Jack Creek Fire
Location: 10 miles SW of Leavenworth, Chelan Co. WA
Specific Location: Jack Creek, Lat 47° 30′ 47″ Lon 120° 56′ 7″
Date of Origin: 08/10/08
Cause: lightning
Situation as of 08/24/08 4:30 PM
Personnel: 23
Size: 1,058 acres (no update)
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: $463,000
Two days ago the costs were reported to be $548,471. That is down to the dollar. Today they are reported as generally something $80,000 less than that. Did somebody return some cash? Did somebody make an $80,000 mistake? Why was the first cost number so exact and the second so vague?
The quality and competence factors are not high on this fire. The Okanogan-Wenatchee NF have no idea what in the blazes they are doing. The entire whoofoo concept was instituted illegally on the O-WNF. Now they ram their heads against the wall every single day like Keystone Kops.
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Situation as of 08/22/08 3:30 PM
Personnel: 37
Size: 1,058 acres (no update)
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: $548,471
Scouting and monitoring. Preparing Long term analysis.
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Situation as of 08/21/08 4:40 PM
Personnel: 37
Size: 1,058 acres (no update)
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: not reported, est. $568,000
Unable to access fire.
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Situation as of 08/20/08 1:30 PM
Personnel: 60
Size: 1,058 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: not reported, est. $500,000
Unable to access fire via air due to low ceiling. Handcrew pulled off of line this morning due to wet conditions.
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Situation as of 08/18/08 8:00 PM
Personnel: 37
Size: 950 acres (corrected to 1,017 acs)
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: $227,000
Area and trail closures in effect for Meadow, Trout Creeks and Blackjack Ridge/Bootjack Mountain. Wilderness rangers are posting and sweeping those trails.
Very hot, dry weather is causing significant fire behavior increase and size increase.
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Situation as of 08/17/08 6:00 PM
Personnel: 51
Size: 625 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: not reported
Very active fire behavior 8/16/08. Fire was spotting on top and both flanks. Fire has spread to the NE quarter of Section 35 on the upper slope on the north side of the fire. Group torching with some very short crown runs were observed on the north and south flanks of the fire. Area closure and trail closures are in effect. Wilderness rangers are posting trails and sweeping the area. Van Epps Pass contingency line 1 mile SW of the fire has been constructed, plumbed, and is nearing readiness for firing operations should that become necessary.
No direct attack, no attempt to contain this fire. This is an undeclared WFU, a non-suppression “suppression” fire.
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Situation as of 08/16/2008: no update
Responsible official: Okanogan-Wenatchee NF Forest Supervisor Rebecca Heath
Phone Number: (509) 664-9200
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Situation as of 08/15/08 8:00 PM
Personnel: 42
Size: 335 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: not reported
Est date of containment: 10/01/08
Type 1 crew is spiked out 1 mile SW of the incident to complete fireline, hoselay, and burn out preparation necessary to secure Van Epps Pass.
Fire spotting on the top and both flanks. Several spots were observed N of major avalanche chutes that had been holding the fire in upper Jack Creek.
Smoke impacts to the town of Leavenworth and the Wenatchee Valley are a major concern. Very hot dry weather for the next few days could significantly increase fire behavior and size. The fire was being managed with a confinement strategy in the Jack Creek drainage, but fire has already escaped said drainage.
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Situation as of 08/13/08 8:00 AM
Personnel: not reported
Size: 200 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Costs to Date: not reported
This fire has been burning for a few days but there have been no reports issued by the NW Interagency Coordination Center, who are apparently asleep at the wheel.
by ExBender
Also reported at Wildfire Today (see sidebar) and Wildlandfire.com. Maybe it is up at the NWCC site now. I have been out all day and so haven’t checked yet.
NWCC is consistently 24 to 48 hours late, and has been skipping whole fires for some reason or other. It is their job, after all, to do the official reporting, not a handful of private, independent blogs. That being said, the private, independent blogs are much better at it.
The Ellensburg Daily Record reports this fire at 235 acres as of 3:00 pm Thursday:
http://kvnews.com/articles/2008/08/15/news/doc48a5d3e7b05ab711580535.txt
37 personnel, with some helicopter assistance
Jack Creek Trail #1558 & Van Epps Trail Trail #1594 are closed to the public
The fire was started at 3:00 am 8/10 by lightning