Lakeview, ORE. – In a pivotal milestone last night, crews were able to tie in containment efforts on the west and north sides of the Patton Meadow Fire with burnout efforts along the south side of Cottonwood Road. While the skies were filled with columns of smoke last night, smoke will begin to dissipate rapidly from this fire now that burnout operations have been completed.
Operations Section Chief Eric Perkins summed up the effort by saying “it’s a big deal that we got this thing tied in. We essentially completed a prescribed burn the third week of August- a burn you would typically do in October after two or three inches of rain. Hats off to the burn module and everyone who supported it.”
The fire is now completely “black-lined,” with burned fuels comprising the entire perimeter. Crews will now allow interior fuels to burn out, while mopping up deeper and deeper into the perimeter and monitoring the “green” to ensure no new spot fires are allowed to develop.
Yesterday’s operational briefing provides an overview of burnout and mop up operations, with footage from the front lines of firefighting efforts and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5ri5eRs1wo. This will be the last operational update video so long as conditions on the fire do not change significantly.
Today’s forecast calls for shifting conditions with temperatures climbing 10-15 degrees and winds from the south and southwest with gusts up to 25 mph.
Current Patton Meadow Fire evacuation levels can be found on Lake County Sheriff’s Office by visiting https://www.facebook.com/Lake-County-Oregon-104435824529906.
Fox Complex Information: 541-316-5904 (7 a.m. – 9 p.m.)
Email: foxcomplex.info@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCOFMPFIREINFO
Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7798/