7/26/2014 9:00 am Bridge 99 Complex Update

Attached and below is the Bridge 99 Complex Update for Saturday, July 26, 2014.

Saturday, July 26, 2014   09:00 a.m.

- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

Incident Information Officer Jeanne Klein

Incident Command Post located at Sisters Middle School

E-mail:  bridge99fire@gmail.com

Fire Information: (541) 549-3219

Bridge 99 Complex

Start date: 7/13/14	Cause: Lightning	Estimated Fire Size: Bridge 99 Fire: 5,084 acres (-261); Southern portion Bear Butte 2 Fire: 615 acres; Total complex acres 5,699 (-261)	% Contained: 74% (+7%)	# of Firefighters: 448 (+79)
Injuries to date: 1	Estimated Containment Date: Bridge 99: 7/31 Bear Butte 2: NA	Closures and Evacuations: The Pacific Crest Trail is now open. All evacuation level II areas have been reduced to a level I.  All evacuation level I areas have been eliminated..	# of 20-person hand crews: 12	# of Helicopters: 1 Type I (Heavy), 1 Type III (Light)

Sisters OR –The Mt. Jefferson Wilderness portion of the Bear Butte 2 Fire continues to burn, with low intensity in the southern portion, uncontained by fire lines.  This is the same area where the 2003 B & B Fire burned and is dominated by lava flows and dead standing trees, or snags, and logs on the ground within the Deschutes National Forest.  Vegetation is being removed along roads and former dozer lines to facilitate use as contingency firelines in the event the Bear Butte 2 Fire expands to the south and emerges outside of the Wilderness.  An additional benefit will be improved recreation access to the Cabot Lake and Jefferson Lake Trailheads.  Large track-mounted excavators and smaller brush-grinders have been brought in to assist the fire-fighting efforts.

On the Bridge 99 Fire, crews took advantage of the reduced fire behavior to safely construct more direct firelines that eliminated the need to burn-out islands or "fingers" of unburned fuels.  This reduced the overall area within containment lines by 261 acres from yesterday.   The northwest corner of the fire still contains pockets of burning vegetation well within the interior and away from the fire line.  Mop-up (extinguishing all burning and smoldering material) on the Bridge 99 Fire is almost complete and excess firefighting equipment (fire hoses and water pumps) are being returned.  Repair of fire suppression activities is continuing.

Temperatures are continuing to increase and the relative humidity (the amount of moisture in the air) is dropping to the low 20% range  Burning conditions are quickly returning to what they were one week ago.  This drying trend is expected to result in very active fire behavior.

Open fires, including charcoal fires, are prohibited on National Forest or BLM lands, except in certain designated campgrounds (for a list and more information visit: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/centraloregon/home/?cid=fsbdev3_035880).  These restrictions DO NOT apply to Wilderness areas on the Deschutes National Forest.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department evacuation orders are as follows:

All private lands along the Metolius River from Allen Springs Campground to Lake Billy Chinook (including the Metolius Arm) have been lowered to a Level I Evacuation Order.  The Cove Palisades State Park remains open.

Forest Service Closures:

Monty Campground and Perry South Campground are open to the public.  The Pacific Crest Trail is now open south of Mt Jefferson.

The following Forest Service roads, trails, campgrounds and lands remain closed:

Forest Road 12, from its intersection with Forest Roads 1270/1298 to Bridge 99, Forest Road 14, from Bridge 99 to its intersection with Forest Road 1400400 (near the 900 Road), Forest Road 1140, from its intersection with Forest Roads 1150/1180 to the intersection with Forest Road 1152, Forest Road 1154, from its intersection with Forest Road 1150 to the intersection with Forest Road 1140, and Forest Road 1420400.  The Lower Bridge, Pioneer Ford, Allen Springs, Canyon Creek, and Candle Creek Campgrounds are closed. The Jefferson Lake Trail (#4001), Sugarpine Ridge Trail (#4002), Shirley Lake Trail (#4003.1), and the Cabot Lake Trail (#4003) are closed within the Mt Jefferson Wilderness.  An area closure has been designated on a map that is available on the Inciweb website listed below.  The Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery remains closed to the public.

The above closures and evacuation levels will continually be assessed to determine if they remain appropriate to protect public health and safety.

For information on smoke impacts to air quality in your community, go to the Oregon Smoke Blog at: http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com.

For detailed information on the fire including maps, area, road, and trail closure information, along with photos, please visit: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3963/.

The Bridge 99 Complex consists of two fires (the Bridge 99 Fire and the Bear Butte 2 Fire). The Bridge 99 Fire is burning 18 miles northwest of the city of Sisters on Green Ridge, next to the Metolius River. The southern portion of the Bear Butte 2 Fire is burning in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness on the Deschutes National Forest. The northern portion of the Bear Butte 2 Fire is on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs lands and is being managed by the Fire Team working on the Logging Unit Complex.

Bridge 99 Complex Inciweb:  www.inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3963/