8/27/2015 National Creek Complex Update

Crater Lake National Park is open. Access is available from the South entrance off of

State Highway 62. The north entrance road is closed.

State Highway 230 and Highway138 are open to the public and will stay open when conditions are safe. Check with Tripcheck.com or call 511 for current information and please reduce speed to allow for heavy fire traffic and dense smoke.

Fire containment is 25 percent. Firefighters are poised to take advantage of favorable conditions in the coming days to secure line on the western and south side of the fire.

Yesterday’s Activities: The fire was active, experiencing some growth in its interior northwest of the pumice desert. This activity posed no threat to park visitors and visibility was good in the Park. Firefighters completed constructing fire line and continued to connect to natural features. They continued to mop up near containment lines. Crews also scouted

for containment opportunities to the south of the fire.

Today’s Activities: Firefighters will finish constructing fire line in the Soda Springs area to the west of the fire to prepare for a small burnout operation and will take advantage of existing features and road systems to improve containment. Crews will continue looking for spotting outside of containment lines and mop up any hot spots along Highway 230, Hwy

138 and the North Park Entrance Road.

Weather:    Mostly sunny this morning, partly cloudy this afternoon. South/southeast winds 3-6 mph, becoming west southwest and increasing to 8-14 mph with gusts to 30 mph by noon on the ridgetops. The relative humidity is predicted to be between 20-30%. Potential for wetting rain Friday night into Saturday.

Open and Closed:

·    Rim Drive and all Crater Lake National Park facilities are open and accessible via the south entrance. The north Park entrance is closed.  Smoke may impair visibility at certain times of the day, but sunrises and sunsets are spectacular.

·    A segment of the Pacific Crest Trial is closed from the north park boundary to the junction with Lightning Springs Trail. A

suggested reroute is posted along the trail.

·    Area closure orders have been issued for the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Umpqua National Forests near Diamond Lake.

·    There are trail closures in the National Park and on the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Umpqua National Forest.

·    Diamond Lake and Thielson View campgrounds are now accepting reservations. The temporary hold on new reservations for these campgrounds has been lifted. Broken Arrow Campground remains closed.

Donations: Firefighters appreciate the public’s generosity but food donations are discouraged because of the highly specialized and protein-rich diet required by firefighters’ rigorous work. Firefighters appreciate donated stamped postcards from the area that they can send home. Charitable donations may also be made to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation or the Red Cross.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Road, trail and area closures, maps, photos, and updates are online at  http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4463/.

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