Single Publication

Incident Command: Type 2 Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 4, Rick Connell, I.C.
Estimated Size: 19,304 acres
Completion/Containment: 0%
Personnel: 345

Current Status: Yesterday, the Russell Mountain Fire continued to slowly back down the mountain slope west of the Westside Road. The observed fire activity continued to be low intensity, with backing ground fire slowly moving downhill. The fire reached the constructed fireline and Westside Road in several locations between Trout Creek Road and Ball Creek Road. Fire Crews and Engines continue to be in place during the day and night shifts to hold and suppress the fire as it reaches the fireline and road. With light winds the fire activity on the Katka Fire was again observed to be low to moderate. The Eneas Peak and Trout Fires grew together and will now be called the Trout Fire. The overnight infrared detection flight mapped an increase of 17 acres on the Katka Fire and a combined Complex increase in size of 840 acres.

Planned Actions: Fireline construction will continue north of the Trout Creek Road with heavy equipment removing vegetation and crews setting up water hose systems. The fire is expected to slowly back downhill towards the road and fireline. Firefighters and engines will continue to hold and suppress the fire as it reaches the constructed lines and road along and near the Westside Road. Crews have been preparing roads and structure protection equipment as well as constructed fireline in anticipation of the fire moving downslope in these areas. Weather conditions are expected to be very smokey with light winds and additional smoke moving into the area from other fires to the west. Fire activity on the Katka Fire will continue to be monitored. Helicopters remain available to be used for water delivery as needed however, smoke conditions will likely prevent flying today.

Weather: Temperatures will be warm with highs near 80 degrees as high pressure remains in place over northern Idaho. Relative humidity levels will drop as low as 20-25% in the afternoon. Winds over the fire area will remain terrain driven going upslope at 5 mph during the day and then becoming downslope in the evening.

Closures: Due to active fires and fire suppression activities, the Westside Road is restricted to residents-only. Additionally, the following National Forest Trails are now closed: Ball Creek Road (FR 432), Trout Creek Road (FR 634), Russell Mountain (No. 12), Russell Ridge (No. 92), Ball and Pyramid Lakes (No. 43), Pyramid Pass (No. 13), Pyramid Peak (No. 7), Fisher Peak (No. 27), Trout Lake (No. 41), McGinty Ridge (No. 143), Clifty Mountain and Clifty/Burrow (No. 182), Myrtle Peak Trail (No. 286), and Burton Peak Trail (No. 9).

Evacuations: There are NO Evacuations currently in place. However, those living on the Westside Road closest to Ball Creek, Burton Creek, and Clark Creek have been placed in the SET fire evacuation status. SET is the stage of readiness before an actual evacuation takes place. If not voluntarily evacuating already, residents in this stage are advised to at least gather their evacuation supplies or pre-load them into their vehicles to enable a quick exit if evacuation is triggered. Residents of Boundary County, Idaho can visit https://www.nixle.com or text their home zip code to 888777 to sign up for emergency alerts. To learn more about READY SET GO, visit https://bit.ly/3wi0jMu .

Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR): There is a TFR in place for air space over the Katka Fire (2-1234) and the Scotch Creek, Russell Mountain, Eneas Peak, and Trout Fires (2-1621) for aviation safety. Remember that temporary flight restrictions also apply to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones. If you fly, we can’t!

Inciweb:  https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8378/

Email:  2022.kootenai@firenet.gov