8/15/15 Stouts Creek Fire Morning Update

IMPORTANT PUBLIC MEETING TODAY AT 6:30 P.M. AT AZALEA COMMUNITY CHURCH The Stouts Creek Fire Incident Management Team is hosting a public meeting today at 6:30 p.m. at the Azalea Community Church, 362 Upper Cow Creek Road, Azalea, OR. Fire managers will present the plan for the burnout and contingency plans for structure protection. Burnout operations began yesterday with a small section of line along the southeastern portion of the fireline, along Forest Service Road 3201, one-half mile northwest of Diamond Rock. The burn plan has been developed during the past several days and has been deemed the safest and quickest way for crews to complete the last section of line on the Stouts Creek Fire. The goal of the burn is to first solidify the perimeter then continue ignition to remove unburned fuels. By burning against the wind and using topography in their favor, crews will be able to bring the fire along safely and at a pace that will not damage the resource. The total burnout will take several days and depend heavily on weather conditions. "The next couple of days are going to be big for everybody," said John Pellissier, Operations Chief for fire. "All of the weather conditions and other factors have to be right. We are looking to start slow and this will take several days. It will be a slow, steady process." There still is a sizeable amount of unburned fuel that needs to be removed within the burn area but significant smoke is not expected today. Smoke might be more noticeable in the coming days depending on wind and could persist until the burnout is completed. Crews are making steady progress along the remaining portions of the fireline, continuing to mop up and patrol up to 300 feet inside the line. The Stouts Creek Fire has been managed under unified command by Oregon Department of Forestry Team 2 Incident Commander Chris Cline and Forest Service Incident Commander Mike Wilde, since August 13. The fire is 24,389 acres and 67% contained. There are 1,631 personnel assigned to the fire with 41 crews, 44 engines, 29 water tenders, 15 bulldozers and 11 helicopters. Numbers of personnel and equipment will continue to shrink as objectives are met and these resources move on to fires with greater needs. The Stouts Creek Fire costs to date are $27 million. The Incident Management Team is protecting lands that are about 48% on state protected lands, which include BLM and private lands, and 52% on the Umpqua National Forest Downloadable PDF of this morning's release: http://tinyurl.com/StoutsCreekAMUpdate8-15   Our mailing address is: Oregon Dept. of Forestry 11286 Tiller Trail Highway Days Creek, OR 97429 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

This email was sent to Nwccmedia.nwcc@blogger.com why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences Oregon Dept. of Forestry · 11286 Tiller Trail Highway · Days Creek, OR 97429 · USA