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Louisiana Statewide Burn Ban: The state of Louisiana has declared a statewide burn ban to include any open flame outdoors. The message from the State Fire Marshal’s Office is “don’t burn anything” until further notice. Citations and arrests ARE happening across this state in partnership with local and state law enforcement agencies. 

Personnel and Equipment:   

Tiger Island: 1 Type-1 Crew; 1 Type-2 Crew; 17 Type-6 Engines; 7 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units; 4 Water Tenders and 4 Ambulances.  

Hwy 113: 1 Type-1 Crew; 15 Type-6 Engines; 4 Type-2 Tractor Plow Units; 8 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units; 3 Water Tenders and 3 Ambulances. 

Lions Camp Road: 2 Type-6 Engines; 3 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units and 1 Ambulance 

Elizabeth: 4 Type-6 Engines; 7 Type-3 Tractor Plow Units and 3 Ambulances 

Air Resources Assigned to all Fires: 14 Helicopters and 2 Air Attacks 

Additional support is being provided to all fires by the National Guard, Parish authorities and departments, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Louisiana State Fire Marshal Team, Sheriff’s offices, and the Offices of Emergency Preparedness.  

Tiger Island Fire: The Tiger Island Fire was first reported on Tuesday, August 22nd. The fire is located East of Merryville, south of Hwy 190, SW of DeRidder and North of Singer. The fire is burning in pine plantations of multiple ages. Heavy residual fuels because of Hurricane Laura in 2020 exist and contribute to extreme fire behavior.  

Operations: The Tiger Island Fire is currently 55% contained.  Yesterday, there was high reburn potential due to needlecast scattered throughout the burned area. Crews continued to mop up and patrol for hotspots within the fire footprint. Today, leaf blowers will be used to clear firelines of any needlecast that may have fallen overnight. Also, crews will patrol for any hotspots that persist inside the fire containment lines and will mop up as needed using dozers to break up pockets of burned materials along the fire perimeter.   

Hwy 113 Fire: Located 14 miles northwest of Oakdale. This fire is burning in loblolly pines and hardwoods. 

Operations:  The Hwy 113 fire is currently 50% contained. Yesterday, crews worked to improve and widen dozer lines, and tied existing lines into wet areas in Tenmile Creek using hand crews. Pockets of smoke were seen in the in the fire area, however there is not currently any threat to containment as these areas of heat are well interior of containment lines. Today, crews will continue mop up and patrol and monitor for needlecast accumulation in the fire area, which has a potential to reburn where heat persists. 

Lions Camp Road: Five miles northwest of Leesville. This fire is burning is southern rough, timber and brush. 

Operations: The Lions Camp Road Fire is 10% contained. Crews worked to install and improve dozer lines. An infrared flight detected isolated pockets of heat in the interior of the fire and no heat was detected on the northeast containment line. Today, crews will continue to mop up and patrol the fire perimeter for hotspots.  

Elizabeth: Located in southwest Rapides Parish. The fire is south of Ten Mile Road and northeast of state Louisiana Hwy 462. 

Operations:  The Elizabeth fire is 50% contained. Yesterday, containment lines were installed and improved on the west side of the fire. Crews installed dozer line along Tenmile Creek working to get closer to the burn area and connected lines on the south side of the fire where access was limited. Isolated pockets of heat were identified in the fire perimeter where heavy logs were burning. Crews monitored the fireline for hotspots. Today, crews will continue mop up around the fire perimeter and will improve existing dozer lines for fire engine and firefighter access. The entire fire perimeter will continue to be monitored for hotpots. 

Weather and Fire Behavior: Temperatures will be in the mid to high 90’s today with humidity in the 40-50 rang with a high heat index. Isolated showers and thunderstorms may develop by this afternoon producing gusts of wind up to 45 mph, lightning, and heavy rain. Showers and storms are expected to gradually diminish through the evening. Heat scorched leaves and pine needles have started to fall and could cause reburn in the fire area. 

Air Quality: Expect low levels of smoke near fires and on roads adjacent to them. Smoke from the Tiger Island Fire will be most apparent in the Merryville and Junction areas. Smoke from the Elizabeth and Hwy. 113 fires will be most noticeable in the Cora area and between the two fires. Light smoke from the Lions Camp Rd Fire may occur today on roads within the fire perimeter. For near time air quality information see EPA's Fire and Smoke Map: https://fire.airnow.gov/  

Temporary Flight Restriction: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the Tiger Island Fire and Hwy 113 and Elizabeth Fire areas. This is necessary to protect aerial operations. If you fly, we can’t. If there are drone intrusions into the Temporary Flight Restrictions, we must ground all aircraft.  

Evacuations: Updates on evacuations and shelters for the Tiger Island Fire can be found on the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/beauregardsheriff.