 Last week’s highlights
ODF incident management teams:
- Team 1 is in command of the Boneyard Fire near Monument (ODF Central Oregon District). Updates available on the incident’s Facebook page.
- Team 3 is in command of the Battle Mountain Complex near Ukiah (ODF Northeast Oregon District). The Oregon State Fire Marshal has ordered a conflagration. Updates available on the incident’s Facebook page.
- Team 2 is currently on mandatory rest after demobilizing from the Larch Creek fire.
ODF Priority Fires:
- Battle Mountain Complex near Ukiah (estimated 42,474 ac. Combined)
- Includes the Snake (13,557 ac.), NF Owens (3,887 ac.), and Monkey Creek Fire (25,030 ac.)
- Cottage Grove Complex in the South Cascade District (emerging incident, acreage undetermined)
- Boneyard Fire near Monument (14,602 ac.)
- Lone Rock Fire near Condon (116,563 ac)
- Durkee Fire near Durkee (173,758 ac.)
- Whiskey Creek Fire in the Central Oregon District (165 ac.)
- Falls Fire near Burns (120,919 ac.)
- Cougar Creek in Washington near the Northeast Oregon border (8,271 ac.)
After two significant lightning events that started Wednesday (July 17, 2024) evening of last week and ended Sunday, July 21, 2024, the state saw multiple new fire starts primarily across Southern, Central and Eastern Oregon. Due to conditions, especially in Central and Eastern Oregon, a good number of these ignitions experienced high fire activity from the beginning and grew exponentially within a 12–24 hour period.
Over the last week, there have been 2190 lightning strikes across the state, with 632 lightning strikes within the last 24 hours. A weather alert for dry lightning remains in effect through Tuesday, July 23.
However, even in all the chaos, there are successes within the Oregon Department of Forestry.
- ODF IMT 2 demobilized from the Larch Creek Fire near Dufur and transferred command to a local IMT 3, leaving the fire in a good place for the new team to finish it off. The Larch Creek Fire shows how state and local organizations can succeed when they work together to protect communities and natural resources.
- In just five hours from midnight to 5 a.m. yesterday (Sunday) ODF’s Western Lane District received 56 lightning strikes. Anticipating the storm, ODF had staff out early searching for strikes. Along with landowner partners, district firefighters were able to limit the number of fires to six, the largest being four acres. All six fires are now in the mop up phase.
- In the Southwest Oregon District, Firefighters worked overnight Wednesday, July 17, on numerous small fires along the lower Rogue River in Josephine County, making good progress on most incidents and extinguishing others completely. Following the first round of thunderstorms, 10 fires were reported on the steep terrain northwest of Rand and Galice. Resources from ODF, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest immediately responded. As a result, all fires were caught or held at an acre or less.
After the second round of thunderstorms over the weekend, firefighters worked all day on four new lightning-caused fires across the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest Oregon District, and as of 6 p.m. Sunday, all fires are 100% lined and in various stages of mop up.
What to expect this week
Weather: Low pressure centered off the British Columbia. coast will start nudging across the Pacific NW today. Afternoon/evening thunderstorms will be focused more over eastern Oregon plus eastern Washington near the Canadian border. A deepening marine layer will start spilling over the Cascade east slopes and gaps today potentially bringing very gusty wind to new and existing fires. Conditions somewhat ease Tuesday, but general winds ramp up Wednesday on the eastside. Instability and thunderstorms become pushed south and east as the upper low moves from British Columbia. into Alberta. Some thunderstorms may clip far southeast Oregon Thursday, but the overall trend will be for temperatures and humidity returning closer to normal.
Prevention: With resources strained and limited, NOW more than ever we need Oregonians to prevent human-caused fires and not bring fire hazards onto the landscape. By having less human-caused fires, our resources can focus on detecting, assessing and suppressing new lightning-caused fires that will be popping up in the next several days.
Please, know the fire danger level of the areas where you live, work and play, and follow all local restrictions on burning, equipment use, campfires and other activities that can start wildfires. Find danger levels and restrictions across the state here.
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