Single Publication

Incident Command: Type 2 Eastern Area Incident Management Team Gold, Brian Pisarek, IC

Estimated Size:  20,908 acres                      Completion: 79%                      Personnel: 327

Key Message: The amount of daylight in a 24-hour period, also known as ‘diurnal effects,’ has an impact on wildland fire behavior, especially during late season fires. The temperature, wind and humidity values fluctuate throughout the day. When the sun sets earlier in the day, this creates shadier spots on south facing mountain slopes and minimizes the pre-heating and drying of vegetation resulting in lower fire intensity during peak burn times. 

Current Status: Recent weather conditions have not resulted in any significant fire growth. An infrared flight detected a 69 acre increase in overall fire size. Reports off the fireline and from the air indicate the fire is mostly creeping and smoldering with some smoke from islands where the fire met unburned material.  This fire behavior is allowing crews to focus on hazard tree removal, chipping and mop up operations along the fireline on Ball Creek Road north to Trout Creek Road and along the Westside Road. Minimal fire activity was also observed over the Katka Fire by a patrol helicopter.

Planned Actions: Firefighters will continue chipping the vegetation material that was thinned along the Westside Road from Trout Creek Road north to Fisher Creek. wFrom Ball Creek Road north to Trout Creek Road crews will continue to mop up along the fireline, remove hazard trees and monitor fire activity.  Structure assessments around the homes adjacent to the Westside Road are complete; crews will continue to routinely test pumps, sprinklers and hoses. Fire activity is expected to be minimal. Both the Russell Mountain and the Katka Fires will be monitored by the helicopters during the day and patrolled by engines from the ground at night.

Weather: The weather today will be mostly sunny. Temperatures in the valley will be 73-77 degrees with minimum relative humidity levels of 30-35%. Winds are forecasted to be light from the north at 4-7 mph.

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. Those living on the Westside Road closest to Ball Creek, Burton Creek, and Clark Creek are in READY fire evacuation status. 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 are TFRs in place for air space over the Katka Fire (2-7802) and the Russell Mountain Fire (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!