Crazy Creek Fire growing toward Paulina, nearly 17,000 acres; Crook County SO again expands evacuation areas
(Update: Fire still growing, so are evacuation areas; Monday update)
MITCHELL, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The week-old, almost 17,000-acre Crazy Creek Fire continues to grow toward south toward Paulina, prompting the Crook County Sheriff's Office on Monday to expand Level 3 GO NOW and Level 2 BE SET evacuation areas for the second time in two days.
Crook County Sheriff's Office Monday announcement:
Crazy Creek Fire Update
EVACUATION LEVELS INCREASED
July 29, 2024 11:00 hours
CCSO Command met with the Southwest Area Incident Management Team #5 this morning. We learned that the Crazy Creek Fire has pushed further south towards Paulina by several miles, thus triggering CCSO to increase the evacuation levels.
As of now, Hwy 380 is the dividing line between LEVEL 3 and LEVEL 2.
Camp Creek Road east to SE Beaver Creek Road north to the Forest Boundary, and east to the county line has been increased to LEVEL 3.
The areas south of Hwy 380 from Camp Creek Road east, east side of SE Beaver Creek Road to the Forest Boundary, and east to the county line is at LEVEL 2. Refer to the revised map for further details.
Crook County Sheriff's Search and Rescue is in route to the affected areas to conduct evacuation level notifications.
CCSO and Southwest Area Incident Management Team #5 is coordinating with Crook County Fire and Rescue and the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office for structural protection in the Paulina area.
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Crazy Creek and Kitty Creek Fires Daily Update July 29, 2024
Conditions continue to challenge firefighting efforts
Fire Information Phone: 541-208-1768 (8am-8pm)
Media Information Phone: 541-208-1770 (8am-8pm)
Email: 2024.crazycreek@firenet.gov
Acres: Crazy Creek 16,978; 498/Kitty Creek 73
Start Date: July 22, 2024
Location: Crazy Creek:16 miles north of Paulina, OR. 498/Kitty Creek: 7 miles south of Mitchell, OR
Personnel: 302 total for both fires
Containment: Crazy Creek 0%; 498/Kitty Creek 58%
Fuels: Timber and short grass
Highlights: Crews continued work Sunday on the Crazy Creek and 498/Kitty Creek fires. On the Crazy Creek fire, firefighters observed tree torching and short-range spotting, which resulted in fire growth in the south and southwest areas of the fire. There was an overnight run of approximately three miles in the southern portion. Dry, hot conditions continue to be challenging for firefighters. The fire has pushed south beyond Forest Road 42, triggering upgraded evacuation levels in the Paulina Valley area. Crews on the 498/Kitty Creek fire continued securing and improving containment lines and conducting mop-up operations including extinguishing hot spots, felling damaged trees and cooling ash pits.
Fire Activity: On the Crazy Creek fire, crews continue to construct fire lines to contain the southwest and southern portions. Across the fire, crews continue looking for opportunities to leverage features to be used as containment lines and focusing on protecting structures in Toggle Meadow and Little Summit Prairie areas.
Firefighters in the northwest area worked from the 744 and 755 roads to the 30 Road conducting overnight firing operations to secure and improve containment lines. The southern and southwestern flanks where fire conditions are the hottest, driest and with the lowest humidity showed additional growth on Sunday,
Starting Monday, crews will assess areas to the south and southwest of the Crazy Creek Fire for structures and other values to protect. Crews on the 498/Kitty Creek Fire will continue to patrol the northern half of the fire and improve the fire perimeter on the south side to increase containment.
Evacuations: On Sunday, the Crazy Creek Fire’s push south beyond FS Road 42, triggered upgraded evacuation levels in the Paulina Valley area. LEVEL 3 evacuations in the Ochoco National Forest have been expanded to the eastern boundary of Big Summit Prairie and south of the Forest boundary. LEVEL 2 evacuations now extend from the forest service boundary south to Paulina.
Weather: Monday will bring partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the 70s to 80 degrees, increasing humidity with a chance of thunderstorms with west-northwest winds 12-15 mph gusting to 25 and the potential for unpredictable outflow winds across the 498/Kitty Creek and Crazy Creek fires.
Importance of Fire Prevention: All public lands in Central Oregon, to include the Ochoco National Forest are in Public Use (Fire) Restrictions. All open flames, including woodstoves and charcoal briquette fires are prohibited. In times of high fire danger, it is crucial for everyone to follow fire prevention measures to avoid additional strain on overburdened resources. The public's cooperation in adhering to fire bans and restrictions is vital to prevent new fires from starting and to help our firefighters focus on containing the existing fires. Learn more at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/ochoco/alerts-notices/....
Smoke: Smoke from multiple fires in Central Oregon are impacting the region. Additional details are available via https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlook/079f0f73.
Fire Restrictions and Closures: The Ochoco National Forest has implemented a forest closure for the Paulina Ranger District. More information can be found at fs.usda.gov/alerts/ochoco/alerts-notices/?aid=89203.
More Information:
InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident.../orocf-crazy-creek
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWIMT5
Central Oregon Wildfire Information: https://centraloregonfire.org/
Crook County Emergency Information Map: https://arcg.is/1ij0vb
