Inciweb Articles OR

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR. – Prescribed fire operations will continue as weather permits across the forest.                   Blue Mountain Ranger District will be working in the Galena unit 40b and continue monitoring conditions for further ignitions.   Emigrant Creek Ranger District will begin ignitions on a 200 acre under burn in the Silvies Unit 7, tomorrow, November 13.  The unit is 3 miles south west of Silvies River crossing off of National Forest System road 31.  This will be a two day ignition process.      Prairie City Ranger District will begin ignition of hand pile units near Dans Creek area and in the Elk 16 project area, starting tomorrow, November 13 into Wednesday.  Fire staff will monitor conditions to possibly begin jackpot burning in the Elk 16 M units starting Thursday and Friday.   For the safety of firefighters and the public, roads and areas of prescribed fire activity will be signed, please avoid these areas so as not...

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR. – Prescribed fire operations will continue as weather permits across the forest.   Blue Mountain Ranger District will begin ignitions on the 63 acre Galena 40b project, November 8, 2019.  Galena 40b is in the Middle Fork of the John Day River area.     Emigrant Creek Ranger District will monitor conditions to begin ignitions on Silvies Unit 7, starting on Tuesday, November 12.  The 400 acre unit is near National Forest System road 31, two miles south-west of the Silvies crossing.    Prairie City Ranger District will monitor conditions for continued prescribed fire operations.   For the safety of firefighters and the public, roads and areas of prescribed fire activity will be signed, please avoid these areas so as not to interfere with ongoing operations.  For safety, roads, trails, and areas may close temporarily as firefighter operations are taking place. Smoky conditions may also reduce visibility to a level that would require...

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR. – Prescribed fire operations will continue as weather permits across the forest.   Blue Mountain Ranger District will be finishing ignitions today on handpile units in the Camp Creek drainage area.  Smoke may be visible from County Road (CR) 18 and National Forest System (NFS) road 36.  Ignitions were also completed on 327 acres in Soda Bear 8b unit in Bear Valley.  This week crews will begin ignitions in Dad’s Creek, Starr Ridge and Bear Valley.  Smoke may be visible from Highways 26 and 395 for several days.   Prairie City Ranger District completed ignitions on 1500 acres in the Summit 3 unit located in the south east corner of Logan Valley.  This week crews will be working on jackpot burning in Elk 16 M; south of NFS road 1410 and west of NFS road 14; as well as handpile ignitions on the north end of the district later on in the week.   Emigrant Creek Ranger District completed 944 acres in the Jane and Tarzan project areas. This...

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR. – Prescribed fire operations will continue as weather permits across the forest.   Blue Mountain Ranger District will begin ignitions today on handpile units in the Camp Creek drainage area.  Smoke may be visible from County Road (CR) 18 and National Forest System (NFS) road 36.  Wednesday, October 16 crews will begin ignitions on 327 acres in Soda Bear 8b unit in Bear Valley.  District fire staff will continue to monitor conditions to possibly begin ignitions in the Starr project area also in Bear Valley.  Crews will continue hand pile ignitions across the district through this week and into next week as conditions and weather permit.     Wednesday, October 16, Prairie City Ranger District, will begin ignitions on 1500 acres in the Summit 3 unit located in the south east corner of Logan Valley and possibly some smaller ignitions of roughly 100 acres may occur in the Dads 2b unit and 50 acres in the Elk 16 project area, south of NFS...

Emigrant Creek Ranger District fire staff would like the public to know there is a possibility of ignitions on some grapple piles in the Tarzan and Jane units near Wolf Mountain in the Silvies Valley off of National Forest System (NFS) road 17. 

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR. – Prescribed fire operations will continue as weather permits across the forest.   Blue Mountain Ranger District successfully completed 250 acres of hand and grapple pile unit burning in Galena; and 150 acres in Damon project area at Smith Meadows and off of National Forest System (NFS) road 3790.  Starting today crews will work on approximately 115 acres of hand and grapple pile units  in the North Fork of Bridge Creek area off of NFS road 2612.   Prairie City Ranger District, successfully completed 81 acres of jackpot burning on Elk 16, M-1 unit on Monday. Jackpot burning is a combination of hand pile and landscape burning that is a concentration of slash (similar amounts of a hand pile) across a treated unit in an attempt to reduce the slash under moist conditions.  The unit may have a landscape under burn at a later date under drier conditions.  Burning operations are planned to continue Wednesday of next week on Summit 3, along...

Fire management officials on the Pomeroy Ranger District are planning to implement a prescribed burn on Triple Ridge (4302-040 road) today.   The prescribed burn activities will consist of activity slash burning in four timber sale units from the North Park Timber Sale.  The objective of the burn is to reduce activity fuel loading and associated fire hazard.   Additional information about this prescribed burn is available by visiting the Umatilla National Forest’s prescribed fire interactive map. This map displays burning activities and is available at https://tinyurl.com/y8b433th. The interactive map allows the user to zoom in on certain areas and click on a burn unit for more information (such as acreage, status, etc). When burning operations begin the interactive map will be updated to display which burn units are actively burning.   Maps of the proposed prescribed burns are also located on InciWeb at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5808/. 

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR. – After carefully monitoring conditions across the Forest, fire officials have determined that conditions are within specific parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, and fuel moisture to start prescribed fire operations progress into the next week. Blue Mountain Ranger District will continue ignition this week on hand and machine piles. These piles are stacks of wooded debris left behind from either thinning or logging operations. The smoke from the pile burning operations will be visible from Highway 395 and southwest of the town of Seneca for the next few days. Smoke can also be expected in the vicinity of the Middle Fork of the John Day River. Prairie City Ranger District, will begin ignitions on Elk 16 M-1 unit (81 ac) on Monday and Summit 3, Summit 22A units next week, weather and conditions permitting, Emigrant Creek Ranger District will begin some pile burning in the Devine Ridge/31 road area starting Monday...

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR. – After carefully monitoring conditions across the Forest, fire officials have determined that conditions are within specific parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, and fuel moisture to start prescribed fire operations with ignition on hand piled material.Blue Mountain Ranger District will begin ignition this week on hand piles. Hand piles are a stack of wooded debris left behind from either thinning or logging operations. The smoke from the pile burning operations will be visible from Highway 395 and southwest of the town of Seneca for the next few days. Prairie City Ranger District successfully completed 4 miles of blackline on the Summit 3 unit last week and began ignitions on hand piles in the Sheep Mountain area and near Short Creek Guard Station. Continued ignition of hand piles will be condition and weather dependent. Emigrant Creek Ranger District continues to monitor conditions to begin fall prescribed fire operations....

John Day, Prairie City and Hines, OR – Malheur National Forest fire staff continues to monitor conditions across the Forest for the correct temperature, wind, fuel moisture and ventilation for smoke. As these criteria are met, firefighters will continue to implement, monitor, and patrol prescribed fire operations in specifically planned units. Malheur National Forest prescribed fire operations for today and through the weekend include: Blue Mountain Ranger District - In the Soda Bear Burn 8B Unit up to 311 acres may be burned east of Seneca, OR. Pile burning may occur various locations across the district if conditions are not conducive to landscape prescribed fire operationsPrairie City Ranger District – In the Summit 3 Burn Unit up to 50 acres of blacklining may occur along the 471 Rd near the south east corner of Logan Valley. If weather conditions are not conducive to blacklining, then pile burning may occur near Short Creek Guard Station and on Sheep Mountain.Emigrant...

September 16, 2019 Gopher Fire Staffing Begins Transition Thanks to Hard Work and Weather PROSPECT, OR – Containment on the Gopher Fire is up to 40% and remains at 354 acres. Hard work and the recent favorable weather have largely contributed to the fire suppression efforts. Type 3 Team Incident Commander Aaron Schuh will transfer command of the fire to the local Type 4 Team Tuesday morning at 0700 hours. As the fire incident downgrades, demobilizing of resources will follow. Crews will be released appropriately and a sizable reduction throughout today and tomorrow will occur. A 20-person hand crew from the local Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest will join the Rogue River Hotshots (based out of Prospect, OR), replacing crews demobilizing over the next few days. The Hotshots just returned from Alaska’s McKinley Fire. The primary objective of the incoming crews will be scouting the fire area, checking to ensure holding of containment lines, and develop a plan for repair of...

September 15, 2019 Wet and Cold Frontal Passage Expected Over the Gopher Fire PROSPECT, OR - The Gopher Fire reaches 35% containment and remains at 354 acres. Primary fire lines on the north, south and west sections of the fire are complete, and containment is expected to increase over the next few days. Yesterday, firefighters completed a hose-lay at the bottom of the drainage along the Middle Fork Trail to support holding the fire south of the Rogue River. Helicopter water drops have assisted, cooling hot spots around the fire’s perimeter. Hand line work was completed to the lower east flank and tied in the Middle Fork Trail to the fire’s eastern edge. Operations today will include the continued reinforcement of all the work that has been on-going to secure the fire, in preparation for transition of command from the Type 3 Team to the local Prospect Ranger District on Tuesday morning due to increased containment, lower fire behavior, and expected wetter...

This will be the final daily update for the 204 Cow fire. Crews and equipment will be released from the fire at the end of shift today. Prairie City Ranger District personnel will continue to monitor the fire going forward. The 13 and 16 Roads remain open to woodcutting on the perimeter of the 204 Cow Fire. Woodcutting is limited to the felled and stacked woodpiles on the roadsides. Felling trees is not permitted. Permits are required and may be purchased at any Malheur National Forest Ranger District office. While woodcutting is normally not permitted on Forest roads with two-digit identifiers, the Forest Service has temporarily waived this restriction on the 13 and 16 Roads. Material cleared along these roads to stop the fire has been piled next to the roads to facilitate public woodcutting. There is still firefighting traffic in the area, so the public is reminded to drive slowly and carefully. On Sunday, crews continued with fireline cleanup and repair. Prairie City RD...

Prairie City, John Day and Hines, Ore. – After carefully monitoring conditions across the Forest, fire officials have determined that conditions are within specific parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, and fuel moisture to start prescribed fire operations in specifically planned units. Starting Sunday, September 15, Prairie City Ranger District will begin ignitions on 2b of the Dads WUI Project, full ignition for the 100 acre unit is scheduled for Sunday, September 15. Smoke will be visible from Prairie City and Highway 26. The unit is located in the Eureka Gulch/Dans Creek area in Township 12 South, Range 34 East, Section 35. The burn is south of Highway 26 to the National Forest Service (NFS) Road 306 and off of NFS road 388 and 350. Signs will be posted for public safety. A reader board will be placed at the east end of Prairie City to advise travelers of fire activity ahead. Please use caution while traveling in the area. Blue Mountain Ranger District and...

September 14, 2019 Firefighters Make Good Progress on the Gopher Fire PROSPECT, OR - The Gopher Fire remains at 20% containment and 354 acres. The lighting-caused fire started on September 5th within the footprint of the 2008 Middle Fork Fire in the Sky Lakes Wilderness, approximately 11 miles east of Prospect, OR. Yesterday, water-handling equipment (hose, pumps, nozzles) was dropped in by helicopter along the Middle Fork Trail to support holding the fire at the river. Water bucket drops by heavy helicopters were used to cool hot spots around the perimeter of the fire and help control the fire’s spread. Hand line work continued up the east flank to tie the Middle Fork Trail to the fire’s eastern edge. Operations today will include continued work on primary fire lines where safe to do so, and installing the hose-lay equipment to keep the fire south of the Middle Fork of the Rogue River. The precipitation event expected Sunday night will help suppression efforts. However, an...

September 13, 2019 Warm and Dry Prior to Expected Precipitation PROSPECT, OR - The Gopher Fire has increased to 20% containment and remains at 352 acres. The lighting-caused fire started on September 5th within the footprint of the 2008 Middle Fork Fire in the Sky Lakes Wilderness, approximately 11 miles east of Prospect, OR. The fire is in steep terrain; there are no roads directly to the fire's edge, and hundreds of snags per acre. The initial rate of spread was rapid, escape routes were limited, and there were no safety zones available to provide for firefighter safety. The initial tactical strategy was to use helicopter bucket drops, dropping thousands of gallons of water at a time to check the fire's spread, while reopening old fire lines from the 2008 fire at key locations. New fire line was constructed where it was safely and successfully defended on the direct edge of the fire perimeter while using water drops from the helicopters. This course of action had the greatest...

The Malheur National Forest has opened the 13 and 16 Roads to woodcutting on the perimeter of the 204 Cow Fire. Woodcutting is limited to the felled and stacked woodpiles on the roadsides. Felling trees is not permitted. Permits are required and may be purchased at any Malheur National Forest Ranger District office. While woodcutting is normally not permitted on Forest roads with two-digit identifiers, the Forest Service has temporarily waived this restriction on the 13 and 16 Roads. Material cleared along these roads to stop the fire has been piled next to the roads to facilitate public woodcutting. There is still firefighting traffic in the area so the public is reminded to drive slowly and carefully. On Thursday, crews will continue with fireline cleanup and rehabilitation. This team will repair firelines to prevent erosion by building water bars to divert runoff away from the firelines. All chipping and log hauling operations have been completed. A drying and warming trend is...

September 12, 2019 Warmer and Drier Conditions Return to the Gopher FirePROSPECT, OR - The Gopher Fire is now 15% contained and remains at 352 acres. Yesterday, Hotshot crews began constructing hand lines directly along the fire's perimeter on both flanks. This will help check the fire's spread up or down the river when warm, dry, and windy conditions return. Work to re-open contingency fire lines created during the 2008 Middle Fork Fire is nearly complete. These contingency lines are located across the Middle Fork of the Rogue River and outside of the wilderness area. These lines would only be needed if the fire should cross the river and move west. With the aid of helicopter bucket work, firefighters hope to keep the fire from crossing the Middle Fork of the Rogue River. High pressure aloft will keep sunny, warm, dry weather over the fire today. The extended forecast calls for maximum temperatures near 80 degrees through Saturday. According to Fire Behavior Analyst, Steve Ziel,...

Firefighters Prepare for Warming Trend PROSPECT, OR - September 11, 2019 The Gopher Fire is currently 352 acres and is now 5% contained. The fire received another day of showers and cool temperatures yesterday giving firefighters more opportunities to fall hazard trees and steadily improve fire lines in critical locations. This is especially important on the western flank of the fire due to its proximity to values at risk outside of the Sky Lakes Wilderness. There will be low clouds and fog around this morning, especially over the ridges. However, a high pressure system is expected to build over the area today, with skies clearing and afternoon temperatures around 70 degrees. Thursday through Saturday should see increasingly warmer and drier conditions with temperatures reaching the low 80s. Today's fire behavior will remain minimal due to the cumulative effect of cool and damp conditions over the last 3 days. The Gopher Fire is located in the Sky Lakes Wilderness,...