Another day of moderate weather gave fire crews the opportunity to continue working ahead of the fire on containment lines and within containment lines to concentrate on protecting the communities and scattered structures.
Again hard work and a decisive plan of attack has enabled fire authorities to take advantage of favorable weather conditions to control the growth of the Smith River Fire Complex, now with 7% containment after growing only 512 acres and now covering 71,225 acres.
Crews continued control burns to reduce fire spread that could impact homes in the southern Illinois Valley while controlled burns also continued on the northside of Highway 199 in efforts to connect to the dozer lines intended to keep the main fire from impacting Gasquet in the North Fork area.
Heavy smoke continued to be a factor with visibility down to a quarter mile in some areas, again restricting aerial operations, however, several fixed wing air tankers were able to place aerial retardant along the northeast flank of the Coon fire to keep it from advancing to the east.
Fire authorities plan to continue to take advantage of favorable weather patterns as long as possible with weather changes possibly in the forecast later in the week.
U.S. Hwy. 199 remains closed and the planned limited opening scheduled to begin Monday morning has been cancelled and has tentatively been postponed to Wednesday, August 30th.
Level 3 “Go Now”: Patrick Creek, Little Jones Creek, Copper Creek Drainage, Coon Creek/ 16n19 17n07, Washington Flat, Pioneer Road, Panther Flat Campground Area, all communities between Slant Bridge Road north to the Oregon Border along Highway 199, French Hill Road.
Level 2 “Be Set”: “Be Set”: Low Divide, High Divide, Rowdy Creek, Big Flat/Rock Creek
Level 1 “Be Ready”: Hiouchi from Slant Bridge to the east end of North Bank Road.
