Memaloose Park Fire -Update

July 7, 2018

News
Release:  Memaloose Park Fire
Saturday
July 7, 2018
9:00
a.m.
Contact:  Christie Shaw, Oregon Department of Forestry
               
541-263-0661
               
Stan Hinatsu, U.S. Forest Service
               
541-490-0961
              
[Hood River,
Ore.]  Firefighters continued to make
progress overnight on the Memaloose Park Fire, located along Interstate 84
approximately ten miles west of Hood River. Firefighters held the fire within
the perimeter and worked on building and strengthening containment lines,
focusing on the eastern edge of the fire. 
 Crews also worked to knock down
hot spots within the fire perimeter and began mop-up adjacent to the fire
line.  Firefighters will continue this
work today with additional resources arriving. 
The fire is being managed under unified command between the Oregon
Department of Forestry and Mid Columbia Fire and Rescue.

A Type 2
helicopter will be working with the ground resources to extinguish hot
spots.  FireBoss scooper tankers from
Washington Department of Natural Resources and heavy air tankers are also
available if needed.

The fire is
threatening the community of Rowena Dell. 
Evacuation levels remain the same this morning.  Evacuation information can be found on the Wasco
County Sheriff’s facebook page: 
www.facebook.com/WascoCountySheriff/. 
Highway 30 is closed from Marsh Cutoff Road east to the Rowena
interchange.  Memaloose State Park is
closed to new campers trying to enter the campground.  Campers who left the campground during the
firefighting activity will be allowed to re-enter.

Reduced fire
behavior overnight allowed firefighters to map the perimeter more closely.  The fire is currently estimated at 65 acres,
with twenty-five percent containment. 
This increase is not a result of fire growth, but better mapping.  The fire burned lands within Memaloose State
Park and private lands protected by Oregon Department of Forestry, Mid-Columbia
Fire and Rescue protection, and some lands managed by the U.S. Forest
Service.  The fire is human caused and
under investigation.

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