Mapping trims size of SW Oregon wildfire

The Lobster Creek Fire in southwest Oregon is “shrinking,” as due to more accurate mapping, the fire size is now 397 acres, the Oregon Department of Forestry said Thursday.

As the edge of the fire cools, allowing closer access, firefighters are able to utilize handheld global positioning system (GPS) devices to trace the perimeter more closely and move from an estimate fire size to a more precise calculation.

Containment has reached 30 percent, officials said.

Mop up operations will continue over the next few days until the fire is in a state that the fire team is comfortable handing the incident back to the Coos Forest Protective Association.

There are currently over 700 personnel assigned to the fire, including 27 hand crews. The demobilization process begins Thursday, with crews and other resources heading home or to other fires over the next few days.

Through July 4th, total suppression costs for the Lobster Creek Fire are just over $956,000.

More information:

https://www.facebook.com/Lobster-Creek-Fire-2021776444706700/

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5886/