DECEPTION COMPLEX FIRE INFORMATION UPDATE
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeceptionORFire
E-mail: DeceptionComplex@gmail.com
Fire Information Line: 541.782.5545
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Fire
|
Acres
|
% Contained
|
Total Personnel
|
|
Deception
Complex
|
4181
|
64%
|
1087
|
News & Highlights for the Deception
Complex
● Smoke cleared earlier than expected yesterday, allowing
firefighters and air resources to make excellent progress with burnout
operations along the southwestern, western, and northwestern sides of the fire.
● Firefighters have successfully strengthened the containment
line around the entire perimeter of the fire; the
goal to complete this work prior to the warming and drying trend predicted for
Thursday through Saturday has been achieved.
●
Due to the excellent progress
made, Lane County has lifted the Level 1 evacuation notice for the Deception
Creek Mobile Home Park, the Middle Fork Ranger Station and houses along La Duke
Road.
●
Today,
firefighters will continue to mop up and hold the fireline along the
southwestern and western and eastern portions of the fire. Aerial ignitions will continue when the smoke
lifts and visibility is adequate to fly.
●
Smoke is expected to pool
in the Oakridge and Westfir areas in the morning and should clear by late
afternoon. A night time inversion
tonight is expected to trap smoke near the surface, which will likely remain
until early Wednesday afternoon.
●
A warming and drying trend
predicted for Thursday through Saturday will increase fire behavior and will also
assist with smoke lift and clearing.
● There is a clean air facility at the
Willamette Activity Center in Oakridge that is open Mon-Fri from 9-5 p.m. The center may also be opened in the evening
on an as needed basis. Please call the Red Cross Coordinator Jerry Shorey at
541.915.3880 or the Oakridge Police Department at 541.782.4232.
●
Smoke monitors have been
placed to keep the public apprised of current smoke conditions. Information
from smoke monitors in the Oakridge area is incorporated in the daily Deception
Complex smoke forecast which is posted on the Lane Regional Air Protection
Agency website at http://www.lrapa.org or http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com.
●
Motorists traveling Highway
58 are advised to proceed with caution near the community of Oakridge/Westfir
due to possible heavy smoke, particularly with the school week, amidst
continuing heavy fire traffic.
Deception
Complex Operations Summary:
Deception Fire:
A cold front moved through the fire area last night, causing
winds to shift direction from the west to the northwest and increasing minimum
relative humidity to 46%, causing some challenges for firefighters implementing
the burnout operations during night shift.
A high pressure system is predicted to be in place over the fire area by
Thursday and Friday.
Taking
advantage of cooler temperatures and calmer winds, crews on Monday were able to
burn out fuels along a substantial amount of the western flank of the fire.
Burnout was accomplished by hot shot crews west of Little Deception Rock along
Road 1790 and northward along Road 1714 which forms the boundary between the
Willamette and Umpqua National Forests. During
the greater part of Monday, the helitorch, or flying drip torch, was used to
more fully ignite the fuels surrounding the younger patch of trees.
Aerial
PSD (Plastic Spherical Device) ignition was conducted for nearly two miles
along a sharp ridge to the northwest from a point near Little Deception Rock.
Interior fires are being established on the upper third of the slopes to add
depth to the black around the perimeter and to encourage cooler backing fires
that help to prevent the forest canopy from burning.
Resources
assigned to the Deception Complex are as follows:
|
Crews
|
Helicopters
|
Dozers
|
Tenders
|
Engines
|
|
23
|
9
|
2
|
20
|
57
|
Staley Fire: Firefighters continue suppression
rehab/repair activities such as construction of water-bars on exterior dozer
and hand lines. Patrol and mop-up of hot
spots continue to secure areas of the fire along Roads 332 and 300.
Davey Fire: Suppression repair
activities have been completed and fire equipment has been removed.
Air
Operations Summary
Five
heavy helicopters including a 2000-gallon capacity Sky Crane, a medium
helicopter, three light helicopters and an air attack platform are assigned to
the Deception Complex. Limited visibility due to smoky conditions are expected
to significantly limit flight time.
● A temporary flight restriction
(TFR) is in place over the Deception Fires 272, 274 and 278 and the Staley
Fire. A military training Route (R346) has been closed due to the TFR.
● Oakridge Airport is closed
to civilian air traffic because it is currently serving as the helibase for the
Deception Complex.
Willamette
National Forest Area & Trail Closures:
There
are two closures on the Willamette NF associated with the Deception Complex.
●
The Deception Fire closure is an area, road and trail closure
that currently includes the Lawler and Deception Trails and the Patterson
Mountain Road. A new closure is in effect that adds the 2102 Road to the
closure. Forest Roads 5840, 5847 and 5850 were closed previously and remain
closed. The Larison Rock Trail (Trail
3607) was recently opened. The lower trailhead for Larison Rock Trail is open;
the closure of the 2102 Road means the upper elevation trailhead for Larison
Rock Trail is closed.
●
The Staley Fire closure includes an area and road closure.
Umpqua National Forest Closure:
●
There is an area, road and trail closure southwest of the
Deception Complex. Forest Road 17 remains open to Spirit Falls.
Check
Inciweb for full closure information, including maps: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4093/ or visit the Willamette
National Forest at http://www.fs.usda.gov/willamette or the Umpqua National
Forest http://www.fs.usda.gov/umpqua.
SAFETY CONCERNS: Driving hazards exist from
smoke on the highway mixed with school traffic. Also, the heavy fire traffic
flow on smoky, dusty, narrow forest roads produces serious driving hazards, and
potential smoke exposure to firefighters and public can cause health related
concerns.
RESOURCE CONCERNS: Threatened and endangered
species, including northern spotted owls and bull trout; timber resources,
impacts to recreation opportunities, threatened communities of Oakridge and
Westfir, municipal watershed of Westfir, Deception Creek watershed above the
mobile home park.
WEATHER: A dry cold front swept
across the region late Monday. The winds shifted in direction coming from the
northwest and are expected to be 6-9 mph with gusts to 16mph. Relative humidity is predicted to be 42-54%
with temperatures in the low to high 60s.
Wednesday, temperatures are expected to increase to the low to mid 70s
with relative humidity at 24-36%.
Thursday, temperatures are predicted to increase again to the high 70s
to low 80s along with lower relative humidity in the range of 16-28% and a
highly unstable atmosphere (Haines Index 5).
TODAY’S EXPECTED FIRE
BEHAVIOR: Fire
activity will continue to moderate as an inversion is expected to continue through
later afternoon today. Isolated and
group tree torching is expected in the afternoon on south and southwest aspects
of the fire. Fire activity will continue
to moderate with higher relative humidity on Tuesday.
COOPERATING AGENCIES &
PARTNERS: Willamette
National Forest, Oregon Department of Forestry, Umpqua National Forest, Lane
County, Oakridge/Hazeldell Fire Department, Lowell Rural Fire Protection
District, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon State Police, Bureau of
Reclamation, Lane Regional Air Protection Agency.
The
Deception Complex was ignited by lightning on August 12, 2014 and is located
two miles west of Oakridge, Oregon.
-END-
^MARH
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