Corner Creek Fire fight still not over
The nearly 3-week-old, lightning-sparked Corner Creek Fire south of Dayville hasn’t grown for some time, still at just over 29,400 acres. But crews still work to complete and finalize the containment lines — and the cost is still rising, now at $12 million.
This weekend, firefighters plan to conduct burn out operations on between 400 and 600 acres along the southern boundary of Black Canyon Wilderness, just east of Mud Springs campground, in order to secure containment lines and prevent the fire’s spread northwest through the wilderness.
Smoke will be visible during periods of active burning and especially during ignitions, but no impacts to major travel routes are expected, officials said Friday
The fire area, about 11 miles south of Dayville, received substantial rainfall over the last week, which moderated fire behavior and helped firefighters to stop the forward spread of the fire. The fire continues burning internally, creeping and smoldering with low to moderate intensity.
The firefighting effort scaled back in the wake of the rainfall, from around 1,100 personnel at its peak to a current force of nearly 200 firefighters. A Type 3 incident management team took command of the fire on Tuesday.
The fire is currently about 90 percent contained, with the remainder of line to be completed on the fire’s northwest flank, along the southern portion of Black Canyon Wilderness.
Due to the steep topography of the wilderness and the difficulty of building containment lines there, firefighters plan to use burnouts to remove fuel around the fire and contain it.
The South Fork Road/County Road 42 reopened for public use on Tuesday , but an area closure remains in effect on the Ochoco National Forest, covering all National Forest lands west of Forest Service Road 5820.
