InciWeb Articles & Incidents for Washington and Oregon

Dufur, OR – Afternoon winds on the fire continued to challenge firefighters on the line today as they worked to strengthen containment lines on the western and southern edges of the fire. Resources were moved from less active areas of the fire to the area around Dufur Gap Road. Firefighters were able to hold the fire in check using retardant, helicopter water drops, and ground resources. Weather was also cooperative as wind patterns shifted pushing the fire back into areas which were already burned. Fireline in other areas of the fire saw an increase in containment as firefighters worked to cool areas adjacent to the line and locate hot spots. Wind fanned areas of the fire stirred embers within the fire perimeter. These embers pose a significant risk igniting areas outside the fireline; firefighters are watchful for this potential. Fire managers hosted a public meeting in Dufer this evening to provide information about fire activity and future plans. Chris Cline, ODF Incident...

Fire With clearer air this morning, fire behavior is expected to be more active. Calmer winds in the afternoon may shade the fire, with evening winds picking up and once again increasing fire behavior. Continued firing operations to shore up fire line breaks are planned for both fires. Smoke Winds from the northwest are anticipated for surface and transport winds. Smoke impacts are expected for downwind communities, and downslope communities as down valley winds set in overnight. Model predictions show potential impacts to western portions of this outlook area which is a deviation from what has been a persistent pattern. Other For relief from smoke, travel to coastal areas generally, and north of this outlook area if possible. Other smoke outlooks are being produced in the region for communities not appearing on this map. Monitors showing similar smoke impact patterns may be summarized by an adjacent location.

Due to the fire behavior and planned firefighting operations, including burn operations, for the Klondike Fire, residence above milepost 2.5 n Illinois River Road are being placed on a Level 3 "GO" Evacuation.Do not delay leaving to gather any belongings or make efforts to protect your home.This may be the last notice you receiveA shelter has been established at Grants Pass High SchoolJosephine County Sheriff's Office Search & Rescue will be preforming door to door notifications.If you have not signed up for Josephine County Citizen Alert, Josephine County's emergency notification system, you can sign up online at www.rvem.org.The Red Cross evacuation shelter remains active at Grants Pass High School, 830 NE 9th St., Grants Pass, OR 97526The Fire Information Center can be reached at 541-474-5305 and is staffed from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. each day.An animal evacuation center is open at the Josephine County Fairgrounds Floral Building located at 1451 Fairgrounds Rd., Grants Pass,...

KLONDIKE Fire Burnout Operations: In response to easterly fire spread which threatened primary fire lines near Selma, yesterday firefighters initiated low intensity burnouts. Burnout operations are being utilized to remove vegetation between the main fire and primary containment lines, creating a wide buffer of burned fuels to stop the fire’s eastward progression. Operations began along the dozer line working to just north of Squaw Mountain and south to West Fork Squaw Creek. Today crews will continue to implement low intensity burnouts to remove vegetation along the primary containment line east of the fire, holding the line to the south and continuing burnout operations north towards Serpentine Point as conditions allow. Smoke from burnout operations was visible from Selma this morning and will likely be visible throughout the day.

Cougar Creek Fire and Navarre Fire Comunicado nuevo ENTIAT (3 de agosto, 2018: 8:00 am) Incendio de Cougar Creek · Acres: 3614 · Contención: 0% · Ubicación: 20 millas al noroeste de Entiat · Fecha de inicio: 28 de julio, 2018 a las 7:21 pm · Causa: Relámpago Actividad actual: Ayer los vientos fuertes provocaron el crecimiento del fuego por el lado este. El incendio alcanzó un punto de acción de manejo pre-identificado para iniciar evacuaciones de nivel 3. Se pusieron en efecto las evacuaciones en el Upper Entiat River Valley de Potato Creek (~ Poste de millas 14) al norte. Se dejaron caer más de 43.000 galones de retardante de fuego para reducir la progresión a lo largo de la esquina suroeste del fuego cerca de Mad River. El Equipo de Manejo de Incidentes Interinstitucionales del Noroeste 11 (NWT11), los Distritos de Bomberos del Condado de Chelan y los departamentos de ayuda mutua, y la Oficina del Alguacil (Sheriff) del Condado de Chelan...

The Smoke Outlook for southwest Oregon has been released for August 3.

There will be a community briefing for the public to engage with Taylor Creek Fire officials at North Valley High School on Saturday, August 4th, at at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be streamed live on the Taylor Creek Fire Facebook page: @TaylorCreekFire. For more information follow www.facebook/TaylorCreekFire or call

There has recently been some inconsistency in the notification (reverse 911, hand delivery of notices, and map posted on Sheriff’s website) of which Level specific properties are in. We are working with the Sheriff’s office to clarify this situation. The correct designation is indicated with the description and the map provided with the Jackson County Sheriff’s news release found here: https://flashalert.net/id/JCSO/116576 . You can also find out the accurate Evacuation Notification Level designated for a specific location by entering its address into the interactive fire map https://bit.ly/2uUku2C. The Notification designations delivered through this interactive map are correct. We hope this provides clarification on current Evacuation Notification Levels. Also it is posted on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SugarPineFireInfo/) and Inciweb (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5966 ). Sugar Pine Fire Information 541 560-3374

Community BriefingSaturday, August 4th, 6 p.m.North Valley High School6741 Monument Dr, Merlin,

Weather & Fire Behavior: Temperatures across the fire area will be cooler again today with the ridges in the high 70’s and high 80’s across the valleys. Fire behavior will be active if the smoke continues to clear. Winds will continue to be light out of the west, shifting to north-northwest in the afternoon. Yesterday’s Activities: Crews patrolled and mopped up the dozer line between the 4810, 012 and 4808 roads on the northern end of the fire. The west side of the fire continues to hold at the 060 road with crews to mopping-up and monitoring. Crews continued to open dozer lines established during the Eclipse Fire in 2017 south of Indian Creek and will work to tie those lines into the 030 road and back into the Siskiyou Wilderness to the southwest. Aviation assets were able to take advantage of clearer air in the afternoon to apply retardant with helicopters on the ridge line between Mud Lake and Kelly Lake to help slow the fire on the southern edge. Crews were also...

Weather and Fire Behavior: Fire activity increased late in the day yesterday in the Spalding Pond area and in the northwest corner of the fire, north of the Illinois River. Weather today will be similar to yesterday; mostly sunny, with smoky conditions continuing. Increasing humidity along with a cooling trend is expected into the weekend with a return to warming and drying starting early next week. Northwest winds will again lead to some west to east clearing along the western Klondike perimeter this afternoon. There is potential for active to very active fire behavior when this clearing occurs. On the Klondike Fire, continued growth of up to one half mile is possible in active areas. Yesterday’s Activities: Crews continued structure protection in Briggs Valley north of the fire while improving the indirect control line from Forest Road 25 south along the dozer line to Illinois River Road to prepare for planned burnout operations. In response to easterly fire spread which...

COMMUNITY MEETING: There will be a Hendrix Fire Community Meeting tonight at 7 pm. The meeting will be held at the Ruch Branch Library, 7919 Highway 238, Ruch, Oregon. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the Hendrix Fire Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/HendrixFire2018/. Friday is expected to have minimal smoke overall; however, smoke might increase temporarily during the late afternoon and evening hours. The cooling trend will continue. Forecasted low temperatures will be between 50-60 degrees, and high temperatures will range from 68-72 degrees. There will be better humidity recovery in the morning at 60-70%. Minimum relative humidity will be 27-35%. Northwest winds will be 8-13 mph on the ridges in and near the fire in the afternoon. The fire’s containment date remains difficult to fully project. Firefighters have reviewed conditions on the ground and determined that the containment date should be readjusted to August 31. This is due to many factors including steep...

Northport, Washington Fire Update Sheep Creek Fire August 3, 2018 Fire Information Line:(505) 870-2853 or (509) 939-5216 Email:sheepcreekfire18@gmail.com www.facebook.com /newimt PUBLIC SAFETY AND FIRE FIGHTER SAFETY IS THE NUMBER ONE THING WE LOOK OUT FOR. The Albuquerque Type 3 Incident and the North West Incident Type 3 Management Team are suggesting that the public avoids the sheep creek road and the surrounding area. Sheep Creek campground is still closed and are voluntary evacuation are in place for residents in the Sheep Creek area. The entrance of Sheep Creek road has been blocked off by the local Sheriff’s Department, and roads closures are in place for areas surrounding the fire. Mandatory evacuations will be required if fire gets established north of sheep creek road. Sheep Creek Fire: 249 acres Location: Approximately 6 miles north of Northport Washington. Containment: 5% Time start of Fire: 1330 hours Cause: Under Investigation Total Personnel: 350 ...

Wishram, WA, - The Milepost 90 Fire started on July 31st, at approximately 4:30 p.m., near milepost 90 on Washington State Route 14 (Highway 14). The fire consisted of mainly grass with very little sage. it is located on private, the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, and Bureau of Indian Affairs lands.The fire’s size is 14,500 acres and is 85% contained. There were 135-105 firefighters working the fire. There have been no injuries and no confirmed structures lost. The fire burned approximately 8 miles long by 2 miles wide.Highway 14 was closed between Highway 197 and Highway 97, from Wednesday, when the fire began, through Thursday at 3:00 pm hours. Safety of both the firefighters and the public was the prime reason. The southern boundary of the fire was the highway’s pavement.Thursday at 6:00 pm, the Klickitat County Sheriff’s office eliminated all evacuation levels. An estimated 75 residences were affected by the earlier evacuations levels.The Washington State Fire Marshals...

Miriam Fire Update New Fire Information Line: 541-786-0489 August 3, 2018 – 9 a.m. Firefighters succeed in limiting the spread of the Miriam Fire yesterday Acres: 700 acres Percent Containment: 0% Start Date: 07/30/18 Personnel/Resources: Three 20-person crews, 1 helicopter (others available as needed), 15 engines, 1 dozer, 170 total personnel Location: Two miles east of White Pass Ski Area, within the Goat Rocks Wilderness on the Naches Ranger District, 32 miles southwest of Naches, WA. Cause: Lightning Estimated Incident Containment or completion: 9/1/2018 Caution is advised as motorists drive through fire camp at the White Pass Ski Lodge. Fire traffic can create heavy congestion at times. Current Activity: Multiple air tankers applied over 24,000 gallons of retardant, and 5 helicopters dropped over 72,000 gallons of water on Thursday to limit the spread of the fire and allow firefighters to continue the work to prepare Forest Road (FR) 1207...

JOSEPHINE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PRESS RELEASESara Rubrecht1500 NW 6th Street Dept. 6, Grants Pass, Oregon 97526DETAILSAnimal Evacuation Shelter OperationsJackson and Josephine County work through mutual aid and provide each other resources on a regular basis.Both county’s main goal is to provide the best possible support to the citizens in each county in this time ofneed.On July 22nd, the Josephine County Fairgrounds was opened as a two county animal shelter facility for bothJackson and Josephine Counties. The shelter was used for animals evacuated due to the Garner Complex,which included evacuations for the Grave Creek, Taylor Creek and Pleasant Creek fires. The Jackson Countyexpo was being used for the Country Crossings Festival, and could not be used for animal sheltering.Volunteers from several Josephine County nonprofit organizations have been working around the clock tocare for evacuated animals from both counties.As we approach the Josephine County Fair, we are working...

The Florida Forest Service Type 1 Incident Management Team will be taking over operations of the Garner Complex Fires today at noon. With the fire in good hands at 75% containment, Command and General Staff from ODF’s Incident Management Team 1 is headed to join Unified Command for the Sugarpine Fire in Jackson County. Other Oregon Department of Forestry staff will continue operations in the Garner Fire Complex. Operations Section Chief John Flannigan reported , “No news is good news, we’re making steady progress and staying safe”. Night operations will continue through tonight, transitioning to nightly engine patrol moving forward. Today’s drop in temperature and higher humidity levels will make for relief from the heat for the crews. The Southwest Oregon Joint Information Center (SWOJIC), a call center set up and staffed by local, federal, and state fire agencies, is fully operational. The JIC provides current information on incidents across the southwest Oregon region....

Dufur, OR – Firefighters overnight made good containment progress on the fire despite gusty and battling winds that remained strong through most of the night. Northwesterly winds were dominant until early this morning when unexpected easterly winds pushed the fire out of the heavily fuel loaded Larch and Pine Creek drainages on the west side of the fire. The fire jumped containment lines and established in lighter fuels causing some fast runs. Fire crews, with support of farmers, were able to contain the fire utilizing the Heber-lein and Winslow road systems along with dozers. All other sections of the fire are report-ed to look favorable going into today. "Hold and check" is the mission given to firefighters today, as winds are expected to be similar to yesterday. Crews will continue reinforcing the lines by extinguishing hotspots close to the line with an emphasis on the areas that burned last night and the areas that will be most impacted by the winds. Structure protection task...

Smoke Outlook attached as pdf

Total size: 33, 596 Containment: 34% Firefighters evaluated the area north of Taylor Gorge Overlook Thursday, weighing a potential firing operation. The intent is to halt fire progression northward by reducing available fuel ahead of the advancing flame front. Taylor Creek Fire is steadily backing toward Bear Camp Road and Galice Creek drainage, where an Oregon State Fire Marshal structure group is in place to protect homes. A spot fire near China Hat Trailhead Thursday sent visible smoke skyward, eliciting helicopter response, delivering buckets of water to slow the rate of spread. In response to increased fire behavior with short runs and spotting, firefighting actions have amplified on the fire’s northwest flank. Accordingly, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office announced the closure of the Bear Camp Road system, effective 8 am today. Helicopter work continues today as firefighters prep Bear Camp Road for firing and to withstand the advancing fire. Firefighters mopped up...