National Fire Activity – Preparedness Level 4

NIFC is at PL 4. Fifty-two uncontained large fires are burning nationwide; 31 incident management teams are committed.

Fire Weather Forecast

Widely scattered thunderstorms will develop across the Southwest, the central Rockies and the southern Great Basin. Isolated thunderstorms will also for over the Sierras in California. Hot conditions will continue over the West. Cooler weather will spread through the Plains and the mid and upper Mississippi Valley as a cold front pushes toward the East coast and the Gulf states. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will form ahead of the front from Texas and Oklahoma to the mid-Atlantic and north to New England.

To see a NOAA map of today’s critical fire weather areas, click on this link: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/fire_wx/fwdy1.html

Fire Summary (Five Day Trend)

National Resource Commitments (Five Day Trend)

NPS Fire Summaries

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Details on these NPS fires have been extracted from current NIFC, InciWeb and other reports:

• Buffalo Lake Road Fire, Colville Agency – Although this 8,500 acre fire is on BIA lands, it has had an impact on Lake Roosevelt NRA. Marty Huseman has sent along this report from the park: “After the Buffalo Lake Road Fire grew from 20 acres to 5000 acres overnight on the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation on the morning of August 15th, park headquarters staff made preparations to evacuate personnel and a significant amount of heavy equipment and motorized vehicles. Headquarters is located outside of the park boundary in Coulee Dam, Washington. Grand Coulee Bureau of Reclamation staff cleared a large parking lot in anticipation of the vehicles. When the lookout reported flames starting to come down the ridge towards the buildings, a safe and orderly evacuation began. Through a tremendous team effort, all staff were accounted for through supervisory contact and a call-in system to the Fort Spokane office, and the most critical equipment, files, and one-of-a-kind items were secured. There were no injuries or property damage. Three employees in park housing were relocated to hotels for the evening. Thanks to the combined efforts of firefighters from the Confederated Tribes, Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Coulee, Elmer City, Okanogan and Grant Counties, and other local firefighters and pilots, back burns were successful and all headquarters buildings, and the residences of the three employees closest to the flames, were saved. Park rangers reported an increase in night boating activity on the lake due to interest in viewing the flames. A 14 foot aluminum vessel was swamped that night near Crescent Bay when the three intoxicated occupants overloaded its capacity. None were wearing personal flotation devices, however the two women managed to grab life jackets that were floating in the water, and the man held on to the cooler of beer. One woman was able to dial 911 on her cell phone, and Good Samaritans assisted with rescuing them. The women were treated at the local hospital for dehydration and hypothermia. Park employees returned to work on August 16th, retrieving the equipment and making headquarters operational. While the fire is no longer a threat to headquarters, it has grown to 8500 acres and continues to threaten resources on the reservation. The tribes have delegated authority for managing the fire to Larry Nickey's Washington Interagency Incident Management Team 4. Larry's day job is fire management officer at Olympic National Park, and he is very experienced in fire management.”For more information on the fire, go to the team’s InciWeb site (http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3169/ ).
• Reading Fire, Lassen Volcanic NP – Pincha-Tulley’s Type 1 IMT is managing the fire, which has now burned 27,167 acres – an increase of 1,925 acres from yesterday. It’s now 28% contained, with full containment still forecast for next Tuesday. A total of 1,083 firefighters and overhead personnel are currently committed. For full details on the fire, including closures and maps, go to the team’s InciWeb site (http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3112/ ) or the park’s web page (http://www.nps.gov/lavo/index.htm).
• Quail Fire, Joshua Tree NP – The fire has been 100% contained at 297 acres. For more information, see the park’s web page (http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm) or its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/joshuatreenp). [Joe Zarki, Public Information Officer]

For additional information on all fires, check the following National Park Service and NIFC web sites:

NIFC

• Summary of current fires – http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf
• Detailed reports on major fires – http://www.inciweb.org/
• Fire news and fire year in perspective – http://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm
• Map of fire locations – http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/lg_fire2.php

NPS

• Details on current NPS fires – http://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/fires.cfm
• InsideNPS Fire and Aviation – http://inside.nps.gov/fire
• InsideNPS Structural Fire – http://inside.nps.gov/fire/structuralfire
• NPS Fire and Aviation - http://www.nps.gov/fire