Washington Fire Friday morning update

Washington Fire is 77 percent contained.

This release has been posted on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service on July 2, 2015.

Fire Facts:

Fire Start Date:

June 19, 2015

Location:

3 miles south of Markleeville, California.

Size:

17,790 acres

Percent Contained:

77%

Cause:

Lightning

Incident Resources:

667 personnel, including 22 hand crews, 12 engines, 6 water tenders and 6 helicopters.

Lost Time Injuries:

2

Estimated Cost to Date:

$ 11,000,000

General Announcements:

Great Basin Team #4 will host a community meeting at the Turtle Rock Community Center (17300 State Route 89/4) at 6:00 p.m. tonight. This meeting will cover incident objectives, accomplishments and the long term outlook for the fire. Representatives from the incident management team, Alpine County, and the Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest will be answering questions. This meeting is open to all residents and the public is encouraged to attend.

Today’s Activities:

Firefighters will take advantage of the soaking rains the fire area received on Wednesday as they continue to construct the remaining portions of handline and mop up the fire area today. The Markleeville area received over 1.7" of rain on Wednesday, causing minor debris slides that closed portions of State Highway 4 and 89 for a short time. The heavy rains and thunderstorms have decreased the fire’s potential for growth and most fire activity has been reduced to creeping and smoldering. A chance of thunderstorms and rain is expected again this afternoon.

Road and Area Closures:

Secondary roads off State Highway 4 and State Highway 89 remain under a Forest Service closure and are not accessible to the general public. State Highways 4 and 89 are currently open for through traffic only. Until the Forest Service releases the closure, recreation on lands within the closure area is not permitted. Law enforcement will continue to patrol the areas under the current closure order. The general public is encouraged to use caution and slow down as they travel through the fire area as fire crews can still be found working along the highway corridors. The Bureau of Land Management cancelled its closures in the area.

An area closure is still in effect for the fire area and can be found at http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/htnf/alerts-notices .

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