Figure 8. — Valley fire storm area. 



The Roman Nose lookout had left the area 

 to meet the pickup in Falls Creek. At 1930 he 

 encountered a large spot fire blocking any 

 further advance toward Falls Creek and 

 turned back to the lookout. About 20 min- 

 utes later at 1950 the entire west slope of 

 Apache Ridge appeared to ignite simultane- 

 ously. Observers at the Pack River fire camp 

 stated no flame was visible one minute and 

 the next the whole slope was aflame. The tur- 

 bulent winds, convective and radiant preheat- 

 ing, and the firebrands lofted by the whirls 

 evidently contributed to the ignition process. 

 The fire swiftly moved up the slope and devel- 

 oped into a crowning fire. Rate of spread ac- 

 celerated as the fire approached the ridgeline 

 and firebrands were cast far in advance of the 

 front. The convection column reached an alti- 

 tude of 31,000 ft. at 2000 (fig. 9). 



The pickup sent for the Roman Nose look- 

 out entered Falls Creek about 1930 and was 

 buffeted by extremely strong winds and dust 

 devils as he headed for the Roman Nose Creek 

 crossing. The dust devils occurred rather regu- 

 larly and were estimated to be between 10 

 and 25 ft. in diameter. 



2100. After sweeping over Apache Ridge 

 and moving into Falls and Roman Nose drain- 



ages, the fire slowed. It was still a crowning fire, 

 sometimes with flames moving horizontally 

 through the crowns. Between about 2015 and 

 2100, the lookout observed spot fires far ahead 

 of the front in Falls Creek; large spot fires were 

 also seen above Roman Nose Lake No. 1. 

 Meanwhile the pickup had reached Roman 

 Nose Creek crossing. The driver saw fire to the 

 west and southwest moving toward him. Upon 

 turning around and leaving the area, he saw 

 firebrands and large embers flying horizontally. 



At 2025, a spot fire started at the mouth 

 of Snow Creek and at 2045 another started in 

 Myrtle Creek (see foldout map). These spot 

 fires were at least 10 miles in advance of the 

 main front. In addition, numerous firebrands 

 were falling to the ground at the intermediate 

 distances. The spot fires observed from Black 

 Mountain burned as both heading and backing 

 fires, and one was observed to spread sudden- 

 ly in all directions, developing a radial pattern 

 of fire spread. At the same time, the convec- 

 tion column rose to 35,000 ft. and the pilot 

 observer felt it was continuing to build. 

 Long-range firebrands were being transported 

 by at least two possible mechanisms: 



1. By being carried aloft in the convection 

 column, then entering the influence of the 



8 



