Cooler weather aids crews on S. Oregon wildfire

Firefighters have made strong progress in recent days in mopping up a nearly 200-acre wildfire that broke out west of Junction City, but fire managers said Monday there’s still plenty more work to do.

“Don’t plan on the forecast rain to put out this fire out. It’s you guys that will put this fire out,” said Day Operations Supervisor Matt Flock to the day shift firefighters at the 5:30 a.m. briefing.

They spent the last several days working to extinguish all smokes around the rim of the fire. In most places, crews have created a 200-foot zone and are working towards 400 feet.

Bureau of Land Management resources advisors are finalizing plans to repair the federal lands affected by this fire. This includes pull-back of any bulldozer berms and installation of water bars to direct water off skid trails to prevent sediment delivery into streams.

All aircraft have been released, except for one light helicopter left for reconnaissance flights, bucket drops and transport, should an emergency arise.

It takes a large number of personnel and water to cover the fire area and mop up the heavy fuels. Resources on the fire today include: 13 (20-person) hand crews, one light helicopter, 14 fire engines, one bulldozer and 13 water tenders. There are a total of 417 personnel assigned to this incident.

The fire size remains unchanged at 195 acres. It is 60 percent contained.

There are no evacuation orders in effect. To date, no injuries and only one heat related incident has occurred.

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