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National Fire Plan Success Story

Neola North Incident
Ashley National Forest, Idaho
National Fire Plan - Firefighting

The Neola fire started north of Neola, Utah on June 29, 2007, on private lands, but quickly spread onto the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservations and Ashley National Forest. The primary objective for the incident management team was the protection of life and property, particularly the community of Whiterocks where a full evacuation was in place. 

A Wildland Fire Situation Analysis (WFSA) was signed on June 30th with a strategy emphasizing protection of the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Priority for suppression actions was assigned to Tribal and private lands, where several residences and commercial developments were located.

On July 2, the WFSA was revised because the fire burned past the desired perimeter. A new WFSA was developed and signed on July 3. The revised WFSA did not involve a substantial change in strategy, but re-emphasized the protection of high value areas. This required additional flanking actions on Forest Service lands to prevent fire spread southward onto non-Forest Service lands. Both WFSAs selected an alternative based on the Appropriate Management Response.

In an effort to inform further strategic decision-making, the Region arranged for a contract team to conduct a long-term fire assessment analysis of the northern portion of the Neola fire. Their focus was to analyze the potential for fire growth to the west, southwest, north and northeast.  In addition, Fire Spread Probability (FS Pro) and Rapid Assessment of Values at Risk (RAVAR) analyses were conducted. 

With the use of these tools, it is estimated that $7 million in suppression funds were saved due to strategic choices about how to contain the fire.