County emergency management issues evacuation alert

Published 3:33 pm Friday, September 2, 2022

GREENHORN — As the Crockett Knob Fire continues to burn on upwards of 3,000 acres and is 10% contained, the Grant County Emergency Management Office issued a Level 1 evacuation notification Friday, Sept. 2.

The evacuation area, according to the notification from the emergency management office, includes County Road 20, Middle Fork Road North, and stretches to West Greenhorn.

In an evacuation, said Eric Bush, Grant County’s emergency manager, there are three levels: ready, set, and go.

The first level, Bush said, is about knowing danger exists in the area.

Bush said if people are in the area, they need to pay attention to their surroundings and be mindful that there is a fire nearby.

“Just pay close attention to what’s going on around you,” Bush said.

Bush said the blaze is not a threat to any structures and is burning entirely on public lands. Currently, there is not a threat to private land, he said. Bush said there are very few permanent residences and some secondary homes in the area, which is 19 miles north of Prairie City.

As the county heads into Labor Day weekend and the beginning of archery hunting season, Bush said he asks that people avoid the area near the fire until the weather is more favorable. According to press release issued Friday by the Forest Service, low humidity and scorching temperatures could lead to worse conditions.

Bush said the area is popular for hunting and camping, especially during archery season and a holiday weekend. He said staying clear of the fire zone would allow  firefighters to focus on containing the fire.

“It will make (firefighters’) job much easier if we didn’t have to worry about somebody going out and getting stuck or breaking down.”

He added that the Forest Service plans to close roads in the area, so people will likely not be able to access the area anyway.

A second notice, Bush said, may or may not come that tells people the evacuation is in the second phase, the “get set” level.

In the “get set” phase, emergency personnel inform the community that fire danger is significant and residents should voluntarily relocate to shelter with family and friends outside the area.

Under a Level 3 evacuation, people must leave immediately, according to a Grant County Sheriff’s Office document on evacuation procedures.

The third phase means a fire is rapidly approaching, and if people ignore the warning, emergency crews will likely not be available to assist them, the document reads.

The Crockett Knob Fire, which was started by lightning on Aug. 22, has since grown to 3,170 acres and is 10% contained. There were 583 firefighting personnel on the scene on Friday, according to the Forest Service. 

Meanwhile, fire managers said Friday that a red flag warning will remain in effect until Saturday at 5 a.m. In addition to high heat and low humidity, increasing winds are expected for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening that could get as high as 30 mph on the ridgetops.

With the gusty winds predicted to shift out of the southwest, hotshot crews are working to strengthen containment lines and slow the spread of the fire.

Fire managers said that crews on the ground and in the air continue to hold the fire along Forest Service Road 537 and FSR 45. Smokejumpers are north of the fire are set to wrap up a shift at the Indian Rock Lookout. The crews are on hand to jump into action to battle the fire should it spread into the area.

The press release said that crews on the southern edge continued to increase containment as they mop up and eliminate heat sources threatening the line.

Fire managers said that an aggressive assault over the last two days, including helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, continued today. The water and retardant dumps in high fire activity areas help slow the spread and allow ground crews to battle the blaze along the containment lines.