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An explosive afternoon of dry heat and wind pushed the eastern front of the Apple Fire to its limits Tuesday.
Wildfire reached the forest canopy on the east side of Calf Creek, about 24 miles east of Glide, and built to a 300-foot crescendo of flame. That wall of heat ripped uphill though 90 acres of "big timber" in less than 25 minutes, fire officials said, pushing firefighters back to safe zones on nearby bulldozer-dug lines.
But the ridge-top fire line held and no one was hurt.
Firefighters avoided danger as the blaze rushed forward in treetops at about 8 to 10 mph in an area already burned by ground fire.
"Winds actually worked in the favor of firefighters and held the heat of the fire back from the lines," said Tony Bacon, division supervisor for Division Y, located southeast of Horseshoe Bend Park.
"The technical term for what we saw yesterday is 'rock-and-roll fire,'" Bacon joked. "It was really extreme fire behavior."
News from the 9,800-acre Apple Fire, now at 20 percent containment, reached less-embattled firefighters on the nearly 66,000-acre Boulder Fire in the south.
"Weather conditions have moderated and aren't as bad as expected," said Joe Mazzeo, spokesman for the Tiller Complex command. "The incident commander is pretty optimistic that we'll be in excellent shape by this weekend. We're still on track for an earlier containment date even though the projected date (Sept. 15) is still the same."
The Tiller Complex fires are reportedly 75 percent contained. Nearly 2,200 firefighters and support staff are planning a 1,200-acre burnout operation on the interior of the northwest corner of the Boulder Fire. Similar operations are planned for the north and northeast fire lines.
On the Apple Fire five more miles of fire line remain to be completed with 1,149 firefighters working day and night shifts to make a Sept. 5 target for containment. Fire staff say increased nighttime contacts with mountain lions in the Twin Lakes area, including one reported incident of a cougar following a hotshot firefighter for about 20 minutes, make for nervous moments.
On the east side of the Apple Fire, fire staff are considering the use of high-tech solutions to help with needed burnout operations in areas with high risk for injury to firefighters.
"One way to deepen burnout in dangerous areas is through the use of a SIDS machine, a device that shoots fire-igniting chemicals in ping-pong type balls," said Joe Molhoek, day operations section chief for the Apple Fire. "That takes planning. For now we're exploring our options."
-- You can reach reporter Jeff Willis at 957-4218 or by e-mail at jwillis@newsreview.info.
Wildfire reached the forest canopy on the east side of Calf Creek, about 24 miles east of Glide, and built to a 300-foot crescendo of flame. That wall of heat ripped uphill though 90 acres of "big timber" in less than 25 minutes, fire officials said, pushing firefighters back to safe zones on nearby bulldozer-dug lines.
But the ridge-top fire line held and no one was hurt.
Firefighters avoided danger as the blaze rushed forward in treetops at about 8 to 10 mph in an area already burned by ground fire.
"Winds actually worked in the favor of firefighters and held the heat of the fire back from the lines," said Tony Bacon, division supervisor for Division Y, located southeast of Horseshoe Bend Park.
"The technical term for what we saw yesterday is 'rock-and-roll fire,'" Bacon joked. "It was really extreme fire behavior."
News from the 9,800-acre Apple Fire, now at 20 percent containment, reached less-embattled firefighters on the nearly 66,000-acre Boulder Fire in the south.
"Weather conditions have moderated and aren't as bad as expected," said Joe Mazzeo, spokesman for the Tiller Complex command. "The incident commander is pretty optimistic that we'll be in excellent shape by this weekend. We're still on track for an earlier containment date even though the projected date (Sept. 15) is still the same."
The Tiller Complex fires are reportedly 75 percent contained. Nearly 2,200 firefighters and support staff are planning a 1,200-acre burnout operation on the interior of the northwest corner of the Boulder Fire. Similar operations are planned for the north and northeast fire lines.
On the Apple Fire five more miles of fire line remain to be completed with 1,149 firefighters working day and night shifts to make a Sept. 5 target for containment. Fire staff say increased nighttime contacts with mountain lions in the Twin Lakes area, including one reported incident of a cougar following a hotshot firefighter for about 20 minutes, make for nervous moments.
On the east side of the Apple Fire, fire staff are considering the use of high-tech solutions to help with needed burnout operations in areas with high risk for injury to firefighters.
"One way to deepen burnout in dangerous areas is through the use of a SIDS machine, a device that shoots fire-igniting chemicals in ping-pong type balls," said Joe Molhoek, day operations section chief for the Apple Fire. "That takes planning. For now we're exploring our options."
-- You can reach reporter Jeff Willis at 957-4218 or by e-mail at jwillis@newsreview.info.
