Bridge 99 Complex: 50 percent contained

Evacuation levels were lowered near the Bridge 99 Fires on Tuesday and two campgrounds reopened.

Bridge 99 Complex – 9 a.m. Wednesday
Start date:
7/13/14
Cause:
Lightning
Estimated Size:
Bridge 99 Fire: 5,300 acres; (no change)
Southern portion Bear Butte 2 Fire: 619 acres (+2)
Total complex acres 5,917 (+2)
% Contained:
50%
# of
Firefighters:
822
Injuries to date:
1
Estimated Containment Date:
N/A

Closures:
Pioneer Ford, Lower Bridge, Allen Springs, Canyon Creek, and Candle Creek Campgrounds; Portions of Forest Roads 12, 14, 1140, and 1420400. Jefferson Lake, Sugarpine Ridge, Shirley Lake, Cabot Lake Trails, and a 5 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail. A closure map is shown the Bridge 99 Complex Inciweb page.

# of
20-person hand crews:
23
# of helicopters:
2 Type I (Heavy),
2 Type II (Medium),
3 Type III (Light)

Location:
The Bridge 99 Complex consists of two fires (the Bridge 99 Fire and the Bear Butte 2 Fire). The Bridge 99 Fire is burning 18 miles northwest of the city of Sisters on Green Ridge, next to the Metolius River. The southern portion of the Bear Butte 2 Fire is burning in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness on the Deschutes National Forest. The northern portion of the Bear Butte 2 Fire is on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs lands and is being managed by the Fire Team (IMT) working on the Logging Unit Complex.

Due to decreased fire activity, evacuation levels have been reduced and area closures have been changed (see details below). Firefighters completed burnout operations and direct line on the northwest fire perimeter and continued to secure containment lines on the Bridge 99 Fire.

The southern, eastern and much of the northern fire perimeter has been further secured by crews completing mop up (extinguishing burning materials with water and hand tools) activities.

Varying amounts of rain occurred over the fire, but vegetation and burnable debris under the tree canopies still remain dry. Expected fire behavior will be limited to smoldering and burning of heavy fuels, stumps and large diameter logs. Some of the fire crews and other resources will be available to help staff new fires resulting from last night’s thunderstorms.

Helicopters will continue to drop water on hotspots to slow the spread of the Bear Butte 2 Fire in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. Fire officials responsible for managing the wildfire will begin reducing the number of resources on the fire today. Total complex acreage increased only slightly yesterday, to 5,917 acres.

Weather will be unseasonably cool today with high temperatures in the mid to upper 60s and relative humidity in the 50 to 60 percent range. Crews will continue mop-up activities and patrol.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department evacuation orders were changed yesterday and are as follows:

All private lands along the Metolius River from Allen Springs Campground to Lake Billy Chinook (including the Metolius Arm) have been lowered to a Level II Evacuation Order. The Three Rivers Subdivision has been lowered to a Level I Evacuation Order. The subdivisions of Rim Park, Forest Park, and Air Park along with Cove Palisades State Park remain under a Level I Evacuation Order. The Cove Palisades State Park remains open.

Monty Campground and Perry South Campground are now open to the public.

The following Forest Service roads, trails, campgrounds and lands remain closed:
Forest Road 12, from its intersection with Forest Roads 1270/1298 to Bridge 99, Forest Road 14, from Bridge 99 to its intersection with Forest Road 1400700 (Allen Springs Campground), Forest Road 1140, from its intersection with Forest Roads 1150/1180 to the intersection with Forest Road 1152, Forest Road 1154, from its intersection with Forest Road 1150 to the intersection with Forest Road 1140, and Forest Road 1420400.

The Lower Bridge, Pioneer Ford, Allen Springs, Canyon Creek, and Candle Creek Campgrounds are closed. The Jefferson Lake Trail (#4001), Sugarpine Ridge Trail (#4002), Shirley Lake Trail (#4003.1), and the Cabot Lake Trail (#4003) are closed within the Mt Jefferson Wilderness. A 5-mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail (#2000) is closed. The south closure is located north of the Shirley Lake Trail (#4003) junction and the north closure is located near Cathedral Rocks. An area closure has been designated on a map that is available on the Inciweb website listed below. The Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery remains closed to the public.

The above closures and evacuation levels will continually be reassessed to determine if they remain appropriate to protect public health and safety.
For additional information on the Bridge 99 Complex:

For information on smoke impacts to air quality in your community, go to the Oregon Smoke Blog at: http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com. For detailed information on the fire including Operational Period maps, area closure maps, and photos please visit: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3963/.