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The Rail Ridge is made of multiple lightning fires that merged into one fire. When the lightning fires first started, they were growing quickly due to winds and warm weather.
The Rail Ridge Fire is located on the South Fork of the John Day River near Martin Creek. The fire jumped the river yesterday and moved into the Murderers Creek drainage, where it continued to increase in size. Evacuations for all of Aldrich Mountain Proper were enacted. Additional evacuations in eastern Crook County (on the western part of the Rail Ridge fire).
Several lightning caused fires combined to become the Rail Ridge Fire. Wildfires designated as 778 Fire, 761 (Rail Ridge) Fire, 779 (Powell) Fire, and 796 (Black Canyon) Fire are now being managed as one wildfire response. Full suppression strategy will be used where possible and with firefighter and public safety in mind. The Southern Area Gray Incident Management Team, led by Incident Commander Mitch Ketron assumed command of the fire on Tuesday, September 3, at 1:00 PM (PST).
Along with firefighter safety, public safety is very important in managing this fire. If a resident is not already signed up for evacuation alerts, they can contact their local county Sheriff’s Office.
| Current as of | Thu, 09/05/2024 - 11:30 |
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| Incident Time Zone | America/Los_Angeles |
| Incident Type | Wildfire |
| Cause | Lightning |
| Date of Origin | |
| Location | Approx. 7 miles south of Dayville, OR |
| Incident Commander | Southern Gray Team, Mitch Ketron |
| Incident Description | The Rail Ridge Fire started near the South Fork of the John Day River around Martin Creek and quickly moved into the Murderers Creek drainage. Evacuations for all of Aldrich Mountain remain in effect. Additional evacuations went into effect in eastern Crook County (on the west side of the fire) on Wed. afternoon. Several lightning-caused fires combined with the Rail Ridge Fire. Wildfires designated as 778 Fire, 761 (Rail Ridge) Fire, 779 (Powell) Fire, and 796 (Black Canyon) Fire are now being managed as one wildfire response. Full suppression strategy will be used where possible and with firefighter and public safety in mind. If a resident is not already signed up for evacuation alerts, they can contact their local county Sheriff’s Office. |
| Coordinates |
44° 14' 27'' Latitude
-119° 33' 35
'' Longitude
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| Total Personnel: | 100 |
|---|---|
| Size | 82,947 Acres |
| Percent of Perimeter Contained | 0% |
| Fuels Involved | Grassy component that makes quick runs and thicker timber and brush that burns hot . Some of the areas are rough terrain and within Wilderness area. |
| Significant Events | Wed. Activities – Firefighting operations focused on aggressively building fire perimeter where safe for fire personnel. Natural barriers, existing roadways, and established fuel breaks continued to be utilized to stop or slow spread along the perimeter of the fire. Conditions remained too smoky for aircraft operations, but smoke shading and light winds provided opportunity to make progress in slowing fire spread and establishing control lines for upcoming operations Continued operations Wed. night – This afternoon and into the night, strategic burning operations will be utilized from control lines to remove unburned fuels between defensible barriers and the active fire front. Continued smoke and some fire may be visible from nearby communities tonight. On the north end, the focus will be stopping the fire from spreading into the Deep Creek drainage to keep the fire away from structures in this area. Along the west side of the Rail Ridge fire, firing operations will be used in the same way to connect lines that were built over the last few days. Crews will continue strategic structural point protection, as safe to do, so while continuing to stop the fire’s spread along these planned lines. |
| Planned Actions |
Firefighters will continue to connect barriers to halt fire spread. |
|---|---|
| Projected Incident Activity |
CA-10 Complex Incident Management Team is arriving with additional resources to begin assisting and a transfer of command will occur from Southern Gray Team to CA-10 sometime in the coming days. |
| Remarks |
Evacuations – Evacuation zones update for the Rail Ridge Fire – Grant County:
Wheeler County:
Closures: The Malheur National Forest has enacted a closure order for sections of the Blue Mountain Ranger District for public safety. Ochoco National Forrest has multiple closure orders in areas affected by this and other wildfires. Visit the Forest’s website at www.fs.usda.gov/ochoco to see current closures. Visit the Oregon Department of Emergency Management website to view a map of active fires (and evacuation areas) at https://oregon-oem-geo.hub.arcgis.com/. Fire Restrictions –
For more information visit CentralOregonFire.org or the Ochoco National Forest’s website. Smoke from the Rail Ridge Fire continues, and maps and air quality information are always available on https://fire.airnow.gov/. Please help firefighters by following all local regulations, found here: https://www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/pages/restrictions.aspx. Additional wildfire prevention tips are available at www.keeporegongreen.org.
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| Weather Concerns | Continued dry, hot weather could continue to cause increased fire behavior. |
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