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Abstract
Forty-one participants joined field trip coordinator LaWen Hollingsworth, Fire Behavior Specialist at the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, as well as local Forest Service managers, the Type I Incident Commander, and the County Sheriff’s office, to learn about management of the 2017 Lolo Peak Fire. At four stops, participants had views of the burn area, heard about management decisions and actions and the Highly Valued Resources and Assets that informed decisions, talked with a local property owner, and saw previous fuel treatments and shaded fuel breaks that were useful in the long-term management of the fire. The Lolo Peak Fire ignited in an area that had not experienced significant fire in many years, and large portions of the area were dominated by lodgepole pine and mixed conifer forests comprising 40 to 50 percent dead trees. Most recent fires had been small or effectively suppressed. Thus, fuels and forest conditions along with remote, rugged terrain made direct line construction unsafe. The location of the primary fireline was based on creating a working zone for firefighting resources that had escape routes and safety zones in areas that were less steep with fewer snags and where fuels were more favorable for successful suppression actions. Indirect line construction combined with burnout operations was chosen as the best strategy to safely manage this fire.
Parent Publication
Citation
Mutch, Linda. 2020. Lolo Peak Field Trip: From the wilderness to the wildland urban interface. In: Hood, Sharon M.; Drury, Stacy; Steelman, Toddi; Steffens, Ron, [eds.]. Proceedings of the Fire Continuum-Preparing for the future of wildland fire; 2018 May 21-24; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-78. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 342-347.
