REDMOND, Ore. – A smoke detection camera ODF installed in 2018 in a remote part of eastern Oregon helped USDA Forest Service firefighters quickly learn about and respond to a fire earlier this week on the Umatilla National Forest. The quick response is believed to have been helpful in giving firefighters a fighting chance to control what could have become a major wildfire.
The Matlock Fire as of July 30 had burned solely in the National Forest and was 40% contained. Firefighters from the Pendleton Unit of ODF’s Northeast Oregon District played a significant role in the initial attack due to the closeness of the fire to private land. An ODF strike team of Type 6 engines is assigned to the fire today. This morning an ODF infrared detection aircraft flew the fire to provide important reconnaissance and intelligence information, including the location of several small spot fires.
Landowner funds helped provide camera
The smoke detection camera was funded with Strategic Investment dollars provided by the Emergency Fire Cost Committee, made up of forest landowners. It was built in the spring of 2018 and was operational in time for peak fire months that year. It is located on top of Black Mountain in the Umatilla National Forest, co-located with other radio infrastructure. Black Mountain is approximately 16 miles southeast of Heppner in ODF’s Central Oregon District.
The camera is monitored at the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center (COIDC) in Redmond.
“Early detection is critical to keeping fires small and reducing costs,” said Mike Shaw, ODF’s Central Oregon District Forester. “This was a good example of the value of placing our cameras in remote areas that have had limited detection capability in the past.”
ODF’s Northeast Oregon District Forester Joe Hessel has been keeping a close eye on the Matlock Fire. It is being managed by a Northeast Oregon Interagency Type 3 Team, which consists of USDA Forest Service employees from the Wallowa Whitman and Umatilla national forests and ODF employees from the Northeast Oregon District.
Hessel said, “Weather and fuels conditions are very conducive to large fire growth right now, so even minutes can count when detecting and responding to fires. Had this fire gone undetected for much longer, the chances of success would certainly have been lower.”
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