9-12-17 High Cascades Complex East Fire Daily Update

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

Location: High Cascades Ranger District, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Klamath Ranger District, Fremont-Winema National Forest, Crater Lake National Park

Start Date: North Pelican August 10, 2017, Spruce Lake July 29, 2017, Blanket Creek July 26, 2017

Cause: Lightning 

Size: 72,309 Acres 

Percent Contained: 26% (% encompasses total of both East and West zone of the complex) 

Vegetation: timber, brush, heavy logging slash 

Resources Assigned: 638 personnel (Personnel for the entire complex) 

Incident Commander:   Steve Millert/Dave Gesser with the Southwest Area Type 2 Incident Management Team 3

Closure Information: As a result of the fires in the High Cascades Complex, a number of area road and trail closures are in place within Crater Lake National Park, Rogue-River Siskiyou, Umpqua, and Fremont-Winema National Forests. More road and trail closures may go into effect as the fires progress. For specific closure information, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5503.

The North Entrance Road to Crater Lake National Park andWest Rim Drive will reopen for travel on Friday at 4:00 p.m. All concession facilities and services remain open for visitors to the Park. Motorists and visitors to the area also need to be aware of delays on Hwy 230 between Union Creek and the junction with Highway 138 due to road construction.

Summary: The High Cascades Complex East Zone includes the Spruce Lake, Blanket Creek, and North Pelican fires. Dry, unstable air contributed to an increase in fire intensity with visible plumes on both the Blanket Creek and Spruce Lake fires. There is a chance of thunderstorms from the south starting after midnight and running through 3:00 am.

Spruce Lake Fire (14,515 acres and 21% contained) There was active fire on the west and north edges of the fire with no threat to values at risk. Crews have one more day of chipping operations along the North Entrance Road in order to prevent the fire spread to the east. Blanket Creek Fire (39,406 acres and 17% contained) Firefighters are holding the containment lines to the south and east of the fire edge. Plumes of smoke were seen as crews worked the Wet Blanket and Bessie Creek area which is located in an old burn scar. North Pelican (3,505 acres and 40% contained) Very low fire activity yesterday as crews continued to work on the north and south flank, building contingency lines to protect values at risk. Crews continue to work the north edge of the fire in rugged terrain and continue to look for opportunities for the highest probability of success considering firefighter safety as our number one priority.

A Level 1 Evacuation Notification remains in effect for Mazama Village in Crater Lake National Park. Level 1 is the first step in the “Be Ready, Be Set, Go!” system. For more information about evacuation levels and procedures, go to http://tinyurl.com/BeReady-BeSet-Go.

Smoke Outlook: A full smoke forecast can be viewed at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5503.

To see visibility at Crater Lake National Park, check out the webcams at https://www.nps.gov/crla/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm.

 For further information please visit the following links:

Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/55 03 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/R6RRSNF/ https://www.facebook.com/SCOFMPFIREINFO/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RRSNF 

Joint Information Center: https://swojic.blogspot.com/ 

Oregon Smoke Blog: http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/