Lick Creek and Green Ridge Fire Updates – July 29, 2021 – 8:00 a.m.

 Tonight at 7:00 p.m. there is a community meeting at the Pomeroy High School, 1090 Pataha St., Pomeroy, WA. For those unable to attend, the meeting will be streamed on the Green Ridge Fire Facebook page. (site listed below) There was a community meeting last night in Dayton that was recorded and posted to the fire’s Facebook page.

Lick Creek Fire: A Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team began working on the Lick Creek Fire. While many wildfires cause little damage, some fires create situations that require special efforts to prevent further problems after the fire. Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion; runoff may increase and cause flooding, sediments may move downstream and damage houses or fill reservoirs and put endangered species and community water supplies at risk. This fire remains at 90% contained. Continued smoke will be visible as unburned pockets of vegetation inside the fire area are consumed. Crews will continue to mop up pockets of heat interior and patrol the perimeter until full containment is achieved.

Green Ridge Fire Current Situation: The spot fire that has been burning north of the main fire in the Tucannon drainage increased in activity late yesterday. It burned into the main fire and produced a column of smoke that could be seen from a distance. The primary focus is to continue work on direct containment lines along the fire perimeter where trails and roads already exist. At the same time, engines and crews are working on creating contingency containment lines in case the fire escapes beyond the existing direct lines. There is a plan in place to create a third layer of defense with outlying containment points. No effort has been spared to protect the many values at risk in and around the fire area.

The fire team has ordered Interagency Hotshot Crews to work the south and east portions of the fire to keep fire from further spread into the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness. Due to the many active wildfires burning in the western US, there are limited resources available to bolster the efforts on this incident and fulfil the plan to achieve full containment and control.

Weather and Smoke Information: A warming trend continues through Friday, and it will be considerably warmer today with lower humidity and increased instability. Smoke Information is available on the Washington Smoke Blog at: https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/

Evacuations: The remaining Level 1 evacuation remains in place for Garfield County. If you have any questions, please contact the Garfield County Emergency Management Director, Tina Meier, or Sheriff Drew Hyer at (509)843-3494.

Closures: All Forest Service lands, roads, and trails within the Umatilla National Forest are closed. For more information visit the Umatilla National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd931174.pdf.

Lick Creek Fire Quick Facts

Start Date: July 7, 2021                     Resources: Cause: Lightning                                2 Crews Containment: 90%                            9 Engines Approx. Size: 80,392 acres               5 Water Tender Total Personnel: 70                          1 Masticator   Location: Approximately 20 miles SW of Asotin, WA

Green Ridge Fire Quick Facts

Start Date: July 7, 2021                     Resources: Cause: Lightning                                6 Crews Approx. Size: 8,240 acres                 6 Engines Containment: 15%                            3 Dozers Total Personnel: 268                        6 Water Tenders 6 Helicopters Location: Green Ridge area, 30 miles east of Walla Walla