Update on the American fire

Aug 26, 2013

image 17829
American fire as of 8-25-13.Fire Status from Incident Report: The south, west and north perimeters of the fire remain in patrol status. This is due to completion of fire lines and minimal to no hot spots being detected inside the fire line in these areas. Crews have spent the past several days conducting burning operations adjacent to the Mosquito Ridge Road, along the eastern perimeter. These burning operations have consisted of fire fighters lighting low intensity (“cool”) fire with the intent of reducing ground fuels between the fire perimeter and the main fire. This tactic has been highly successful as it reduces the potential of the main fire escaping containment lines, and reduces the potential for spot fires to escape containment lines. Crews will continue these burning operations through the night. When burning operations are completed, these same crews will follow the burning operations by detecting and extinguishing any remaining hot spots.

image 17830
American fire as of 8-25-13 from ESRI online. With increased containment of the fire, additional fire crews have begun work repairing areas affected by fire fighting activities. This has included chipping material piled next to roads during fire line construction as well as identifying needs to construct water control devices along fire lines throughout the fire area.

Forest visitors are asked to adhere to area and road closures. These closures are in place to protect visitors and fire fighters. The roads and areas that have been closed are unsafe due to fire-weakened, burned trees that pose a risk of falling, as well as frequently heavy smoke making visibility extremely poor. These areas and roads will be re-opened as soon as possible.

Some resources:

We will keep you posted.

For more on the SNAMP project see: http://snamp.cnr.berkeley.edu/

This was originally posted on http://kellylab.berkeley.edu/.