Story map is now available for the Riverside Fire. Story maps use Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to combine geospatial data with photos, video, audio, and text to visualize a theme or sequential events. Story maps are designed for audiences with access to the Internet; users do not need experience with GIS software to read or use story maps.

Click on this link to view: https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=d98eaa8ef19c486f9a08024a6f3b0d4e

RiversideFire Video Update 9/21:Fire lines looking good - lots of progress made, more to come - Ralph Lucas, Planning Operations, Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
View video here: https://bit.ly/2EqNY12

Riverside Fire – September 21, 2020 Update 

                                                                                                       
Acres: 137,971                                                                                                    Riverside Fire Info: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7174/                

Containment: 25%                                                                                                        fb.com/RiversideFireInfo 

Start Date: September 8, 2020                                                                                   twitter.com/fire_riverside

  Cause: Human                                                                                                                #RiversideFire #ClackamasWildfires

Total Personnel: 729­­                                                                                                    509-228-7805 (public) 509-202-4184 (media)

A Temporary Flight Restriction is in effect. Yesterday a drone was spotted within restricted airspace over the fire. Suppression operations were not affected at the time, but fire managers have grave concerns, as drones are not able to communicate with firefighting aircraft and a mid-air collision could be deadly. Learn more at nifc.gov/drones.

Firefighters now have fireline in place along the entire western perimeter of the Riverside Fire. Yesterday firefighters were able to fly to see where heat remains within the fire’s perimeter so that firefighters can focus on eliminating heat near the fire’s edge.

“We’ve got crews really putting in hard work to get the lines secured around your communities,” said Incident Commander Alan Sinclair. “We’re over 700 strong [# personnel assigned to the fire] so we’ve got what we need, and I’m really pleased with the amount of work that’s been done.”

Expect to see smoke within the fire’s perimeter as conditions warm up and dry out. Hand crews, bulldozers, and masticators (machines that grind up vegetation) continue to work their way around the fire, constructing fireline where they can do so safely and effectively. Challenges include steep terrain, standing dead trees, and rockslides.

Firefighters are working to protect a wide variety of values at risk including: public and firefighter safety; local communities in Clackamas County; ancestral tribal lands; powerlines; recreation sites and facilities; hydropower and natural gas energy resources; communication sites; federal, state, and private forest resources; archaeological, historical, and cultural resources; designated wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers; river ecosystems and riparian areas; wildlife and fisheries resources and habitat. 

There will be a Riverside Fire virtual community meeting tonight at 6pm on Fb.com/RiversideFireInfo. A recording with captioning will be posted to YouTube at https://tinyurl.com/RiversideFireInfoVideos.

A new Riverside Fire interactive map is available on https://tinyurl.com/RiversideFireStorymap.

Current evacuation information is available at clackamas.us/wildfires or by calling 503-655-8224.

Smoke info: oregonsmoke.blogspot.com. Willamette Valley Smoke outlook: wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlooks/nworegon

Visit TripCheck.com for numerous road closures in the area. The Mt. Hood National Forest, state forest lands in the fire area, and large portions of Bureau of Land Management lands are closed: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7174/

Fire

Internal pockets of unburnt fuels and dense understory will continue to smolder and produce visible smoke. As the inversion lifts late afternoon, additional smoldering stumps will become active. Westerly winds and higher humidities will continue to moderate fire behavior throughout the day.

Smoke

Smoke levels will remain elevated in and around the most active fire parameters. Expect to see small columns of smoke emerging as stumps, roots, and unburnt fuels increase activity late today. This evening, smoke will pool back into the drainages with cooler temperatures. Communities of Mill City, Gates, Detroit, and Estacada will remain the most impacted due to proximity to the fires. From Eugene to Portland, the region will see good to moderate air quality. Intermittent USG levels are possible near non-wildland fire pollutant sources, specifically on the outskirts of Albany and Salem.

Health

As property owners return to evacuated sites, here are some basic things to know about ash to fully protect yourself, your family, and your pets: oregon.gov wildfire. Stay safe and check current air quality conditions at Smoke and Fire Map.

Special Update: Let’s Talk Mop-up

What is ‘mop-up’? Do firefighters own a bunch of mops? Will it help me get home faster? If you’ve asked these questions you’re not alone. Our intent with this special update is to help folks understand what’s what and increase your understanding of what this term means out on the ground.

If you’re scratching your head trying to imagine firefighters working with a bunch of commercial style mops and dirty water buckets out there in the countryside, we’d be right there scratching our heads too. Rest assured, we’re not fighting this fire with mops, or buckets of soapy water.

For our wildland firefighters, mopping-up describes the hard physical labor process of extinguishing or removing burning material near control lines down to the mineral soil, felling fire damaged trees, and cooling ash pits to make a fireline less likely to escape or to reduce residual smoke. This is followed up by ‘cold-trailing’ with the back of one’s hand along the ground near the fireline to make sure no heat remains.

On a typical fire, crews will ‘mop-up’ to the extent necessary to minimize the likelihood of the fire moving into unburned areas outside of the edge of the fireline. That’s right- no burning stumps, no smoldering ash pits, no heat for a safe distance into the black area of the fire perimeter.

We appreciate your understanding as we continue to limit new fire growth, protect communities, and safely engage the fire with our partners: Mt. Hood National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Forestry, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and many more.
 
Link to video: https://youtu.be/88qOWeI3Oak 

Thanks those of you who joined us online last night (9/19) for our community meeting. Sorry for the technical issues. Below is the link to a single video of the footage we captured from that meeting with closed captioning available.

Video Link: https://bit.ly/3mNHsCS You can always visit the Riverside Fire incident page on YouTube for all our videos at:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwR4XDM1zb5tOYJ6W1gPlKg?view_as=subscriber

#RiversideFire Video Update 9/20: Crews work to strengthen fire line near Molalla; Expect to see more containment in the northern area of the fire near Estacada; Crews will be working their way east between wilderness areas - Ralph Lucas, Planning Operations, Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
View video here: https://bit.ly/2ZTVybW

Riverside Fire – September 20, 2020 Update

Acres: 137,880                                                                                                Riverside Fire Info: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7174/                                                                                                                             

Containment: 20%                                                                                                                            fb.com/RiversideFireInfo 

Start Date: September 8, 2020                                                                                                      twitter.com/fire_riverside

  Cause: Human                                                                                                                                      #RiversideFire #ClackamasWildfires

Total Personnel: 710­­                                                                                                    509-228-7805 (public) 509-202-4184 (media)

Riverside Fire 20% Contained; Moderated Fire Activity Expected Today

“Our firefighters continue to make progress in strengthening and expanding containment lines near local communities,” said Incident Commander Alan Sinclair. "We understand the importance of getting back home and we are having daily conversations with the cooperators and are moving as quickly as possible to get residents back where they need to be."

Cool, damp weather is expected to moderate fire activity again today. Yesterday firefighters were able to take advantage of improved visibility to fly a helicopter over the northeast side of the fire to conduct an aerial assessment in that area. An Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) was used to monitor fire activity on the southwest side of the fire.  Aircraft will continue to be used to support firefighters as needed and conditions allow. Infrared data continues to show heat near the fire’s perimeter. Hand crews, engines, and heavy equipment including bulldozers are working to contain the fire where they can do so safely and effectively.

 “Our aircraft are important when we use them, and we want to make sure that we have them available when we need it, so please keep any personal drones on the ground,” said Incident Commander Alan Sinclair.

If you fly, we can’t. A Temporary Flight Restriction is in effect (tfr.faa.gov). All fire aircraft will be grounded if a drone is spotted in the area. knowbeforeyoufly.org/uasandwildfires/

Firefighters are working to protect a wide variety of values at risk including: public and firefighter safety; local communities in Clackamas County; ancestral tribal lands; powerlines; recreation sites and facilities; hydropower and natural gas energy resources; communication sites; federal, state, and private forest resources; archaeological, historical, and cultural resources; designated wilderness areas and wild and scenic rivers; river ecosystems and riparian areas; wildlife and fisheries resources and habitat. 

There will be a Riverside Fire virtual community meeting tonight at 6pm on Fb.com/RiversideFireInfo. A recording with captioning will be posted to YouTube at https://tinyurl.com/RiversideFireInfoVideos.

Current evacuation information is available at clackamas.us/wildfires or by calling 503-655-8224.

Smoke info: oregonsmoke.blogspot.com. Willamette Valley Smoke outlook: wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlooks/nworegon

Visit TripCheck.com for numerous road closures in the area. The Mt. Hood National Forest, state forest lands in the fire area, and large portions of Bureau of Land Management lands are closed: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7174/

Special Statement

The AIR QUALITY ADVISORY for non-coastal areas of the State issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality remains in effect.

Fire

Fire activity on the Riverside, Beachie Creek, Lionshead, and Holiday Farm fires has slowed significantly. Internal smoldering of large stumps and deep roots is keeping smoke levels high within and around the fire parameter. Internal pockets and dense understory will continue to smolder throughout the coming week.

Smoke

The entire Willamette Valley will see ongoing relief from last week’s heavy smoke event. Periods of light smoke can be expected throughout the day. Areas near the fire will see smoke ranging from Moderate to Very Unhealthy until the morning inversion lifts. The newly installed monitor at Detroit Lake will see heavy impacts in the morning, with smoke improving throughout the day. Non-fire pollutant sources can

impact areas of Springfield and Portland early in the day. Continued clean air is expected through midweek.

Health

If you are experiencing health effects from smoke, you are encouraged to follow the "Actions to Protect Yourself" listed below. Additional recommendations can be found on the Oregon Smoke Blog Stay safe and check current air quality conditions at Smoke and Fire Map.

Special Update, Sept. 19: Let’s Talk Fire Cause

What caused this fire? How do you know? When will you release more details? If you’ve asked these questions, you’re not alone. Our intent with this special update is to help folks understand what’s what, dispel rumors, and increase your understanding of what this process means out on the ground.

Fire has just two causes- natural and human. Natural sources include both lightning and volcanoes. Since there was no recorded lightning or volcanic eruptions when the fire was first reported in the early morning hours of September 8, 2020, the fire was determined to be human-caused.

When it comes to human causes of fire, the list goes on and on- cigarettes, dragging chains, campfires, charcoal stoves, cars parked in tall grass, and on and on. However, our focus ever since this fire raced towards communities, during critical fire weather conditions, has been the immediate life-safety of the citizens in communities throughout Clackamas County. The fire is now under investigation to determine the cause, and the results will be released by the Mt. Hood National Forest when they are available.

We ask that everyone do their part to continue to focus on rebuilding and repairing our communities rather than furthering any rumors related to the cause of the fire. As always, we appreciate your understanding as we continue to limit new fire growth, protect communities, and safely engage the fire with our partners, Mt. Hood National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Forestry, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and many more.