Malheur & Umatilla National Forests expand temporary closure area surrounding Crockets Knob Fire

JOHN DAY, PRAIRIE CITY, and HINES, OR – (Saturday, September 3, 2022) The Malheur and Umatilla National Forests have temporarily expanded the Closure Area surrounding the Crockets Knob Fire.

An area closure is in effect starting on County Road 20 at Sunshine Guard Station, northwest on County Road 20 to the Malheur National Forest boundary, north along the Forest boundary to the Umatilla National Forest boundary, east along the Forest boundary to Forest Service Road (FSR) 3988080, continuing east along FSR 3988080 to FSR 3988084, east to the Sharp Ridge Trail #3026, east to FSR 45, north on FSR 45 to the junction of Blue Mountain Trailhead #6141, southeast on Blue Mountain Trail #6141 to Sunrise Butte Trail #255, southwest to the Sunrise Butte Trailhead, southwest on FSR 4555 to the junction of FSR 4550, then back southwest to County Road 20 at Sunshine Guard Station.

All boundary roads, trails, and campgrounds will be closed EXCEPT County Road 20 from Sunshine Guard Station northwest to the Malheur National Forest boundary, which will remain open. For full area closure information and map, please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/malheur.

Closure signs will be posted on the ground and detailed maps of the closure information will be available on the Forest website and at any Forest office. Forest officials advise the public to use caution when traveling on the Forest as roads and trails could be impacted by hazards such as trees, rocks or boulders. There will also be an increase in fire vehicles and fire traffic. Forest conditions can be dynamic this time of year and likely to change throughout the day and week.

Visitors should contact their local ranger district prior to starting their trip. Many places in the Blue Mountains have limited or no cell phone coverage. Forest visitors should always be prepared to spend the night in the forest with warm clothing, food, personal hygiene items and plenty of water. The public is encouraged to monitor the Malheur National Forest Facebook page for updates on forest conditions and the current fire activity: 

https://www.facebook.com/MalheurNationalForest/.

The public are encouraged to be aware of the elevated fire danger on the Malheur National Forest. Current public use restrictions can be found on the Forest webpage: 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/malheur.

For fire updates, please visit Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8355/.