NPS/Sean Murphy Joshua Tree National Park announced today that full containment of the 273-acre Quail Fire was reached yesterday afternoon. The park's fire crew will patrol and monitor the fire site through Tuesday, as park resource specialists assess resource impacts and plan for clean-up and recovery of the fire zone. For public safety and to prevent further resource damage in the area, Acting Superintendent Kirk Diamond has established a temporary closure of the Quail Fire area until September 30, 2012. Hazards include the presence of widely scattered debris, isolated hot spots, jagged snags and limbs, root burn holes, and unstable slopes. The closure will also protect fragile slopes and soils from the establishment of social trails, from the introduction of exotic seeds, and from erosion during the monsoon season. The temporary closure will also allow soils and ash time to stabilize and give natural regenerative processes time to begin. Exotic grasses have played a significant role in changing the park's fire ecology toward more frequent and more intense fires. These grasses favor disturbed soils so the closure is intended to facilitate the establishment of native vegetation and minimize the spread of exotics. Joshua Tree National Park wishes to extend its thanks to firefighters and support personnel from the following agencies and units who assisted in fighting the Quail Fire:
All park roads and visitor facilities are open for normal summer operations. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015