9/23/201 36 Pit Fire Update

** A community meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 24th at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Estacada First Baptist Church – 29101 SE Eagle Creek Rd. The objective of the meeting will be to update the community on the current fire situation and the operational outlook over the next week. Firefighters continue to concentrate their effort to contain the western and northern portions of the fire located west of the South Fork of the Clackamas River. Crews are holding the fire to the east of the 45 Road/Hillockburn Road. Dozer line is being built at the northern perimeter of the fire located west of the South Fork. Aircraft will fly to support firefighters on the ground as needed and as weather conditions allow. The continued priority is to halt the progression of the fire to the west. At the northwest, northern, and southern perimeters of the fire located north of Highway 224, firefighters continue to mop up and extinguish all hot spots 100-300 feet in from fire lines. A “Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR)” aircraft is being used to detect hot spots. Crews are implementing suppression repair standards and beginning to pull hose from the line. Mop up also continues at the southern perimeter of the fire, south of Highway 224. In order to contain the fire within the South Fork of the Clackamas River at the south, firefighters are “prepping” roads to be used as indirect containment lines outside the wilderness area. “Prepping of roads consists of removing understory small trees and brush. “Prepping” decreases the intensity of fire and strengthens containment lines should the fire approach. We are working to minimize acres burned while evaluating firefighter success versus their exposure to risk. Minimum impact suppression tactics (MIST) are being implemented in portions of the fire located in Congressionally designated wilderness areas. Examples of MIST tactics include building the necessary but minimum width and depth of fire lines or cutting small trees and brush flush to the ground. Today, weather conditions will be favorable allowing firefighters to continue to make good progress. Maximum temperatures are predicted to be in the high 60s to low 70s with minimum relative humidity at 60-65 percent along with light winds. Helicopters with water buckets and other aircraft will be used as necessary to support crews on the ground today. Two Type 1 heavy helicopters, one medium Type 2 helicopter, and two light Type 3 helicopters are currently assigned to the fire. Fire behavior is expected to be minimal at the northwest and northern portions of the fire perimeter. Fire located within the South Fork of the Clackamas River is expected to be terrain driven with periodic and minimal spread moving upslope toward the 45 Road/Hillockburn Road. The fire is now estimated to be 5,508 acres in size and is now 45 percent contained. The 78 acre spot fire located to the northwest of the main fire is now completely mopped up with no hot spots or smoke visible. Hazards to crews include: extremely steep terrain presenting crews with footing difficulties; rolling debris; and fire weakened trees. Heavy deep fuels also present challenges to contain the fire. Clackamas County Sheriff current evacuation notices: Level 1 – Hillockburn Rd. east of Habelt and Silver Fox RV All other evacuation levels have been lifted. The Lazy Bend Camp and Work Center are evacuated and closed. Promontory Park is closed. The La Dee OHV area is closed. ROAD CLOSURES: ODOT has opened Highway 224 to residents and workers only with valid identification. The public is urged to be aware of increased fire related traffic on local roads and to drive defensively. For information related to evacuations, please go to: http://www.clackamas.us or call 503-655-8224. Information related to smoke can be found at: www.oregonsmoke.blogspot.com For more information, please use the contact information listed above.