Single Publication

This will be the final evening update for the Fossil Complex. Daily updates will follow.

Wetting Rain Falls On the Service Fire

SPRAY, Ore. –  Today crews made good progress toward securing the fire’s perimeter, which includes mop up and the felling of hazard trees so that firefighters can work safely. While mop up operations will likely  continue over the next few days, the work of mapping all of the fire lines that were built during suppression is getting underway. The information collected now will record areas where soil disturbances from suppression activity need to be repaired to prevent erosion. 

Examples of disturbances where repair can limit erosion are dozer lines, berms along dozer line that channel water, and ruts from trucks and heavy equipment that can pool or channel water. Suppression repair is an important and necessary post-wildfire suppression activity to aid in ecosystem recovery by preventing soil loss and erosion and protecting watershed quality. 

Suppression repair activities include removing berms and building water bars or scattering debris where water is prone to flow quickly. The goal is to keep water from pooling or flowing with force to minimize erosion and allow soil that may be carried by flowing water to redeposit onto the land.  

Winds are expected to begin to shift west southwest tomorrow morning, increasing with gusts up to 25 mph later in the day. The shift of wind direction may uproot trees that have been weakened by the fire. Temperatures tonight will range from 45-50 degrees.

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:  24,446 acres          

Two Cabin-253 acres

Canyon-192 acres

Kinzua-96 acres

Holmes-15 acres

Service- 23,890 

Containment:  28% 

Cause:  Lightning

Current Cost: $20.1M

All Resources 

Hand Crews: 41

Engines: 51

Water Tender: 17

Dozers:  12

Skidgen: 7

Excavator: 2

Masticator: 1

Total Resources: 1,240

Aerial Resources

Type 1: 3

Type 2: 6

Type 3: 3

UAS  3: 1

Evacuations: 

Level 3: 11 addresses

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

ODF Incident Commander:

Matt Howard
Incident Management Team 2