7/18/2014 9:00 am White River Fire Fully Contained

July 18, 2014       9:00 a.m.

NEWS RELEASE
WHITE RIVER FIRE

OREGON DEPT OF FORESTRY
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM 1

Most of the firefighters who have been mopping up the 652-acre White River Fire this week are hitting the road this morning. The fire was declared 100 percent contained today by the Oregon Dept. of Forestry incident management team, which took supervisory control of the fire's suppression on Sunday, July 13.

The direction of further mop-up operations on the White River Fire has been returned to The Dalles Unit of the Oregon Department of Forestry's Central Oregon District. Several crews, engines and other equipment remain to ensure the fire stays inside its containment line.

But one hundred percent contained does not mean the fire is 100 percent out.

The incident management team's objectives were to complete a fire line around the blaze's perimeter, then mop-up (fully extinguish) all hot spots within 500 feet of the fire line (300 feet inside the White River Canyon, a wilderness area).

The cost of containing the White River Fire is $2 million. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Some of the incident management team's members have already been assigned to other wildfires, as have many of the crews that helped to contain the White River Fire. Dozens of blazes east of the Cascade Range in Oregon are scrambling for fire suppression resources – crews, engines, bulldozers, helicopters – and an unwritten objective of the incident management team on the White River Fire was to complete its tasks quickly and completely so much-needed help could be sent to fire managers in other parts of the state.

For further information about the White River Fire, please contact:

Oregon Dept. of Forestry
The Dalles Unit, (541) 296-4626