8/21/2015 Bendire Fire Complex Update

Vale, Ore., August 21, 2015 – After 10 days of firefighting, the Bendire Complex, 15 miles north of

Juntura, Oregon, is nearly contained.

Since August 11, the Bendire Complex has burned nearly 45,000 acres. This morning, the Type II Interagency Incident Management Team (IIMT) that had been managing operations at the Bendire Complex handed off responsibility for the fire to a Type III team, made up of a mix of fire professionals. The team is led by Incident Commander Mike Spelman from the Vale District Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

There has been no growth of the fire for several days, only small areas of concern which have been addressed as they were discovered. “We had some smoldering and hot spots, and some interior pockets that were burning,” said Dan Cannon, Trainee Incident Commander on the Bendire Complex. “The junipers at the southeast area of the fire are the most concerning right now, but we’re working on it,” Cannon said.

The severity of the fire over the last several days has decreased to the extent that resources and personnel on site have been reduced. Currently, there are nine engines, two hand crews, two water tenders and two bulldozers on scene. There are also air resources available if they are needed. The National Multi-Agency Coordination Group (MAC) set the national, regional and local Preparedness Level to PL-5, meaning that most, if not all fire resources are already committed to fire incidents. Pulling resources from where they are no longer needed is essential in being able to redeploy them to areas in need.

“Catching fires quicker is essential in keeping a small fire from exploding into something like we’ve seen over the last few weeks,” said Tracy Skerjanec, Deputy Fire Management Officer at the BLM’s Vale District. “It’s much easier to do that when we have resources available to do so,” Skerjanec added.

One of the difficulties firefighters are currently facing at the Bendire Complex is low visibility do to an inversion reinforced by smoke from wildfires in the region.

Despite the difficulties in visibility, the team on the Bendire Complex is optimistic.

“I feel confident that if we can hold it today, and I think we will, that we’ll have it contained soon,” Cannon

said. Cannon also said that they expect the fire to be contained by Monday.

If you see or suspect a wildfire, call the Vale BLM Fire Dispatch Center at 541-473-6295. For information on reporting wildfires in eastern Oregon: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/vale/fire/report-fire.php.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the

National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers

700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained

yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.