Posted for: Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team 2
Location of Origin: 9 miles west of Sisters, OR
Start date: August 11, 2017, 2:42 pm
Size: Approximately 7,814 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Cause: Lightning
Resources Assigned: More than 400 personnel
Vegetation: Higher elevation; Mixed conifers. Lower elevations; ponderosa pine, juniper trees, sagebrush
Firefighters today concentrated their efforts on the southeast side of the fire, where gusty winds and flying embers created spot fires and caused evacuations on Friday. Crews completed successful burn out operations and hand crews tied a fire line across Whychus Creek into a dozer line created in the late evening/early morning hours. Crews have been working all day in areas with steep terrain and heavy fuels. Some late afternoon tree torching and the resulting smoke cloud hampered air operations for a time. Firefighters have worked hard to keep the fire from crossing Forest Road 16.
Task forces with the Oregon State Fire Marshal continued working on structural protection. The focus was prepping the areas around homes and outbuildings to form a defensible space in the event of fire encroachment.
We are expecting more crews to arrive on scene tonight. About 100 firefighters will join the more than 400 personnel already in place. Crews today were able to bring water resources to the line in some inaccessible areas. Firefighters hope to take advantage of cooler temperatures and higher humidity, which should help operations; however, gusty winds will still be a challenge.
The Belknap Fire is currently 65% contained as crews continue to work toward 100% containment. Fire behavior is minimal and size is holding at 125 acres. The fire is located 20 miles northeast of Prineville in the Mill Creek Wilderness. Firefighters are working to confine the fire and mop up the interior. The Belknap Fire was sparked by lightning and reported on August 11 at 11:27 am (PDT).
Smoke monitoring information is available at: oregonsmoke.blogspot.com. Anyone concerned with the effects of smoke in the region or who has possible health concerns related to smoke can go to this site to see smoke monitoring data and get additional information.
Level 3 - The subdivisions of Crossroads, Edgington/Remuda, Wildwing, Peterson Burn Road Area, and along both sides of Three Creeks Lake Road (Forest Road 16), about one mile south of Sisters from the junction of the Brooks Scanlon logging road.
OR242 east of Cascade Crest to the junction of Forest Road 15. For further information see www.tripcheck.com.
There is an area closure in place in the Deschutes National Forest, due to fire activity. For more information: https://www.fs.usda.gov/
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