8/15/2015 National Creek AM Update

Yesterday’s Activities:  The National Fire remains at 119 acres as crews continued to mop-up (extinguish all hot spots) near containment lines.  Some fire hose and excess equipment will be removed today as the mop-up work objectives are met.  An infra-red flight was flown last night and only a few hot spots were detected well inside the National Fire containment lines.

Yesterday’s cooler temperatures and higher humidity mitigated the fire behavior and the Crescent Fire did not increase in size significantly.  No major smoke columns were visible in the afternoon.  Firefighters continued to extinguish any smoldering vegetation on the spot fires north of Highway 230.

Fire crews also extended the length and depth of their burn-out operations along State Highway 230 to further secure and strengthen that containment line.

Today’s Activities: Firefighters are scouting possible containment lines in front of the fire front that utilize existing Forest Service roads and natural features.  A dozer line has been completed that connects State Highway 230 with State Highway 138, south of Diamond Lake on national forest lands.  That dozer line will be improved today and crews will conduct burn-out operations along that fire line to limit the northern spread of the fire towards Diamond Lake.  A structure protection group, supported by initial attack resources, is working in the Diamond Lake area installing sprinklers and hose lays to better protect structures.  Forest Service Road 3703, on the Umpqua National Forest near the border of the two Forests, (south and west of Diamond Lake), will be brushed and improved to function as a fire containment line.  Helicopters will be utilized today if called upon to cool hot spots, transport equipment or provide a reconnaissance platform for fire managers.

Weather:  Warmer and drier temperatures are expected today and are predicted to increase during the next few days.  Fire behavior will also increase with the change in weather.  The relative humidity is expected to be near 25% and winds may reach up to 10 mph.  Fire crews will take advantage of the increased burning conditions today and may conduct burnout operations to further secure containment lines.  The fire perimeter did not increase in size significantly yesterday due to more accurate mapping and an infra-red flight last night.  The acreage estimate of the fire has been reduced.

Closures & Evacuations: Crater Lake National Park remains fully open.  New area closure orders have been issued for the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Umpqua National Forests near Diamond Lake.  Maps and descriptions of the trail and area closures are online at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4463/.

State Highway 230 is closed (ODOT Tripcheck). There are trail closures in the National Park and on the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Umpqua National Forest.

Diamond Lake Area is under a Stage 1 Evacuation Notice; the “ready” stage in “ready, set, go”.