The following is from a conversation with Don Howard who is running the operation on Mt. Hopkins. There has been little change in the past 24 hours. The fire is being held to the east face of Jack Mt. (~ 1 mile from FLWO) by helicopter slurry tankers. It has broken over the top of Jack Mt. a few times and has been forced back by the slurry tankers. The fire front southeast from jack mountain has not moved much. I asked Don if there was any chance they could permanently stop the fire at Jack Mt. Don said it was unlikely that they could stop the fire there permanently. There are about ten fire engines on the ridge and at the summit. The engines and the crews will be staying at the ridge dorm FLWO all night. The long term plan remains to put down a lot of retardant near FLWO and light back fires when the fire breaks through. This backfire could occur any time if there is a breakthrough. As I write this at the basecamp, the first thunder storm of the summer has developed on the mountain. It is a strong storm with lots of wind and rain.

DSC02692.JPG = Slurry tanker dipping near the FLWO basecamp.



DSC02701.JPG = Saturday morning fire map