Cooler Weather Helps Firefighters on the Rye Fire

              July 27, 2015

              NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Jamie Knight (541)786-0501

Good progress was made Sunday on the Rye Fire.  The fire has been burning near the Oregon/Washington border in Joseph Canyon in Wallowa County.  The fire is burning in steep terrain, in brush and grass.  The fire started following a lightning storm on Thursday and burnt on private lands protected the Oregon Department of Forestry, including Nez Perce Precious Lands.  The fire is currently 763 acres. The fire has reached 80% contained and will be transitioning to a Type 4 Incident Commander and the local unit today.

“The weather made a transition to cooler over the weekend and that really helped us out.” said Joseph Goebel, Wildland Fire Supervisor, Wallowa.  “It’s important that people don’t forget that the warm summer weather isn’t gone though.  By next weekend, temperatures are expected to be hot and dry again, and we ask that people use extreme caution when they are out enjoying the forest.”

The weather forecast for the region is calling for warming and drying by mid-week with temperatures climbing back into the high 90s by weeks end.  People that are recreating in the forest are asked to check fire restrictions with the Oregon Department of Forestry for public lands or the United States Forest Service for public lands before going out.

Contact a local Oregon Department of Forestry office for more complete information on ODF Restrictions.

         La Grande Unit              (541)963-3168

         Baker City Sub-Unit      (541)523-5831

         Wallowa Unit                (541) 886-2881

         Pendleton Unit               (541)276-3491

Please check with your local National Forest for public use restrictions on National Forest land. You can visit the Umatilla NF website at www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla  or the Wallowa-Whitman NF at www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman or contact them by phone at Umatilla 541-278-3716; Wallowa-Whitman 541-523-6391.

http://bluemountainfireinfo.blogspot.com/ is your spot for current fire information in the Blue Mountains.  

To report a fire, call Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch at (541)963-7171 or dial 9-1-1. 

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