7/26/2018 Timber Crater 6 Fire Update

NW Incident Management Team (IMT) 9, Brian Goff, Incident Commander
Contact us at: TimberCrater6.2018@gmail.com - Fire Information: 541-238-2084 (GoogleVoice) or 541-291-4158
Crater Lake National Park, OR – Containment of the Timber Crater 6 Fire, burning in the northeast corner of Crater Lake National Park and Fremont-Winema National Forest, surpassed the 50% mark (55%) on Wednesday. Firefighters safely and successfully gained ground as they continued mopping up hot spots, and either completed or made great progress on key sections of primary, alternate and contingency lines. Acres burned increased to 2943 as a result of low severity burnout within primary containment lines. There are 680 personnel assigned to the fire. While crews continue moving toward full containment and suppression of the fire, they will also begin rehabilitating fire lines and other suppression treatments as needed and appropriate. One example is constructing water bars on fire lines to reduce erosion and stabilize soils.

Weather: Temperatures will remain in the 80s on Thursday; however, humidity levels will be slightly lower and winds slightly higher, including forecasted gusts up to 20 mph. Although these conditions could lead to increased fire behavior, fire managers remain confident that existing fire lines will hold with the existing compliment of firefighters.

Plans for Today: Crews will continue mopping up hot spots and improving line on the north, east and west sides of the fire. Similar to Wednesday, crews on the southeast corner of the fire will prepare for potential burnout operations to eliminate remaining interior fuels and build on existing containment. As conditions allow, aerial ignition from the assigned Type 3 helicopter will be used to help increase the efficiency of burnout operations. Fire managers will remain patient and take opportunities as conditions allow to safely and successfully complete burnout over the next two to three days.

The two CL415s being used on the fire were reassigned to other fires on Wednesday. Fire managers acquired a second Type 2 helicopter, which should be available around noon today. Providing the other Type 2 helicopter returns to service after being grounded on Wednesday, there will be a total of four helicopters, a Type 1, two Type 2 and a Type 3, available to assist firefighting efforts.

Smoke: Prevailing winds have generally pushed smoke from the Timber Crater 6 Fire east toward Highway 97. Many fires burning across southwest Oregon are producing smoke that continues to flow into Crater Lake National Park. For visitors wanting to see Crater Lake under the most favorable conditions, a smoke management specialist suggests mornings as the best viewing time over the next several days. For more information about smoke conditions from air monitoring sites, visit http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/.

For hourly updates visit https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/smoke.pl. Smoke #19 is located at Diamond Lake and Smoke #20 is located at park headquarters. More information is also available at http://bit.ly/TimberCrater6FireInfo .

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