Fire Resources Respond to Jordan Fire

The Jordan Fire, located in the Golden Trout Wilderness near Jordan Hot Springs, was detected yesterday afternoon. The fire is approximately 150 acres and burning in the 2002 McNally fire footprint. At this time the fire appears to be caused by lightning that was in the area over the last week. This is a full suppression fire response. The priorities are firefighter safety, protection of one private inholding located at Soda Flat, and protecting wilderness characteristics in the Golden Trout Wilderness.

Being in the old fire scar makes direct firefighting tactics difficult due to the amount of standing dead trees, dead and down logs, and thick decadent brush. Crews will be shuttled in by helicopter today to assess conditions and to identify tactics that can be safely employed. 1 helicopter, 2 crews, and 1 engine are committed to the fire with more resources on order. The Inyo National Forest’s Type 3 Organization has been activated.

Smoke has been impacting the Kernville area, especially at night, however no other smoke impacts have been reported.

Incident Start Date: 6/09/2019
Cause: Unknown
Size: 325 acres
Containment: 0%
Incident Type: Full Suppression
Vegetation Type: Brush and timber
Agency: Inyo National Forest, U.S Forest Service
Resources Assigned: Engines: 1 Helicopters: 3 Crews: 5 Total Personnel: 146
Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6384/

Current Situation: The Inyo National Forest Type 3 Incident Management Team is managing the Jordan Fire. The fire is burning in the Golden Trout Wilderness near Soda Flat south of Nine Mile Creek. The fire is approximately 26 miles southwest of Lone Pine, California. Dead standing and down timber from the 2002 McNally Fire and Whitethorn brush are the principle vegetation burning in the steep, rugged terrain.

Today firefighters are being flown by helicopter to the Jordan Spike Camp from the Lone Pine Airport. Crews will camp near the fire to increase firefighting efficiency. Crews will develop an anchor point to begin fire line construction. “The Jordan Fire is burning in steep, rugged country with snag hazards that will challenge the crews building line. Providing for firefighter safety is the highest priority for every fire fighter, fire manager and agency employee assigned to this fire.” said Tammy Randall-Parker, Forest Supervisor of the Inyo National Forest. Opportunities for direct line construction along the fire edge on the east and west sides of the fire will be scouted. Other crews will provide point protection on the private inholding as necessary at nearby Soda Flat and scout indirect fire lines away from the fire edge towards Manzanita Knob.

Most people will not see any evidence of the fire given its remote location. But those living or visiting in the Kern River Valley will be impacted by drift smoke particularly in the morning hours. The Jordan Fire is burning in the Kern River drainage approximately 33 miles north of Kernville, California. During the day smoke from the fire is carried to the southwest toward Inyokern and Ridgecrest, but at night smoke from the fire settles into the canyons and valleys and flows south down the Kern River impacting the communities of Kernville and Lake Isabela.