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Boulder Mountain Fire

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Unit Information

Washington 
Colville, 
Washington 
99114 
Washington 
Colville, 
Washington 
99114 

Incident Contacts

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Boulder Mountain Fire

Share this incident

Unit Information

Washington 
Colville, 
Washington 
99114 
Washington 
Colville, 
Washington 
99114 

Incident Contacts

Boulder Mountain Fire Information
Phone: 509-508-3389
Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This incident is no longer being updated.

The Boulder Mountain Fire was detected on Wednesday August 31, 2022 at approximately 8:30pm. The fire is located in the Tacoma Creek and Boulder Mountain area, 9 miles northwest of Cusick, Washington. The fire is burning on Federal, State, and Private land. The terrain is difficult and the fire is burning in heavy timber, slash, and beetle infested trees.

Basic Information
Current as of Mon, 01/23/2023 - 17:47
Incident Type Wildfire
Cause under investigation
Date of Origin
Location Nine (9) miles northwest of Cusick, WA in the Tacoma Creek and Boulder Mountain area.
Incident Commander Brian Gales
Northwest Team 13
Incident Description Wildfire
Coordinates 48° 28' 4'' Latitude
-117° 29'
36
'' Longitude
Current Situation
Total Personnel: 128
Size 2,310 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained 99%
Estimated Containment Date 2022-09-30 00:00:00
Fuels Involved

Timber (Litter and Understory) Medium Logging Slash The mixed ownership of private and federal lands coupled with differing elevations provides a checkerboard mosaic of fuel types. Mixed aged classes of timber young managed stands to decadent second growth timber are spread across the landscape. Higher elevations are comprised of shrub and grass fuels on the south and west exposures while subalpine fir is predominant on the remaining north and east aspects. Warm and dry conditions have allowed ERC levels to rebound. Forecasted ERC values reveal an upward trajectory that could reach the 90th percentile in one week if current weather conditions persist. Current forecast shows no precipitation going into October but good RH recovery will likely help to flatten the upward trajectory.

Significant Events

Smoldering and creeping fire activity have persisted for several days. Suppression efforts have been successful in confining fire in current footprint. Fire activity expected to produce more smoke with warm dry conditions. Fire is expected to remain within the established perimeter.

Outlook
Planned Actions

Crews will continue to mop up areas along fire line and hot spots within the fire perimeter. Repair of roadways, dozer line, and hand line is being employed on all divisions.

Projected Incident Activity

Warm and dry conditions. Minimal fire activity expected, smoldering and creeping

Remarks

Fire Acres by Ownership USFS 753.2 33% Private 1,556.47 67%

Current Weather
Weather Concerns

Sunny skies and seasonably warm temperatures were observed today with highs in the 60s/70s and humidity minimums of 30 to 40 percent. Winds were generally light, and terrain driven with speeds under 5 mph Monday High pressure will continue to build across the region through Tuesday, dry weather persisting. It will trend warmer with near record high temperatures Tuesday. Winds are expected to be mainly terrain driven with speeds 10 mph or less. High temperatures are forecast in the 70s/80s both Monday and Tuesday, and humidity minimums of 25 to 35 percent.


Boulder Mountain Fire

Boulder Mountain Fire
Publication Type: News 09/04/2022

 Incident Commander: Cody Montgomery
9/4/22 Boulder Mountain Fire Update
Boulder Mountain Fire
For Immediate Release - September 4rd, 2022

Quick Facts
Boulder Mountain Fire
Approximate Size 1400 acres
Containment 0%
Total Personnel 107
Fire Danger Very High
Structures Lost
Primary – 0
Secondary - 0


The Boulder Mountain Fire started by lightning on Wednesday August 31, 2022 at approximately 8:30 pm. The fire is located in the Tacoma Creek and Boulder Mountain area 9 miles Northwest of Cusick, Washington. The fire is burning on Federal, State and Private land. The terrain is difficult and the fire is burning in heavy timber, slash, and beetle infested trees.

Yesterday: The fire was still very active during the day and overnight due to low humidity recoveries. This allowed for group torching, flanking, and backing. Access from the ground continues to be a challenge. Aircraft has been the primary fire suppression tactic to date. Crews continued to scout the area to make access to the fire from the ground. Dozers worked to shore up roads, create additional access, and assist firefighters on the ground where necessary. Due to the active fire behavior the fire has grown to an estimated 1400 acres. The weather event that moved through the area did not create any significant challenges for firefighters.

Today: Firefighters will continue their work with dozers and other heavy equipment to get containment lines in and work on primary and secondary ingress and egress points. That work consists of chipping and masticating to create a better road system. Aircraft will continue to be utilized as needed. The fire will continue to be active with torching, backing and moving into slash. Additional resources have been ordered and over the last few days have showed up and are being assigned to different divisions of the fire.

Weather: A warm and dry weather pattern will establish across the area after the disturbances on Saturday. This will continue through much of the week. Light terrain winds, moderate inversions, and poor relative humidity recovery at night will maintain active fire behavior.

Transition: The Type 2 Incident Management Team has been briefed and they will officially take the fire over at 06:00 tomorrow morning. The team is in place and have been briefed on strategy and tactics to date. This transition is expected to be smooth and seamless. The team brings additional overhead and access to resources due to the high priority of the fire.

Please continue to check the following sites for updated evacuation notices and campground closures. For campgrounds you can go to dnr.wa.gov and find up to date evacuation notices at: https://pendoreilleco.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Boulder-Mountain-Fire-Level-3-Evacuation-Area.pdf

Firefighter and public safety are the highest priority. We ask that the public adhere to the notices and closures that have been put in place. Firefighters will continue their work in the Tacoma Creek and Boulder Mountain area. Please stay clear of that area.

Fire information and the Incident Command Post is located at the Kalispel Pow Wow Grounds in Usk, WA. Fire information contact is Don Malone at (509) 822-8125 or you can also follow us on Facebook @NEWIMT3