‘Pushed to the brink’: Oregon’s record wildfire season isn’t over yet; ODF says crews are spread thin even more into fall
(Update: Adding video, comments from Oregon Dept. of Forestry, governor)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The McKenzie Pass Highway (Oregon Highway 240) west of Sisters reopened over the weekend, three weeks after wildfires in the area prompted its closure. It's another sign of firefighters' continued progress on the area's blazes, despite warm weather lingering into the fall and other challenges.
But the 2024 wildfire season is definitely not over, as this week's return to temperatures in the 80s confronting thousands of firefighters still on the lines makes clear.
"This was an extremely difficult fire season. We were strapped for resources essentially from the beginning of July," Oregon Department of Forestry Public Information Officer Jessica Neujahr said Monday.
 According to ODF, it's cost the state $240 million to fight fires this year, with nearly 2 million acres burned so far in the state -- five times last year's and nearly double the 10-year average of 600,000 acres, fueled by record-breaking heat and drought conditions in the region.
"It's just been like trying, trying, and trying to keep up with all of it," Neujahr said. "And now ,luckily, we're in that downturn, but there's still active fires on the landscape. You know, there are still fires that are burning and not completely contained yet."
Fire officials say this fire season peak was much earlier than expected, with mega-fires (over 100,000 acres) in Eastern and Central Oregon, like the Durkee Fire reaching over 200,000 acres.
Governor Tina Kotek declared 16 Conflagration Acts to bring in state resources and task forces made up of firefighters from across the state, to help protect homes and communities.Â
Kotek said at a recent wildfire briefing, flanked by fire officials, "This is a very expensive fire season, because of the hard work of the folks here and all the crews across the state. We've been able to protect a lot of communities. But I can tell you, this team and what we've been doing this season has been pushed to the brink."
As of August, 9,000 firefighters had been deployed, including crews from 20 states. But while the season is approaching an end, the state has seen its workforce nearly cut in half.
"A lot of our, workforce is college students, and a lot of them are going back to school now," Neujahr said.
But the focus is now on the firefighters who remain, and giving them all the support they need.
"The fatigue is real," the ODF representative said. "Our firefighters have been working long and hard, like 16-plus-hour days."
Here's Monday's final update on the Bachelor Complex and the daily updates on other area fires:
Bachelor Complex Fire Update
September 30, 2024
Quick Facts: Bachelor Complex
Size: 11,742 acres Start Date: September 8, 2024 Location: 20 miles SW Bend, OR
Personnel: 135 Containment: 50%
Beginning tomorrow, October 1st, information of significance for the Bachelor Complex will be shared through Central OR Fire X/Twitter (@CentralORFire) and the Deschutes National Forest Facebook page. The Bachelor Complex email and fire information phone line will no longer be staffed and InciWeb will be updated intermittently.
The Central Oregon Interagency Type 3 Management Team continues to manage the Bachelor Complex and are assessing the time frame to transition back to a local unit Type 4 Incident Commander.
A temporary emergency fire closure remains in place for the Bachelor Complex. To view the most recent closure order and map, visit the Deschutes National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/deschutes/alerts-notices.
Bachelor Complex:
Isolated heat and smoke will continue to be seen across the southern edge of the fire. Firefighters are mopping-up areas of heat closest to the fire’s perimeter. Crews continue the cutting and chipping preparation along Forest Service Roads 4525 and 4529 in the southwestern area of the fire to establish containment features. Firefighters will monitor and patrol the lines in the northeast area of the fire as the objectives in that area have been met and suppression repair efforts continue. Backhaul of supplies that are no longer needed is occurring across the fire area.
Weather and Fire Behavior:
A weak ridge of high pressure will begin to move back into the area today becoming stronger on Tuesday. Temperatures will be a few degrees warmer than Sunday with highs ranging from the lower 60s to lower 70s. Northeast winds of 5 to 10 mph are expected with gusts approaching 15 mph. Humidity values will continue to range from the teens to 20s during the afternoon. Temperatures Tuesday will be returning to the 70s and 80s across the fire.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deschutesnationalforest
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/CentralORFire
InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/.../ordef-bachelor-complex...
Smoke & Air Quality Information: fire.airnow.gov
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Rail Ridge and Wiley Flat Fires Daily Update
9-30-24
Rail Ridge Fire
Acres: 165,743 – Containment: 80% – Detection: 09/02/24 – Cause: Lightning – Personnel: 1,038
Operational Update: Yesterday, hot and dry conditions contributed to an increase in acreage on the Rail Ridge Fire. In the Black Canyon Wilderness, the fire crossed Black Canyon Creek onto the ridge east of Honeymoon Basin where firefighters and aerial resources remain engaged. Today’s weather will be much cooler, though winds will be stronger and out of the northwest, and relative humidity will be lower. Weather continues to challenge firefighting efforts. In the northern divisions, firefighters continue to mop up and extinguish isolated heat sources and are working toward suppression repair. Containment continues to increase around the perimeter. In the southern portion of the fire, patrols continue, and suppression repair is ongoing. Repairs continue along roads which received heavy impacts during suppression efforts.
Wiley Flat Fire Final Update
Acres: 30,186 – Containment: 94% – Detection: 09/02/24 – Cause: Lightning – Personnel: 27
Operational Update: Heavy equipment made progress on road repairs and falling teams are removing hazard trees along road corridors. This will be the final daily update for the Wiley Flat Fire. For questions or information moving forward, please contact the Ochoco National Forest at 541-416-6500
Weather: Today’s wind direction will change and come from the northwest. It will be a dry day as relative humidity is expected in the teens. Temperatures will be much cooler, with highs only reaching into the sixties.
Evacuations
Rail Ridge Evacuations: Level 1 and 2 evacuation zones for the Rail Ridge Fire remain in Grant County.
Wiley Flat Evacuations: Level 2 and 3 evacuation zones remain for the Wiley Flat Fire in Crook County.
For Current Evacuation Levels all affected counties, please visit: https://linktr.ee/RailRidgeFire
Closures: The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have implemented closures for the Rail Ridge and Wiley Flat Fires. For more details and closure maps, visit https://linktr.ee/RailRidgeFire
#RailRidgeFire2024 #WileyFlatFire2024 #FireYear2024
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Willamette Complex South Fire Update
208, Moss Mountain, Coffee Pot, Tire Mountain, McKinley Creek and Chalk Fires
Date: Monday, September 30, 2024
Fire Causes: Lightning
Email: 2024.willamettecomplex@firenet.gov
Information Phone Line: 541-225-6305
Willamette Complex South: Personnel: 463 Total Willamette Complex South Acres: 23,594
InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/orwif-willamette-complex-fires-south
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WillametteComplexFires/
Summary
The Chalk, Coffee Pot, McKinley Creek and Tire Mountain fires are 100% contained. The Coffee Pot Fire is in patrol-and-monitor status. Conditions will be favorable for road repair, any needed air support, and any ongoing suppression repair operations. Three helicopters dropped water on hot spots Sunday. Incident Management is reassessing, shifting, or demobilizing resources as the situation warrants. Some personnel from the Willamette Complex have shifted to the Red Fire to support the Type 3 Incident Management Team that assumed command of that fire last night.
Chalk Fire (6,006 acres, 100% containment)
Slash hauling along the 1912 Road is complete. Control lines are in place and holding the perimeter of the fire. Crews will be working on ditch repairs and control line repairs.
Moss Mountain Fire (2,209 acres, 10% containment)
The work on and near the Wolf Mountain Communications Site is now complete. Crews are continuing repairs to the indirect control lines north and east of the fire.
208 Fire (9,129 acres, 4% containment)
Chipping in the 208 Fire area continues. Due to completed road repairs, Sierra Pacific Industries is now able to safely conduct operations on their property. Some active fire behavior was reported on the flanks of the 208 Fire over the weekend. That is being closely monitored, and work continues on the Swift Creek drainage.
Weather and Fire Behavior
The forecast for the next few days calls for temperatures in the mi-60s to low-70s. Relative humidity is dropping, so overnight recovery is poor. This means we can expect fine fuels and 10-hour fuels to become more likely to ignite. Crews will be patrolling for spotting and torching inside and near fire perimeters.
Closures, Fire Restrictions, and Evacuation
For closure information, visit: https://tinyurl.com/WillFireClosures2024.
For fire restrictions, visit: https://tinyurl.com/WillFireRestrictions2024.
