9-10-17 High Cascades Complex Fire Daily Update

 

For a downloadable, emailable PDF of this update, click here.

Suppression responsibility for the High Cascades Complex West Zone will transfer to the Northwest Incident Management Team 6 on Monday. Northwest 7 IMT would like to thank the communities of Union Creek and Prospect for their support the past three weeks.

 Yesterday’s Activity: A spot fire was discovered on the south flank of the Pup Fire in the Lone Prairie area. Ground and aerial resources quickly contained it at one acre. Crews also made progress preparing the 2947 Road as a containment line on the western boundary. Point protection strategies have been successful in preserving Hershberger Lookout.

 On the Broken Lookout Fire, crews continued prep work on the north end of the 6510 Road. Burnout and mop‐up operations continued on the southern boundary along the 68 Road. Fuels reduction and road preparation continued along the west and north sections of the fire perimeter. Air resources concentrated their efforts to check the fire’s spread in the Woodruff Creek drainage to protect the community of Union Creek. Higher humidity levels resulted in low to moderate rates of spread on both fires. Infrared mapping showed the Broken Lookout Fire grew 1,200 acres and the Pup Fire grew about 300 acres. A Level 1 evacuation notification remains in place for Union Creek.

Today’s Planned Activity: On the Broken Lookout Fire, crews will reinforce containment lines along Forest Roads 68 and 29, while continuing indirect line construction on Forest Roads 2925, 2947, 6510 and 6520. If conditions permit, crews will use tactical firing operations to further secure the southeast flank of the fire.

On the Pup Fire, firefighters will continue scouting opportunities to minimize spread outside the Rogue River‐Umpqua Divide Wilderness Area using existing roads. Crews will also be mopping up the spot fire contained yesterday.

Weather: North/northwesterly winds will shift to northeasterly in the evening, bringing warmer, drier air into the region overnight and into Monday.

Closures: Area closures are in place for the Rogue Umpqua Divide Wilderness and surrounding National Forest lands by both the Umpqua and Rogue River‐Siskiyou National Forests. Forest visitors should familiarize themselves about these closures before they venture into the area. For a complete list of closures see Inciweb at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/5503/

09-10-17 High Cascades Complex Smoke Forecast

For a downloadable, emailable PDF of this update, click here.

Smoke: Cooler weather and higher humidities over the fires has reduced smoke considerably. Fires are not as hot so smoke is drifting and settling close to the ground rather than rising in large plumes. Areas close to the fires are likely to continue to experience smoke impacts at times throughout the day as smoke moves around.