PARADISE — Monday will be the final fire fact sheet produced for the River Road East Fire burning near Paradise in Sanders County.
The fire sparked on Aug. 18, has burned 17, 310 acres, and is 54% contained. The cause of this fire remains under investigation.
Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 1 is transitioning management of the fire to a local Type 3 organization on the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District of the Lolo National Forest on Tuesday morning.
Below is the fire fact sheet for Monday, Sept. 4, 2023:
CURRENT STATUS: Approximately 0.2” of rain fell across the fire area yesterday. No fire activity was observed on the fire's north containment lines near Henry's Creek and Henry's Peak. The eastern line along the forest and CSKT boundary also had no fire activity. Crews located and eliminated several hotspots on the southeast corner of the fire. Firefighters patrolled the fire's northwest perimeter. Crews continued chipping vegetation removed while constructing a shaded fuel break north of Pat’s Knob. On the southwest corner of the fire, crews continued constructing an indirect fuels break and looked for hot spots along the fire’s edge.
PLANNED ACTIONS: On the fire's northwest corner and west side, crews will patrol and monitor for any heat or smoke along the containment and control lines. The indirect control lines on the west side (north of Pat's Knob) and southwest corner of the fire will be in place if the fire moves in those directions this fall. An indirect control line on the southeast corner of the fire area will exist if that portion of the fire moves in that direction. Firefighters constructed indirect control lines where access to the fire edge was difficult due to steep, rocky terrain. Crews will continue to monitor the northern, northeastern corner, and eastern containment lines where there has been little fire activity over the past week. These areas include the Henry's Creek and Henry's Peak areas, as well as along the forest and CSKT boundary. Fire suppression repair work will begin on containment lines along the fire's north side. A local Type 3 incident management organization has been working with Northern Rockies Team 1 for the past several days in anticipation of transitioning management of the fire on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.
WEATHER: The weather will be mostly cloudy with rain in the morning, then rain, and a slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Temperatures will be 60-65 degrees in the valleys and 56-61 degrees on the ridges. Minimum relative humidity levels will be 45-55% in the valleys and 62-72% on the ridges. Winds will be from the west at 5-15 mph on the ridge tops and from the west at 8-18 mph at lower elevations.
CLOSURES: The Lolo National Forest has an emergency closure of roads and trails (Closure #23-010-Lolo-D5) effective August 21, 2023. This Order is for public and firefighter safety during fire suppression efforts of the River Road East Fire. For a complete listing of the closed roads & trails, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lolo/alerts-notices.
