7/21/2014 8:00 am Shaniko Butte Update

Oregon Incident Management Team #1  Ross Williams, Incident Commander Shaniko Butte Daily Update July 21, 2014, 8 a.m.

After effective burnout operations along the west side of the Deschutes River on Friday and Saturday, crews on the Shaniko Butte Fire were ready to conduct a final burnout operation on Sunday. The plan called for a burnout to secure lines along the southern fire edge. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. According to Fire Behavior Analyst Dirk Shupe, conditions have to be within certain ranges for a successful burnout to occur. “Relative humidity, wind direction and speed, and fuel loading must be just right. That didn’t happen today,” said Shupe. Fire crews needed several hours of relative humidity in the 25% to 35% range to conduct their burnout operation. However, it hovered above 35% for most of the day. If weather conditions are favorable today, the burnout operation may proceed. If not, fire managers will be considering other options over the next 24 hours. All other options are likely to delay containment of the fire along the southern fire boundary and require extensive mop-up work in the steep, heavily timbered areas on the slopes of the Mutton Mountains. Meanwhile, crews continued to mop up along the north and west sides of the Shaniko Butte Fire, with the goal of extinguishing all hot spots within 300 feet of the outer edge of the fire in those areas. The east side of the fire, along the western bank of the Deschutes River, is being regularly patrolled and observed for any signs of heat close to the river. Eighty-one firefighters were demobilized on Sunday and reassigned to other fires in the region. With helicopters dipping out of the Deschutes River, a safety officer from the Incident Management Team joined the BLM River Ranger in a jet boat to hold rafters up temporarily until the helicopters had filled their buckets and returned to the fire. Burlington Northern Railroad will be sending trains through the Deschutes River corridor at reduced speeds throughout the day. ##

Fire at a Glance Size: 42,500 acres Containment: 50% Location:  15 miles north of the town of Warm Springs, Oregon Cause:  Started by lightning on Sunday, July 13, 2014 Assigned personnel:  541 Aircraft: 1 Heavy-lift KMAX helicopter 1 Medium-lift helicopter 1 Light-lift helicopter Road Closures: ·         S-300/Highway 3 Junction ·         Red Lake Cemetery Road/ Highway 3 Junction Notifications: Level and Area 1 All residences in the vicinity of Road S-300 and in the Kaskela area 2 All residences in the vicinity of Dant, OR 3 none Fire Information Number: 541-553-8190 Fire Information E-Mail: Shaniko.Butte@gmail.com