98%  Day 23  

  LAKE FIRE  Smoke Remains Visible  


 

Thursday July 9th, the 31,359-acre Lake Fire continues to express itself through visible smoke which will become more obvious as conditions dry, temperatures rise, and wind increases.

“Crews will be flown into the southern part of the fire to monitor active interior burning ahead of Saturday’s forecast of 30-mile per hour winds in the higher elevations,” said Operations Section Chief Eric Haskins. “They will focus their efforts in the Dry Lake, Shield’s Peak and Mission Springs areas.”

It is common for smoke to be visible from inside a fire’s perimeter line for months until a season-ending event occurs, such as weeks of wetting rains or snow. The arrival of late fall and winter storms are necessary, especially to douse fire imbedded deep in tree roots or moving under many layers of duff.

The Lake Fire is 98% contained and managed by Jason Winbigler’s Type 3 Team from the San Bernardino National Forest. Seventy percent of the fire is either unburned or burned with low intensity.  Consequently, grasses and ferns are already sprouting in various locations.

The public is asked to slow down when driving on State Route 38, particularly around the Jenks Lake turnoff and Onyx Summit.  Firefighters are diligently monitoring the fire’s activity and their safety is a priority.

“Our four helicopters are workhorses as they shuttle crews and continually transport water to douse hot spots.  For that reason, we ask the public to please keep drones out of the fire zone.  They can be dangerous, interfere with fire operations, and cause us to cease critical aviation operations,” said Haskins.

People are advised to pay attention during rain storms which could lead to post fire mud and debris flows and to stay away from areas such as forest roads, draws, and drainages.  The fire area continues to have a closure in effect.

The Burned Area Emergency Response Team has presented its findings and recommendations to the San Bernardino leadership team.  The final report may be available for public viewing as early as next week.

More Information is available on-line:

Lake Fire on Inciweb - http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4302/

Lake Fire Burned Area Emergency Response Team on Inciweb - http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4346/

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