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Drier Conditions Today On The Service Fire

SPRAY, Ore. – Containment lines were completed across all divisions on the Service Fire. The fire continued to pose problems on the eastern side of the fire as heat hidden under juniper trees flared up today, slowing the installation of plumbing and mop up. The unburned island in the middle of the fire, consisting of 600 acres of grass and timber, was lined today and mop up will begin tomorrow.

With the installation of some additional hose lays tonight, mop up will be occurring across all divisions.  Aircraft will be dropping water to cool flare ups and areas of heat to support the efforts of the crews on the ground. The plan for tonight is to continue cooling hot spots, secure line and install hose lays where needed to set the day shift up for success.

Fire behavior and weather conditions created the potential for fire to spread, testing the lines in some areas. Fire Behavior Analyst Boone Zimmerlee reported that the fire activity he observed was within the ability of nearby crews to catch.

Temperatures were in the upper 60s to lower 70s today with wind of 3-5 MPH out of the west-northwest with gusts of 10-15 MPH. Decreasing clouds are expected tonight, with relative humidity recovering to 60-80%. A low-pressure system will affect the area tomorrow with possible morning sprinkles and a potential for additional light rain tomorrow night. Firefighters are expecting cooler temperatures with winds similar to today. 

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.  

FIRE AT A GLANCE

Fossil Complex

Total Size:  24,431acres          

Two Cabin-253 acres

Canyon-192 acres

Kinzua-96 acres

Holmes-15 acres

Service- 23,875 

Containment:  8% 

Cause:  Lightning

Current Cost: $16.2 M

All Resources 

Hand Crews: 41

Engines: 59

Water Tender: 12

Dozers:  21

Skidders: 7

Skidgen: 4

Excavator: 2

Masticator: 3

Feller Buncher: 4

Total Resources: 1,294

Aerial Resources

Type 1: 5

Type 2: 8

Type 3: 4

UAS  3: 1

Evacuations: 

Level 3: 11 addresses

https://www.facebook.com/WheelerCountySheriffsOffice/

ODF Incident Commander:

Matt Howard
Incident Management Team 2