May 22. Mop-up? The Frye Mesa fire was initially a controlled burn that got out of control. After we lost on the 21st it grew from about 250 acres to well over a 1000. Today we split ground and started cold trailing the edge of the fire and moping up heat. In part of our ground the fire had burned into a drainage with thicker brush. As weather got hotter and drier smoke started to pick up. Our progress had been slow due to the amount of work we found. Around noon a couple of us noticed smoke picking up in the drainage. Our Foreman Jeff scouted it out and ordered both squads to a acre fire that was growing fast. The squad I was assigned to reach the flame front first. Some how we managed to anchor and catch the fire before air support could get off the ground. If we had been a few minutes later it would have had tons more potential to get big. Also air attack and Mormon Lake IHC helped Ian catch another fire not far away from the first. Good lesson in not getting complacent on mop-up days. What is seemingly routine can get exciting in a instant.

Image by Ian Morgan