Cemetery Fire 70 pct. contained; mop-up underway
Crews are in full mop-up mode on the lightning-sparked Cemetery Fire that broke out earlier this week in the Maury Mountains of the Ochoco National Forest southeast of Prineville, now 70 percent contained at 1,414 acres, officials said Friday.
They expect to have the fire fully contained by July 31.
Here’s the 8 a.m. update:
Cemetery Fire Update
Northwest Interagency Incident Management Team 8, Incident Commander, Doug Johnson
July 20, 2018 – 8:00 AM
General Updates: Firefighters are in the mop-up phase of containment on the Cemetery Fire. Firefighters are on the search for pockets of heat, digging out the heat source, and cooling with water. The infrared flight from last night indicated detectable heat remaining well interior of the containment lines in the open grass and also in the timber. Firefighters will continue to mop-up areas near the containment lines which have the potential to reignite and escape. A full suppression strategy is being utilized to minimize the impact to sage grouse habitat, private and federal grazing, and timber.
A hand crew assigned to the Cemetery Fire assisted the Deschutes National Forest by responding to an initial attack of a new fire start yesterday. The fire was successfully contained.
Planning for the transition of management of the Cemetery Fire is in progress. The proposed schedule is to turn management of the Cemetery Fire back to the local unit on Sunday at 6:00 am.
Acres: 1,414
Containment: 70%
Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Information Center: (541) 316-7711.
E-mail: CentralORFireInfo@gmail.com
Information Websites:
Twitter: @CentralORFire
Blog Site: http://www.centraloregonfire.org
Inciweb: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5942/
Weather: Temperatures are forecasted for 85-90 degrees with humidity of 3-8%. Afternoon winds will be from the northwest 3 – 7 mph.
Air Operations:
A temporary flight restriction is in place over the fire area to allow for safe aerial operations.
Resources: 2-type 1 crews, 2-type 2 initial attack crews, 4-type 2 crews, 2- camp crews, 1- light helicopter, 11-engines, 2-skidgine, 3-dozers, 4-water tenders, and 79 overhead.
Resources in excess to operational needs will be demobilized and made available for assignment to other incidents.
