Montgomery County News, Thursday March 23 2006, page 1

It took five days, local fire crews and out of state fire crews, an inter-tribal crew composed 20 Iowa and Cherokee Native Americans from Oklahoma and 20 Northwest Regulars from Washington State, a Type 2, Initial Attack group, and three days of rain to finally stop the spreading "No Man's Land Fire" in southwest Montgomery County, Arkansas. 8,123 acres was burned. Four fires were first reported to the local ranger stations on Monday, March 13 after a storm Sunday night.  Three were quickly put out. The one fire that started on Bear Den Mountain about seven miles west of Black Springs on Highway 8 and one and a half miles south of the pavement from a lightening strike grew for a few days and then exploded from the initial 700 acres. The fire spread south onto Statehouse Mountain.

The crews lined up along Roads 43 and 73 and started back fires. The back burn fires burned up the undergrowth and denied the main fire the fuel necessary to continue spreading. The fire was also stopped to the east by a defensive position along Polk Creek. Over flights were later done to determine if there were any hot spots and the extent of the damage done.

SO # P-Code Date 	District IQCS and Incident Numbers 	   Fire Name 
41 P8CD5X   3/13/2006 	CAD/WOM  IQCS ID 00000059293 AR-OUF-006291 NO MANS LAND 

MARCH 16 -- TULSA, OK:  The Southern Area Coordination Center (SACC) reported that initial attack yesterday included over 200 fires in Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Virginia. The No Man's Land Fire in Arkansas was at 300 acres this morning with zero containment, and reported tonight at 2,000 acres with 20 percent containment.

The fire started on Monday in Montgomery County west of Little Rock and had air tankers on it today after proving a challenge yesterday; it's burning in heavy fuels with thick underbrush, and yesterday burned through retardant lines and jumped fire lines. The fire's in steep rocky terrain in a remote area with difficult access. The fire's burning in hardwood litter and deadfall from the ice storm that hit the area hard almost six years ago, with six or eight feet of brush growing up since then through the deadfall of the 2000 storm.  More than 50 personnel are assigned to the fire.

Hot Springs, AR - A large wildfire on the Ouachita National Forest in Montgomery County continues to burn. The fire, named "No Mans Land Fire", is located on the Caddo/Womble Ranger District, 7 miles west of Black Springs and south of Highway 8. The fire was 65% contained as of Saturday morning. It is expected to be 100% contained by nightfall. Lightning is believed to have caused the fire, which has already burned approximately 8,000 acres. Current resources working this fire include helicopters from the Mena Helibase, tankers and lead planes from Ardmore, Oklahoma, dozers, engines, and 75 personnel including two firefighting crews along with local resources.

Ouachita wildfire burns 10,000 acres
Posted on 3/17/2006 by Sandra Kirk
The Ouachita National Forest is dealing with its largest wildfire in over forty years. The fire has spread across Montgomery County south of the communities of Norman and Black Springs along Highway 8 about 50 miles west of Hot Springs. By late Friday It had grown to a size of nearly 10,000 acres.  What started with a lightning strike last Sunday and a 10-acre fire grew rapidly late this week. Jim Burton with the U.S. Forest Service says when the wind changed yesterday fighting the flames became much more difficult. "There is backcountry here, real steep and rocky. We've had a lot snags to contend with so we've had a hard time getting it contained. So we've backed off to the roads that surround the area," says Burton. This is the largest fire in the Ouachita National Forest since the early 1960’s and is highly unusual. However, a large build up of fuels over several decades combined with a severe ice storm six years ago, allowed the fire to spread. Forestry Service firefighters from the state of Washington worked all day setting a nearly eight mile backline of fire to try and contain the blaze. Dubbed the "No Man's Land Fire" because of the rugged and remote terrain, it has grown to a size threatening homes in the area. "It was in the middle of nowhere, but it has progressed out into civilization,” says Burton. “Here along Highway 8 near Norman and Black Springs there are several residences, we have contingency lines around all of those." The Forestry Service considered the wildfire still uncontained late Friday, but by mid day Saturday they anticipate that will change for the better. Monitoring will continue over the weekend, and forecasted rain will help bring it fully under control.

A forest fire that had been growing slowly all week exploded into a remote and rugged part of the Ouachita National Forest on Friday, consuming thousands of acres, a U. S. Forest Service official said. The fire, triggered by lightning Sunday, had burned 800 acres by Thursday and Forest Service officials had expected it to grow, U. S. Forest Service spokesman Debbie Ugbade said. And grow it did. By early Friday evening the fire, named No Man’s Land for its remote locale, had ravaged 5, 000 to 7, 000 acres, Ugbade said. “Our priority is still protecting people and property,” she said. Fire crews took steps to protect 10 homes and a church, she said, but no evacuations were ordered. “It is the largest fire on the Caddo Ranger District in history and possibly on the forest since 1960 s,” Ugbade said of the fire seven miles west of Black Springs in Montgomery County. The blaze was expected to grow to 10, 000 acres before crews could contain it. By late Friday the fire was 35 percent contained. Ugbade said the fire should be contained this afternoon with some help from Mother Nature. “I hope we have rain,” she said. In the meantime, fire crews from Oklahoma and Washington along with 15 to 20 employees from the Natural State were using backburns and relying on rural roads for break lines, Ugbade said. Helicopters from the Mena Helibase dropped water, and large Forest Service tankers capable of dropping 2, 500 gallons of retardant, made drops as well. Ugbade was not sure how many drops were made Friday but said the tankers made four drops Thursday. “We’re mostly fighting it from the air because of the rough terrain,” she said. “We can’t actually get in there to fight the fire.”

Wildfires have plenty of dry timber and brush to feed off, but rain expected this weekend should ease conditions. Last year was the second-driest on record, prompting burn bans across the state in December and January. During a typical year, wildfires burn about 9, 500 acres from January to March, according to the Arkansas Forestry Commission. Through March 15 of this year, 21, 050 acres had burned. Wildfire season starts in October and goes through the end of April.

The National Weather Service calls for widespread rain across the state this weekend. But dry, cool weather should return by early next week. The service was calling for a 90 percent chance of rain today and again Sunday in the Ouachita National Forest, which includes parts of Garland, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Polk, Saline and Scott counties. The national forest covers 1. 8 million acres, stretching from central Arkansas to southeast Oklahoma. When there is a lack of rain, the fire danger usually increases.
 
Beneficial rain fell in Arkansas on March 18th through the 20th. It was the biggest rainfall event of the year thus far, with 3 to 5 inch amounts common in much of southern Arkansas. Parts of the southwest received over 6 inches. By contrast, precipitation was limited in northern and eastern sections of the state...with less than an inch of rain reported in some cases. Mt Ida 5.67" Seventy two hour rainfall totals through 12 am CST on 03/21/2006.

U-S Forest Service spokeswoman said the fire was started by lightning last Sunday. She said it had burned about 800 acres by Thursday in an area west of Black Springs in Montgomery County, but then spread rapidly yesterday. Jim Burton, fire team leader for the Forest Service in Oklahoma and Arkansas, said conditions in the forest allowed the fire to expand rapidly. He said the area had not had fire in it for decades. According to Burton, some of the old-timers in the area say they haven't seen fire on the mountains in at least 50 years. He said that had allowed a tremendous amount of buildup of fuel on the forest floor. Burton said the fire was likely to spread over about ten-thousand acres before firefighters are able to contain it. But he said they hoped to achieve that by tonight. As of mid-morning today, he said the fire was 60 to 65 percent contained.

Rains quench national forest wildfire by Katherine Marks, Arkansas Democrat  3/21/2006