9-13-17 High Cascades Complex West an East Fire Daily Update

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

Brushing and chipping of the road system between the community of Union Creek and the eastern edge of the Broken Lookout Fire is nearly complete. Once this backup fire break has been established, firefighters will move to the 700 Road, which is much closer to the fire, and will begin to engage directly with plans to stop the fire’s eastward spread. To assist with preventing the east side of the fire from spreading, supervisors from the US Army will meet with fire managers on the line today to see how and where their troops can be of service to the fire effort. Army troops are expected to be on the line Thursday.

Tribal representatives have reached an agreement with representatives of the Umpqua and Rogue‐Siskiyou National Forests to allow firefighters to engage in fuel mitigation along the sharp divide between the Rogue and Umpqua drainages. The area is important to the Cow Creek Tribe for its cultural and traditional resources, and fire managers have agreed to proceed in a manner sensitive to those values. The ridge offers an excellent opportunity to stop the southward expansion of the fire, which is still very active in the Squaw Creek drainage two miles to the north. Helicopters will continue to aid in slowing the fire in Squaw Creek as work continues along the divide.

Fire has been moving slowly down the Rabbit Creek drainage in the southeast corner of the Pup Fire. Firefighters may initiate a burnout operation today as they work to stop the fire from moving to the east.

The community of Union Creek remains on a Level 1 Evacuation notice. Structures at Abbott Butte are also threatened by the Broken Lookout Fire. The Pup Fire threatens Hershberger lookout and telecommunications site. Protection measures are in place for all these locations.

Today’s most critical weather component that will affect fire behavior will be shifting stronger winds ahead of a dry cold front. Cold front passage is likely to occur late tonight into early Thursday.

Closures: Many road, trail, and area closures are in place for the Rogue Umpqua Divide Wilderness and surrounding lands on both the Umpqua and Rogue River‐Siskiyou National Forests. Forest visitors should familiarize themselves with these closures before venturing into the area. For a complete list of closures, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/5503/

Other restrictions: The Umpqua National Forest has lowered its Industrial Fire Precaution Level (IFPL) to III (partial shutdown). The Rogue River‐Siskiyou National Forest remains under IFPL IV (general shutdown). For a complete description of IFPLs, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/rogue‐siskiyou/fire/?cid=fseprd545253

Incident Summary

Approximate Size: Broken Lookout 18,366 acres Pup 6,921 acres Total High Cascades: 98,379

Fire Containment: Broken Lookout 22% Pup 8%

Incident Commander: Shawn Sheldon

Resources on the fire: Crews: 8, Helicopters: 5, Engines: 28, Water Tenders: 10, Dozers: 3

Total Personnel: Total: 689 W. Zone: 358

Jurisdiction: Rogue River‐Siskiyou NF, Umpqua NF

Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5503

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RRSNF

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

Southwest Oregon Joint Information:  http://swojic.blogspot.c

9-13-17 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: 98,379 Acres
Percent Contained: 28% (% encompasses total of both East and West zone of the complex)
Vegetation: timber, brush, heavy logging slash Resources Assigned: 689 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. Temperatures will be a few degrees cooler and humidity will be a little bit higher than yesterday. Winds will be out of the west/northwest, with a chance of isolated thunderstorms mainly east of the fires.

Spruce Lake Fire (14,671 acres and 21% contained) Firefighters are working on a structure plan for the values at risk in Crater Lake National Park. Crews are in the last days of finishing up the chipping operations along the North Entrance Road to prevent the fire spread to the east of the road. Blanket Creek Fire (39,730 acres and 17% contained) Crews continue to strengthen and monitor the containment lines to the north and east to hold it off the highway corridor. North Pelican (3,427 acres and 40% contained) Crews worked to contain a 15-acre spot fire and continue to work the north edge of the fire in rugged terrain with low flames lengths and moderate fire behavior. Acreage changed due to more accurate mapping.

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/