The Green Ridge Fire burning 12 miles northwest of Sisters near Camp Sherman grew to nearly 2,000 acres overnight as the army of crews working to contain the blaze hope for help from the weather Thursday.
High daytime temperatures and afternoon winds Wednesday pushed the fire across containment lines on the eastern edge of the fire.
In one spot, the fire crossed the FS 11 Road, and firefighters quickly caught that edge with a dozer line, according to Incident Commander Alan Lawson.
The fire continued to back down the west side of Green Ridge and rolling material on the northwest edge of the fire caused a small area of slop-over overnight.
The fire is currently mapped at 1,937 acres.
Thursday, firefighters will continue to use dozers to create containment lines on the eastern 2/3 of the fireline, while crews hold and improve the line through the heat of the day.
Where the fire continues to back down the steep slopes of Green Ridge, firefighters will dig handline to stop the fire’s progress, Lawson said.
Wait for it…#FrogFire pic.twitter.com/p2O56tWK1j
— Central OR Fire Info (@CentralORFire) August 20, 2020
The heavy and medium helicopters will continue to support the ground effort with bucket drops, and heavy airtankers will be available if the fire is pushed outside of containment lines again Thursday.
A cooling trend Thursday and Friday with lower temperatures and higher relative humidity should assist suppression operations; however, firefighters will still have to address typical Central Oregon afternoon winds.
The fire is staffed with almost 300 personnel including two interagency hotshot crews, two Type 2 initial attack crews, five 20-person handcrews, five Type 4 Engines, three Type 6 Engines, 11 dozers, two feller bunchers, eight water tenders, two skidgeons, three masticators and about 60 overhead positions, Lawson said.
Priorities continue to be public and firefighter safety, stopping fire movement to the 1120 road on the western side of the fire, and protecting private property, private timberlands and any critical infrastructure within and adjacent to the fire perimeter.
The Deschutes and Jefferson County Sheriffs’ offices issued a Level 2 (Get Set; prepare to leave at a moment’s notice) Evacuation notice for the following areas: residences north of Indian Ford Road; east of Green Ridge Rd 11 and west of Fly Lake Road (USFS 2055),
Additionally, a Level 1 (Get Set) Pre-Evacuation notice was issued for the following areas: residences along the south side of Indian Ford Road from Hwy 20 to Stevens Canyon Road; residences east of Fly Lake Rd (FS 2055) to Stevens Canyon Rd (including all residences along Stevens Canyon Rd); and private residences and campgrounds west of USFS 14 within the Metolius Basin in the Camp Sherman area.
The departments will continue to work with fire managers to ensure public safety and prevent conflicts between citizens and fire operations.
The Deschutes National Forest also issued a fire closure order yesterday to minimize public entry into the fire area as well as reduce the amount of traffic on roads with increased fire vehicles.
Meanwhile, in Crook County, the Frog Fire in the Maury Mountains on the Ochoco National Forest seven miles east of Prineville is now mapped at 3,700 acres.
Firefighters worked throughout Wednesday night on structure protection in the area.
Thursday, crews will work to establish an anchor point in the northwest corner of fire to help with containment.
Effective immediately, Ochoco National Forest officials have put in place an area closure for the Frog Fire burning in the Maury Mountains on the Ochoco National Forest. The Frog Fire, which started August 16 and is now estimated at 3,700 acres, is burning in the steep and rugged terrain of the Maury Mountains in heavy timber and now onto adjacent private rangelands and land managed by the Prineville District Bureau of Land Management.
The following area closure is in place (see attached map for details):
All lands managed by the US Forest Service west of NFSR (National Forest System Road) 17 in the Maury Mountains. Including Forest Service managed lands within T. 17 S, R. 18 E., sections 20-29 and 33-36; T. 17 S., R. 17 E., sections 19-36; T. 18 S., R. 18 E., sections 1-4, 9-12, 14, and 15; T. 18 S., R. 19 E., sections 1-12, 14-18, 22, and 23.
The following road closures are in place:
- All National Forest System Roads found within the area closure are closed.
- NFSR 17 will remain open for public use.
For more information on the Frog Fire, visit: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7036/
The Lily Fire on Deschutes National Forest is 45 acres and 25% contained.
The fire is holding on its eastern and western flanks. The fire burned out of the 1996 Charlton fire scar area in the north yesterday. The fire continues to burn in heavy timber. Firefighters are being assisted by a helicopter dipping out of Lily Lake. An area closure has been put in place for this fire: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/deschutes/alerts-notices. Hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail can detour around the closure near Charlton Lake and FS Road 4290 to the south and the Irish and Taylor lakes area to the north.
The Laurel Fire is burning on private land and Prineville District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed land about 7 miles northwest of Kimberly.
Wheeler County Fire and Rescue along with firefighters from the BLM and US Forest Service are working on the approximately 1,300-acre fire along with Single Engine Air Tankers. They have an 8% containment as of Thursday night.
The Hog Ridge Fire 18 miles northwest of Dayville and north of Highway 26 near milepost 90 is estimated at 350 acres and 10% contained. Air tankers assisted crews and a dozer to construct line and by the end of the day fire behavior had moderated. Firefighters will continue holding and improving containment lines Thursday.
