Rattlesnake Fire Daily Update - Aug. 25, 2020

Fire Information Line: 458-207-0058

Email: 2020.meacham@firenet.gov

Incident Commander: Mike Almas, Northern Rockies Incident Management Team

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7069/

The Rattlesnake Fire is burning in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness on the Pomeroy Ranger District in Washington. The fire started during a thunderstorm on August 19. It is located approximately twenty miles south of Pomeroy and thirteen miles southeast of Dayton. Mike Almas’ Northern Rockies Type 2 Incident Management Team (IMT) assumed command of the Rattlesnake Fire at 6:00 a.m. Monday, August 24 and is managing it as part of the Meacham Complex.

The fire is burning southward into the wilderness area in a fifteen-year-old fire scar in extremely steep terrain. As the fire consumes dead and downed timber from the previous fire, some of this material is falling and rolling downhill. The team is actively managing this hazard to ensure personnel safety. Firefighters, are being assisted with helicopter water drops to cool down hot spots.

The fire size is estimated at 400 acres. The team is working on mapping the fire to determine an accurate size.

To improve firefighter access, personnel from the Ranger District continue making repairs to Forest Service Road (FSR) 47, which was washed out during spring 2020 flooding.

On Wednesday, August 26 the IMT plans to hold a virtual community meeting on the Umatilla National Forest Facebook page. Further details about this meeting will be posted soon on the InciWeb link shown above.

Resources Threatened: Wilderness, recreation and a threatened and endangered fish species are being protected.

Evacuations and Closures:

Currently there are no evacuations in place.

A portion of the forest is closed due to the fire. This includes the closure of FSR 4700 from the bridge to the intersection of 4712 and 4713; FSR 4712 and FSR 4713. Panjab Trail 3127 and Rattlesnake Trail 3129 are closed, as are Panjab and Ladybug Campgrounds. Please follow posts on https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7069/ for the latest updates.

Weather & Fuel Conditions: There is a RED FLAG warning in effect today around the fire area, due to the potential for lightning.