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Boulder Mountain Fire

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Unit Information

Washington 
Colville, 
99114 
Washington 
Colville, 
99114 

Incident Contacts

  • Boulder Mountain Fire Information
    Email:
    2022.bouldermountain@firenet.gov
    Phone:
    509-508-3389
    Hours:
    8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Boulder Mountain Fire Daily Update September 12, 2022

Boulder Mountain Fire
Publication Type: News 09/12/2022

Monday, September 12, 2022 

Boulder Mountain Fire Information 509-508-3389 (8am-8pm) | 2022.bouldermountain@firenet.gov 

Quick Facts

Fire Location: 9 miles NW of Cusick, WA in Tacoma Creek and Boulder Mtn.

Size: 2,175 acres

Containment: 21%

Start Date: 8/31/22

Cause: Under Investigation

Incident Commander: Mike Johnston, Great Basin Type 2 Incident Management Team #7

Personnel: 505

Online Links

InciWeb:

inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8382/ 

Facebook:

@NeWFireInfo 

Washington State Department of Natural Resources:

www.dnr.wa.gov/wildfires 

Colville National Forest

www.fs.usda.gov/colville 

Air Quality Informational

https://www.airnow.gov/ 

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

Weather|Anticipated Fire Behavior: Another day of poor air quality due to an inversion layer with thick smoke is in the forecast. High clouds will move in later in the evening and may bring a bit of moisture. Humidity levels will be rising. Wind will be light today coming in from the north. The heavy dead and down fuels and old timber are driving the current fire behavior.  With today’s predicted weather along with a shorter burn period, fire behavior is anticipated to be moderate. Fuels in the interior of the fire will continue to burn.  

Actions: Firefighters continue to make good progress, containment is now at 21%.  Fallers have been actively working to clear snags allowing hand crews to lay more hose line and direct water deeper into the interior of the fire. Small scale burning operations continued, again helping firefighters to manage the fires edges. Aviation was able to work over the fire in the morning but limited visibility due to smoke became a safety factor by the afternoon. 

Today, visibility is expected to impact aircraft operations, similar to yesterday. Resources on the ground will take advantage of the higher humidity as they focus on mopping up the fire with hose lays to apply more water to hot spots along the fire’s edge working their way into the interior of the fire. Fallers will continue to mitigate hazards and will work closely with hand crews targeting hot spots as they access areas to increase containment. 

Important Information:  As a reminder, If you fly, We Can’t.  The airspace above a wildland fire can be a complex environment with multiple fixed and rotor wing aircraft operating at different altitudes. Fire managers put a temporary flight restriction (TFR) over wildfires to maintain control of the airspace.  It is important that the public remembers not to fly their own drones within the TFR of a wildfire. Drone intrusions endanger the lives of firefighters, halt air operations, and impact the protection of values at risk.