Two Central Oregon wildfires quiet down

(Update: Tepee Fire still40 pct. contained, Willow Fire 60 pct. contained; minimal behavior)

Fire behavior on both large fires in Central Oregon was minimal overnight, officials said. The Tepee Fire remains 40% contained and the Willow Fire remains 60% contained.

Here’s the Monday morning update from the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center:

Firefighters patrolled all lines on the Tepee Fire last night and have resumed mopping up the perimeter today to achieve containment. The fire is still 2,064 acres and fire officials anticipate transitioning this incident to a Type 4 incident management team tomorrow afternoon.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office lowered all evacuation levels on the Tepee Fire as of yesterday. Now, all areas south of Forest Service Road 2015 (Ford Rd), west of Forest Service Road 2016 outside the forest boundary are on a Level 2. All areas south of Forest Service Road 2015 (Ford Rd), west of Forest Service 23 (Spencer Wells Rd), east of Forest Service Road 2016 and north of the forest boundary are on a Level 1.

An area closure remains in place on the Deschutes National Forest for the area around and adjacent to the fire area, including the northwest section of the East Fort Rock OHV Trail System. For a map of the closure area, visit: centraloregonfire.org.

Firefighters resumed mopping up on the Willow Fire today and the rough and rocky terrain remains a challenge. With moderate weather conditions, crews expect continue to increasing containment numbers today as they cool hot spots on fire lines. The fire is still estimated at 400 and all evacuations on this fire were lifted at 10 a.m. yesterday.

Due to decreased fire activity, COIDC will be issuing one update a day.