If you saw smoke to the west of Central Oregon Tuesday, that’s not a new fire. That’s the Cedar Creek Fire that started nearly a month ago.
The Cedar Creek Fire, which started Aug. 1 in the Willamette National Forest, is now nearly 8,000 acres acres and is 12% contained.
Here is the latest overview of the fire from the Inciweb incident information system.
“Over 1,000 firefighters and support personnel are working on the Cedar Creek Fire near Oakridge, Oregon. Because of the fire’s location, in very steep and difficult to access terrain, including wilderness and roadless areas, firefighters have been using an indirect strategy. This means they have been constructing firelines away from the active fire edge, along roads and trails, where they have a better chance of successfully stopping the fire. Recent favorable weather and fire behavior, as well as the availability of firefighting resources has opened more opportunities to get closer to the fire with more direct fire suppression tactics, potentially suppressing the fire at a smaller acreage than originally anticipated. An area closure is in effect for part of the Willamette National Forest west of Waldo Lake but the lake and its recreational facilities remain open.”
The fire was caused by lightning, officials say. It has burned 7,821 acres.
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