Update-August 22, 2018
9:00 a.m.
For Immediate Release
Incident Commanders: Ian Yocum, Oregon State Fire Marshal & Eric Knerr, Northwest Team 7
Contact: Rich Tyler, OSFM/Jeanne Klein, NW Team 7 541-239-3619
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Gilliam County Sheriff https://www.facebook.com/GilliamCountySheriff/
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[Condon, Oregon] Firefighters continued to make excellent progress on each of the four fires being managed under unified command by the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Blue Team and Northwest Team 7. The Stubblefield and Seale Fires have grown together and in the future will be reported as the Stubblefield Fire. Structural firefighting crews from Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office have worked hard since Friday night, August 17, to assess, prepare and protect your homes in Gilliam County while working alongside our wildland firefighting partners to minimize the impact of the fires on your community. Because of that work, the risk has diminished to a level that enables us to send crews back to their home jurisdictions. Our mission to protect the community and the surrounding area remains the same. If conditions change, our structural resources are always a phone call away.
Stubblefield Fire – The fire is currently 50% contained and grew to 23,150 acres. Burn out operations, supported by heavy helicopter bucket drops, on the northwest corner of the fire were successful in establishing containment line in this area of the fire. All other established containment lines held, and crews continued to mop up any hot spots. Today’s operations will focus on establishing a line down Buckskin Road toward the John Day River to check the spread of uncontained fire embedded in the Potlatch Creek drainage.
Seale Fire – This fire is 40% contained and 23,600 acres. Yesterday the fire made a run on the south flank that was slowed by the use of air tankers and rapid action by the firefighters on the ground. Firing operations managed to cut off its advance and tie the fires edge into the John Day River to the west. Today firefighters will continue to strengthen control lines.
Lonerock Fire – This fire is now 60% contained and grew minimally to 5,056 acres. Crews worked on the eastern flank of this fire to establish containment lines and continued to mop up and patrol the established lines on the north and west flanks. Today the focus will again be on completing containment lines and mopping up on the eastern flank.
Jennie’s Peak – This fire is 40% contained and 38,000 acres. The fire perimeter has been secured along the east flank and along the south and up the western flanks of the fire along the John Day River. Successful burnout operations took place yesterday on the northeast corner of the fire as firefighters are steering the fire toward the northwest toward the Porcupine Fire burn scar. Preparation of the Rhodes Road as a fireline on the northwest flank of the fire will continue today.
All Evacuation levels and closures related to these fires currently remain unchanged and will be evaluated daily.
Stubblefield Fire Division A; 8_21_18; photo by Dennis Darling
