August 18 Morning Update

Firefighters made good progress suppressing the Sheridan fire through the night last night, completing dozer lines around the fire and conducting burnout operations into the early morning hours.

A new assessment of fire size estimates the Sheridan fire is around 169 acres and 10 percent contained, burning in predominantly lodgepole pine forested terrain.

The fire started near the junction of Forest Roads 40 and 45, about 2 miles west of Sunriver, and grew to the south and southwest through the evening. Reported yesterday at 4:30 p.m. by the Lava Butte Lookout, the fire's cause remains under investigation.

A Type 3 incident management team took command of the fire at 6 a.m. this morning and will continue working throughout the day to further containment of the fire. The incident command post is located at Wanoga Sno Park.

The team reports the fire still has potential to move to the south or southeast. They will focus firefighting efforts around the southeast flank this morning.

Around 250 personnel are engaged in the firefighting effort this morning, which includes 10 engines, 4 dozers, 4 water tenders, and multiple crews and aircraft. The wildfire response is a multi-agency effort, with support from Sunriver Fire Department, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, Oregon Department of Forestry, Forest Service and BLM, among others.

A Level 1 evacuation notice remains in effect for homes in the Fall River Estates subdivision and properties near the Fall River Fish Hatchery.

Multiple roads surrounding the fire are closed to public traffic. Road closures are in place at:


Forest Road 42/4220 junction
Forest Road 42/4230 junction
Forest Road 46/45 junction
Forest Road 40/4230 junction
Forest Road 40/41 junction
Forest Road 42/4240 junction
Forest Road 40/4270 junction

Smoke impacts to the surrounding area are expected to remain in effect throughout the morning.


Sisters area fires:

Six small fires were also reported yesterday evening in the Sisters area. Five fires were spotted near Forest Road 16, about 4 miles south of Sisters, and one fire reported northeast of Black Butte near Forest Road 11.

All fires were 1/10th of an acre of less.

Crews successfully contained one of those fires by yesterday evening and continued working on the rest into the night and continue this morning. These fires remain under investigation.