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The Cougar Creek Fire is burning within a mountainous and remote area on the Umatilla National Forest bordering the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness. 

Yesterday, mop-up operations made great progress along the north and western edge of the containment lines, increasing containment by 10 percent. The Falling Module continued to remove hazardous trees and snags, successfully ensuring firefighter safety and smooth operations. Firefighters continued to patrol containment lines looking for areas of concern. Fire crews to the south continued to repair work along dozer and handlines, suppression repair work included cleanup and erosion mitigation.

Yesterday an IR flight was completed, and all hotspots were located within the interior of the fire perimeter. Only a few hotspots were located near the interior of the the primary containment lines.

Today, operations will continue to focus on mop-up operations along the northwest and west portions of the fire’s edge from CCC camp to Saddle Butte. Firefighters will continue to patrol the containment lines and address hotspots identified with the IR flight.  Crews to the south and eastern portions of the fire will continue with suppression repair work focusing on Dozer and handlines. Fire crews will continue to backhaul equipment and hoses in areas they are no longer required. The interior will continue to produce smoke as left over fuel is consumed and may be visible to the public.

Evacuations and Closures: All evacuation orders have been lifted. Forest closure descriptions and maps are available online on the Umatilla National Forest closure website. Please respect area closure orders and use extra caution while driving for your safety as well as our firefighters. 

Weather and Smoke:  High 83/Low 53: Saturday winds will begin to increase and shift east at 5 to 8 mph with gusts to 17 likely. Daytime RHs will be poor/moderate ranging 22-27% with moderate overnight recoveries. Winds will continue to be a bit breezy overnight Saturday with winds from the east-northeast 5 to 10 mph with gusts to 20 mph then shifting to the southwest at 6 to 9 mph with gusts to 22 mph around 11 PM. Sunday winds will start from the southwest at 5 to 7 mph before shifting to the northeast around 5 PM. Daytime Rhs Sunday will moderate ranging between 30-40%