Fire danger raised to high in Mineral County
MINERAL COUNTY - The U.S. Forest Service upgraded the fire danger in Mineral County from moderate to high last Friday in response to a combination of factors that lead officials to make the change.
According to National Fire Danger Rating System documents, fire danger is defined as “the combination of both constant and variable factors which affect the initiation, spread and difficulty of control of wildfires.”
Information from these documents indicated factors taken into consideration when changing fire danger status include weather, topography, fuels and risk. The various factors are combined to assess the daily fire danger in a specific area.
U.S.F.S. Fire Manager Jim Ward said with the upgraded fire danger level, people need to be aware of and change their behavior. Ward said simple diligence and responsibility on the part of the public could prevent events such as last year’s West Mullan Fire that threatened public safety and property near Superior.
“People need to be more cognizant of the types of activities they are doing,” Ward said. “If you’ve been driving for awhile and pull off into the grass, there’s a potential with the higher fire danger that the muffler could start a fire. People need to make sure any ignited substance is out before discarding it or leaving it.”
According to Ward, the decision to change the area’s fire danger level came as a result of information obtained from remote sensory equipment in the forest and a knowledge of the area’s historical propensity to burn. Ward said predictions that the weather in the area would include more precipitation than usual turned out to be inaccurate.
“The prediction was that an El Nino was going to set up,” Ward said. “That would have meant conditions would be warmer but also wetter in the Northern Rockies. More moisture was anticipated and that would have meant an average fire season. So far that hasn’t panned out.”
Ward said the most significant indicator used by local decision-makers was something called the energy release component.
The ERC is a number related to the available energy per unit area within the path of a fire. Daily fluctuations in the ERC are due to changes in the moisture content of the various fuels present.
“The ERC is best for forested lands because it takes into account the larger fuels and the dryness of those fuels,” Ward said. “It’s a good component to estimate fire danger and tell us what the real risk is of a fire starting and spreading a requiring action.”
According to information supplied by Ward, the current ERC levels are consistent with historical trends. However, he cautioned at the same time last year when the Mullan Fire sprung up, ERC levels were no higher than they are now.
Ward said while there were no fire restrictions currently in place, if weather conditions continue to stay warm and dry they could implement restrictions starting with Stage I that affects recreational sites and tobacco use.
“We just want people to use common sense,” Ward said. “Every first Thursday of the month the fire council meets. We talk about where we are at with conditions and we can consider implementing Stage I restrictions.”
More information about fire restrictions can be found by contacting the local Land Management Agency.
The U.S Forest Service Ranger Station in Superior can be reached at 406-822-4233.