OUT OF STATE: Madison Arm Wildland Fire

Thursday, June 28, 2007

OUT OF STATE: Madison Arm Wildland Fire

Editors note: 800, 1500, 2,800 Acres Madison Arm Fire near West Yellowstone is growing fast with reports of 200 foot flame lengths, Long spots, and continuous crown fire runs, and could get big and could become major national incident. Looks like our Hotshot (IHC) wifes which are a national assets in their own right will be having a long summer...

Photo Credit: Larry Hultz

InciWeb: Madison Arm Wildland Fire:

Madison Arm Wildland Fire

INCIDENT UPDATE

Summary

The Madison Arm Fire, detected June 27, 2007 is burning on the Madison Arm of Hebgen Lake approximately 2 miles south of the Madison Arm Resort. The fire continues to grow to an estiamted 1,500 acres.

Resources currently assigned to the fire Four air tankers, One medium and two light helicopters, One Type 2 hand crew, Two bulldozers, Three Type 6 Wildland fire engines

A Type 2 Incident Management Team (Jeff Seacrest, IC) is expected to take over management of the fire on Friday. Also enroute to the fire are two Type I hand crews, three additional Type 2 hand crews, and eight additional engines.

The fire is burning in sagebrush and timber and continues to increase in size. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Bakers Hole FS Summer Cabins, and MTFWP game wardens cabin, Madison Arm Resort and Lakeshore Summer Homes have evacuated. The Baker's Hole Campground is being closed. Yellowstone Holiday subdivision is on alert for evacuation. About 40 residences and seasonal cabins in the Baker's Hole area were evacuated Wednesday evening. The Madison Arm Road is closed.

The forest will be implementing an Area Closure later today. The closed area will be bounded on the east by US-191, on the north by the Rainbow Point Road, on the west by the South Fork Madison River, and on the south by US Highway 20.

Stage I Fire Restrictions go into effect Friday at Noon on the Hebgen Lake Ranger District.

For further information please contact the Hebgen Lake Ranger District, (406) 823-6961or the Supervisors office at (406) 587-6701.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildland Fire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	06/27/2007 at 1315 hrs.
Location	2 miles west of West Yellowstone, MT
Incident Commander	Ron Naber

Current Situation

Total Personnel	Not available
Size	2,800 acres
Percent Contained	5%
Fuels Involved	Sagebrush and Mature lodgepole pine with scattered dense clumps and bitterbrush forest
Fire Behavior	Active burning, crowning and spotting
Significant Events	Bakers Hole FS Summer Cabins, and MTFWP game wardens cabin, Madison Arm Resort and Lakeshore Summer Homes have evacuated. The Baker’s Hole Campground is being closed. Yellowstone Holiday subdivision, Yellowstone Village, Rainbow Point Campground and Duck Creek Campground are on alert for evacuation. The forest will be implementing an Area Closure later today. The closed area will be bounded on the east by US-191, on the north by the Rainbow Point Road, on the west by the South Fork Madison River, and on the south by US Highway 20. The Madison Arm Road is closed. Stage I Fire Restrictions go into effect Friday at Noon on the Hebgen Lake Ranger District.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Not available
Growth Potential	High
Terrain Difficulty	Low
Remarks	Not available

Weather

Current Wind Conditions	5-15 mph SW
Current Temperature	84 degrees
Current Humidity	7 %

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Thursday, June 28, 2007