Baker County Fire Update

Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, 9:00 PM

Fire Information: (541) 523-1267

Evacuation Information: (541)-523-2905

Type 1 Team has been ordered for Cornet and Windy River fires

A type 2 incident management team led by Incident Commander (IC) Brian Goff, took command of the Cornet Fire at 6:00 pm today. The incident command post is located in Unity, Oregon. A type 1 incident command team has been ordered for the Coronet and Windy River fires and additional information on their arrival will be available tomorrow.

Yesterday’s Operations: Fires burned very actively throughout the day. Fire managers were challenged with limited resources, strong winds and extremely dry conditions.
Weather and Fire Behavior: Continued hot and dry conditions throughout Baker County with the potential for increased winds over the next few days.

Today’s Operations: The Cornet fire has transitioned to an Interagency Type 2 Incident Management Team, Oregon IMT 4 (Goff) as of 6:00 pm tonight. The Windy Ridge Fire is staffed by a Type 3 team. Both fires will be transitioned to a Type 1 IMT

Fire acreages include:
Coronet Fire – 5,000 acres
Windy Ridge Fire – 6,000 acres
Eagle Creek Complex – 700 acres

Level 3 Evacuation Order has been issued by Baker County Sheriff’s Office for:
Stices Gulch Rd. Area. (Cornet Fire)
Ebell Creek area (Windy Ridge Fire)
Alder Creek area (Windy Ridge Fire)

Level 2 Evacuation Order has been issued by Baker County Sheriff’s Office for:
Black Mountain area (Cornet Fire)
Denny Creek area (Cornet Fire)
Rancheria Creek area (Cornet Fire)

Level 1 Evacuation Order has been issued by Baker County Sheriff’s Office for:
Sutton Creek area (Windy Ridge Fire)
Beaver Creek area (Windy Ridge Fie)
Eagle Complex (Windy Ridge Fire)

Road Closures:
Oregon Highway 245
Forest Service Road 11 at the Juntion of the 1140 road the 1140-025 at the junction of the 1140.
Forest service Road 1117 at the junction of the 1140
Forest Service Road 1118 at the Forest Boundary
Forest Service Road 1135 at the Forest Boundary
Cornet Creek road at the Forest Boundary

Area closure for the Eagle Creek Fire:
All Forest Service lands east of Denny Creek

Fire information can be found on Inciweb at: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4478/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cornet-Fire/733808063414448?ref=br_rs

Numerous fires in Baker County and the surrounding area may make smoke an issue. To monitor the air quality index, the public can access the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s website at www.deq.state.or.us/aqi.

The fire danger rating has increased to EXTREME and Public Use Restrictions involving campfires and chainsaw use are in effect. For more information about the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest’s Public Use Restrictions, please contact any forest office, call our Forest Information hotline at 1-877-958-9663, or visit our website at www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla/ or on the Blue Mountain Fire

Information BlogSpot at http://bluemountainfireinfo.blogspot.com/.

Regulated closures are in effect on State and private lands protected by Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) in northeast and central Oregon. Please check with your local Oregon Department of Forestry office for public use restrictions on lands protected by ODF. Visit the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch webpage at: www.bmidc.org or contact a local Oregon Department of Forestry office for more complete information. Similar restrictions may be in effect on State and private lands protected by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WA-DNR). More information can be found on the WA-DNR website at: http://fortress.wa.gov/dnr/firedanger/BurnRisk.aspx.