Granite Gulch Fire activity expected to pick up

JOSEPH, Ore. — September 2, 2019 — Activity on the Granite Gulch Fire was minimal Monday, but expected to pick up and spread to the east and west as has been the pattern lately.

"The forecast is still calling for a warm, unstable period, followed by rain and storms on Thursday," Incident Commander Adam Wing said. "This should allow the subalpine fir in Last Chance to actively burn some more."

Smoke is more visible during active burn cycles, but doesn't always correlate to the size of the fire.

"Even moderate fire growth can put out a lot of smoke," said Bret Ruby, said Bret Ruby, a fire behavior analyst assigned to the fire. "These more active burn days allow us to encourage the fire to move in the direction we want."

For the past several weeks, fire managers have been gradually steering the fire into a patchwork of past burned areas, using a lighter version of traditional suppression techniques.

These burned areas create a natural buffer zone that will contain the Granite Gulch Fire, and fire in the area was overdue, according to Ruby, who said “We don’t see anything from Last Chance Fire across the Minam to the east until this. It was ready."

It's also important to note that conditions at the time of most past fires made a full suppression effort necessary, said Nathan Goodrich, fire management officer for the Eagle Cap Ranger District.

Every time a wildfire starts, fire officials assess the overall conditions at the time, including current and anticipated weather, potential effects of the fire, topography and rate of spread, among other factors, to determine if the fire can be safely managed for other resource benefits, such as habitat and forage.

The Granite Gulch Fire is one of only three in the past decade that have met that criteria.