Welcome snow, rain fall on, cool Cedar Creek Fire; crews pulled off lines while area scouted for safety

(Update: Sunday update

OAKRIDGE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Welcome, widespread rain and snow fell Saturday on the 127,000-acre Cedar Creek Fire near Waldo Lake, cooling the blaze and reducing fire activity, but also bringing potentially risky working conditions that prompted officials to pull crews off the lines until the area can be scouted for safety

Here's the Sunday morning update on the blaze:

Cedar Creek Fire
October 23, 2022

Daily Fire Update Cedar Creek Fire Quick Facts Size: 127,283 acres                        
Origin: 15 miles E of Oakridge, OR            
Resources: 5 engines; 7 crews; 3 helicopters; 6 Dozers; 1 Masticator
Containment: 55%                         
Cause: Lightning;
Total personnel: 395                     
Start Date: August 1, 2022   

The Eastern Area Silver Incident Management Team took command of the Cedar Creek Fire at 6:00 p.m. Saturday.

Weather: Rain and snow showers will linger across the burn area through the early morning, with fog and smoke expected in the valleys. Skies will gradually clear with light northwest winds and relative humidity between 70-90 percent. The highs today are expected to reach into the low 50s.

Operations:  The weather system that brought widespread rain and snow across the burned area helped cool down active fire to smoldering conditions yesterday. Due to unsafe working conditions brought on by yesterday's weather event, the Incident Management Team made a safety decision to hold fire crews off the fire line. Pockets of heat remain within the fire's interior, likely to result in smoky conditions as the weather clears today. 

Firefighter safety is the top priority as fire crews prepare to return to repairing, patrolling, and monitoring the fire's edge. Before fire crews return to the fire, access routes will be scouted to assess safe working conditions and determine any additional repair work that may have resulted from the recent rainfall. As areas are cleared for a safe return, patrol and monitoring will continue along the northwest and east sides of the fire, and repair work will continue along the northeast side near Waldo Lake.

Closures: There are updated, reduced closures in effect on both the Deschutes National Forest and Willamette National Forest. These closures will remain in place until areas impacted by the fire are surveyed for safety risks and fire crews are able to mitigate these hazards. Please respect Forest closures for firefighter and public safety. Please visit Willamette National Forest and Deschutes National Forest for the most recent closure orders and maps. Pacific Crest Trail hikers should visit pcta.org for current information. There is a Temporary Flight Restriction over the Cedar Creek Fire area. Wildfires are a No Drone Zone - if you fly, we can’t.

Smoke: Air quality conditions due to smoke are expected to range from good to moderate within the forecast area. For current conditions, see Fire.airnow.gov, oakridgeair.org, and LRAPA - Today's Current Air Quality. Smoke Forecast Outlooks are available at https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlook.

Evacuations: A map of the evacuation area is available at www.LaneCountyOR.gov/CedarCreek. Sign-up for emergency mobile alerts by going to oralert.gov. Please check with Lane County Sheriff’s Office at 541-682-4150 and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office at 541-693-6911 for updates and changes.

Online: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8307/| www.facebook.com/CedarCreekFire2022/www.tinyurl.com/cedarcreekfireyoutube

| Fire Information Line: 541-201-2335, 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM |

Email: 2022.cedarcreek@firenet.gov