9-15-17 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: 51,010 Acres
Percent Contained: 16% (% encompasses total of both East and West zone of the complex excluding Spruce Lake fire from the Complex)
Vegetation: timber, brush, heavy logging slash Resources Assigned: 845 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 remains closed. West Rim Drive will reopen on Friday at 4:00 pm. 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. A dry cold front is moving into the area today with cooler conditions and gusty winds up to 15 miles per hour. The cooler temperatures and abundant sun will remain through the weekend with low temperatures down to freezing. Smoke plumes may be visible due to lower relative humidity but expected fire growth will be minimal.

Spruce Lake Fire (15,789 acres and 27% contained) The fire showed minimal fire behavior as crews continue to strengthen the fire lines. Chipping operation will be completed today.  Blanket Creek Fire (31,632 acres and 20% contained) Crews continue to hold and strengthen containment lines to the north and east. Structure protection continues as we assess the values at risk in Mazama Village in Crater Lake National Park. The northwest side of the fire is nearing containment. Crews will be looking to perform burn out operations with the expected weather conditions on the east end of the fire.  North Pelican (3,589 acres and 25% contained) Crews continue to work to the north building containment lines on the fires perimeter pushing the fire into the wilderness. Crews are also working with heavy equipment to expand indirect line.

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

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