North Schell Escaped RX 2012

The North Schell Prescribed Fire project area is located in the Schell Creek Range, 20 miles northeast of Ely, Nevada on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The prescription called for high-intensity crown fire to consume the fir trees. A test fire was conducted on June 9 using hand-ignition in an isolated stand about 20 acres in size. On June 12, crews began aerial ignition with a helicopter on the target area, a fir stringer with intermittent aspen, approximately 600 acres in size. Ignition occurred in the upper-most portion of the stand. Once the ignition area began to grow in intensity, short-range spotting started to occur, spreading fire brands below the main fire—encouraging downhill fire spread. As nighttime was approaching and crews headed for their vehicles, a spot fire was detected approximately 0.75 mile down drainage, positioned in the mouth of a treacherous ravine. Over the next several days, firefighting efforts continued to keep the fire from spreading further. At 1135 hours on June 17, the fire was declared a wildfire. Final fire size was 12,047 total acres, including 480 acres of private lands and 3,343 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. One residence and several historic structures were also damaged or destroyed by the resulting wildfire.