NEWS RELEASE

Salmon Interagency Dispatch Upper Columbia - Salmon Clearwater District BLM Salmon - Challis National Forest Rural Route 2, Box 600 Salmon, Idaho 83467

For immediate release

Contact: Gail Baer (208) 756-5100 or Kent Fuellenbach (208) 756-5145

Fire Update -- September 18, 2000, 9:00 AM

Six New Fire Starts

Quick action due to aerial reconnaissance flights and phoned in “smoke” reports found six new fires on the Forest over the weekend. The fires were immediately staffed and good progress was made on containing all six at only six acres. The fires were caused by the lightning storm that passed through on Saturday evening.

Clear Creek Complex (includes the Clear Creek and Marlin Springs fires)

Special Note: Today marks the 71^st day of the Clear Creek fire! It is also the final day of daily updates. We will write updates when the status and statistics of the fire change enough to warrant a report. The fire information phone number is out of service. Call the Salmon-Challis National Forest Headquarters office for information (208) 756-5100.

Acreage: 206,379 acres Location: 12 miles west of Salmon

Percentage Contained: 85% for Clear Creek Fire;

100% for Marlin Springs

Estimated Date of Full Containment on the Clear Creek Fire: September 30

Resources: 1585 people, 14 helicopters, 18 engines, 7dozers Injuries: 0

Current Situation: The Marlin Springs Fire was declared 100 percent contained at 6 PM Saturday. The fire was demobilized on Sunday and is in monitor status now.

Fire behavior on the Clear Creek fire was minimal Sunday due to the cooler temperatures and higher humidity than Saturday.

Colonel Jerry Durrant, USMC, Commanding Officer, 2^nd Marine Regiment, Camp Lejeune, NC visited the complex Sunday. The Colonel was briefed by the incident staff and visited Marines working on the fire lines

The Marines will begin demobilize tomorrow. One company (approximately 100 Marines) will depart each day with the last Marines leaving the Complex on Sunday September 24, 2000.

Fire suppression rehabilitation is being accomplished according to prioritization by the Forest. Engines are

being utilized in the rehabilitation activities. The warm, dry and windy weather late last week has been revealing hot material that needs to be mopped-up near the containment lines.

The incident moved a spike camp yesterday because of repeated visits by a black bear. The bear became bolder at each visit, finally getting into a pack and a tent. The owner of the tent was inside when the bear visited, there were no injuries.

Wilderness Complex

Acreage: 182,600 – total, individual acres are: Packer – 1,000; Packer Meadows – 5,500; Filly – 7,000; Butts – 26,040; Papoose – 2,500; Shellrock – 74,000; Little Pistol – 63,760; and Indian Creek – 2,800

The Black Hills Fire Use Module completed clearing and assessing the trails in the area they were assigned and have been demobilized. Before they left, they wrapped the Norton lookout. Assessments of damage to trails and bridges are continuing with aerial observation.

New lightning fires occurred in the wilderness from Saturday evenings’ lightning storm. None have been added to this complex to date.

A caution for pilots: Extensive air operations involving helicopters continue. Contact FAA for information about the Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) for this area.

Other Important Information

Stage I Fire Restrictions Terminated

Fire restrictions that have been in place since July were lifted September 12. The termination of the restrictions enables forest users to build campfires in other than developed fire rings, allows unrestricted smoking and allows use of sheepherder stoves. Forest users should continue to be cautious with warming fires, smoking, and chainsaw use due to the continued high fire danger on the forest.

People who have suffered residential losses (such as smoke damage) due to the wildfires this summer may register with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Call toll-free 1-800-462-9029 (or for speech-impaired people, 1-800-462-7545). Recovery specialists take registrations from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM (MDT) seven days a week.

The Small Business Administration has opened a temporary field office in the Salmon City office building. Any local business is eligible to apply for a working capital loan for economic injury.

For information on hunting permits, contact Idaho Fish and Game at 208-756-2271.

Area and Road Closures

Big Game Hunting Unit 28: Effective at 12:01 am Friday, September 15, a portion of Unit 28 was re-opened to public access. This area is located in the southern end of Unit 28, described as: The Panther Creek Road, #055, from Morgan Creek Summit to the Silver Creek Road turnoff, and the Silver Creek Road, #108, including all areas south and west of these roads in Unit 28. The remainder of Unit 28 remains closed to public access

due to the hazardous conditions created by the Clear Creek Fire. On BLM lands within Unit 28, non-motorized access (including hiking, horseback riding and bicycling) is allowed.

The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness: All wilderness lands, trails and airstrips are open except for the portion of the wilderness lying in Hunting Unit 28. The Salmon River and the Middle Fork of the Salmon are open. Vehicle access to the eastern part of the Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness is unavailable to the Yellowjacket, Big Horn Crags and Clear Creek trails because roads entering Unit 28 in these areas are still closed. Forest users can now access the Meyers Cove and Camas Creek areas.

Morgan Creek Road (FS #055) is open to the junction of the Silver Creek Road on the Panther Creek side.

Safety Reminder: As more areas of the Forest are re-opened to public access, forest users should be cautious. Many of the fires are still active and as daytime temperatures rise, the vegetation starts to dry. Fires can rekindle. Also, remember that burned trees and limbs can fall without warning; cavities left where tree stumps and roots have burned out are a hazard for hikers and pack stock; rocks and logs may roll down slopes where anchoring vegetation has been burned away; and landslides and flash floods are possible where loss of vegetation has exposed unstable soils.

For more fire information call (208) 756-5100 or log on to the Salmon-Challis National Forest website at www.fs.fed.us/r4/sc/fire2000 (click the refresh button to be sure you have the most recent version).