Northwest Interagency Coordination Center: 7/16/2021 Bootleg Fire update

Friday, July 16, 2021

Location: 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, OR

Size: 241,497 acres

Containment: 7%

Personnel: 1,921

(Klamath Falls, OR) – For the fourth day in a row, firefighters withdrew from leading edges

of the Bootleg Fire as extreme fire conditions fueled expansive fire growth. In the late

afternoon, a large pyrocumulus cloud ‘collapsed’ further spreading embers to the

east of the main fire and prompting additional evacuation notices for the communities

of Summer Lake and Spring Lake in Lake County. Crews worked through the night to

get dozer lines around spot fires over the 34 Road to the southeastern edge of the fire.

To the north, crews continued to work against very active surface fire, spotting up to a

half mile ahead of the main fire, and dry southern winds.

“The Bootleg Fire perimeter is more than 200 miles long- that’s an enormous amount of

line to build and hold.” said Rob Allen, Incident Commander for the Pacific Northwest

Area Incident Management Team 2. “We are continuing to use every resource from

dozers to air tankers to engage where it’s safe to do so especially with the hot, dry,

windy conditionspredicted to worsen into the weekend.”

On Thursday, firefighters made excellent progress on the southern edge of the fire as

winds pushed the fire back into itself. On the fire’s western edge, firefighters continue to

successfully hold the existing containment lines and are patrolling for any remaining

hotspots near thefireline. In addition, several crews will continue working to protect

and wrap houses towards Paisley and Summer Lake as a precaution ahead of potential

fire growth toward those communities over the coming days. Additional structural

firefighters will arrive today to assist the east side of the fire with structure protection.

Community Meeting: Friday July 16, 2021 at 6:30pm at www.facebook.com/BootlegFireInfo.

A recorded version will also be available on our new YouTube channel.

Evacuations: Visit tinyurl.com/bootlegevac for an interactive map of current

evacuation levels.

Closures: Area closures in the Fremont-Winema National Forest at

Smoke: Smoke impacts anticipated to Silver Lake, Paisley, and the greater Harney Basin.

Fire Information Public Phone: 541-482-1331

Fire Information Media Phone: 971-727-7255

Fire Terms