Sept. 3, 2015
Cooler temperatures, higher humidity
and a little rain are assisting firefighters on the lightning caused Eagle
Complex Fire, located 20 miles northwest of Richland, Oregon. Approximately 0.04 inch rain was received in the area of the fire on Wednesday
night. The fire is managed by a local Type 3 incident management team,
led by Willy Crippen, Incident Commander. The complex is 12,702 acres,
with 62 percent containment. There are 180 personnel assigned to the fire,
including four crews, nine engines, four water tenders, five dozers, and four
helicopters. Weather conditions are allowing fire officials to release 2
helicopters today to assist with other incidents.
along the perimeter of the fire in the vicinity of Two Color Creek, in the
northwest portion of the fire. They completed approximately 1-½ miles of
fire line on Wednesday, tying it in to existing roads and natural fuel breaks; such as rocks and wet meadows. Masticators
have been cutting and chipping fuels along roads, preparing these roads to be
used as fire line, in the southwest area of the fire. Expert tree fallers are
arriving Thursday, to fall hazardous snags near the perimeter of the fire in
East Eagle Creek and along the west side of the fire.
Crews are continuing to mop up along
the east perimeter of the fire, extinguishing smokes within 100 feet of the
fire’s edge. Firefighters are continuing to mop up around the cabins and
structures along FS Road 7745, by East Eagle Creek. On Wednesday,
helicopters dropped water within the perimeter of the fire, on the northwest
corner and the northeast side of East Eagle Creek. The fire team has been assisted by
three firefighters in leadership roles from Australia for the last week. The Australians are leaving today in route to a fire in Washington.
was reduced in size on September 1. Please visit www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman/ to view the reduced closure
area.
Information about the Eagle Complex
Fire can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/WallowaWhitmanNF http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4481/
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest are reduced to Phase B on September 3. Weather has modified slightly, but fire danger remains high to extreme. This
change allows campfires ONLY in designated campgrounds and recreation sites,
and in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Operating a chain saw is still
prohibited. Traveling off developed forest roads and trails is not
allowed. Motorized travel on closed roads is prohibited, and smoking
restrictions are still in effect. Additional information about Public Use
Restrictions and emergency closure areas on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
can be found at www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman/. Oregon smoke condition
information is available at http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/.