Untitled Post

July 28, 2018

Wilson Prairie
Fire Update
Northwest
Interagency Incident Management Team 8, Incident Commander: Doug Johnson
July 28, 2018 – 9:00 A.M.
Smoke from a large fire to the west has drifted into the local
area.  Those with sensitivity concerns
should take appropriate precautions.  For
more information on air quality please visit: http://www.oregon.gov/DEQ/AQ/Pages/index.aspx
 
The Morrow County Off-Highway Vehicle Park and
Campground is currently open, however some trails may be impacted by the fire
activity.  Please observe all trail and
area closures.

Current Fire Information: Significant
progress has been made in the containment of the Wilson Prairie Fire.  Fire fighters have laid hose along the majority
of the fire perimeter and are well into mopping up hot spots.  Mopping
up includes searching for pockets of heat, digging out the heat source, and
cooling with water.  An area of the fire in
the Porter Creek area, along the east flank of the fire, has yet to be
lined.  Fire managers have decided to
secure the entire perimeter by constructing hand line in this area.  The entire firefighter operation briefing may
be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a-8NMOapOA
Acreage: 437; the footprint of the fire changed
slightly with the burnout operations.

Containment: 40%

Fire Information Center:  NEW-Public
Line 844-695-6542. Available 8:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Information
Websites: Inciweb – https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6028

Resources:  Total personnel assigned
– 460:  4-type 2 IA hand crews, 11-type 2
hand crews, 2-camp crews, 2- medium helicopters, 1- light helicopter,
9-engines, 4-dozers, 11-water tenders, 2–faller modules, 4-skidgens, and 103
overhead. Additional resources have been ordered and continue to arrive.

Air
Operations:  A
temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place over the fire area restricting
aerial public access.  Please check the
NOTAMs prior to flying. The public is reminded all air operations are grounded
any time a drone is sighted within the TFR, delaying fire suppression efforts. Flying
within the TFR is prohibited and against the law.

Weather:  Today will be sunny with max temperatures of 94
degrees with relative humidity to 18%.  Winds
will be light mostly southeast at 3 – 7 mph decreasing to 3-7 mph by late
morning.

Closures:
The Umatilla National
Forest implemented a Forest Closure including a large area,
trail and road closure within the vicinity of Bull Prairie Lake and the Wilson
Prairie area.  A map and detailed
description  of the area closure is available on the Umatilla
National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/umatilla/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprdb5286768
and on Inciweb.  This Closure will be
evaluated daily for need as a safety precaution to firefighters and the
public.  Forest Service personnel will be
located near the campground to assist recreational visitors with alternative
locations to camp.

The weather forecast for
the region is a continued hot and dry trend with poor humidity recovery.  Any spark landing in light fuels (grass) has
a 100% potential to start a fire so please follow restrictions to limit
potential human wildfire ignitions.
  • Regulated Closure is in effect for
    ODF’s Central Oregon District. 
    Specific restrictions, intended to reduce human caused fires, can
    be found at www.ODFcentraloregon.com.  
  • Phase B of the Public Use
    Restrictions (PURS) for the Umatilla National Forest are in effect.   For more information regarding these and
    other restrictions on the Umatilla National Forest visitwww.bmidc.org

Archives

Skip to content