Red Salmon Complex: 66% Containment

Press release from the Red Salmon Management Team:

Yesterday: Fire activity continued in the South Fork of the Salmon River, Methodist Creek, Plummer Creek, and the East Fork of the New River. Fire slowly backed down toward Plummer creek to the confluence of the Salmon river, cleaning up unburned fuels in a steady progression. Unburned fuel islands in the interior continued to burn. Two crews of firefighters hiked into the Devil’s Backbone and three crews were flown into Division P for fire line restoration work.

Weather and Fire Behavior: Today will remain warm and dry however a cold front will be moving into the area overnight tonight. The cold front will lower temperatures and increase humidity values through Thursday morning. Fuel moisture levels will remain low allowing the fire to remain active for the near future with moderate fire behavior possible. Rain is not forecast in the immediate future. Smoke impacting the area remains likely. For information on smoke impact, go to www.airnow.gov.

Today’s Operations: Crews will continue monitoring and improving lines along Plummer Creek. On the southeast flank, crews will continue suppression efforts using Minimal Impact Suppression Tactics (MIST). Native American crews will continue suppression repair in the Devil’s Backbone culturally sensitive areas. With the help of Resource Advisors (READS) suppression repair work will be conducted in highly sensitive areas containing cultural resources from the Forks of the Salmon toward Fawn Ridge. Back haul of equipment and other resources will continue in the communities of Forks of the Salmon, Cecilville, Denny, and other private ranches, inholdings and properties.

Fire suppression repair is occurring both within the Wilderness and on all flanks of the fire where containment has been achieved. As fire containment increases, a big task for crews is to gather and return the miles of hose, water pumps, and portable water tanks back to fire camp for cleaning, packaging and shipping.

Closures: For Firefighter and public safety, fire officials remind visitors that areas and roads within and near the perimeter of the fire are closed. More information is available on forest websites: www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/klamath/alerts-notices | www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/srnf/alerts-notices | www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/stnf/alerts-notices