The fire remains squarely within the 2008 Buckhorn, Eagle, Miners and Cedar Fire footprints. Type converted brush and a heavy dead and down component dominate most areas. Fuels to the north of Hayfork are characterized as widely spaced mixed conifer and grass. All live fuels are cured to levels normally seen in late September.

Fire is fuels driven resulting from extended and extreme/enhanced drought with influence of steep slopes and

winds. Several small, short

duration runs, exhibiting moderate fire behavior, occurred

late in the burn period yesterday. Activity was associated with partial clearing

of smoke and adequate ventilation

to allow fire behavior to increase. Flanking and backing

fires consumed all surface fuels

with moderate flame lengths and

rates of spread. Minimal surface

wind allowed smoke to remain over

the majority of the fire and created a cap which limited fire

behavior. Moderate overnight

RH recovery has been consistent for the past 3 nights.

Provide structure defense for the communities of Burnt Ranch, Friedrich Road, Hawkins Bar, Trinity Village, Cedar Flat, Underwood Mountain, 9-Mile Bridge, and Bar 717.

In the southwest segment of the fire, patrol and mop-up along Corral Bottom Road/47 Road and Prodigy site. Continue direct handline down Haypress Road. Continue developing and improving primary indirect line along Pattison Road to Pattison Ridge, Pattison Peak Road, down through Halfway Ridge and east to Jud Creek tying in at Nine Mile Bridge to connect with the South

Zone.

Monitor fire on north side of the Trinity River backing west off of Ironside Mountain. Fire is backing into the confluence of

the New and Trinity Rivers at this point and if established to the west, resistance to control will be problematic. Patrol and secure current fire line

around structures within the communities of Don Juan Point east through Big Flat along the Highway 299 corridor.

Provide structure defense for the communities from Helena east through Junction City and north along Canyon Creek and

the East Fork of the North Fork Trinity River. Scout for opportunities for indirect line north of the New River from Happy Camp Mountain to the confluence of the Trinity River. Take action on any spots across and west of the New River. Prepare structures along the New River from Five Waters northward towards Denny.

Continue to prep structures in Canyon Creek. Evaluate options for managing fire to keep from progressing east of the East Fork of the North Fork and impacting values of risk to the east. This may include burning out along the East Fork and Hobo Gulch Road and implementing dozer line along Backbone Ridge within the Trinity Alps Wilderness.

Continue mop-up and patrol activities to build depth and containment lines. Due to limited firefighting resources, crews will be surged to areas with more active fire behavior where they will continue constructing line and engaging in structure defense as needed.

12 hours: Active fire growth will

likely occur in areas where the

smoke clears. All fuels remain

critically dry and Energy Release Components have increased over the past few days as daytime clearing has allowed fuels to dry

out more. High resistance to control is being observed on spot

fires and slop-overs. Dry conditions will contribute to the

potential for spotting and active

surface fire. Moderate to high

fire spread and flame lengths are

anticipated in all areas where

established fire has smoke clear

out enough to allow solar heating

and max predicted temperatures to

be reached. Even under smoke covered conditions, the fire could see moderate growth in all

areas of uncontained line.

24 hours: Potential for active

fire behavior with high resistance to control is likely

in areas where the smoke clears.

Predicted winds likely will bring

in smoke from the River Complex

and reduce ventilation on the northern and eastern fringes of

the fire. The possibility of clearing and ventilation is reduced from previous burn periods as a north to northeast

flow will likely push smoke into

drainages. Expect moderate fire

behavior to develop in areas with

established fire in areas that the smoke clears out by late afternoon, mainly on ridges.

Observed Weather: A ridge of high

pressure over the eastern Pacific

strengthened westward which

funneled a dry northerly flow

across the region and blanketed

much of the Monument fire under

smoke through midday. Overnight

humidity recovery was generally

moderate to good and ranged from

45-70%. Low temperatures were in

the 50s.

Smoke from fires to the

north lingered through early

afternoon, but temperatures still

warmed about 3-8 degrees above

yesterday under the strengthening ridge with highs in the low 80s on ridges to low 90s in valleys. Smoke shifted eastward with partial clearing across Branch 1 in the late afternoon and early evening, with weaker up-canyon wind flow today compared to yesterday with west to northwest

winds across ridges. Minimum

humidity fell into the 13-25%

range.

Saturday Outlook: Hot and critically dry weather with transitioning winds will impact

the fire Saturday under light

offshore flow. Conditions will be

more unstable but many areas of

the fire will remain capped due to lingering smoke. Critically

low humidity in the teens is expected with poor overnight

recovery Saturday night.