TROUT LAKE — Firefighters at the 250-acre Horseshoe Fire in the Mount Adams Wilderness were laying hose lines to douse the blaze and began mop up on Wednesday.
The Gifford Pinchot National Forest has decided to aggressively suppress the fire to reduce its potential for growth into unburned wilderness and forests beyond.
“The optimal time for direct fire suppression is now while weather is favorable and fire behavior is low,” said Brian Gales, incident commander for the Washington Interagency Incident Management Team No. 4. “Controlling the fire at this smaller size will reduce long-term exposure to firefighters and avoid containment challenges and costs of fighting a much larger fire during the remainder of the 2015 fire season.”
Hoses and pumps, delivered by helicopter longline slings on Tuesday, are being used to extinguish hotspots along the fire perimeter, Gales said.
“Once the Horseshoe Fire is controlled and hazards are removed, wilderness camping and hiking may continue throughout the remainder of the 2015 fire season and the Pacific Crest trail reopened for public use,” he said.
A crew of firefighters spent Tuesday night at a small spike camp near Island Lake. Three faller crews are cutting snags along the west flank of the fire ahead of firefighters who are mopping up hot spots.
Crews have cleared brush along a two-mile strip of Gifford Pinchot road No. 23 that will serve as a firebreak should the fire move to the west.
Flaggers and a pilot car are directing traffic along the road and travelers should expect traffic delays during the next several days near the fire.
A low-pressure front is moving over the region, bringing cooler temperatures and higher humidity. Thunderstorms are predicted for today through the weekend.
The fire has burned to the boundary of the 2012 Cascade Creek Fire and stopped along its south and east perimeters. Several spot fires have been observed in the old burn and will be extinguished.
“All of our crews have been briefed on the importance of using wilderness-appropriate tactics, such as limited ground disturbance from building fire lines,” Gales said.
Safety zones and escape routes have been identified and flagged for the firefighters, he added.
