Officials on the Emigrant Fire announced over the weekend that primary control lines have been completed. The fire, which is estimated to have burned 32,294 acres as of Monday morning, is also now listed as being 1% contained.
“A small area near Sacandaga Campground has been declared contained now that all remaining hot spots near the primary control line were located and extinguished,” said a Monday morning update published online by fire managers.
Crews on the fire burning in eastern Lane and Douglas counties have cut more than 50 miles of line around the blaze. So why is containment at 1% when it is ringed with primary fire line and crews are now at work on secondary line?
That one percent represents the portion that was tested, and Public Information Officer Randall Rishe said the percentage contained will not go up until the fire approaches the line and it prevents further spread.
“That also means that we have to have firefighters on every part of the line to confirm that before we reach the containment percentage. We will not raise that containment percentage until that certainty is known," he said.
Some parts of the crews’ work has been to revitalize existing features that can act as fire breaks such as roads, rivers and fire line from previous fires. Rishe said the location of those features could mean time will pass before the fire encroaches on them and they are tested.
Management Team change and incoming wet weather
Complex Incident Management Team 13 is spending Monday preparing to hand off command to a new team.
Team 13 is completing its standard 14-day stint on the fire, and is now scheduled for down time before being placed on another fire in the western US.
“That’s a standard rotation. A new incident management team comes in after that to pick up where team 13 left off,” said Rishe.
The handoff to California Team Three comes as wet weather is expected in the area, which Rishe said will be a benefit.
“We will see smaller flame lengths. We’ll see a lot of the fire activity reduced. That will allow our firefighters to get better mop up on the line and better containment strategies as well,” he said.
