Incident: Cascade Creek Wildfire
Released: 10/1/2012 0900

Watching for weather changes

Dry cold front headed for Cascade Creek Wildfire

Trout Lake, Wash., Fire fighters working on the 17,000-acre Cascade Creek Wildfire, burning on the south and west flanks of Mt. Adams, are watching the weather closely in anticipation of a dry cold front that will bring strong, gusty winds Monday night and Tuesday.

On the far eastern perimeter, crews continue to work on hot spots near the Aiken Lava Bed. Buried wood and debris smolders deep among the lava cracks and tunnels, resisting efforts to cool and extinguish. Helicopters have been dropping buckets of water and retardant to assist the firefighters on the ground.

On the southern perimeter, mop-up is proceeding and crews are close to completing their assignment to extinguish all heat sources within 75-100 feet of the containment line and retrieve firefighting equipment to fire camp.

The most diverse firefighting actions continue to take place on the western flank. Containment lines have been prepared along north-south-oriented forest roads, downhill of the fire. Managers established “trigger points” related to weather and fire behavior to determine the best timing for strategic actions. As the flames have slowly crept downhill, consuming logs and debris and occasionally torching small groups of trees, managers have watched and waited. Early the morning of September 30, a dry thermal belt moved down the mountain, enabling active fire behavior and a rapid downhill run that added about 1,200 acres to the fire’s size. Later yesterday, crews initiated a burn-out operation, using aerial ignition techniques to light a slope of about 450 acres. Today, as humidity drops and the winds shift to come from the southwest, the crews will likely burn an additional swath of about 1,000 acres. This will connect burned areas to forest types that have defendable topography and relatively low flammability, in anticipation of strong winds from the north, expected to arrive tomorrow.

The fire area, at and above approximately 5,000 ft elevation, is strongly affected by a “thermal zone” of warm, dry air that is higher than the usual marine influence that comes from the west and the cool, moist air that continuously flows downhill from the glaciers on Mt. Adams. This means the fuels (grasses, debris, logs, dead trees and branches) are continuously exposed to dry air, night and day, and can readily catch fire if ignited by adjacent burning or a small push of wind.

The fire is burning closer to lower-elevation, young, managed conifer stands that don’t contain much dead material, have crowns that shade the ground, and are unlikely to burn readily. Beyond these stands are the moist lowlands of the White Salmon River. By using strategic burning to slowly ignite the most flammable remaining forests along the western flank, crews anticipate that, even if pushed by strong winds, the fire will be unable to proceed.

The next two days, with winds forecast to reach 10-20 mph with gusts to 35, weather conditions will be receiving a lot of attention. In addition to moving the fire, wind increases the risk of falling trees and snags. People working all jobs associated with the Cascade Creek wildfire are paying close attention to the weather.

Fire Facts – Sunday, October 1, 2012 – 0900 HOURS

Fire Size: 16,857

Evacuations: None

Percent Contained: 63%

Fuels: Heavy, bug-killed timber, litter and understory

Expected Containment: Not determined

Air Resources: Two each of light and medium helicopters, one heavy helicopter, two air attack platforms

Firefighting Crews: 12

Engines: 13

Dozers: 2

Water Tenders: 12

Overhead: 125

Total Personnel: 456

Total Estimated Cost to Date: $11,443,758

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Source: InciWeb