Lick Creek and Green Ridge Fire Update – August 2, 2021 8:00 a.m.

 There will be community meeting this Wednesday night at the Dayton Best Western Conf. Room @ 7:30 p.m.

Lick Creek Fire: The Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team has wrapped up their work on the Lick Creek Fire. Their assessment will be used for forecasting the preparation needs of the areas at greatest risk for runoff and flooding. This fire remains at 90% contained.

Continued smoke will be visible as unburned pockets of vegetation inside the fire perimeter are consumed. Crews will continue to mop up pockets of heat interior and patrol until full containment is achieved.

Green Ridge Fire: The fire continued backing slowly toward the Ladybug Campground holding within primary containment lines. The night shift focused on patrol and monitoring of the fire edge taking action where needed to accomplish containment. Today’s operations may include firing along the 46 Road that will connect the Edmiston Springs and Spangler Creek sections. Aircraft will be assisting ground resources with retardant and water dropping runs to help minimize potential for additional fire spread, working the strategy of the 'anchor and flanking. Saturday’s cooler temperatures and rainfall (amounts from trace to 0.05 inches) helped to decrease fire activity in some areas of the fire. Every effort is being made to protect the numerous values at risk to include Mill Creek Municipal Watershed, plantation reforestation sites, sensitive plants, recreation areas, fisheries, numerous cultural, archaeological, and historic sites, farming, high value agricultural lands, a RAWS site, and a repeater site are also threatened. Secondary control lines are also being established by improvement of existing roads, trails, and natural terrain features.

Weather and Smoke Information: This morning’s cloud cover will decrease on Monday. It will be warmer with lower humidity. Afternoon temperatures will reach the mid 70’s over the higher ridges and in the mid 80’s in the valley bottoms. The humidity’s will generally range from 50 to 55 percent along the ridges and 30 to 35 percent in the valley bottoms. Winds will be light and variable. The region can expect smoky conditions and elevated humidity levels. Information is available on Washington Smoke Blog at: https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/.

Evacuations: Level II Evacuation Notice issued on July 29th, by Columbia County’s sheriff’s office remains in effect for the area: south of the previous Level I evacuation in Columbia County. The Level II evacuation notice extends east to the forest boundary, including Bald Butte Mountain and south to the Columbia County-Wallowa County state border. The evacuation notice also extends west to the forest boundary and north to Chase Mountain. From Chase Mountain, it extends to Middle Point Trailhead to Midway Campground. Additionally, a Level I evacuation notice remains in effect for the following areas: everywhere north and west of Chase Mountain and Midway Camp in the forest boundary. If you have questions, please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (509-382-1100; or 509-382-2518). The Level 1 evacuation remains in place in Garfield County. If you have questions, please call the Garfield County Emergency Management Director, Tina Meier, or Sheriff Drew Hyer (509-843-3494).

Closures: All Forest Service lands, roads, and trails in the Umatilla National Forest are closed. For more information, visit the Umatilla National Forest website: www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd931174.pdf