High Cascades Complex - West Zone Update
Northwest Interagency Incident Management Team 8, Incident Commander: Tim Keith
September 27, 2017
Special Announcements: General Westside Deer hunting season opens this week-end. The Rogue River-Siskiyou and the Umpqua National Forests encourage Forest visitors to “Know before you go”! Know: the forecasted weather; road, trail and area closure information; and be aware of firefighters working in the vicinity of your hunting activities.
Fire Information Center: (541) 316-8352 Available 8:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Information Websites: Inciweb – https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/
Incident Management Team: Northwest Interagency Incident Management Team 8, Incident Commander, Tim Keith, is managing the High Cascades Complex - West Zone. The incident command post (ICP) is located at the Joseph Stewart State Park near Lost Creek Reservoir southwest of Prospect, Oregon. A spike camp is located at Milo Academy in Milo, OR.
Current Fire Information: The High Cascades Complex - West Zone is a compilation of fires started by lightning storms earlier this summer. The West Zone consists of the Pup and the Broken Lookout Fires. Both fires are partially burning in and outside of the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness on the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Umpqua National Forests. Firefighters are making significant progress with suppression and vegetation clean-up. Structures are being unwrapped from protective coverings. Cleanup including pulling flagging, removing signs, and garbage cleanup is occurring across all divisions.
Pup – 8,222 acres, 13% contained. Located northwest and southeast of Hershberger Lookout partially in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. Indirect containment line on the north has been completed. Hauling of piled vegetation generated from indirect fire line constructed along forest roads is progressing. Snag removal along these roads for safe travel has been completed. Other firefighters are mopping up hotspots.
Broken Lookout – 19,114 acres, 27% contained. Located directly west of Union Creek on the southern end of the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness where it is burning on both sides of the Wilderness. Firefighters are chipping vegetative debris generated from indirect fire line construction along forest roads and patrolling for hotspots.
Resources: Total personnel assigned to the Complex (both Zones) – 648: 1-type 1 crew, 2-type 2 IA crews, 10-type 2 crews, 6-camp crews, 13-engines, 5-masticators, 3-medium helicopters, 2- light helicopters, 1-dozers, 5-water tenders, and 215 overhead.
Air Operations: A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place over the fire area restricting aerial public access. Please check the NOTAMs prior to flying. The public is reminded all air operations are grounded any time a drone is sighted within the TFR, delaying fire suppression efforts. Flying within the TFR is prohibited and against the law. The helibase is located at the Prospect Airport and is closed to public use. The airport is planned to reopen on October 15th.
Air Quality: For the most, up to date air quality reported for your area see Air Now http://www.airnow.gov/ or the Oregon Smoke Bloghttp://oregonsmoke.blogspot.
Weather: Warmer and drier conditions are expected again today under sunny skies with light east/southeast ridgetop winds. The winds will bring higher temperatures, 77 to 82 degrees and decreasing relative humidity, 20 – 50% percent this afternoon. Ridgetop winds will be northeast 6 – 9 mph. Fridaythrough Monday a cold front is expected to pass with wetting rain possible Friday and significant rainfall by Tuesday.
Behavior: Expected fire behavior is very low intensity surface fire in sheltered fuels under dense canopy with minimal ground spread with no perimeter growth. Creeping and smoldering may re-establish in the litter, duff and jackpots (piles) of dead and down fuels. Active fire was observed yesterday in several snags and piles of fuel. All were well interior of the containment lines.
Closures: Multiple area, trail, and Forest road closures are limiting public access into specific areas for public safety. “Know before you go” by visitinghttps://inciweb.nwcg.gov/
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