Paradise and Hagen Fire Updates for Aug 17, 2026

 Northern Rockies Team 6, Incident Commander Rich Cowger 

Hagen Fire
Latest Intelligence
Size: 56,869
Containment: 14%
Personnel: 944                                                                                                                     

Paradise Fire
Latest Intelligence
Size: 5,333 acres
Containment: 0%
Personnel: 353

Key Message

Smoke over the Paradise and Hagen Fires kept fire activity minimal over much of the fire area on Sunday.  A thunderstorm moved through between the Hagen Fire and Elgin but did not directly affect suppression activities.  Fire mangers are working hard to return things to a sense of normalcy for impacted communities. This includes constantly evaluating closures and evacuations with local emergency managers.

CURRENT CONDITIONS AND Planned activities

Paradise Fire

Fire behavior on the Paradise Fire on Sunday remained moderate with creeping, smoldering and backing fire throughout the fire area. As grasses and trees dry, however, fire activity is increasing.  Fire continues to slowly back down slope on Broken Ridge towards Mill Creek. Deliberate progress is being made to put line around the entirety of the fire with a focus on the south and east where fire activity is most prevalent. Line improvement operations were successful along portions of FSR 65 and will continue Monday. Firefighters are also moving east from the Mill Creek side to tie into this road system. On Sunday, a new, small fire was discovered south of the Paradise fire which resulted from a lightning strike during the previous day’s thunderstorms. A crew and aerial support from the Paradise fire were able to respond and help with containment.

Hagen Fire

Sunday was another active day in the Zig Zag Springs area. Air tankers dropped retardant along an open ridge south of the springs while a hot shot crew dug hand line. The crew then burned fuels near the retardant line creating a 600-1,000 ft buffer designed to stop the advance of the main fire. These firing operations continued through the night into Monday. Around the rest of the fire, firefighters continue to make steady progress with line preparation and mop up. As fuels dry and become more receptive, firing operations will remove unburned fuel between the control lines and the fire's edge, reinforcing and widening the control lines. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS Drones) will continue to gather intelligence and fly infrared missions to identify heat signatures that are outside or could threaten control lines. The objective remains to keep the lines as close to the fire's edge as possible. There was minimal activity along the Old Meachum Creek Road; lines held and crews will continue to mop up the area on Monday.

Weather and Fire Behavior

There is a 10% chance of isolated thunderstorms again on Monday. These thunderstorms will taper off starting Tuesday, when a warming and drying trend begins, accompanied by afternoon gusty winds up to 20 mph and temperatures in the mid-80s across higher elevations. Fire managers and firefighters are preparing for the expected increase in fire behavior intensity and will move firefighting resources around to where the needs are most critical.

EVACUATIONS

Evacuation Levels: 

Fire conditions can change rapidly. Evacuation levels and Road Closures are frequently adjusted. 

Umatilla County, Union County and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation 

County Emergency Management Websites:

Columbia County Emergency Management

Umatilla County Emergency Management 

Union County Emergency Management

Walla Walla County Emergency Management

Closures and Special Messages

Umatilla National Forest Closures: For public safety and to facilitate firefighting operations the following National Forest Closures have been issued. 

Hagen Fire: 

Expanded closure order for the Hagen Fire

Hagen and Horse Ridge Fire Emergency Closure

Paradise Fire: 

Paradise Fire Emergency Closure 

Road Closure Information: 

Oregon Department of Transportation Trip Check 

Fire Restrictions: The Umatilla National Forest has issued public use restrictions for smoking, off-road travel, and chainsaw use across the entire national forest.

Smoke Outlook: For current smoke reports visit https://fire.airnow.gov. 

Detailed Northeast Oregon Air Reports 

Detailed Southeast Washington Air Reports  

Air Space Restrictions: 

Temporary Flight Restrictions are in place over the wildfires. If you fly, we can’t. Every time a drone is spotted near the fire all aircraft are grounded until we can be sure the drone is clear of this area. http://knowbeforeyoufly.org

Bologna, Cottonwood, Little Bear, and Rosenbaum fires morning update, Monday, August 17, 2026

Bologna Fire:
Estimated Size: 4,509 acres
Containment: 78%
Cause: Lightning

Cottonwood Fire:
Estimated Size: 722 acres
Containment: 95%
Cause: Undetermined

Little Bear Fire:
Estimated Size: 67 acres
Containment: 95%
Cause: Human Caused

Rosenbaum Fire:
Estimated Size 483 acres
Containment: 16%
Cause: Lightning

Total Resources:
Hand Crews: 31
Engines: 27
Heavy Equipment: 13
Water Tenders: 13
Aviation: 8
Total Personnel: 738

Firefighters continue building containment across all area fires

KIMBERLY, Ore. (Aug. 17, 2026) – Firefighters continue to make steady progress and build containment on the Bologna, Cottonwood, Little Bear and Rosenbaum fires. Firefighters continue to strengthen control lines across all incidents. Crews have mopped up into 50 feet along portions of the Rosenbaum Fire and well into 200 and 300 feet into the fire’s perimeter on the Bologna, Cottonwood and Little Bear fires. Firefighters continue grid-pattern work to identify and cool hot spots along the fire’s edge and provide vigilant patrols to monitor and respond quickly if needed.

Aided by drones with infrared (IR) instruments, nightshift firefighters continue to map hot spots around the fire perimeters for crews to extinguish. Additionally, crews began some suppression repair work to prevent erosion and flooding.

This week, incident personnel expect more critical fire weather conditions, such as hot, dry and gusty conditions, as well as lightning forecasted in the greater region. This weather, paired with critically dry vegetation, creates conditions where any new fire starts can spread rapidly and likely result in extreme fire behavior. Incident personnel have identified initial attack resources to be prepared to assist local firefighting resources to quickly knock down any news starts. 

Incident officials urge public caution and ask everyone to follow local fire restrictions to help keep wildfires off the landscape.

Fire restrictions: Officials want to remind everyone that during fire season multiple agencies have restrictions in place to reduce human caused fires, including public use restrictions and limits on equipment use. Check with your local fire service organization before you start the next wildfire.

The Umatilla National Forest issued a temporary closure order for the Bologna Fire on August 11, 2026, which includes portions of Forest Service Roads (FSR) 24, as well as Tamarack Cabin and Lookout. For more information about the closure, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/umatilla/alerts 

Air Quality Information: Air quality updates: https://fire.airnow.gov/ 

If You Fly, We Can’t: Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR): A “TFR” is in place for the fire area daily (24 hours) until further notice. Flying a drone near or around a wildfire is illegal and compromises the safety of both pilots and firefighters and interferes with firefighting efforts.  If you fly, we can’t. All illegal drone use will be reported to law enforcement.

8/17/2026 Morning Briefing

 

BMIDC MORNING BRIEFING
August 17, 2026
BMIDC WEBSITE
8/16 (NEW) INITIAL ATTACK	Fires	Acres
Umatilla National Forest	5	2.6
Wallowa Whitman National Forest	1	.1
Vale/PRD District BLM Baker Area	0	0
NEO Oregon Department of Forestry	0	0
WA DNR Snake River Unit	0	0
BIA Umatilla Agency	0	0
Total	6	2.7
INCIDENT SUMMARY
Previous Day 8/16/2026 WWNF – 1 Fire at .1 Acres: Goat Fire   UMF – 5 Fires at 2.6 Acres: Yarn Springs, Thorn, Reser, Proctor Creek, and Pierson Fires.

8/16/2026 Morning Briefing

 

BMIDC MORNING BRIEFING
August 16, 2026
BMIDC WEBSITE
8/15 (NEW) INITIAL ATTACK	Fires	Acres
Umatilla National Forest	0	0
Wallowa Whitman National Forest	5	3
Vale/PRD District BLM Baker Area	0	0
NEO Oregon Department of Forestry	3	4
WA DNR Snake River Unit	0	0
BIA Umatilla Agency	0	0
Total	8	7
INCIDENT SUMMARY
Previous Day 8/15/2026 WWNF – 5 Fires at 3 Acres: Pickle, Heckly Ridge, Poison Creek, Swamp Creek, and Long Cut   ODF – 3 Fires at 4 Acres: Pack Rat, Mink Lane, and Tall Grass.

Paradise and Hagen Fires Update - August 16, 2026

Northern Rockies Team 6, Incident Commander Rich Cowger

Contact Information: Phone: 541-970-7128 Email: 2026.paradise@firenet.gov

Hagen Fire                                                                                            
Latest Intelligence                                                                               
Size: 56,419                                                                                          
Containment: 14%                                                                                      
Personnel: 990                                                                                     

Paradise Fire
Latest Intelligence
Size: 5,195 acres
Containment: 0% 
Personnel: 336 

Key Message

Saturday’s thunderstorms provided some help and some hinderance to firefighting efforts. Paradise and the eastern part of the Hagen Fire received enough precipitation to be helpful while winds in the northern part of the Hagen fire led to significantly increased fire activity. Firefighting resources are scarce across the United States, so fire managers are being flexible, shifting resources around to meet needs and priorities.

Paradise Fire –

On Saturday, the Paradise Fire did receive enough moisture to keep fire activity moderate and hinder defensive burning activities. Fuels are expected to dry out over the next few days as hot, dry weather returns to the area. Fire slowly backed down to the confluence of Broken Creek and Mill Creek. Sunday, firefighters will build hand line below the Mill Creek Road and strengthen other holding features. They will work south along the FSR65, widening and improving it so that it can serve as a holding feature as the fire continues to move south.  

Hagen Fire–

The Hagen fire received a mix of precipitation amounts on Saturday. The east side of the fire received up to 0.7 inches of rain with almost half an inch falling in about 15 minutes. However, the north and western side of the fire received only hundredths of an inch of precipitation. The gusty outflow winds associated with this thunderstorm caused problems for firefighters along the North Fork of the Umatilla River. The fire began to spot up to a ½ mile out of the drainage up onto the flats. Planes dropped retardant to slow the spread and helicopters and scoopers helped with water drops. Sunday, firefighters will build indirect line from the Zig Zag Springs area to the Umatilla River trailhead in a continuing effort to shrink the containment box on this part of the fire.  Firefighters continue to mop up and secure the area along Highway 204 in the Spout Springs area and south. The lines in the southern area of the fire continue to be reinforced with defensive burning, masticating and mopping up. The old Meachum Creek Road and other dozer lines held on the slop on the western edge of the fire and crews will mop up this area over the next 48 hours.

Weather and Fire Behavior

Isolated showers from Saturday’s storms blanketed the fire area dropping varied amounts of rain or hail in some areas. The precipitation along with higher relative humidities provided some relief to firefighters keeping certain areas to creeping and smoldering fire activity. There is a 10% chance of thunderstorm activity expected for both Sunday and Monday during the afternoon and evening hours producing wind gusts up to 20 mph across higher elevations. Unstable air over the next few days could keep the fire activity elevated if the fire area is clear of smoke.

EVACUATIONS 

Evacuation Levels:

Fire conditions can change rapidly. Evacuation levels and Road Closures are frequently adjusted.

Umatilla County, Union County and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

County Emergency Management Websites:

Columbia County Emergency Management

Umatilla County Emergency Management

Union County Emergency Management

Walla Walla County Emergency Management

Closures and Special Messages

Umatilla National Forest Closures: For public safety and to facilitate firefighting operations the following National Forest Closures have been issued.

Hagen Fire:

Expanded closure order for the Hagen Fire

Hagen and Horse Ridge Fire Emergency Closure

Paradise Fire:

Paradise Fire Emergency Closure

Road Closure Information:

Oregon Department of Transportation Trip Check

Fire Restrictions: The Umatilla National Forest has issued public use restrictions for smoking, off-road travel, and chainsaw use across the entire national forest.

Smoke Outlook: For current smoke reports visit https://fire.airnow.gov.

Detailed Northeast Oregon Air Reports

Detailed Southeast Washington Air Reports 

Air Space Restrictions:

Temporary Flight Restrictions are in place over the wildfires. If you fly, we can’t. Every time a drone is spotted near the fire all aircraft are grounded until we can be sure the drone is clear of this area. http://knowbeforeyoufly.org

Bologna, Cottonwood, Little Bear, & Rosenbaum Fires Update Aug 16, 2026

Hold and secure: firefighters make significant progress on Rosenbaum Fire 

KIMBERLY, Ore. (Aug. 16, 2026) – Firefighters made significant progress on the Rosenbaum fire, leading to the reopening of the single-lane closure on Highway 19 and reducing some evacuation levels in Grant County. Today they look to hold and improve control lines and tie in critical line along the southwestern portion of the fire along difficult, craggy terrain and bluffs. Elsewhere on the Rosenbaum Fire, crews continue mop up and cooling hot spots, most notably along the highway and around structures.  

Overnight, firefighters used drones with infrared (IR) instruments to map and extinguish hot spots around the perimeters of the Bologna, Cottonwood and Little Bear fires as they continue mop-up operations. Firefighters continue to strengthen control lines across all incidents with mop up well into 200 and 300 feet into the fire’s perimeter. Firefighters continue grid-pattern work to identify and cool hot spots along the fire’s edge and provide vigilant patrols to monitor and respond quickly if needed. Additionally, crews also began some suppression repair work to prevent erosion and flooding. 

With lightning in the region forecasted through the weekend, paired with critically-dry vegetation, incident personnel have identified initial attack resources to be prepared to assist local firefighting resources to quickly knock down any news starts.

The Umatilla National Forest issued a temporary closure order for the Bologna Fire on August 11, 2026, which includes portions of Forest Service Roads (FSR) 24, as well as Tamarack Cabin and Lookout. For more information about the closure, visit
https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/umatilla/alerts

Air Quality Information: Air quality updates: https://fire.airnow.gov/

Fire restrictions: Officials want to remind everyone that during fire season multiple agencies have restrictions in place to reduce human caused fires, including public use restrictions and limits on equipment use. Check with your local fire service organization before you start the next wildfire.

If You Fly, We Can’t: Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR):

A “TFR” is in place for the fire area daily (24 hours) until further notice. Flying a drone near or around a wildfire is illegal and compromises the safety of both pilots and firefighters and interferes with firefighting efforts. If you fly, we can’t. All illegal drone use will be reported to law enforcement.