Union Valley Update

B312 will be at the Union Valley fire for, at least, one more shift. Although the fire is reported to be only 20% contained fire behavior is reported as smoldering and some resources have been demobilized. The quote below is from the IMT's PIO.

"Excellent progress is being made toward containment of the Union Valley fire. Little smoke is coming from the fire area as crews continue to complete fire lines and begin mop up along the eastern flanks and around homes. Local residents have been allowed to return to their homes. The roads in the fire area remain closed to the public for their safety as well as fire fighters."

312 on Mobilization

Lt.s Lean and Henderson, M have joined the Northwest Strike Team on state mobe for the Union Valley fire near Chelan.

The fire is threatening a small resort community two miles north of town on the shore of Lake Chelan.

Pre-Hydrate

The relative humidity has been holding above 40% the past few days,
keeping the potential fire behavior under control. But if the heat continues we may get busy. Don't forget to drink plenty of water.
When your pager goes off it's too late to start.

No Outdoor Burning

The County Chiefs agreed to use the 1000 fuel moisture levels as an indicator of fire danger. When the levels drop below 20% then consideration is given to shutting down all open burning. They are now below 19%. Campfires are prohibited until further notice. To follow the fuel moistures go to www.dnr.wa.gov and look for Interior Western Washington 1000 hour Fuel Moisture

Exciting Weather?

The weekend weather forecast calls for potential thunderstorms through out western WA. http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/

Better get that pack test done early (09:00 on Saturday)

Pack Test?

Still need to complete the pack test? There are a number of people planning to walk on Saturday (7/11) morning. Email or go to www.firecotraining.com to sign up.

EVAP Recertification

If you have completed the EVAP refresher on the FireCoTraining site then all you need to do to re certify is schedule a check ride with an evaluator. Howitt is available on Mondays, Swanson on Tuesdays, Davies on Wednesday morning and Saturday afternoon, See on Wednesday afternoon, and Creesy on Fridays. Remember, you need to complete re-certification by July 31.

Red Flag Warning

There is a red flag warning in effect for western WA through
Sunday evening. Warmer and drier weather is expected.

"A Red Flag Warning is a forecast warning issued by the United States National Weather Service to inform area firefighting and land management agencies that conditions are ideal for wildland fire ignition and propagation."
Wikipedia.org