For a downloadable, printable version of this update, click here.
Announcement:
At 7:00 last evening, Wayah
Road (State Road
1310) and Forest Road
711 were opened to
all traffic. Forest Road 69 (Wayah
Bald
Tower Road) remains closed due to the proximity of the Camp
Branch
Fire and associated
firefighting activity. Drivers should use caution; smoke may limit visibility, and debris may roll onto the roadway.
Incident Resources
14 crews, 45
engines, 2 helicopters, 14 dozers, 7
water tender, 1 skidgine, 908 total personnel, 36,466 total acres
Camp Branch Fire (Macon County)
The firing operation
from Forest Road 69
north to
Licklog Gap
and from Licklog Gap east toward
Ray
Branch Creek was successful in
halting the fire’s westward
and
northward progression.
Crews
also held the fire
on the east side
along Locust Tree Branch
Road, and
on the south
side, they kept the fire north
of Wayah Road (SR 1310). The southwest corner of the fire, where crews
conducted firing operations yesterday and
Sunday along Forest Road 96 and
Wayah Road (SR 1310),
has
“filled in” with a successful,
continuous underburn. Field observers
reported creeping and backing (downslope) fire behavior and one- to
two-foot flame
lengths.
Yesterday, crews
did a small amount of firing along Wayah Road
to further protect structures. Structures there and in Bear Cove are secure.
Barring a change
in fire
conditions, last night was the last night shift. Crews worked until midnight, removing some
large hazard trees and being available
to
respond to new fires. They responded
to a
new start south of
Highlands, but local firefighters
contained
it
and our crew returned to the
Camp Branch Fire.
Today, crews will be staging,
pulling fire hose off the
line, and
backhauling excess supplies
and
equipment. They
will also
use the break in the
weather to clean
trucks and equipment and
sharpen tools. They continue to
be available to respond
to any new starts.
Size: 3,210 acres Containment: 55
percent Start Date: November 22
Boteler Fire (Clay
County)
Last
night’s
infrared flight did
not
detect any areas of lingering heat on this
fire. With
the
arrival of the much- anticipated rainfall,
Boteler Fire personnel will assume
an operational pause today during the
heaviest periods of rainfall. When breaks in the rain do occur, crews will engage
as opportunities present themselves.
Fire-weakened
trees whose root systems
will now be compromised
further by
the
rain are a safety concern for firefighters as
they monitor control lines.
Size: 9,036 acres Containment: 85
percent Start Date: October 25
Maple Springs and Old
Roughy Fires (Graham County)
Last
night, the three areas
holding heat that were
reported on Sunday well within the Old Roughy Fire’s
perimeter, came to
life and generated
significant smoke. However,
these interior reburns never threatened
containment lines. One
hundred percent of suppression repairs have been
completed on
the
Maple
Springs Fire.
Where the fire burned within
the
steep, inaccessible Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Area,
scooper planes dropped water on
the
fire’s edge, creating a wet line in lieu of hand- or dozer-constructed fireline.
Six areas of
isolated interior heat were detected during a recent infrared flight inside the
Maple Springs Fire perimeter. They do not pose a threat to
containment, however,
due to
their location
near natural barriers. As reconnaissance and
infrared
flights
report that heat is dissipating,
the
containment percentage will gradually increase.
Maple Springs:
Size: 7,788 acres Containment: 78 percent Start Date: November 4
Suppression-Repair Group
Suppression-repair crews are
restoring areas affected by fire-suppression activities to prefire conditions on the
following ten
fires: Whitewater (23
ac), Cliffside (110 ac),
Grape Cove (11
ac), Wine
Spring (93 ac), Knob (1,130
ac),
Moss Knob (7 ac), Ridge Gap (1 ac), Mulberry (1 ac), Boardtree (0.5 ac), and Muskrat (104 ac).
Patrol Group
Firefighters
are
patrolling the following fires
regularly and
keeping containment lines open
and cleared of newly fallen leaves: Buck Creek (6 ac), Falls (NA), Moses Creek (30
ac), Jones Gap
(8
ac), Jarrett Knob (NA), May Branch (175 ac), Charley Creek (6 ac), Nick (0.2 ac), Howard
Gap
(0.2 ac), Bullpen (6 ac), Jones Creek (1.3 ac),
Cathey Gap
(123
ac),
Dick’s Creek (729 ac), and Tellico (13,874 ac).
Weather and Fire Behavior
Morning showers
should diminish
by early afternoon, but scattered clouds will remain. Temperatures will be mild, in
the 55–65 degree range. Southwest winds
will remain breezy,
15–25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. The minimum relative humidity will remain
high—70
to 95 percent—even after precipitation
ceases.
The Franklin
area received three-quarters to
an inch of rain overnight. To the
northwest, the Maple Springs
Fire received an inch and
a half, while areas south,
such as the Pinnacle
Mountain Fire in
South Carolina’s Table Rock
State
Park, received two and
a half inches. Today, rainfall and
high
humidity will curtail fire
behavior. The only fire activity that crews can expect would
be in
pockets of vegetation that are sheltered from rain. Lightning will
not be an issue for firefighters in
the
field today.
Nantahala National Forest Closures
The Bartram Trail is closed from Harrison
Gap at FR 713 (Shingletree Road) west to Nantahala
Lake
and from the trailhead at SR 106 to
SR 1643 (Hickory Knoll Road). The Foothills Trail from SR 281
to the Bad
Creek access, the Wesser Creek Trail, and the Whitewater Falls Trail are also closed.
An area closure order (No. 08-11-02-17-01) for the Cheoah
Ranger District is in effect for lands, trails,
and roads in the area surrounding the Maple Springs Fire including the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Area. To view a
map and complete list of closed
roads and trails,
go to
bit.ly/2fDZuqt.
An area closure order (No. 08-11-09-17-02) for the Tusquitee Ranger District is in effect
for
lands, trails,
and roads in the
area surrounding the Boteler Fire. To view a map
and complete list of
closed roads and trails, go
to bit.ly/2fArtYf.
An area closure order (No. 08-11-00-17-03) for the Tusquitee and Nantahala
Ranger
Districts
is in effect for lands, trails, and roads southeast of the Boteler Fire. The closed
area extends south from
Highway 64 to
the Georgia border and includes the Southern
Nantahala Wilderness. The Appalachian Trail is
closed from the
Nantahala
Outdoor Center south to the Georgia border. To
view
a map and complete list of closed
roads and trails, go
to bit.ly/2g1iPm1.
Burning Restrictions
A total fire ban
is
in effect for the Nantahala and
Pisgah National Forests (bit.ly/2fikSmG) and for forty-seven
Joint Information Center (JIC)
Email ncjicinformation@gmail.com, call 828-575-2840
(8 a.m. to 8 p.m.),
or
go to http://ncjic.blogspot.com.
Arson
Reporting
North Carolina
is
offering a reward up to $10,000 to be issued to anyone
who provides information
leading to the
arrest and conviction
of those responsible for setting wildfires in
western North Carolina. Anyone having
information concerning these wildfires should contact Macon County Crimestoppers
at
828-349-2600
or Jackson County Crimestoppers at 828-631-1125.
The Bureau
of
Indian Affairs
is
also seeking information
regarding arson
fires on Indian Lands
of North
Carolina through
the WeTip Program.
Up to
$10,000 is being offered through this
anonymous program. WeTip can be
contacted through
its
website wetip.com or by calling its
hotline 800-47-ARSON (800-472-7766).
For a downloadable, printable version of this map, click here.
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