**7/1/12** Update on Seeley Mountain Fire

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Fire Facts

Date started: Tuesday, 6/26/2012 5:30 a.m. Number of personnel: 379 (from all over the country)

Location: 15 miles NW of Huntington, Utah Equipment: 19 engines

Cause: Dry Lightning Aircraft: 8 helicopters (more on order)

Size: 20,175 acres Hand Crews: 8 (20-person each)

Percent contained: 5 % Estimated containment date: none

Injuries to date: none

Cost to date: $1,082,472

Complexity of Incident: John Philbin’s Eastern Arizona Type-2 Interagency Incident Management Team

Property threatened: Several evacuated communities, 45 residences, recreation facilities, guard stations,
communication towers, utility lines, gas lines, coal mining facilities. Structure protection crews are in place. No structures have been lost on this fire. Weather pattern projected to carry fire to the Northeast & South.

Fire Activity

Increased fire behavior took place in the heavy 20-30 tons/acre bug-kill down dead timber on the
southeast perimeter of the fire yesterday afternoon. Firefighters observed 200’ flame lengths, fire whorls,
and ВЅ mile spotting. Night shift crews provided structure protection for the evacuated town of Hiawatha.
Additional firefighting resources continue to arrive from around the country to fill requests for assistance.
A Structure Protection Group and an Air Attack Group are in place on the fire. More handcrews and
aircraft to support them are on order. Extreme drought conditions, bark-beetle-killed trees, strong gusty
and unpredictable winds are still driving the fire. Smoke conditions and smoke plume directions
continue to vary with the changing winds throughout the day and continuing overnight.

Significant Events

The full suppression strategy that has been in place from the beginning will continue on all fronts of this
fire. Structure protection measures continue to hold, and no structures have been burned. Crews have
secured utility lines, gas lines and coal mining infrastructure within the fire perimeter.

Closures/Evacuations/Advisories

Road closures include: SR-31 at Cleveland Reservoir and at Crandall Canyon. SR-284 at Electric Lake.
SR-96 at SR-6. Fish Creek and Bear Ridge Roads at Scofield. No Forest Service Area Closure.
Evacuation areas include: Electric Lake, Scofield, Clear Creek, Hiawatha and several youth camps. A
major oil and gas field has been shut down, and several working coal mines have been shut down,
causing a hardship to the entire community. Carbon County Sheriff’s office is coordinating escorted
visits into evacuation areas for immediate needs, please call 435-636-3746 for appointments.

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