Contact: Christie Shaw, Oregon Department of Forestry
541-263-0661
Darcy Weseman, Umatilla National Forest
541-278-3722
[Morrow County, Ore.] Fire
behavior increased late yesterday afternoon on the Wilson Prairie Fire,
resulting in the fire moving outside the fireline on the southern portion of
the fire. The fire, pushed by afternoon
winds and warm temperatures spotted across the retardant lines into dry
fuels. Three helicopters were used to
drop water on hotspots while tankers were used to lay retardant lines in front
of the fire to slow the spread so ground resources could engage and build
fireline. The fire continued to grow to
the south. Firelines on the north
portion of the fire continue to hold.
Firefighters are working to stop the fire progress in the south using
firefighters, dozers, and fire engines supported by helicopters and
tankers. Current resources on the fire includes
three helicopters, six crews, twelve engines, four dozers, and two
tenders. The fire is currently estimated
at 700 acres.
A large area, trail and road
closure within the vicinity of Bull Prairie Lake and the Wilson Prairie area
has been implemented on the Wilson Prairie Fire. A map and detailed description of the area
closure is available at any Umatilla National Forest office and at the bottom
of this news release. The Morrow County Off-Highway Vehicle Park and Campground
is currently open, however some trails may be impacted by the fire
activity. Please observe all trail and
area closures.
Today the Oregon Department of
Forestry (ODF) and Umatilla National Forest will in-brief Northwest Interagency
Team 8, Incident Commander Doug Johnson, who will take control of the fire at
6:00 a.m. Thursday morning. The growth
and complexity of the fire over the last few days prompted the agencies to
bring in the Type 2 team to manage the increasing personnel and firefighting
assets needed to contain the fire. ODF
and the Umatilla National Forest will remain engaged with the team as they work
to suppress the fire.
The weather forecast for the
region is a continued hot and dry trend with poor humidity recovery. Please follow restrictions to limit potential
human wildfire ignitions.
·
Regulated Closure is in effect for ODF’s Central
Oregon District. Specific restrictions,
intended to reduce human caused fires, can be found at www.ODFcentraloregon.com.
·
Phase A of the Public Use Restrictions (PURS)
for the Umatilla National Forest is in effect.
For more information regarding these and other restrictions on the
Umatilla National Forest visit www.bmidc.org.
The
area closure includes:
Starting at State Highway 207 at its junction with the Forest
Boundary in T7S, R25E, Section 3, South to Forest Service Road (FSR) 24, then
follow FSR 24 east to its junction with FSR 23, then follow FSR 23 east to FSR
2128, then follow FSR 2128 north to the Forest Boundary at T7S, R26 Section 2,
then following the Forest Boundary west to State Highway 207.
In
addition, the following roads are closed:
·
National Forest
System Road (NFSR) 2039000 - From the Junction of Highway 207 easterly to
Morrow County Road Wilson Creek Road 732 - 5.0 miles.
·
National Forest
System Road (NFSR) 2000350 - From the Junction of Highway 207, easterly to
National Forest System Road (NFSR) 2039000 – 4.6 miles.
·
National Forest
System Road (NFSR) 2307000 - From the Junction of National Forest System
Road 2300000, northeasterly to Bull Prairie Campground National Forest
System Road (NFSR) 2300000 – 8.5 miles
·
National Forest
System Road (NFSR) 2307035 - From the Junction of National Forest System
Road 2307000, north to Bull Prairie Campground National Forest System
Road (NFSR) 2039030 – 0.8 miles.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.