Evacuation levels were being lowered for the Juniper Creek Fire near Lake Billy Chinook Monday. The fire was 30% contained.
The fire is 16 miles northeast of Sisters on ODF-protected lands. It is burning southeast of the 2055 road in Township Range 16 and 21, which is South of Graham Road.
The Oregon Department of Forestry said the fire remained at 106 acres as fire crews continued to secure the edges and patrol for spot fires.
ODF said that during Monday’s operations, crews positioned hose lines around the fire’s perimeter to “plumb” the fire line and build containment during mop-up operations. Mopping up means cooling the fire perimeter by putting out hotspots and removing unburnt materials to ensure the fire doesn’t reheat and cross the fire break.
ODF said aircraft flew around the fire to help identify hotspots using infrared and thermal sensors and relayed that data to firefighters on the ground.
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Crews on the fire include one helicopter, five dozers, two skidgines, ten engines, two tenders and more than 100 personnel. A portion of these resources are from an ODF strike team that was prepositioned to the area just in case something like this occurred.
“Our firefighters did an outstanding job placing dozer line around the fire last night, and we’re building off that progress to establish containment so we can get back to readiness,” ODF administrator Chase Duncan said in a statement. “We’re very proud of their work, the management of the COFMS IMT, and the support of all our partners. We had a lot of partners provide initial attack and support, from our federal partners at the Forest Service and BLM, to Lake Chinook RFD, Jefferson County Sheriff’s, and private contractors. This has been an incredible team effort on behalf of the public.”
The fire was first reported at about 11:00 a.m. Sunday. The cause is under investigation.
A previous Level 3 “G0 Now” evacuation for 590 A road Jordan to the gravel dump west of the 590 A road South in Geneva RD past the cemetery was reduced to a Level 2 “Be Ready.” Those within the gated Three Rivers Community were also at a level 2 evacuation, which means be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
