Significant wildland fire activity is occurring across multiple geographic areas, resulting in a substantial commitment of incident management teams. The National Interagency Coordination Center is increasingly coordinating with geographic area coordination centers to prioritize and fill resource orders for all national resources, with a heavy demand being placed on lower-activity geographic areas to provide available resources. Forecasts also indicate a continued high potential for new large fires to emerge across multiple geographic areas in the coming days. In response to current and anticipated national fire activity, the national preparedness level increased to Preparedness Level 4 (PL 4) effective 7:30 a.m. MDT on Monday, June 29.
The wildland fire community grieves today in the wake of the news that three wildland firefighters lost their lives on Saturday, June 27, as part of an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires along the Colorado-Utah border. As of this morning, the identities of those lost have been made public in a news release from the Department of the Interior. Additionally, two crew members were injured in the line of duty and have been transported to a hospital.
The U.S. Wildland Fire Service stands united with the USDA Forest Service in grief and unwavering support for the loved ones left behind. Their bravery, dedication, and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Weather
The southern Intermountain West will continue to be plagued by dry and unusually windy conditions today. Extremely critical fire weather, with southwesterly winds gusting from 30-60 mph, locally stronger in favored downslope areas, along with relative humidity from 5-15% will be most likely across northern Arizona into eastern Utah, western Colorado and far northwestern New Mexico. These conditions are extraordinarily rare for late June, and impacts will likely be severe. Widespread elevated to critical conditions will otherwise persist from Nevada and the deserts of southern California into the greater Four Corners and far southern Wyoming. Well below average temperatures for the end of June will be the rule farther west and north, with widespread rain showers, embedded thunderstorms and even some mountain snow across the northern Intermountain West. Hot and unstable conditions with scattered afternoon thunderstorms will continue for the coastal Southeast, while some flash flooding is possible in the Tennessee Valley. Expect scattered thunderstorms over central and eastern Interior Alaska, with some hot and dry conditions continuing from the northwestern Interior to the Yukon Flats. National Predictive Services Outlook (7-Day Significant Fire Potential Outlook) National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center: Fire Weather Outlook Map and discussion National Weather Service: Fire Weather Hazards Map National Weather Service, Weather Prediction Center: National Forecast Chart and Short Range Forecast Discussion 6 Minutes for Safety topics can be found here.
Daily statistics
Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk
Approximately three miles west of Darwin Ranch, near upper Gros Ventre Falls in the Gros Ventre Wilderness on the Jackson Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest (34 Miles NW of Cora, WY)
