NOTE: The Enterprise is making coverage of this fire information available to all because of the emergency circumstances.
UPDATE, 1:27 p.m. In a Thursday Facebook post, the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office lifted all evacuation orders in the county for the Durkee and Cow Valley fires
VALE – A storm system that rolled over Malheur County Wednesday, July 24, ignited several new fires but the local area seems to have escaped major damage, while fire lines on the southern edges of the Durkee Fire in the Brogan and Jamieson area remain secure.
The U.S. Weather Service reported 2,800 lightning strikes from Wednesday’s storm that moved through the region. With the thunderstorm, fire officials report several new wildfires in Malheur County, including a fire 23 miles southwest of Juntura that last night had covered 2,000 acres. This blaze has been labeled the Cedar Creek Fire. The Hole in the Ground Fire in a remote part of southern Malheur County also covered 2,000 acres.
Jessica Reed, public information officer with the Durkee Fire incident command said crews could spot additional fires in the coming days after Wednesday’s thunderstorm.
Reed said the local region Thursday saw about a quarter-inch of rainfall while higher humidity levels helped stem the fire’s spread.
She also said Thursday the Durkee Fire blaze jumped Interstate 84 and crossed Burnt River Canyon Lane into Dark Canyon Road in Baker County.
According to the Baker County Sheriff’s Facebook page, evacuation levels in Huntington and all areas east of Interstate 84 and Highway 201 dropped from Level 3 -Go to Level 1 -Be Ready.
Fire officials are cautiously optimistic.
Reed said the rain helped, and crews can take advantage of the more moderate conditions.
Yesterday’s storm brought “life-threatening” flash flooding to the Durkee and Cow Valley burn scars. According to Reed, no loss of human life or property has been reported. Reed said roads could have been washed out, and debris could have flowed onto pathways that were not there before. Crews will find out as they make their way out to those areas.
The region is also in a “fuels and fire behavior advisory,” meaning that fuels, tree shrubs and tall grass are extremely dry, according to Reed.
“Fuels are extremely combustible and will just light up because they do not have any moisture,” she said.
Since Monday, July 22, the Vale Bureau of Land Management has been responding to a collection of fires triggered by lightning east of Interstate 84 between Crandall Creek and Richland in Baker County.
The group of fires, dubbed the Badlands Complex, consists of the Crandall, Gold Creek, Thompson, North Thompson, Wood Creek, Williams Creek, Daly, Sheep Mountain, Chalk, Timber Canyon, Powder and Coyote blazes.
Until Thursday, the Vale Bureau of Land Management managed the response to the Badlands Complex but the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team 2 took over command of the fire.
In a late Wednesday, July 24 update, the Badlands Complex swelled to 19,000 acres, according to Larisa Bogardus, public affairs specialist with the Vale BLM. She said at one point, firefighters had to stop work and seek shelter until the worst of the storm passed.
Bogardus said the most significant blazes are the Thompson and Coyote Fires, located along the Snake River south of the Powder River tributary into Brownlee Reservoir. On Wednesday, the Coyote blaze made a push north, coming close to structures on the Powder River, Bogardus said. Nonetheless, she said the structures were not considered “threatened.”
The Coyote Fire is estimated to be at 6,000 acres.
Maribeth Pecotte, the public information specialist with Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team 2, said on Thursday that more resources are being brought in to battle the blaze. As of Thursday, she said it is unclear how many, but the crews on the ground have been focused on structure protection.
The lightning-caused Durkee Fire ignited on July 17 on Bureau of Land Management land, not far outside the town of Durkee. The blaze has been dubbed a “mega” fire—a classification for wildfires of 100,000 acres or more.
In the span of a week, the Durkee Fire has continued on a rampage
across the countryside, swelling to 268,492 acres as of Thursday, July 25, spreading south and north and then boiling to the northwest. So far, two structures have been reported destroyed.
No part of the fire was listed as contained as of Thursday, July 25, meaning a protective line in place with little chance for fire to move beyond.
The Durkee Fire follows the Cow Valley Fire, which erupted on July 11 and burned more than 200 square miles of grazing range north of Vale.
The Bureau of Land Management and the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office seek help from the public after finding arson a possible cause in the Cow Valley and Bonita Fires and “other small wildfires in the Malheur Reservoir area.”
Anyone with information about any of the fires can call We Tip Anonymous at 1-800-47-ARSON, or online at wetip.com.
Officials did not release the amount of the reward.
Travis Johnson, Malheur County sheriff, said arson was “possible” in all of the fires.
“The investigation is still early on. The fact there were multiple fires is pretty suspicious,” he said.
WHAT TO KNOW
WEATHER
The National Weather Service forecasts hotter and dryer conditions but lower temperatures, topping out at 98. A light, west wind is expected to reach a little over ten mph. In the evening, temperatures are expected to drop to a low of 63 with wind gusts that could reach 25 mph.
EVACUATIONS
*All other evacuation levels remain the same except for the Huntington area in Baker County.
Level 3 went as far west as Bridgeport. Level 3 issued to the area south of Powder River and Brownlee Reservoir to Huntington, east of Iron Mountain Road and Timber Canyon to the Snake River.
A Level 3 -”Go”- has been issued east of Highway 245, south of US Forest Service Road 11 and west of Deer Creek drainage.
A Level 1 -Be Ready- was issued to the area south of Dry Gulch Road to the Powder River. The town of Richland is not under an evacuation order.
*In Malheur County, Level 3 evacuation notices remained in place for an area from Malheur Reservoir north. Areas east of Ironside were put on Level 2 – “Be set” – status and the community of Ironside itself was set at Level 1 –“Be ready.” Level 3 evacuation status remained in place for other portions of Malheur County from east of Brogan to just outside Vale, though fire officials say the fire has been stopped at around Willowcreek.Level 2 -Be Set – evacuation has been issued for the rangeland area east of Interstate-84 all the way to Highway 201 extending south.
As of Tuesday morning, the Snake River Correctional Institution, the state’s largest prison north of Ontario, was not under any evacuation notice. Amber Campbell, communications manager for the Oregon Department of Corrections, said the prison is operating under normal conditions.
SHELTER
*The Malheur County Fairgrounds has been established as a shelter for fire victims, operated by the American Red Cross. The fairgrounds has room for livestock and RVs. Jennifer Bivert, disaster program manager for the American Red Cross for central Idaho and eastern Oregon, said Tuesday there were seven people in the shelter, down from a high of 30 earlier in the week. For more information, call 1-800-733-2767.
*In Baker City, the Baker City Church of the Nazarene Family Life Center, located at 1250 Hughes Lane, has been set up as a temporary evacuation shelter. The Baker City Fairgrounds at 2600 East St., Baker City, can accommodate livestock. For questions, call Angela Robb at 541-519-2202.
KEY RESOURCES:
OFFICIAL INFORMATION:
Malheur County Sheriff’s Office: Facebook page with updates
Malheur County Emergency Management: Facebook page with updates
Fire command team: Facebook page with updates
Oregon Department of Emergency Services: Evacuation map – statewide
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