The Trail Mountain fire is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Ferron District Ranger. Darren Olsen opened a fire meeting tonight where the control of the fire was passed to the Type 2 team, the Great Basin Incident Management Team.
Olsen said the fire began as a prescribed burn intended to burn through the heavy fuel loads in the area. The fire started spotting out ahead of itself in the dead and down timber. This caused concern. “We appreciate the Type 3 team and the work they’ve done as we transition to the Type 2 team. We appreciate the help. These teams are the best at what they do and we appreciate their efforts. This is now a full suppression fire. We are concerned with the public safety and the fire fighters safety. This is a volatile situation with a lot of fuel.”
Sue Stewart spoke next at the meeting, she is from the regional office and the director of fire aviation. “Thank you for being here. You are here because we need you. This is a sensitive situation. This is an unwanted fire. This was a prescribed burn and this is the last outcome that anyone wanted. Be sensitive. There’s heartfelt regret about what’s happened and it was not intended. We want no injuries or loss of life with our efforts to bring the fire undercontrol. The members of the public are curious.”
Stewart read excerpts from a letter from the chief’s letter of intent. He said to try each day to focus on a working environment with respect and trust and to keep each other safe. The timber is burning like gas and the firefighters were encourage to stay safe. Stop, think, talk and then act. Figure out if there is a better way to do what you’re doing.
Jason Johnson from the state of Utah said they are anxious to see the fire put out. He is here to lend his support and encourage cooperation.
Troy Suwyn said the fire started as a prescribed fire, it’s a dry year, but they had the conditions with the correct field moisture, but events happened that pushed the fire out of the border. On June 4 they did a test burn in the field and all went well. The prescribed burn was to take out the mixed conifers to allow aspen growth in the area. Of the 1.2 million acres on the forest there are 400,000 acres of the old timber growth.
Troy Suwyn, the FMO, said they felt good about the area selected for the controlled burn. On June 5 they lit areas A and B of the fire. Things looked like they were going well on Tuesday. On Wednesday a spot crossed the line and burned seven acres. On Wednesday they halted the burning. There was a finger of fire in the timber and it spotted from one site to the next and at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night it jumped the road and went to the top of the hill on East Mountain. The fuel moisture there was 160-162. They expected it would burn and die, but then the winds came.
Thursday the fire made it to right below the power line and stopped.
Friday and Saturday the firefighters held the line through increasing winds, but Sunday afternoon the winds exceeded 40 mph at 5:30 p.m. the fire crossed the line into a little bowl and made a push. By 7:30 p.m. the weather had cleared enough the aircrafts could fly again. There were four spots at that time and they were one mile out from the original fire. Last night, Sunday night, it burned all night. The terrain in the area is very steep and rocky. The fire is in the mixed conifer. A cabin and some outbuildings have been burned over.
In 3.5 hours the fire reached the head of Meetinghouse Canyon and the head of Rilda Canyon. The fire is now down into Deer Creek Canyon. Darrell Cunningham from the Huntington Power Plant told the Emery County Progress they can see the flames from the water intake at the Huntington Plant.
He is concerned with the proximity of the fire. He is worried about the health of the power plant workers as the smoke is very thick surrounding the power plant. He is having flashbacks from the Seeley fire which caused numerous problems for the Huntington Power Plant including loss of water quality in the water the plant needs to operate and the flooding and debris that came in the ensuing months after the fire.
Russ Bigelow said they are dropping retardant on the fire in Meetinghouse but the fire took off to the south and headed to Deer Creek. There are a lot of fuels in the southern plank. Crews are up there now and want to get the retardant line established again. The utility poles are OK. The fire did burn under them, but they are OK. In the northern corridor the fire is in the middle ridge between the right and left ridges of Rilda Canyon. The power line has been decommissioned and any equipment in Rilda Canyon has been moving out. In the long ridge to the north the fuel is scabby, but at the head of the canyons there are dead Englemann in there.
In the section of the fire that is burning near the Mill Canyon bowl, an indirect line of mud has been created to restrict movement there. Any growth to the north on East Mountain has also been restricted and Bigelow said they feel good about that area now.
At one point there was intense burning in the Cox Dugway area. The tanks were there and everything looks good there now indicated Bigelow.
The air crews have been dropping fire retardant on any threatened structures in the area. Meetinghouse, Rilda and Deer Creek Canyons are now closed to the public. The firefighters are aware of people and structures in Trail Canyon which is the canyon directly across SR-31. They have been warned but aren’t in any imminent danger.
Heavy equipment has been moved in to help hold the fire lines that have been established. The mud (slurry) is being used to keep the fire from jumping the road at the switchbacks and they will continue with mud down the ridge to try to box the fire in.
They are also trying to box off the fire by Deer Creek with the dropping of the slurry right now.
Five helicopters have been working on the fire when the wind isn’t causing problems. They were grounded most of Sunday. They have been dipping water from Joe’s Valley as well as from the water storage containers they call pumpkins. The aircraft were very effective when the winds weren’t hampering their efforts. They started their efforts again today with a rotation. There is a short turnaround for the water, so that helps.
The firefighters have been staying on the mountain, but now the operation will be moved to Emery High. The tents will be set-up on the softball fields. The parking will be in the south parking lot.
A caterer will set-up there and begin feeding crews at the high school. The first meal there will be on Tuesday evening.
Briefings will continue both morning and night for those involved. Crews were instructed to access the fire up Straight Canyon. There have been a couple of near misses on the Cottonwood Creek Road.
There were some concerned cattlemen at the meeting requesting access to check on their cattle and haul them water as needed. Darren Olsen, will coordinate with them to make sure the cattle are taken care of properly.
Corrinne Dalton reported the fire has cost $935,000 to date and costs will continue to escalate.
Brandon Hoffman said with the fire spotting going on, they have had a hard time putting ground crews in. They need a solid plan in place with good communication and leadership.
He warned the firefighters the access to SR-29 from the high school has short visibility to see cars coming up the hill. They will work to mitigate this. The firefighters were instructed to watch for deer and elk on the roads leading to the fire.
Tim Roide is the incident commander from the Great Basin Incident Management team. He said he looks forward to working with everyone to control this fire. He knows how difficult these situations are. They had a controlled burn escape on his unit and it caused some difficult times. The strategy for this fire is full suppression. There is a big power transmission line and a lot of details to work out. He instructed the firefighters to break into smaller working groups to familiarize themselves with the fire and the plan of attack. A meeting between all the partners involved will take place on Wednesday. Tuesday the Type II team will mobilize. Each planning meeting will discuss the plan and strategy for that next day’s operations in the field and will discuss progress made to date on the fire.
The smoke from the fire is most heavy in the Huntington area as the winds have pushed the fire into the Huntington Canyon side of the mountain.
GALLERY: Trail Mountain Fire is now being managed by a Type II team
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