Due to a wet spring followed by a hot, dry summer, forest and range fire season has arrived early. The Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Oregon Department of Forestry and Bureau of Land Management ask you to be extremely careful and follow all campfire, equipment and smoking restrictions when recreating in and traveling through Byway country and across the region.
FIRE RESTRICTIONS: The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is currently in a Seasonal Campfire Restriction and at 12:01 a.m. (PDT) on Saturday, July 19, 2014 will go into Phase A of the Public Use Restrictions. For detailed information about these regulations, visit: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5429097.pdf.
Here is the latest report concerning a fire that is currently burning in the Eagle Cap Wilderness:
Hurricane Fire Information: Phone: 541-519-1460 or 541-519-4623 E-mail: WallowaWhitman1@gmail.comThe Hurricane Fire is located approximately 4 miles southwest of Joseph, Oregon in the Eagle Cap Wilderness; east of Hurricane Creek and north of Dunn Creek. It was detection July 13, 2014, and was caused by lightning. As of this morning, it is 120 acres in size and containment is at 0%.
TODAY’S MESSAGE: One Type 3 helicopter with a 14 person crew will arrive today and be incorporated into the suppression. Suppression activities on the fire are extremely difficult due to very steep terrain that provides minimal helicopter landing sites for transporting crews, limited creek crossing opportunities for crews needing to cross Hurricane Creek to access the fire, and steep, rocky slopes challenging crews hiking to the fire.
The Management Team is working closely with the Oregon Department of Forestry to coordinate protection of private land along Hurricane Creek.
A second fire in the area,the Hurricane Creek 2 Fire, is located west of Hurricane Creek. It is being monitored from the air.
YESTERDAY’S ACTIVITIES: The Hurricane Fire burned actively through the day. Crews continued to work along the west edge of the fire, improving the line and mopping up hot spots within the fire area. They also worked the area along the southwest portion where retardant was dropped on Monday to check fire intensity, and scout for additional spots. Crews mopped up the three acre spot fire north of the main fire. Two crews brushed out along the Hurricane Creek Road, improving safety for fire equipment and creating a wider fuel break.
TODAY’S PLANNED ACTIVITIES: Crews will continue line construction and suppression work along the west, north, and south edges of the fire and to mop-up the spot fire just north of the main fire. Brush out operations along the Hurricane Creek Road will continue. Fuel reduction work will be done along the Forest Service land boundary east of Hurricane Creek. Air support will be used, as appropriate, to assist suppression efforts on the fire. Spot fires in the vicinity of the fire will be monitored.
WEATHER: The skies will be clear and sunny on Thursday. Temperatures will be a bit cooler but winds will increase and vary from 8 to 14 out of the west.
AREA/ROAD CLOSURES: The Hurricane Creek Trail (#1807) is closed from the Hurricane Creek trailhead near the Falls Creek Forest Camp to the trail’s junction with Trail #1824 near Billy Jones Creek. To see the updated closure, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman.
The Hurricane Creek Road is closed to the general public beginning at the Hurricane Creek Grange, due to fire activity in the area and unsafe conditions on the road related to fire incident traffic. Owners of homes and property along the road will be allowed access.
RESOURCES ASSIGNED TO THE FIRE: Currently 96 people are assigned to this fire including 12 smoke jumpers, 4 helitac crew, 4 district fire personnel, 2 Type 2 crews, and other support personnel. Also 1 Type 1 and 1 Type 3 helicopter are assigned to the fire. A Type 1 crew has been ordered.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Inciweb – National fire information site Area closures and burning restrictions Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Homepage: http://www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman Blue Mountains Interagency Dispatch Center: http://bmidc.org