The Rail fire produced a plume of smoke Thursday, which is precisely what fire managers wanted.

Crews ignited fires to burn fuel between control lines and the interior of the blaze, which has burned 12,200 acres since it started July 31.

Firefighters are using this “burnout” tactic to strengthen those lines to prepare for a possible increase in fire activity as temperatures rise and humidities fall this weekend, said Bernie Pineda, a spokesman at the fire camp at Burnt River School in Unity.

More burnouts are planned today and Saturday, Pineda said.

A test burnout Thursday was a sort of litmus test to make sure further burnout operations behave as predicted, Pineda said.

“It was like clockwork,” he said. “It did everything it was supposed to do. The weather was at a point where it worked to our advantage. We lit it at the perfect time. The fire moved in the direction that we wanted it to go.”

The same weather pattern is expected to continue through today and Saturday. Pineda said more extensive burnout operations are planned for today and continuing through Saturday as long as weather conditions remain favorable.

Crews start burnouts at the edge of “indirect” control lines, of which they have built 34 miles. These lines are not at the edge of the fire, but range from one-half to two miles away.

See more in the Aug. 12, 2016, issue of the Baker City Herald.