Victor, ID – After nearly a week of heavy water delivery by airtankers and engines, the Tie fire did not grow Monday.

Additional handcrews and engines arrived Monday to support water handling and line construction efforts. Crews on the southern flanks successfully “plumbed” water lines which firefighters can now use to extinguish hot spots. The art of connecting hoses, pumps and maintaining adequate pressure through mountainous terrain is referred to as plumbing a hoselay. These hoselays will reduce the need for aircraft support and speed containment efforts that will take place over the next several days.

A taskforce of eight engines are assigned to the northern flank of the fire. They will spend today and tomorrow working 200 feet into the fire area to thoroughly look for heat and hot spots. On Monday, these firefighters observed several interior trees torching that required attention. They extinguished the spot and will ensure additional hot spots were not created in the flare up. Winds from the south will help firefighters find hot spots today and tomorrow. They are working to ensure no heat remains in order to allow a Level 1 evacuation notice that has been in place since August 23 can be lifted sometime later this week.

There are no fire restrictions in place on the Caribou – Targhee National Forest in Idaho; however, open burning is not allowed in Teton County, Wyoming. For more information about Idaho Fire Restrictions, visit: http://www.idahofireinfo.com/p/fire-restrictions.html. Information about Wyoming fire restrictions can be found at: http://www.tetonwyo.org/fire.

Weather and fuel conditions in Eastern Idaho are currently drier and more severe than normal. Starting Wednesday or Thursday of this week, a slight cool down may be occurring with chances of moisture. Behind the front the weather may warm up for a few days, but cooler wet weather is expected in the 8-14 day outlook. While enjoying the outdoors, please use caution if you must use a campfire or other equipment that may cause a spark.

The Teton County ID Sherriff’s Office will be holding a Code Red Registration Opportunity August 31 from 5:00- 7:00pm at the Law Enforcement Center in Driggs, ID. This Opportunity is being held to help residents sign up for the Notification System. For more information about the Code Red Notification System, or to sign up, please visit the Teton Country Sherriff’s Office web page at: http://www.tetoncountysheriff.com/

Teachers and students are returning to school this week. Firefighters are using use extra caution when driving in the communities. Fire traffic will be on the highway to access the fire area. Please use caution while driving, especially along Pine Creek Summit and west of Victor where a helibase has been established.

A high pressure weather system is building. This is making conditions warmer and dryer than yesterday. This system will increase movement of the upper air mass, with will make smoke columns stand up and become more visible. When the air mass cools, smoke will drop into the valley. Please stay indoors if air quality becomes poor. To view smoke information, visit the Idaho Smoke Blog spot at: http://idsmoke.blogspot.com

Evacuations In Effect: No mandatory evacuations are in effect. A Level One evacuation notice is in effect for residents and property owners south of 10000 South; east of Highway 31, west of 1000 West (Pole Canyon Road) and west of Highway 31, south of 9000 South.

Area/Trail Closures: A Tie Canyon Fire Area Closure is in effect. This includes areas west of Pole Canyon, Tie Canyon Road 252 and Upper Rainey Creek Road 253. To view a map of this area closure, visit: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/…/relate…/pict20160726-155651-0.jpeg

Photo: Incident Meteorologist takes weather reading to determine temperature, humidity and wind speed. Photo by Steve Cobb, Fire Behavior Analyst, Team 5.

Map of Fire area as of Aug. 30.

Teton County Idaho Teton County Fire & Rescue City of Victor U.S. Forest Service – Caribou-Targhee National Forest