InciWeb Articles & Incidents for Washington and Oregon

Community Meeting: Methow Valley Community Center, in Twisp, Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 6:30 a.m. August 20, 2018 @ 8:00 a.m. Crescent Mountain Fire: 23,764 acres; 34 percent contained ● Personnel: 454 ● Point of Origin: Approximately 21 miles west of Twisp ● Start Date: July 29, 2018 ● Cause: Lightning McLeod Fire: 13,451 acres; five percent contained ● Personnel: 408 ● Point of Origin: Approximately eight miles north of Mazama ● Start Date: August 11, 2018 ● Cause: Lightning Holman Fire: 110 acres, no containment · Point of Origin: Holman Peak · Start Date: August 17, 2018 · Cause: Unknown Current Activity: Crescent Mountain Fire: Firefighters continued monitoring and holding along the Twisp River between Poplar Flat and Slate Lake. Fire continues creeping down Snowshoe Ridge toward Eagle Creek. Wind impacts were minimal last night on the whole fire. Today, crews will continue assessing the situation in the Eagle Creek area and the west part of...

Community Meeting: Methow Valley Community Center, in Twisp, Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 6:30 p.m. August 20, 2018 @ 8:00 a.m. Crescent Mountain Fire: 23,764 acres; 34 percent contained ● Personnel: 454 ● Point of Origin: Approximately 21 miles west of Twisp ● Start Date: July 29, 2018 ● Cause: Lightning McLeod Fire: 13,451 acres; five percent contained ● Personnel: 408 ● Point of Origin: Approximately eight miles north of Mazama ● Start Date: August 11, 2018 ● Cause: Lightning Holman Fire: 110 acres, no containment · Point of Origin: Holman Peak · Start Date: August 17, 2018 · Cause: Unknown Current Activity: Crescent Mountain Fire: Firefighters continued monitoring and holding along the Twisp River between Poplar Flat and Slate Lake. Fire continues creeping down Snowshoe Ridge toward Eagle Creek. Wind impacts were minimal last night on the whole fire. Today, crews will continue assessing the situation in the Eagle Creek area and the west part of...

Yesterday’s Activities: The Miles Fire is now 33,204 acres and 38 percent contained. Minimal fire growth has allowed crews to shift to more active areas, including Elkhorn Peak. The north end of the Miles Fire and the south side of the Columbus Fire continue to work their way through greener vegetation towards each other. Today’s Activities: Firefighters will continue mop up and patrol as needed along the southern half of the Miles Fire and the northern edge of the Columbus Fire. Hazardous trees (snags) will be removed along travel routes and where mop up activities will be taking place. Crews are monitoring fire behavior and fuel conditions in the gap between the two fires, where forest fuels have greater moisture content and fire movement is slow. Team Transition: On Monday, August 20, the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team (IMT) 2 transferred command to the Pacific Northwest Team (IMT) 2 led by Incident Commander Chris Schulte. Oregon Department of Forestry IMT 3...

Fire Red Flag warning today and tonight due to low relative humidity and gusty east-northeast winds. Winds will increase today after inversion lift. This should aid in clearing heavy, pooled smoke in the lower valleys and provide good visibility for air operations. The combination of gusty winds and dry conditions will also lead to more active fire behavior today. Smoke Increasing winds today from a recent cold front passage. Winds will clear out much of the smoke in the forecast area but there will still be lingering smoke throughout the day. More active fire behavior on local fires could produce more smoke in communities closest to the fires. Smoke will settle back into the valleys in the evening but not as thick as yesterday. Overall air quality will improve for all forecast areas today and tomorrow. Other An "Air Quality Alert" has been posted for the forecast area. Unhealthy air will be common in all forecast areas. Under these air quality...

8/20 Natchez Fire UpdateCommunity Meeting: There will be a Fire Information meeting at 6:00pm Tuesday evening, August 21, 2018 at the Grange in Happy Camp, CA. Weather: It will be partly cloudy, warm and dry with areas of smoke. SW to NW terrain-driven winds at 0 to 4 mph will prevail across the fire during the afternoon with winds continuing to shift northeasterly along ridges overnight. Ridgetop winds will be SW to NW at 3-7 mph with gusts up to 10 mph. An upper level low pressure system is predicted to move in Monday through Wednesday. There is a chance of a thunderstorm later in the week. Max temperatures are forecasted to be 82 to 92 degrees. Yesterday’s Activities: Patrol and mop-up occurred along the primary fireline from the South Fork Indian Creek to the southern tip of the fire. Low intensity hand firing continued to secure the primary fire line on the south part of the fire. Patrol and mop-up around the structures in this area also occurred. Fallers and heavy...

Acreage: 38,023 Containment: 35 percent Personnel: 1,070 A community fire information briefing is planned for 6:00 p.m. tonight at the Plain Community Church, 12565 Chapel Drive in Plain, Washington. Fire officials will provide information about operations, as well as current and projected fire behavior. Cougar Creek Fire: A change in prevailing winds pushed the fire in a southwesterly direction Saturday night and Sunday, leading to a Level 1 (BE READY) Advisory Notification for areas west of the Cougar Creek Fire. While smoke continues to be a major concern, and limits the use of aircraft in fighting fire, it did have a moderating effect on fire behavior and temperatures yesterday. On the eastern flank of the fire, crews continued with mop-up and structure protection. To the west, firefighters were actively engaged along the primary containment lines while continuing to construct and improve alternate and contingency lines. With today’s Red Flag Warning for ridgetop winds,...

Community Meetings Cave Junction - Monday, August 20, 6 p.m at Illinois Valley High School, 625 E River St., Cave Junction, OR Agness - Monday, August 20, 6 p.m. at the Agness Community Library, 3905 Cougar Lane. Agness, OR Gold Beach - Tuesday, August 21, 6 p.m. at the Curry County Fairgrounds in the Curry Showcase Building, 29392 Ellensburg Avenue, Gold Beach, OR Weather Today will be another critical fire weather day, with temperatures climbing into the 80s, relative humidities falling into the high teens to lower 20 percent range, and northeast wind gusts of 20 mph or higher in the afternoon. Taylor Creek Fire and Klondike Fire East The Alaska Incident Management Team is managing Taylor Creek Fire and Klondike Fire East. Firefighters working day and night have made progress, shown by a spike in containment on both fires today. Containment on the Taylor Creek Fire rose from 61 to 79 percent Sunday while containment on the Klondike Fire increased from 15 to 28...

Kettle Falls, WA - The Boyds Fire is located 3 miles west of Kettle Falls, WA. The footprint of the fire remains 3249 acres and is currently 49 percent contained. The fire continues to burn in grass, brush and timber. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Yesterday, crews continued burn operations along the west side of the fire line. Work completed over the last few days is being monitored through the night, with crews mopping up hot spots and flareups. Crews continued mopping up on the east side of the fire along Highway 20 and much of this area is in patrol status. Crews have continued to secure the containment line along Nancy Creek by installing hose lays and sprinklers. Today, crews will continue prepping an indirect firing line along the western edge of the fire. Masticators, excavators, feller bunchers and other heavy equipment will be used to strengthen containment lines. These lines will be tested throughout the day by dry, northeasterly winds. Preparations are...

We continue our efforts to “right size” the resources assigned to the Kettle River Fire. During wildfires such as the Kettle River Fire, agency administrators and incident managers make choices to minimize the risk and focus on areas where firefighters can be the most effective. In keeping with that theme, many of the resources have been re-assigned to fires where there is a greater need such as the Tillman Surprise Fire near Loomis, WA. Many of the homeowners and citizens in this community have asked what they can do to help firefighters deal with wildland fires. The biggest help you can give a firefighter is to create a defensible space around your home or other structures. Taking individual responsibility to reduce flammable materials around homes and communities before a fire occurs can help the public and firefighters be safe. Although we understand that there is an inherent risk to what we do as firefighters, no human life is worth a home or structure; we will not put...

Public Meetings:Cave Junction - Monday, August 20, 6 p.m at Illinois Valley High School, 625 E River St., Cave Junction, OR Agness - Monday, August 20, 6 p.m. at the Agness Community Library, 3905 Cougar Lane. Agness, OR Gold Beach - Tuesday, August 21, 6 p.m. at the Curry County Fairgrounds in the Curry Showcase Building, 29392 Ellensburg Avenue, Gold Beach, OR Weather Today will be another critical fire weather day, with temperatures climbing into the 80s, relative humidities falling into the high teens to lower 20 percent range, and northeast wind gusts of 20 mph or higher in the afternoon. Taylor Creek Fire and Klondike Fire East The Alaska Incident Management Team is managing Taylor Creek Fire and Klondike Fire East. Firefighters working day and night have made progress, shown by a spike in containment on both fires today. Containment on the Taylor Creek Fire rose from 61 to 79 percent Sunday while containment on the Klondike Fire increased from 15 to 28...

Miriam Fire Update Fire Information Line: 360-481-0031 August 20, 2018 – 9 a.m. Acres: Miriam Fire – 3,146; Clear Fork Fire - 20 Percent Containment: 30% Start Date: 07/30/18 Personnel/Resources: 1-Type 2 IA hand crew, 3-Type 2 hand crews, 2-camp crews, 1-heavy lift helicopter, 1-medium lift helicopter, 1-light lift helicopter, 14-engines, 1-dozer, 8-water tenders, 2-masticators and 1-forwarder processor for 323 total personnel. Resources are being demobilized after the standard fire assignment length of 14 operational periods. Fire managers are concerned with the amount of large, active wildfires in Oregon and Washington, replacement resources maybe difficult to obtain. It is a critical time in the fire season where limited resources must be shared throughout the region. Location: Two miles east of White Pass Ski Area, within the Goat Rocks Wilderness on the Naches Ranger District, 13 miles east of Packwood, WA. Cause: Lightning Values at Risk: White Pass area and ski resort;...

Republic, WA – Mop up operations will continue as fire crews will focus on remaining hotspots, primarily at the head of the fire. Chipping of branches and small woody debris is expected to be completed by the end of the day. Tenders will be driving up and down N. Fork Trout Creek Road and Rose Valley Road to supply water for mop up operations. Yield to tenders on the road, use caution while driving in the area and respect the closed road sign at the Empire Sno-Park. The Kelly Mountain Fire started at approximately 11:00am on August 11th and was a part of eleven lightning and storm related fires reported in the Republic/Curlew/Toroda area. Local resources from US Forest Service, Washington State Department of Natural Resources along with private contractors responded to the Kelly Mountain fire that grew rapidly due to strong winds and extremely dry conditions. The fire is located south of Kelly Mountain, approximately 12 miles north of Republic. There are no structures or...

Community Meetings Tonight: There will be Fire Information meetings in the communities of Cave Junction and Agness at 6:00 pm, Monday, August 20. The meeting in Cave Junction is at Illinois Valley High School, 625 E. River Street. The meeting in Agness is at the Angess Community Library, 3905 Cougar Lane. Fire personnel from the Klondike East and Klondike West fires will give an update on the fires and answer questions from the

Please join us for a fire information briefing at the Plain Community Church on Monday, August 20 at 6:00 p.m.The address for the Plain Community Church is 12565 Chapel Dr. Leavenworth,

Blue River, OR, August 19, 2018 – Firefighting resources, including engines and aircraft, from the Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry are responding to a new fire recently reported on the McKenzie River Ranger District, Willamette National Forest. The fire is estimated to be around 110 acres, approximately 4 miles south of Highway 126 on Aufderheide Scenic Highway, Forest Service Road 19, in the area of Terwilliger Hot Springs. Visitors are advised to avoid the area. Conditions are exceptionally dry causing the fire to grow quickly. “Forest conditions are very receptive to fire starts and growth right now,” said Darren Cross, District Ranger. “As a reminder, all campfires outside designated campgrounds within the Willamette National Forest are banned. Please remain vigilant with fire prevention efforts.” Smoke from this fire may be visible from the communities of McKenzie Bridge, Rainbow and portions of Highway 126. More information will be available soon. For...

Pursuant to 16 USC§ 551 and 36 CFR § 261.50 (a) and/or (b), and to provide for public safety, the following acts are prohibited within the Entiat Ranger District of the Okanogan - Wenatchee National Forest. This Order supersedes Order # 06-17-05-18-18, signed August 8, 2018 signed by Erick J Walker, effective until November 15, 2018, unless rescinded. PROHIBITIONS: 1. Going into or being upon National Forest System lands as described below and depicted in Exhibit A. [36 CFR § 261.53(e)]. 2.Being on any National Forest System road as described below and depicted in Exhibit A. [36 CFR § 261.54(e)]. 3.Being on any National Forest System trail as described below and depicted in Exhibit A. [36 CFR § 261.55(a)]. CLOSURE AREA DESCRIPTION: Area Closure The Fire Closure Area boundary begins at the intersection of FS Road 5605 and Entiat River Road County 51, going south then continues to the west of County Road 51 to FS Road 5700 going west to to FS Road 5800 to FS Road 5200, going...

Important message from Lake County Sheriff's Office - Level 3 Evacuations for Lakeview Estates, located just north of Campbell and Deadhorse Lakes in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. . Evacuations at this time are nearly complete! The fire is currently burning 1-2 miles north of the area. The Lake County Sheriff's Office appreciates everyone's cooperation for an orderly evacuation, and for staying out of the fire area for emergency personnel

Level 1 Fire Advisory Notification from Chelan County Emergency ManagementAs of 2:30pm on Sunday, 8/19/18, a Level 1 (BE READY) Fire Advisory Notification will be in place for the following areas:• Chumstick Road north of Merry Canyon (both sides of the road) • Merry Canyon; Second Creek and Moon Canyon • Community of Plain, including Ponderosa Estates, Plain River Rd and other subdivisions • Chiwawa Loop Road to include Chiwawa River Pines • All of the Fish Lake and Lake Wenatchee areas to Coles CornerThis is only a fire advisory for residents in the affected areas. The fire management team is working concurrently on both the Entiat drainage and the west flank of the fire. Due to prevailing winds changing from the SW to the N/NW, the fire is currently pushing to the SW. Cooperating agencies and the Incident Management Team have made the decision to initiate this Level 1 Fire Advisory for the above areas.Call the Fire Information number for more information at

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office has announced that the Bear Camp Road is open for access to the coast via Peavine Road.The section of Galice Creek Road between Peavine and Bear Camp will remain closed for firefighting operations.Be on the lookout for firefighters, equipment and debris on the roads when traveling through the