9/25/2017 Horse Creek & Rebel Fire Update

Weather: A cool night at Wanoga Camp (25°F) and Hoodoo Incident Command Post (29°F) should slowly warm up as an inversion breaks near noon. Temperatures will range from the 50s on ridges to 60s in valleys. Relative humidity will decline as the day warms but climb back overnight. A few more clouds will move through Monday, but a gradual warming and drying trend will continue, with temperatures in the low 70s by Tuesday. Fuels will continue to dry but overall conditions will not reach critical thresholds. Open flame may reappear in sunny areas where fuels have dried, but fire is not expected to spread.

Current Situation: Suppression repair is being completed and implemented on the Avenue, Nash and Rebel fires. Snow is melting on the northwest side of the Separation Fire and chipping efforts are nearly complete. Remaining hose and equipment has been moved from Camp Melakwa. A dozer line from Frog Camp to Melakwa will be repaired on Monday. Heavy equipment is being moved between divisions to complete repair efforts. West of the Rebel Fire, loading and hauling of firewood off Forest Road 19 is complete. Firefighters continue to monitor the Olallie Lookout and Roney fires which are smoldering in wilderness. Crews will initial attack any new fires in cooperation with local firefighter crews and fire management officers within the boundaries of the Temporary Flight Restriction.

Next Steps: Managers are documenting plans and operations at this time. Numbers of firefighters assigned to the Horse Creek Complex are declining as fieldwork is completed and crews are released to return home. After some needed rest, firefighters may be available to fight other wildfires still burning in the Pacific Northwest.

Operations staff plans to fly over the fires Monday to look for smoke and burning. Crews are completing chipping efforts and continue to remove hazard trees.

Flight Restrictions: The Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) boundaries will shrink on the north and south sides of the Horse Creek Complex, but remains in place over the fires. Only fire-related and permitted flights are allowed within a TFR (including drones). More information on the TFR is available at http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html.

National Forest Closure Orders:  Some closures are still in place on both National Forests. Current information about closures on the Willamette and Deschutes National Forests is available at:https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/willamette/fire/?cid=fseprd552029
http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/Deschutes/alerts-notices.
Fire restrictions have been lifted in Willamette and Deschutes National Forests, and campfires are now allowed.