Springs Fire Update August 16 AM

Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team- Bill Hahnenberg, Incident Commander      

Information Center: 384-3266
Hours of operation: 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Email: springsfireinfo@gmail.com

August 16, 2012

8:00 am                          

Current Situation: Firefighters continue to make progress mopping up hotspots that could threaten containment lines.  Infrared technology has been used to identify areas of concern.  Infrared flights have been flown nightly to provide important information to firefighters.  The infrared imager identifies areas of heat along the fire perimeter and within the interior.  It also shows the intensity of the heat and provides satellite coordinates for the heat sources.  For a large fire, or one that is burning in steep inaccessible terrain, this helps firefighters pinpoint where additional work is needed. 

 Last night’s infrared flight shows isolated heat sources within the fire interior, and along the southeast flank.  Scattered heat still exists on the north flank, but the results of the flight show that firefighters have done an outstanding job at cooling the edge of the fire down.  Today they will continue to focus on those hotspots.

Weather:  Wind gusts of 21 mph were reported on the fire yesterday.  Despite the hot, dry temperatures, and gusty winds, containment lines held.  Winds are predicted to be breezy this afternoon as the inversion lifts, but they are not expected to be as high as yesterday.

 Public Safety:    The public is asked to use caution when traveling on Highway 55 and Banks Lowman Road due to the heavy fire traffic.  Through the fire area, the speed limit on Highway 55 remains at 35 mph.  Please do not stop along Highway 55 or Banks Lowman Road where firefighters and aircraft are working (including where helicopters are dipping out of the river).   Additional traffic can distract firefighters from their mission. 

 Much of the smoke that residents are seeing is coming from fires burning in Oregon and California.

 Places to Get More Information:  An information station has been set up at the Terrace Lakes maintenance shop (across from the golf course).  The station is staffed with personnel providing fire and preparedness information.  In addition, information boards have been established at the Garden Valley Work Center (Forest Service), Crouch Market,  Garden Valley Post Office, and Terrace Lakes Club House.

 Evacuation Notification Line: 208-462-0552                     Website: http://www.inciweb.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoiseNFFires                        Photos:   http://photobucket.com/springsfire_public

              https://twitter.com/rmt1pio                                               http://photobucket.com/springsfire_greer

Community Meeting:  A community meeting is scheduled for Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 10:00 am at the Incident Command Post in Garden Valley. 

 Fire Statistics:           

Location: 5 miles west of Garden Valley, ID                             Start Date: August 5, 2012      

Size:  6150 acres                                                                      Percent Contained: 75

Total Personnel: 653                                                               Cause:  Under Investigation

Resources Include: 5 Type 1 hand crews, 9 Type 2 hand crews, 29 engines, 9 dozers, 11 water tenders, and

                                  overhead personnel.

Air Resources: 1 Type 1 helicopter and 1 Type 3 helicopter. 

Three additional helicopters that are used for initial attack are currently being used to support the incident.  If there are new fire starts, these resources may be taken to help with initial attack.