12/02/16 - Rock Mountain Fire - 12:00pm Update

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Yesterday’s Activities: Fire crews continued suppression repair behind Tate City, backhauling excess line equipment and clearing the Appalachian Trail. They also patrolled all areas to identify any hot spots and assess hazards and snags. An infrared flight took place overnight, which identified four hot spots within the interior of the fire perimeter.

Today’s Operations: Assigned resources are continuing to patrol and mop up hotspots along the fire perimeter. Suppression repair work will take place today around Tate Dip and Tallulah River Road, as well as other local roads and trails. Similar efforts will continue along the contained portions of the incident with the guidance of resource advisers. Significant demobilization of excess resources will continue.

Weather: The cumulative rainfall over the fire area since Monday ranged from three to four inches. The weather forecast for today is similar to yesterday—dry and sunny. Temperatures will range from the low 30s to the mid to upper 50s on Friday with afternoon relative humidity around 40%.

Closures and Evacuations

The following road closures remain in place:

     Coleman River Road

     Patterson Gap Road

     Abe Gap Road

The following forest closures remain in place:

     Nantahala Wilderness area east of the Appalachian Trail

      Appalachian Trail from Dicks Creek Gap/U.S. 76 in Georgia to the Nantahala River/U.S. 19/U.S. 74 in North Carolina. Up-to-date information can be found on the Appalachian Trail Updates page at appalachiantrail.org/trailupdates. 

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