By Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands
Chadron, N.E. — The South Fork Fire acreage stays the same at 39,696 acres, and increased containment of 92%. With staffing at 72 personnel, yesterday’s efforts focused on continued suppression repair, with county crews working to repair roads that were heavily traveled by emergency vehicles in and around the burn area.
Fire crews continued patrolling uncontained fireline around the northern perimeter where the terrain makes defining the line as contained challenging due to steep and rugged conditions that contain heavy fuels that are still trapping heat. On the southern perimeter of the contained fireline, there was smoldering stump holes found and addressed by hand crews.
The largest challenge was the weather, with lightning across the panhandle and igniting several small wildfires in the area. South Fork Fire resources assisted in initial attack on a lightning wildfire start to the west of the South Fork Fire, which was successfully suppressed. Incident managers are dedicated to continuing to offer this assistance to area fire departments as the South Fork Fire continues to wind down.
Today’s weather is projected to be more favorable for operations and is forecasted to have lower winds and little thunderstorm activity. Overnight, there was significant rain to the east of the fire area, and though there was rainfall on the burn area overnight, it was largely overcast and minimal moisture was received.
For continuing updates, please see Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands Facebook Page, and InciWeb, the interagency incident information system.