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The Middle Fork Fire was discovered on July 17, 2024. This is a full-suppression fire. As of July 27, 2024, a Complex Incident Management Team is managing the Middle Fork fire in addition to the nearby Diamond Complex fires.
Air Quality: The park is experiencing impacts from this and other area fires. For air quality information, please visit fire.airnow.gov fore real-time smoke information. This site is also mobile friendly.
Trail Closures: There are trail closures in place in and around this fire. They include: Bald Crater Loop, Boundary Springs Trail, portions of the Pacific Crest Trail, and Lightning Springs Trail.
Fire Ban: Crater Lake National Park has a fire ban in effect as of July 24, 2024. Please click on the Closures tab for more info.
Additional Information: More information about other fires in the area, please visit the South Central Oregon Fire Management Partnership's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SCOFMPFIREINFO
For questions, contact the Diamond Complex public information line at 541-375-0367 or email 2024.diamondcomplex@firenet.gov
| Current as of | Thu, 08/15/2024 - 00:05 |
|---|---|
| Incident Type | Wildfire |
| Cause | |
| Date of Origin | |
| Location | Middle Fork area, west of Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park |
| Incident Commander | Mike Behrens, Incident Commander, Northern Rockies CIMT 3 Mike Almas, Deputy Incident Commander |
| Coordinates |
43° 1' 37'' Latitude
-122° 13' 57
'' Longitude
|
| Total Personnel: | 41 |
|---|---|
| Size | 5,075 Acres |
| Percent of Perimeter Contained | 0% |
| Estimated Containment Date | 10/18/2024 |
| Fuels Involved | Primary fuels are Timber (Litter and Understory), and Brush (2 feet). Moderated conditions with increased cloud cover, smoke, and lighter winds today led to spread by flanking and backing as well as short range spotting due to isolated torching. Spread was limited to the SE corner of the fire where creeping and some flanking to the east observed an along west flank where backing and isolated torching was observed. Heat remains along east flank of perimeter and along portions of north flank as well as SE corner. |
| Significant Events | Observed fire behavior today: active, short-range spotting, flanking, backing Moderated conditions with increased cloud cover, smoke, and lighter winds today led to spread by flanking and backing as well as short range spotting due to isolated torching. Spread was limited to the SE corner of the fire where creeping and some flanking to the east observed nd along west flank where backing and isolated torching was observed. Heat remains along east flank of perimeter and along portions of north flank as well as SE corner. |
| Planned Actions |
Prep work continued on the North Entrance Road today. Fire Use Module conducted limited burning today along the south section of the fire. Continue construction and improvement of primary and secondary control lines using heavy equipment and crews. Resources are situated to begin burnout operations if the fire impacts highway 230, 18 or north entrance road. Wildfire Fire Use Module was inserted into H-2 to scout control line in Division TT, construct check lines and conduct limited burning if warranted. |
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| Projected Incident Activity |
12 hours: Showers and t-storms possible. No wetting rains expected but breezy conditions possible with any outflow t-storm winds which could lead to short duration spread. 24 hours: RHs near 50%, temps in the upper 60s and 30% chance of t-storms will result in conditions of minimal spread. Any active fire behavior will likely be from any outflow winds if precipitation has not arrived yet. 48 hours: Elevated RHs in the mid 40s and temps near 70 will likely limit spread to creeping. If precipitation has arrived, fire behavior will likely be smoldering. |
| Remarks |
An administrative closure to the public continue as the prep work along the North entrance road advances. The Pacific Crest National Trail through the north side of the park is also closed impacting both day and thru hikers. This will impact day visitation from the Diamond Lake area. Visitors and others will have to reroute or change their plans. Oregon's only national park, Crater Lake, is a major economic driver for the southern Oregon Cascades area as it attracts visitors from throughout the country and internationally. The mast majority of these visits occur in July, August, and September with overall visitor expenditures estimated at over $51 million in local gateways to the park. These expenditures directly support over 700 jobs, nearly $28 million in labor income, over $42 million in value added, and nearly $75 million in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding the Park. Even short term periods of closures or reduced visitation has consequences to the area economy. *Resources in block 48 are supported or augmented by resources on the Diamond Complex. |
| Weather Concerns | Temperatures this morning were in the mid to upper 30s in the higher elevations with mid to upper 40s in the lower elevations. The relative humidity generally ranged from 85 to near 100 percent. A shallow marine layer allowed for patchy, shallow ground fog and some brought stratus. As the day progressed influence of the marine layer could be seen with smoke trapped near the surface. Above this layer, evidence of a more unstable air mass with more cumulus clouds present. Afternoon temperatures were in the mid to upper 70s in areas below 4000 ft, and ranged from 67-71 degrees in the higher elevations. Temperatures generally were 3 to 8 degrees warmer than Tuesday. The minimum relative humidity ranged from 38-43 percent...a 5-10 percent increase in most locations from yesterday. Winds were generally from the southwest to west with speeds of 3 to 7 mph sustained, gusting as high as 17 mph. The weather on Thursday will be cooler, wetter, and more moist with a threat for isolated to scattered thunderstorms. Most of this activity will be to the east of the complex. |
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