DAYVILLE — The Rail Ridge Fire grew by about 1,000 acres even as containment levels continued to rise and a new management team took over the response, fire managers said in an update issued Thursday, Oct. 3.

The fire, burning just south of Dayville, now covers 167,718 acres and is 89% contained, with 795 personnel assigned to the blaze.

Northwest Complex Incident Management Team 8, led by Incident Commander Brian Ebert, assumed command of the Rail Ridge Fire Thursday morning at 6 a.m., taking over from Alaska Complex Incident Management Team 3.

On Wednesday, calmer winds across the fire area led to subdued fire growth. The additional acreage burned was on the west/northwest area of the fire in the Black Canyon Wilderness in Honeymoon Creek.

The tactical burning accomplished previously on the southern edge of the wilderness is still holding as a strong containment feature. Around the other contained areas of the fire, firefighters continued mop-up, patrol and suppression repair.

The northern edge of the fire still has areas of fire perimeter which remain uncontained due to inaccessible terrain. Firefighters will continue to monitor these areas and work toward containment as they can safely engage.

Wednesday, the fire team will continue to assess the fire activity in the wilderness and have management action points in place and be prepared to act on them as the fire progresses.

Firefighters continue to construct contingency control lines and strengthen containment in the Black Canyon Wilderness, adding depth to lines that are already in place.

Fire activity Thursday is expected to be similar to Wednesday. Even with the cooler night temperatures, the critically dry fuels will continue to burn and smoke will be visible across the fire footprint. The contained areas of the fire will continue to be patrolled and mopped up. Suppression repairs are ongoing with resource advisors.

A cold start in the morning hoursThursday will lead to similar temperatures as Wednesday in the low 70s. Winds will be light and mostly terrain-driven across the fire area. Dry conditions will persist with stronger winds from the southwest on Friday.

Level 1 evacuations in the Grant County portion of the fire area were dropped Wednesday and the Level 2 evacuations remain. Wheeler County evacuations remain the same.

For current evacuation levels for all affected counties, visit https://linktr.ee/RailRidgeFire.

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have implemented closures for the Rail Ridge Fire. For more details and closure maps, visit https://linktr.ee/RailRidgeFire.

Acres: 167,718

Containment: 89%

Detection: 09/02/24

Cause: Lightning

Personnel: 795