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| Dissel Creek Fire-Late Tuesday Evening |
More Fires Reported from Thunderstorms,
More Expected
[John Day, Ore.] Late
Tuesday evening two new fires were reported on private land protected by Oregon
Department of Forestry’s (ODF) John Day Unit.
The Dissel Creek Fire was reported just before 6:00 p.m., burning five
miles southeast of John Day. While
firefighters worked to stop the initial spread of the Dissel Creek Fire a report
for a second fire, the Cole Canyon Fire, was received. This fire is located seven miles northeast of
Monument.
The Dissel
Creek Fire was 100% contained late Tuesday night with a combination of hand and
dozer line around the fire’s perimeter. A
small spot across the fireline was secured by firefighters this morning. Fire crews will work today to strengthen the perimeter
and mop-up the interior of the fire, gridding through the fire to find flames
and heat. Dozers, wildland engines,
helitack, a Type 4 engine from Prairie City Rural, a helicopter with bucket, and
a single engine air tanker (SEAT) were used to check the fire spread at just
over one acre. An isolated lightning
strike Tuesday evening ignited the Dissel Creek Fire.
This
morning the Cole Canyon Fire is estimated to be 75 acres with dozer line around
50% of the fire’s edge. Dozers will
continue fireline construction today.
Three 20-person contract crews will arrive this morning to work with the
dozers to strengthen the fireline and construct hand line in areas too steep
for dozers to safely work. Additional
wildland engines and overhead will also be arriving this morning. Local aircraft, a helicopter and three SEATs have
been ordered for the fire this morning to assist in holding the fire in place while
line is being constructed. The fire is
burning on private lands and Prineville Bureau of Land Management lands
protected by Oregon Department of Forestry.
Firefighters
on the Cottonwood Creek Fire, five miles south of Fossil, have made significant
progress mopping-up the fire’s interior.
Containment has increased to 65% today, with plans for transitioning the
fire to a Type 4 organization later this morning. Two hand crews and four contract wildland engines
remain on the fire to complete the mop-up work.
Fire
crews will be focusing work to secure fire perimeters in anticipation of a cold
front moving through on Thursday. Strong
wind and additional lightning is forecast for the coming days. Additional holdover fires from thunderstorms earlier
this week are also a concern today as temperatures warm.
A Regulated-Use Closure is in effect for the
Central Oregon District to reduce human caused fires. The full proclamation and restrictions are
available at https://gisapps.odf.oregon.gov/firerestrictions/PFR.html. Preventing human caused fires allows
firefighters to focus suppression effort on fires started by lightning. These focused activities result in smaller
fires with less damage to natural resources and communities and fewer impacts
to air quality.
For additional information on ODF’s Central
Oregon District, including contact information and unit offices, please visit www.ODFcentraloregon.com.