Fir Mountain Fire update as of Monday, Aug. 3, 7:30 p.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE from Oregon Department of Forestry Central Oregon District
On Monday, firefighters on the Fir Mountain Fire battled winds and humidity similar to what they experienced Sunday. Air resources were again used to slow the spread of the spotfires in area east of the main fire while crews and equipment were kept busy working to contain any additional spotfires. Winds blowing embers outside the fireline rapidly ignited the dry fuels and challenged firefighters.
More than 200 firefighters and support crew were battling the blaze on Monday.
Initial mapping work today from helicopter platforms and ground truthing identified the perimeter of several of the spotfires on the eastern edge of the fire area. Fire operations worked with the Wasco County Sheriff who determined the need for a Level 3 Evacuation (GO!) for three residences on Godberson Road. This evacuation notice is not due to fire growth. Additionally a Level 1 Evacuation (BE READY!) has been issued for other residences on the eastern flank of the fire. The details of the evacuation area are available on the Wasco County Sheriff’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WascoCountySheriff.
With preliminary mapping of the larger main fire and identification of the numerous spotfires the incident management team estimates the total fire acreage to be 200 acres. Spotfires between the main fire and Godberson Road range in size from a quarter acre to nearly ten. Sunday night firefighters completed fireline construction with a bulldozer of a ~2 acre spotfire adjacent to Godberson Road, today this fire was kept within the fireline. Resources today were successful in minimizing growth of the spotfires using heavy equipment and hand crews in coordination with helicopter bucket drops, water from the fireboss tankers, and large air tanker retardant drops.
Crews also constructed hoselays to disburse water throughout the fire area for mop-up and to extinguish hot spots and fire outside the fire line. The heavy fuel in the fire area is hampering efforts to extinguish the fire, as well as making it difficult to secure the line and mop-up the interior. The fire is estimated to be five percent contained this evening.
The fire was reported late in the night August 1 and remains under investigation.
ODF’s Central Oregon District continues to serve landowners and the public as an essential service for Oregonians. Please call or email to talk with our staff or schedule an appointment. For additional information on ODF’s Central Oregon District, including contact information and unit offices, please visit www.ODFcentraloregon.com.
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