Warm Springs fire tops 65,000 acres, 67 percent contained
The more than 65,000-acre County Line 2 Fire on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation reached 67 percent containment Sunday, thanks to nearly 600 firefighting personnel. Officials updated the damage to homes and other structures wrought by the week and a half-old blaze.
By Sunday, Warm Springs officials said they had determined that three homes were destroyed — two occupied and one vacant — while one occupied home was “damaged beyond repair.” Another four abandoned homes and one vacant house sustained minor damage, they said, and 23 outbuildings and other structures were destroyed.
The danger has lessened in neighborhoods but is not over, with structure protection crews still stationed around neighborhoods. The last home reported burned, Wednesday night, left a family of five homeless.
“By the time we got there, we were a little too late to help them suppress that fire,” Clybert Peyketewa, a forester technician from the Zuni Indian Reservation in New Mexico, said Thursday. “Unfortunately, that fire took the house with it.”
It happened on already burned ground — and within minutes, the house was gone.
“What was kind of unnerving about that is that we had fire personnel in there before the fire actually started,” said Doug Epperson, spokesman for the Oregon Fire Marshal Incident Management Team.
Firefighters keep checking residential areas for hot spots, but even on Day 9, the danger was far from over.
“It must have been a hot spot somewhere that we were unaware of, and when these 20 to 25 knot winds,” Epperson said as the map on the bulletin board blew away. “This is what we were dealing with last night when this fire took off.”
Strong winds and pieces of hot ash flying through the air remain a concern.
“These here are pretty warm right now,” Peyketewa said.
The fire grew by Saturday to 64,438 acres, as the containment level rose to 58 percent, meaning the more than 600 firefighters and support personnel on the lines still have their work cut out for them.
NewsChannel 21’s Wanda Moore went out with Peyketewa’s crew Thursday as they were checking residential neighborhoods, day and night, and what they’re looking for is microscopic.
“We have to really look hard,” Peyketewa said.
They are searching for tiny pieces of ash, and if they are hot, they could ignite another firestorm. Just as the crew was doing the interview, a tree on the hill lit on fire.
“It’s well into the black right now, but once that wind starts picking up, all that ash is going to shower over to the green side,” Peyketewa said.
The firefighting strategy remains the same, and officials remind everyone to be watchful and keep a defensible space. They keep checking an area three times before they officially declare the fire out.
“Every fire, we do the exact same thing,” Epperson said.
They keep a watchful eye over the neighborhood, even when heavy thoughts weigh on them.
“Between losing firefighters yesterday (in Washington), losing a house last night, everybody is kind of in a somber mood,” Epperson said.
Wednesday night, they lost the fight against the flames on Shitike Creek Road.
“We’re proud of our profession, and when we lose one, we take it personal,” Epperson said.
The fight against the flames continues.
“It made me think of back home, thinking about my family,” Peyketewa said. “Really hit me hard, because it could happen to anybody.”
The latest info on the fire can be found at: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4533/
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Here’s the Sunday morning update:
The Oregon Incident Management Team #1 (Shawn Sheldon, IC) continues to manage the County Line 2 Fire.
Incident Commander, Shawn Sheldon commented, “An elevated fire watch through Monday just means we must remain diligent about safety and our strategies to contain this fire.”
Late in the afternoon yesterday, crews were able to begin slowly burning towards the edge of the fire on the north and south sides in Shitike Creek Drainage. This planned burn assisted in confining the fire towards the direction most favorable for containment. Numerous spots were caught during night operations.
There continues to be structure protection in and around neighborhoods. Crews were able to hold lines and catch all spots in the north and east areas of the fire.
The fire is down one Type III helicopter today as the pilot is timed-out.
Because of very dusty roads, a water tender group will be working main roads within the fire with an emphasis on the southwest side of the fire.
Once the smoke inversion subsides between 12:00 and 1:00, there is the chance of seeing a building column. Humidities for Sunday are predicted to be between 14-23 percent; temperatures will be slightly warmer in the upper 80s on the east side of fire and mid 90s on the west side. Winds will be northwest at 5-8 mph, gusts to 10 mph. There is an elevated fire watch through Monday.
A current review of damages and losses of residences and out- buildings/structures has shown this fire burned: two (2) occupied homes; one (1) vacant home; one (1) occupied home damaged beyond repair; four(4) abandoned homes and one (1) vacant house was lightly damaged. There were a total of twenty-three (23) out-buildings/structures burned.
Fire Information
Phone: 541-553-8190
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4533/
countyline2fireinfo@gmail.com
Fire at a Glance
Size: 64,701
Containment: 63%
Assigned personnel: 598
Aircraft:
1 Type I (2,000 gallon)
1 Type II (530 gallon)
I Type II -on loan from Willamette NF
Location: Warm Springs, OR
Closures: None at this time.
Evacuation Notifications:
Level and Area
1
All areas of the Warm Springs Reservation with the exception of Tenino Road.
2
Tenino Road-Mile Post 1 through Mile Post 7
Road closed for local and fire fighter traffic only. (Signage in place)
3
None
