Fire crews working the Carter Canyon wildfire got a bit of a break Monday overnight into Tuesday, as weather conditions became more favorable to minimize spread of the burn area.
In a Tuesday morning briefing, Incident Commander and Gering Fire Chief Nathan Flowers said it was a good night as the fire laid down and activity slowed.
Incident PIO Ben Bohall says total acres impacted as of Tuesday morning was 15,630, an increase of just under 40 acres from Monday afternoon, but containment lines dropped slightly from 33 to 30 percent due to the increase in the overall burn area.
Flowers said there were three pockets of heat that were still areas of concern as fire crews worked to keep the burn area south of Robidoux Road, west of the Peaceful Valley area, north of the Banner County line and east of Carter Canyon Road. He said goals for the day included keeping the two pockets of activity in rugged terrain on the southern lines from progressing into Banner County, as well as limiting spread of the activity on the northwestern side of the burn area.
Bohall tells KNEB News morning winds were out of the north-northwest at up to 15 mph, and monsoonal moisture anticipated later in the day could provide some additional relief with rainfall, but also the threat of lightning. He says firefighting assets for Tuesday include the two UH-60 helicopters with water buckets from the Nebraska National Guard.
Bohall said progress in the firefight meant some crews working certain divisions of the lines have been able to transition to mop-up duties, and incident command would be demobilizing about 10 crews that could be called to duty elsewhere.
