7/22/2018 Sugar Pine Fire Update

Good progress has been made to access, assess and safely engage all the known fires on the High Cascades Ranger District west of Crater Lake National Park (CLNP). Nineteen fires east and west of Highway 62 are being managed under the collective name Sugar Pine, which is also the name of one specific fire.  Approximately 645 total acres have burned on all fires combined.  Highway 62 is not threatened.

Yesterday, aircraft applied water to the Sugar Pine and Union fires to prevent spread. Some burn-out operations were conducted on the Round Top Fire. Mop-up and patrol continue on several of the smaller fires that have been lined or contained. A new heat source was identified by an infrared overflight last night. It will be investigated today. 

Today’s priorities include improving containment lines and mopping up on the Union, Junction and Sunshine fires, assessing direct and indirect options for containing the Sugar Pine and Goodview fires to keep them as small as safely possible, and continued burn-out operations on the Round Top Fire.

Today staff from Northwest Incident Management Team (NWIMT) 13 will meet with counterparts from NWIMT 6 managing the South Umpqua Complex to continue coordinating activities on fires near each other between the Umpqua and Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forests. The Sugar Pine Fire (NWIMT 13) is about 3 miles east of the Miles Fire (NWIMT 6) and the Goodview Fire (NWIMT 13) is 3 miles south of the Columbus (also called the Donnegan) Fire (NWIMT 6).

Resources: 650 people including 18 crews, 31 engines, 7 water tenders, 6 fallers, 1 dozer and 1 Type I helicopter.

Weather: Today’s weather will be warmer than yesterday with temperatures reaching the high 80s and relative humidity dropping below 25%. Winds will be from the W-SW so smoke from other fires may shade most of the fires area. There is a Red Flag warning for lighting from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today.    

Safety: The public is encouraged to be aware of slow moving fire traffic, especially near the Hwy 62 entrances to Joseph Stewart State Park near Prospect.  Smoke can be heavy at times.  Smoke and health information are available at the http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/  Huckleberry pickers should avoid areas of fire fighting activity.

Closures:  The Huckleberry Mountain camping area and roads in that vicinity are closed and blocked with barriers.  Some roads and two areas along the boundary shared between the Rogue River - Siskiyou and the Umpqua National Forests between the Sugar Pine and Miles fires and between the Goodview and Columbus fires are closed. These closures affect portions of roads 68, 6640 and 800 and portions of roads 1610, 900, and 970.

Fire Summary

Sugar Pine - 235 acres. Line established on east flank.  Abundant snags and rolling materials challenge access to lower portions of fire.  Identifying direct and indirect options in coordination with NWIMT 6.

Round Top - 124 acres. Construction complete on direct and indirect lines.  Burnout operations initiated 7/21; continue today.

Union - 104 acres. Fully lined.  Mop-up will require several days.

Sunshine - 4 acres. Mop-up should progress quickly today. 

Goodview - 140 acres. Heavy timber; rugged terrain. Continued work to determine direct and indirect strategies.

Junction - 6 acres. Priority to safely confine it to current footprint and improve containment lines.

The Hawk Creek (10 acres); North Top (1.5 acres); Kettle (0.1 acre); Buck Basin (1.2 acres); Gravel (3 acres); Spring 2 (0.2 acre); Alder (4.2 acres); Soldier (1 acre); Coplen (1.2 acres) fires are contained and in patrol status.