A new fire team took over management of the six-week-old Swan Lake Fire north of Sterling and Cooper Landing on Monday. The Eastern Area Incident Management Team Type 2 assumed command at 8 o'clock Monday morning.
In an announcement, the fire managers note that 50 percent of all fire-related objectives have been completed, and that 440 personnel were assigned to the Swan Lake response.
The fire grew to almost 101,000 acres, with most of the active burning taking place on the eastern flank where it continues to smolder in the Chickaloon River, Thurman Creek, and Mystery Creek drainages.
The western flank has been kept in check by a combination of wetlands and man-made control lines. Fire managers report that mopping up smoldering hotspots remains a challenge due to the extremely dry fuels that are susceptible to ignition.
Despite the rain over the past few days, the fire managers report that very little has fallen on the active fire area, and despite the cooler temperatures, fuels remain abnormally dry.
Fire managers are also asking the public to keep drone and small plane traffic from the fire area. By policy, all firefighting aircraft must be grounded when civilian aircraft, including drones, are in the vicinity, delaying their response to the fire. Over the weekend, firefighting helicopters were grounded twice, first for a drone and then a small plane that entered the restricted airspace.
