NOTE: The Enterprise is providing free access to its fire and weather coverage as a community service during this emergency.
UPDATE 4:22 P.M. Friday, July 12. The Oregon Department of Transportation has reopened U.S. Highway 26. Crews will monitor the area through the night, according to an alert from the state Department of Transportation.
UPDATE NOON Friday, July 12. Gov. Tina Kotek has declared the Cow Valley Fire a conflagration and the state is sending fire task forces from Marion and Lane counties. They will join two others already tasked to the fire. The BLM reports the fire has now covered 73,827 acres.
UPDATE: 8:30 a.m. Friday, July 12. Larisa Bogardus, BLM public affairs specialist, reports:
•U.S. Highway 26 is expected to be opened for traffic sometime Friday morning.
•Dozers worked all night and have cleared a line around Brogan.
•The fire has pushed south roughly five miles from Brogan to the Gum Creek area. That is roughly west of Jamieson.
Oregon state officials are sending help and an evacuation center has been established at the Malheur County Fairgrounds as the Cow Valley Fire continued burning out of control Friday after racing across rangeland and threatening homes.
The human-caused wildfire started Thursday morning on private land east of Ironside, a rural ranching community about 45 miles northwest of Vale. Pushed by erratic winds all day, the fire moved several miles east toward Brogan in a matter of hours. As of late Thursday night, authorities estimated the fire had burned over 20,000 acres – 30 square miles of private and public rangeland that provides grazing for cattle. Fire authorities reported “extreme fire behavior” that included “running, spotting, flanking” in two-foot-high grasses and shrubs.
The rapid movement of the fire prompted officials to put on roadblocks on U.S. Highway 26 Thursday evening, shutting down the east-west route at the community of Ironside at milepost 231 and at the north edge of Brogan at milepost 254.
Developments as of Friday, July 12:
•An emergency shelter has been set up at the Malheur County Fairgrounds with room for livestock and RVs, according to the Malheur County Emergency Management.
•The closure of the highway through Cow Valley will remain in place Friday. Motorists will have to detour around the closure by going north on Interstate 84 or using U.S. Highway 20. Oregon TripCheck on the web provides the latest highway information.
•Two task forces of firefighters from agencies in western Oregon were dispatched to Malheur County late Thursday, assigned to protect homes and structures.
•The weather will continue to be hot on Friday, with high temperatures peaking above 100. The National Weather Service also warned the area could face thunderstorms with “abundant lightning” Saturday afternoon into Sunday. Malheur County is under a fire watch starting at noon Saturday, July 13.
•Fire crews continue to work on two other wildfires in Malheur County. The Bonita fire, burning southeast of Ironside, had covered 1,867 acres and was reported Thursday. The River fire, burning near the Owyhee Dam, had covered 2,812 acres with containment lines built around about 75% of that fire.
The Cow Valley fire started on private ground along Indian Gulch Road, a gravel road going north off U.S. 26 about seven miles east of Ironside. Volunteers with the Ironside Rangeland Fire Protection Association were first on the scene. The fire soon crossed onto public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and ranchers worked to move cattle out of the fire’s path.
“At one point, 16 aircraft were assigned to the fire, dropping water and retardant throughout the day. Seven engines and four dozers were battling the blaze on the ground, as were firefighters from Vale and Burnt River RFPAs and Sand Hollow Fire District,” according to a statement late Thursday from Larisa Bogardus, BLM public affairs specialist.
A federal fire website showed 82 people working the fire
Malheur County Sheriff Travis Johnson said late Thursday that the fire proved erratic, burning on several fronts. He said sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement had been alerting residents north of Brogan to be ready to evacuate, but that Brogan itself was buffered by acres of green cropland that could keep the fire out of the historic community.
He said no injuries had been reported.
Fire officials reported the fire destroyed one landmark in Cow Valley – old homesteads and corrals along U.S. 26 just west of the Brogan Hill summit.
The sheriff said some utility poles in the area had been burned.
Idaho Power reported about 50 customers were without power. Johnson said several utility crews had been dispatched to the Brogan area to work on restoring power. Idaho Power’s online outage map forecast that electricity could be restored sometime Friday.
That would be crucial for the area, where crops are watered by electric-powered irrigation pivots and livestock tanks are filled by electric pumps.
Late Thursday, officials opened the Malheur County Fairgrounds for those needing a place to go.
The American Red Cross was establishing a relief center in air conditioned Girvin Hall, providing cots, showers and other comforts. Those wanting information about the shelter can call (208) 519-6675.
“For anyone evacuating animals or livestock, there is room on the fairgrounds,” said an announcement from Malheur County Emergency Management. “Bring them down and we’ll find space for them.”
Meantime, Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple dispatched teams of firefighters to help protect an estimated 30 to 50 homes threatened by the fire.
The Umatilla task force includes six engines and 15 firefighters from Boardman Fire and Rescue, Echo, Imbler, La Grande, North Gilliam County and North Powder Rural Fire Protection Districts and Umatilla County Fire District 1. This group arrived in the Brogan area about 2 a.m. Friday.
A task force from Multnomah County was being shifted to the Cow Valley fire from the Larch Creek fire burning near Dufur and was expected in the Brogan area Friday morning. This task force has 13 firefighters, four engines and a water tender from Sauvie Island Fire, Portland Fire, Gresham Fire and Corbett Fire, according to John Hendricks, public affairs specialist with the fire marshal’s office.
“The east side of the state has faced challenging fire conditions over the last week. The Cow Valley Fire is being pushed by gusty winds and low humidity,” Ruiz-Temple said. “We are using an essential tool and the power of the Oregon Fire Mutual Aid System to provide added resources to the Cow Valley Fire.”
CORRECTION: The initial response to the Cow Valley Fire was by volunteers with the Ironside Rangeland Fire Protection Association. An earlier version incorrectly identified the group as the Ironside Rural Fire Protection Association. The Enterprise apologizes for the error.
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