Final Fire Update for Willamette Complex North

Boulder Creek, Ore, Linton Creek, and 374 Fires 

Saturday, September 28, 2024

InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/orwif-north-willamette-complex  

Willamette Complex North Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565845313387  

Email:2024.WillametteComplex.North@firenet.gov

Overview: Today is Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 6’s final day on the Willamette Complex North. A Type 3 team is joining Team 6 today and both teams are working towards a smooth transition. The Type 3 team takes command of the Willamette Complex North today, Saturday at 6pm. Team 6 was honored to work on the Willamette Complex and is grateful for the support from the communities surrounding the fire areas. 

Weather forecasts call for continued warm and dry weather through the weekend. Despite this, fire activity is expected to remain moderate to minimal with smoldering and creeping. An increase in smoke production is possible, particularly in areas on southern aspects and full sun exposure. Those fires that are not yet at full containment are expected to remain in the current footprints. 

Boulder Creek: 523 acres, 51% contained 
Located 5 miles east of McKenzie Bridge. Crews continue to locate and extinguish areas of heat and are felling fire-damaged trees along containment lines. Firefighters are engaged in mopping up and fire suppression repair work, identifying and removing excess equipment.

Ore: 3,479 acres, 100% contained 
Located 7 miles northeast of Blue River. Firefighters saw a moderate increase in fire activity within the containment lines in the unburned area in the northwest corner of the fire. On the interior of the fire area, fire was observed slowing backing downhill, remaining within the fire footprint. Crews continue suppression repair work. 

374: 62 acres, 0% contained and Linton Creek: 1,309 acres, 0% contained

Located in the Three Sisters Wilderness. These fires were monitored by air on Friday and minimal fire activity was observed. These fires have remained in their footprints adjacent to natural barriers and previous fire scars. Both fires will continue to be in a monitoring status, with no additional action needed at this time. 

Pyramid: 100% contained 

On Friday, September 27, 2024, Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 6 transitioned the Pyramid Fire to a Type 4 organization with the Willamette National Forest. 

Willamette National Forest Area Closures: Forest officials are continually evaluating closure orders and will adjust as conditions allow. Fire-related closures remain in place on the McKenzie River Ranger District, as well as on the Middle Fork Ranger District in the immediate fire operations area for public and firefighter safety. Please respect and avoid all closed areas of the national forest.
Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/willamette/fire/?cid=fseprd552029. 

Road Closures:  OR-242 remains closed to all traffic between the intersection with OR-126 and the Dee Wright Observatory (mileposts 55 to 75). For current road conditions, please check Oregon Department of Transportation’s website: https://www.tripcheck.com/.

Homestead/Diamond Complexes and Lane 1 Fires

Sept. 28, 2024

Fire Information: 541-208-7100, 8 AM - 8 PM

InciWeb-Homestead: https://t.ly/syeHa and InciWeb-Diamond: https://bit.ly/4gCfLsp

Seven fires within the Homestead Complex, Lane 1, and Diamond Complex remain under active management by Northwest Team 12. Firefighting resources from the Homestead Complex remain available for initial attack response as needed and were successful at quickly containing a new fire start on the Cottage Grove Ranger District yesterday, limiting the fire spread to under one acre. 

Homestead Complex: 9,958 acres, 35% contained │ Lane 1: 25,951 acres, 99% contained │ Diamond Complex: 11,141 acres, 90% contained │ Total personnel: 560

Yesterday, fire managers flew reconnaissance flights and observed moderate smoke and slow creeping and backing fire activity on the Horse Heaven and Fuller Lake Fires. Crews and heavy equipment accomplished more fire suppression repair work that will be ongoing for the next several days. Resource advisors are inspecting completed work to ensure mitigation objectives are met and efforts are effective at reducing impacts from fire suppression activities on natural resources.

On the Horse Heaven Fire, firefighters removed hose along the north perimeter and will continue to patrol and monitor the northeast side to make sure interior hotspots remain secure. Mastication and chipping along the roads continue to progress smoothly. Crews will also be repairing dozer line, scattering woody debris and constructing water bars to prevent impacts from possible erosion. 

The Fuller Lake Fire continues to back and creep in areas of heavy fuels within the Boulder Creek Wilderness. Mastication work was completed along Forest Service Road 3810 and chipping will continue today. Fire crews will work along the roads to clear ditches and specially trained teams of sawyers will work to remove snags and hazard trees that pose a threat to public safety in transportation corridors. 

Fire resources patrolling the No Man Fire observed a handful of interior smokes yesterday and verified they were not a threat to the fireline. Engines will continue to monitor these smokes to ensure the fire remains secure. On the Bullpup Fire, numerous roads are still being graded and chipping along roads is continuing. 

On the Lane 1 Fire, minor work remains on the east side in the Fairview area. Chipping is finished and crews are close to completion of dozer line repair work. 

Two fires remain uncontained on the Diamond Complex. Fire managers observed isolated smoldering on the Potter Fire but determined this poses no threat to the containment of the fire. Road grading will continue on Forest Service Road 3704 and fire crews will continue to gather and remove, or “backhaul,” signage and flagging. The Pine Bench Fire is wrapping up and showed no visible smoke.  

Closures: The Umpqua National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have revised closure orders. Two closure orders impact the Umpqua National Forest https://t.ly/Mvn6G. A BLM Roseburg District closure order remain also remains in place https://t.ly/uWX6l. 

Weather: Conditions will remain warm and dry today, with a short-lived cooling trend on Sunday. A return to warm and dry weather will resume on Monday and Tuesday. 

The Line Fire burned actively in the Bear Creek drainage and produced a lot of smoke over the day.  The containment line on the ridge was strengthened with multiple aircraft dropping retardant and water.  Several VLATS and at least 10 helicopters were working in this area.  Since the flight path crossed Highway 18 to the east of Snow Valley, the highway was temporarily closed for the aircraft to work on the fire for about an hour.

There is more fuel in the Bear Creek drainage that will burn creating smoky conditions in Big Bear Valley over the next few days.

Temperatures are expected to be in the highs ranging from the mid 70’s to the upper 80’s in the higher elevations and warmer, mid 80’s to low 90’s in the lower elevations.  Relative humidity will vary from 12- 50% across the fire with winds gusting around 15 MPH in the afternoon.

Highway 330 is closed.  Over 4 miles of guardrails were damaged in addition to structural damage to the roadbed.  CalTrans is focused on repairing this damage.

Goosmus Fire Update                               

September 28, 2024

The Goosmus Fire is burning between Big Goosmus Road and Danville and along the United States and Canadian Boundary.  The Goosmus Fire started at approximately at 2:30pm and spread rapidly north, primarily driven by winds as a cold front passed through the area. 

Yesterday, crews completed direct (up to the burned line of the fire) and indirect line for approximately 90% of the fire.  Crews were able to conduct burnout operations in areas of indirect line, removing the unburned fuels up to the line.  Increased smoke and fire activity was visible throughout yesterday afternoon.  Helicopters were able to help crews through the burn operations, by helping keep an eye on the burn progression as well as able to supply bucket drops of water if fire behavior became too active.  In the 4th of July Creek Road area, crews have been working on securing 60 spot fires that initiated from the initial run of the fire on Sept. 25th.

Today, with anticipated increasing high winds tomorrow, crews will work on finalizing the line and securing remaining high risk spread areas.  Crews will evaluate areas of indirect line for burnout operations, or if not feasible, will work on direct line, where operationally safe and effective to do so.  Fire weakened trees along Highway 21 will be felled and removed, in anticipation of high winds tomorrow.  Delays are possible up to 15 minutes during these operations, which are scheduled to begin around 9:00am.

Frog Fire Statistics

• Size: 3,112 acres
• Containment: 64%
• Total Personnel: 136
• Location: east of Clayton, ID
• Reported: September 7, 2024
• Cause: Lightning

For More Information

InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idstf-frog 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sawtoothnationalforest

Current Situation:  The Frog Fire has become less active and containment has increased on the south and east sides; however, there are still some areas of heat remaining on the interior of the fire area.  The fire is sheltered from the predicted high winds and is not expected to show any significant increases in activity over the weekend.  Work on the Frog Fire has progressed well, and fire managers estimate only a few days left of work to complete containment of the fire perimeter.  As resources are no longer needed on the Frog Fire, they will be reassigned to the Wapiti Fire.  The fire camp at Yankee Fork Guard Station will also be removed by the end of the weekend due to the decreased need for support on that fire.

Evacuations:  There are currently no evacuations related to the Frog Fire.

Closures:  The area closure in place around the Frog Fire includes FS 667 (Big Boulder Creek Road) and Trail 047 where adjacent to the closure boundary. The closure excludes FS Roads 669 and 670 and Trail 682. Hunters and recreationalists should familiarize themselves with this closure information prior to entering the vicinity.  Please reference the map and read the full closure description at https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-closures/idstf-frog.

Middle Fork Complex: 61,484 acres, 90% completion, 496 Personnel 

Snag Fire: 33,436 acres, 90% completion, 97 Personnel 

Goat Fire: 26,659 acres, 46% completion, 67 personnel

High pressure will continue with hotter temperatures and lower relative humidities, marginal recoveries are expected overnight.  As the drying trend continues, we can expect a slight increase in smoke interior of the fire area.

Middle Fork Complex – Heavy equipment completed its 48 hour track up to the Deadwood Reservoir and will begin assisting with suppression repair efforts along the reservoir. Crews will continue to strengthen and check containment lines while continuing repair missions in the north end of the Nellie.

Goat – Crews continued working on the ridgeline down around the private lands back to Clear Creek Road securing the fires edge. Firefighters completed containment line along the drainage off Clear Creek Road on the western side of the fire. More smoke was visible yesterday as a result of higher temperatures and the drying trend.

Snag – Suppression repair work continues on the north end of the fire focusing on repairing the direct and indirect hand and dozer lines in the area. Crews and engines will continue to check containment lines as suppression repair on the western edge of the fire continue.

Middle Fork Complex - Suppression Repair= 27 miles of handline completed. 11 miles of dozer line completed. 

Goat and Snag Fires - Suppression Repair = 15 miles of handline completed. 3 miles of dozer line completed.

Firefighters continue work both fire suppression and suppression repair as needed so heavy firefighting equipment is moving from site to site. Please use extreme caution while traveling, especially when approaching vehicles, and at intersections.

Closure Orders: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/boise/alerts-notices 

Hunters are not allowed access to closed areas.  We ask the public to adhere to the closures as they currently exist; in particular, Trail Creek Hot Springs is currently within the closure area for the West Mountain Complex and is closed.

Fire Restrictions: Stage 1 Fire Restrictions have been rescinded for the Boise National Forest. For more information on the restrictions visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/boise/alerts-notices.  

Wapiti Fire Statistics

Size: 125,540 acres
Completion: 75%
Total Personnel: 320
Location: near Grandjean, ID
Reported: July 24, 2024
Cause: Lightning

For More Information

InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-wapiti-fire
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wapitifireinfo2024
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WapitiFireInfo2024
Interactive Map:  https://tinyurl.com/WapitiFireInfoMap

Special Emphasis: For this weekend, closures remain in place and fire crews and heavy equipment will continue to be present on the roads. Please use the links below for maps and information for planning hunting and recreational activities. 

Collection of firewood within closure areas is also prohibited; any firewood collection in open areas must be done with a valid firewood permit. For questions on firewood collection on the Sawtooth National Forest, please contact the Stanley Ranger Station at 208.774.3000. 

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team has arrived on the Wapiti Fire to begin assessments of the fire area and develop a plan for emergency stabilization to limit threats and damage from the effects of fire, such as erosion control. 

Weather: Yesterday we saw an increase in temperature and wind and that trend will continue through today into Sunday. Today winds and temperatures will climb, and humidity will drop, creating potentially critical fire weather conditions. This pattern repeats Sunday when higher winds are expected, but humidities will be slightly higher than Saturday.

Current Situation: With the higher winds yesterday fire activity on the Wapiti Fire increased and is expected to remain active through the weekend. Yesterday crews worked on hotspots around the Haynes Creek area. Chapman Creek also showed more smoke yesterday due to the higher winds. More hotspots are expected to become active today particularly on the west side of the fire around Copper Mountain that will be exposed to gustier conditions. Hot spots in the interior of the fire are expected to show more smoke as fire spreads through unburned vegetation. 

The restoration of the Grandjean Road continues, and crews are assessing the area to see what other work is needed. Several small repair projects continue in the Lowman area. Crews worked just north of Copper Mountain to suppress the most predominate heat along the open edge of the fire. Crews will continue to look for and monitor other areas near Copper Mountain that may heat up with the windier weather. In the Bull Trout area, active fire areas that crews worked on over the last few days have been suppressed. Additional smoke has become visible north of that area and will be assessed today for appropriate suppression actions. Hazard tree removal along the 630 Road and Stanley Lake Road continues. Log removal on the 210 Road is mostly complete. Some minor repair and reseeding on the landings will be completed in the next few days by hand crews. As projects are completed equipment and people are being relocated to other portions on the fire area.

Evacuations: Evacuation status for Stanley Zone 1 is currently at READY. Stanley Zones 2 – 5 and Kasino are no longer in an evacuation status. Sign up for Custer County CodeRED emergency notifications: text CUSTER to 99411 or enroll at https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/BF28E45537FF. 

All Boise County evacuation levels have been lifted; residents should remain alert for any change in conditions which could reinitiate an evacuation status. Sign up for Boise County Alert Sense emergency notifications at https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/publicUser.aspx?regionid=1163. 

For evacuation information on the Wapiti Fire, please see the Custer County Sheriff’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/p/Custer-County-Sheriff-Idaho-61558947312289/, and the Boise County Sheriff’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/boisecountysheriff/. 

Closures: The Wapiti Fire area closure covers portions of the Sawtooth, Boise, and Salmon-Challis National Forests. Please reference the map and description at https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incidentclosures/idbof-wapiti-fire. Recreationalists and hunters should reference this map and obey all posted signage regarding the closure area and any related road, trail, and campground closures. 

An interactive map for all closures on the Boise National Forest is found at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/642380b0eb124c8cab6bd9ad3d7146ad/page/Overview/# data_s=id%3AdataSource_5-1888bd00a2c-layer-13-1888bd00b53-layer-16%3A82

Line Post-Fire BAER Soil Burn Severity Map Released

September 27, 2024

USDA Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and analysis for the Line Fire burned area to produce a post-fire Soil Burn Severity (SBS) map. 

The BAER SBS map and data display categories of unburned/very low, low, moderate, and high soil burn severity in different colors for the different categories. Approximately 30% of the 39,234 acres analyzed by the BAER team are either unburned/very low or low soil burn severity, while 51% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and about 19% were identified as having high soil burn severity.

The BAER assessment team used initial remote sensing imagery with their field-validated soils data, to develop and produce a map showing soil burn severity levels for the burned area. The SBS is broken into four different classes: unburned/very low (green), low (blue), moderate (yellow), and high (red). For more information on these different SBS classifications, see the BAER Information Brief at: Cabdf Southern California Postfire Baer 2024 - | InciWeb (wildfire.gov).

There are several types of fire severity and intensity maps that you may see. Although they look different for the same fire, they may also all be accurate. This is because fire severity or intensity are different measures of the fire effects on a specific resource such as soils, tree canopies, vegetation or wildlife habitat. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) maps are primarily measures of fire effects on soils.

The BAER team relies on their final soil burn severity map to produce data, which they are using in their subsequent modeling and determination of post-fire runoff, erosion, and sedimentation. The BAER team, the US Geological Survey (USGS), and the California State Watershed Emergency Response Team (WERT) all utilize the soil burn severity map as an analysis tool to estimate post-fire watershed response to precipitation events. In specific areas that experienced moderate to high burn severity, there could be increased runoff from steep hillslopes which could result in increases of post-fire soil erosion, sedimentation, and potential debris flows.

The Line Fire SBS map can be downloaded at the Line Post-Fire BAER InciWeb site: Cabdf Southern California Postfire Baer 2024 Information | InciWeb (wildfire.gov) under the “Maps” tab.

BAER SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains and increased water runoff. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events--be prepared to act. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/lox/.

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A combination of federal and state firefighters on the BLM West Dolores Rim prescribed burn had another great day of burning. They treated 124 acres in Unit 20A, bringing the total to 758 acres accomplished in the last two days. Fire resources will monitor units in the following days. Smoke is expected to be visible from US-491 and CO-141 throughout the weekend and possible into next week as vegetation in the interior continues to smolder. Smoke may settle into low lying areas overnight. Both burn units are roughly located north, northeast of Dove Creek, CO. 

For information on prescribed burns, follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/SWD_Fire and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BLMMontroseFireUnit.