds of hot embers up to ¼ mile away from the main fire front.


A Type 2 Great Basin Incident Management Team was requested and arrived Friday morning. The team was tasked with logistically supporting the large incoming fire fighting force and developing plans for containment based on terrain, fuel breaks, and fire fighter safety.

Since that time, the fire has grown to 5,263 acres and is 35% contained.