The Deception Creek Fire burned actively on Sunday, but did not escape established control lines. Smoke from the Deception Complex and other fires in Oregon and California affected air quality in the Willamette Valley on Sunday. Air quality in the Oakridge and Westfir areas reached hazardous conditions at times on Sunday due specifically to the Deception Creek Fire.
A Red Flag Warning has been extended to 05:00 a.m.Tuesday morning due to low relative humidity (the amount of moisture in the air), atmospheric instability, and the potential for dry thunderstorms. Because of the threat of additional fires, some Deception Creek fire suppression resources will be assigned Monday to respond to any calls for initial attack on new fire starts.
A Burned Area Emergency Repair (BAER) team has been requested to consider the fire effects and recommend actions to help mitigate after fire impacts to the Deception Creek watershed.
The Deception Fire continues to be managed under a full suppression strategy which is designed to keep the fire size as small as possible while maintaining public and firefighter safety, and protecting natural resources.
Mop up (extinguishing all burning material) continued along the east, north, and northwest containment lines yesterday. Firefighters continued to hold and improve fire lines along the west edge of the fire. Low intensity, backing fires in the Fivepoint Hill and Kueger Rock areas burned within the established fire lines through much of yesterday, further securing containment lines in those areas. A few areas did not burn as completely as expected and may have the potential to reburn as fuels continue to dry. Yesterday, a heavy-lift helicopter dropping water was successfully used to cool down a flare-up near containment lines in the Little Deception Rock area.
Similar suppression activities are planned for today, to keep the fire within containment lines. The 736 firefighters, 7 helicopters, 37 engines, 2 dozers, and 21 water tenders assigned to the Deception Complex are poised to respond if the fire escapes any containment line or to respond to any newly discovered fire from predicted dry thunderstorms this afternoon.
Light to moderate smoke settled into low-lying areas over night and will last into mid-morning. Winds out of the west and southwest will periodically push smoke into Westfir and Oakridge throughout the day and may become heavy in the early afternoon. For additional air quality information see the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency website at http://oregonsmoke,blogspot.com or http://www.lrapa.org.
Fire Summary
Size: 5,737 acres
Containment: 75%
Personnel: 736
Location: 2 miles west of Oakridge, OR
Cause: lightning
Road Closures: Patterson Mountain Road and Forest Roads 2102, 5840, 5847, & 5850. All roads in the Staley Fire vicinity are also closed.
Trail Closures: Deception Trail #3466 and Lawler Trail #3473 are closed.
Fire Information:
541-782-5545
Public use restrictions and area, road and trial closures are in effect and can be viewed at:
Willamette National Forest - http://www.fs.usda.gov/willamette
Umpqua National Forest - http://www.fs.usda.gov/umpqua
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