Fire in Silver Falls State Park 10 percent contained

(Update: Fire 10 percent contained)

About 110 personnel on Saturday brought a fire burning in a remote southeast corner of Silver Falls State Park to 10 percent containment, officials said.

Crews had to forge trails to reach the fire, and ground and air attacks made headway on the Silver Creek Fire, estimated late Saturday at 12 to 15 acres. It was burning in the Howard Creek drainage, a remote, steep and timbered area more than a mile from the park boundary.

The Oregon Department of Forestry and Drakes Crossing Rural Fire Protection District are engaged on the fire, along with hand crews from Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. The cause is under investigation.

The Howard Creek Horse Camp within the park has been closed to the public so it can be used as a staging area for firefighting operations.

Camp Silver Creek (also known as the Y Camp) about a mile from the fire’s location in the southeast part of the park was evacuated Friday and remains closed.

Oregon State Parks is reporting that also closed are all backcountry trails on the east side of the park, The Ranches, and 214 Trailhead. The rest of the park and events there are unaffected and remain open. but visitors are cautioned to be alert to firefighting activity and traffic. For the latest on park and trail closures, check Oregon State Park’s fire closures web page.

The fire’s Incident Commander Brent O’Nion with ODF said Saturday morning, “Because the fire is in steep, heavily timbered terrain in a section of the park away from roads and trails, getting ground crews up to the fire has been challenging. Firefighter safety is a concern and our No. 1 priority right now as we battle this blaze.”

O’Nion said ODF and Drakes Crossing firefighters responded to the initial report of fire Thursday night and searched until 1 a.m. trying to locate the fire. The search resumed at daybreak Friday morning, when the fire – estimated at the time at less than an acre – was finally located beneath thick timber.

“We had solid initial attack on the fire from the air yesterday (Friday), with response from a helicopter, single-engine air tankers and large air tankers,” O’Nion said. “That gave our firefighters time to work their way toward the fire so they could begin engaging on it.”

O’Nion lauded the continuing close collaboration with local firefighters and parks personnel on the fire.