Single Publication

Update September 7, 2024

Location:  Railroad Creek/ Skalkaho Creek confluence, 26 miles SE of Hamilton
Start Date: 7/25/2024     
Cause: Lightning
Size: 437 acres for Railroad & 2,068 acres for Daly
18 Total Personnel

KEY MESSAGE
A portion of Skalkaho Hwy (Hwy 38) is closed to traffic (see details below). There is a temporary flight restriction in place over the fire area.

CURRENT STATUS 
Yesterday the two fires spread naturally and grew by approximately 400 acres.  Hand ignitions were used on the south end of the Daly Fire to enable fire on the ridgeline at the highest elevations, and to allow fire to move to the south towards the Railroad Fire. These firing operations make ingress and egress routes safer for firefighters and allow natural spread in steep ground. The fires are slowly backing into old burn scars to the east, including last year’s Bowles Creek Fire. Snagging operations will continue on the south side of Highway 38 today. Fire on the north side of Highway 38 continues to spread slowly to the north entering past fire scars and is expected to extinguish in the areas that have burned in the past.

WEATHER

Given the warming and drying weather conditions more active fire behavior is expected. Temperatures will trend warmer with a return of intense thermal belts. A few showers and thunderstorms are possible by Sunday afternoon. Any thunderstorms, which are forecasted for the weekend, could cause outflow winds.  Long term models show the ridge will most likely break down next week.

CLOSURES
Because the Daly Fire exhibited increased fire behavior late on Monday night with fire crossing over the Skalkaho Hwy (Hwy 38), an expanded Road Closure is in effect from Black Bear Campground on Skalkaho Hwy (Hwy 38) to the Skalkaho Pass. There are barricades in place, and Gird Point Lookout is closed.

See InciWeb for map and details on area closure: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-closures/mtbrf-railroaddaly-fire