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Drier Conditions Today On The Service Fire

SPRAY, Ore. – As fuels began to dry out yesterday afternoon, two spot fires became established outside of the fire lines. Ground and aerial resources responded and have reported that the spot fires are fully lined this morning. Crews also completed a survey of the perimeter of the unburned interior island that is about 700 acres in size and fire managers have developed a plan to secure the area without needing to burn the island. While this plan will require some extra effort, minimizing the acres burned to preserve landowner values is an incident objective.

Work along ORE 19 continues with chipping, hazard tree removal and mop-up. The public is reminded to use caution and slow down on the highway as crews and equipment are actively working. The west to northwest side of the fire is in mop up, with some areas having 100 feet of cool black. Around the north to northeast side of the fire the work will be laying hose and moving into the fire, cooling hot areas. To the east, crews will secure lines with tactical firing operations as conditions allow. The southern part will have crews continue their work building direct line and moving into the fire’s interior.

While today’s weather will be similar to yesterday, fuels are expected to dry and become available earlier in the day because moisture from the recent rains has evaporated.
The reported acreage of the fire changed yesterday because more accurate infrared mapping of the fire perimeter became available.

Videos: Recordings of the Daily Operations Updates and other stories are available at: https://www.youtube.com/@FossilComplex.

Evacuation: Level 3 evacuations remain inside the perimeter of the Service Fire. For the most recent evacuation levels please go to: https://www.facebook.com/WheelerCountySheriffsOffice/

The Two Cabin, Holmes, Kinzua and Canyon Fires are all in patrol status.