NEWS RELEASE
Two Bulls Fire Morning Update
NOTE: THERE WILL NO LONGER BE AN EVENING UPDATE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2014 8:30 a.m.
Twitter: @twobullsfire, @CentralORFire#twobullsfire
Facebook: Two Bulls Fire- Bend, Oregon
Information Phone: 541-389-6421
GPS: 44 6' 48", 121 28' 2"
More than 630 firefighters rolled out of the Two Bulls Fire Camp this morning, rumbling to their fireline assignments in crew-carrying vans, pickup trucks, fire engines and water tenders. The men and women assigned to fight the fire had gotten out of their tents at 4:30 a.m., breakfasted on chorizo sausage, fried potatoes, beans, tortillas and salsa, swallowed countless gallons of coffee, juice and milk, and reported to morning briefing at 5:30.
At the briefing, the firefighters crowded around a small stage where a large map of the fire was stapled to a sheet of plywood, and heard the day shift operations chief outline their work objectives. Most of the firefighters would be spending their day on the Two Bulls Fire's west and southwest flanks. Their mission was to extinguish every lick of flame, every smoke within 300 feet of the fireline – and then go farther.
The mission to steadily increase the dead-out ring of black around the fire decreases the chance that the fire could escape, should some places inside the heart of the Two Bulls Fire rekindle during the afternoon when strong winds (gusts to 25 mph) are expected.
Their job is to make sure the 6,908-acre fire will grow no larger.The Two Bulls Fire is 55 percent contained, and more than $4.3 million has been spent on the suppression campaign.
Resources Assigned to the Two Bulls Fire Day Shift
• 638 personnel
• 3 helicopters
• 46 engines
• 11 dozers
• 15 water tenders
Evacuation Levels: The evacuation level is now Level 1 in the Skyliners Rd, area and the Level I evacuation alert has been removed for all other residential areas that had been threatened by the Two Bulls Fire.
Closures: Tumalo Falls Road is closed to westbound traffic at Rock Springs Road, and Bull Springs Road is closed to westbound traffic at Johnson Road. Skyliners Road is closed to westbound traffic at FS 4604 (Phil's Trailhead) except to residents of that area.
The Deschutes National Forest has instituted an area closure as a result of the Two Bulls Fire. The area encompasses Forest Roads 4601 West of Tumalo Creek, Skyline Forest, 4603, 4606, 1612, 590, 480, 113, 110, 377, 900, 1620, 1628, and 370. This area closure is bordered on the south by Cascade Lakes Highway, which remains open.
Donations
The Two Bulls Fire incident has been asked by Bend residents and surrounding communities what donations can be offered to the firefighters to demonstrate their appreciation. On behalf of the firefighters, the Incident Management Team and all the cooperators want to thank the public for their generosity. If you would like to make a monetary donation, we encourage you to consider the local Red Cross Chapter www.redcross.org/or/bend/ways-to-donate or 541-382-2142, or the Wildland Firefighter Foundation at www.wffoundation.org, which contributes to injured or fallen firefighters and their families. Helping the foundation helps the firefighter community.
Additional Information
The fire is being managed by Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 2 (Incident Commander, Chris Cline). Cooperators include the Oregon Department of Forestry, US Forest Service, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, City of Bend, and Cascade Timberlands LLC.
News reporters should report to the Incident Command Post located in the field across from 63685 Johnson Road. Public Information Officers will be available for interviews; media is required to check in with Information immediately upon arrival. Media personnel that would like a guided tour of the fire need to arrive with full nomex, hard hat, leather boots and a fire shelter; the fire camp does not have enough equipment to accommodate those that do not have protective clothing.
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