Bootleg Fire Update, August 13, 2021

This is the final update that will be posted on this page.

Bootleg Fire
Location: 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, OR
Size: 413,717 acres (646 square miles)
Containment: 98%
Personnel: 376

Walrus Fire
Location: 10.5 miles N of Bonanza
Size: 75 acres
Containment: 90%

Yainax Fire
Location: 10 miles NE of Bonanza
Size: 84 acres
Containment: 70%

(Klamath Falls, OR) – A Type 3 incident management organization will assume command of Bootleg Fire from the Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 2 on Saturday, August 14 at 6:00 a.m. In total, eight Incident Management Teams were assigned to manage the Bootleg Fire since it began on July 6.

On Thursday afternoon, firefighters and helicopters from the Bootleg Fire provided assistance with two new fires in the area. The Patton Meadow is approximately 2,000 acres on the Fremont-Winema-Forest west of Lakeview and the Willow Valley fire is on the Bureau of Land Management’s Lakeview District south of Bonanza at approximately 220 acres. Both the Patton Meadow and Willow Valley fires have numerous air and ground wildland firefighting resources engaging, with more firefighting resources ordered. For more information about the Patton Meadow Fire, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7798/.

As the Type 3 incident management organization continues to manage the Bootleg Fire, five fire engines and additional personnel will remain to patrol the fire area and assist with any new fires in the area. The Oregon Department of Forestry will assume management of the Yainax and Walrus Fires effective Saturday, August 14 at 6:00 a.m.

“It has been an honor to work with the local, regional, and national cooperators on this incident,” said Incident Commander Rob Allen. “We are grateful for the support we’ve received from the local community. Every bit of it helped our firefighters contain this large fire under challenging circumstances.”

To continue getting updates regarding the Bootleg Fire, please visit the Bootleg Fire InciWeb, Facebook, and Twitter pages. For public and media inquiries, please call 541-891-6758 beginning on Saturday, August 14.

Closures: An emergency closure order is in effect for the Bootleg Fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest to protect public and firefighter safety. All travel or entry into the area is prohibited. The full closure order and map are available on the website under Alerts and Closures at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/fremont-winema/alerts-notices.
Red Cross Disaster Relief: For information or assistance: 1-800-Red-Cross (www.redcrossblog.org/disaster).
Insurance Assistance: For additional information on submitting insurance claims after losing your home or property to a wildfire, please visit https://dfr.oregon.gov/insure/home/storm/Pages/wildfires.aspx or call the state’s team of consumer advocates at 888-877-4894 (toll-free).

Fire Information Public Phone: 541-482-1331 will be transitioning to 541-891-6758 beginning on Saturday, August 14
Inciweb: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7609/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BootlegFireInfo
Twitter: twitter.com/BootlegFireInfo
Hashtags: #BootlegFire #FireYear2021

Map: pio_36x48_Land20210812_2025_Bootleg_ORFWF210321_0813_day

Bootleg Fire Update, August 12, 2021 

Bootleg Fire
Location: 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, OR
Size: 413,717 acres (646 square miles)
Containment: 98%
Personnel: 413

Walrus Fire
Location: 10.5 miles N of Bonanza
Size: 75 acres
Containment: 91%

Yainax Fire
Location: 10 miles NE of Bonanza
Size: 84 acres
Containment: 70%

(Klamath Falls, OR) – Firefighters continue to monitor and patrol the perimeter of the Bootleg Fire while demobilizing equipment to make it available for other wildfires in the region. With continued progress made, the Walrus Fire was put into patrol status today and incident managers anticipate the Yainax Fire will be put into patrol status tomorrow.

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team continues their assessment of the impacts caused by the Bootleg Fire suppression activities. It is anticipated that the BAER assessments will be completed by late August 2021 with the stabilization plan implemented by the Fremont-Winema National Forest shortly after.

With the continued hot, dry weather in the coming days, vegetation on the interior of the fire perimeter may continue to burn and put up smoke. Smoke or fire seen within the containment line does not need to be reported to authorities. For any new fire starts outside of containment lines, local firefighting resources will provide initial attack with support from the Bootleg Fire personnel.

Closures: An emergency closure order is in effect for the Bootleg Fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest to protect public and firefighter safety. All travel or entry into the area is prohibited. The full closure order and map are available on the website under Alerts and Closures at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/fremont-winema/alerts-notices.

Red Cross Disaster Relief: For information or assistance: 1-800-Red-Cross (www.redcrossblog.org/disaster).

Insurance Assistance: For additional information on submitting insurance claims after losing your home or property to a wildfire, please visit https://dfr.oregon.gov/insure/home/storm/Pages/wildfires.aspx or call the state’s team of consumer advocates at 888-877-4894 (toll-free).

Fire Information Public Phone: 541-482-1331
Fire Information Media Phone: 971-727-7255
Inciweb: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7609/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BootlegFireInfo
Twitter: twitter.com/BootlegFireInfo
Hashtags: #BootlegFire #FireYear2021

Bootleg Fire update for August 11, 2021

Bootleg Fire
Location: 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, OR
Containment: 98%
Personnel: 588
Size: 413,765 acres (647 square miles)

Walrus Fire
Location: 10.5 miles N of Bonanza
Size: 75 acres
Containment: 90%

Yainax Fire
Location: 10 miles NE of Bonanza
Size: 84 acres
Containment: 70%

Klamath Falls, Ore. – Yesterday all divisions on the Bootleg Fire were in patrol and monitor status. Firefighters continue to disassemble pumps and hoses and backhaul suppression equipment and supplies to get them back to warehouses to be cleaned and repacked and ready to deploy on other fires where they are needed.

Firefighters continue mopping up the Walrus and Yainax Fires and expect to finish up today and pull equipment and put both fires in patrol status.

As the major suppression operations wrap up on all three fires, incident personnel are working hard to identify resources and equipment that can be released back into the system so they can be sent to other fires that have critical needs for resources all across the West. Everything from strike team leaders, to water tenders, to mobile kitchens, to porta-poddies are being released as the Forward Operating Bases and Spike Camps are being scaled down to suit the smaller organization that will continue to patrol the fires and perform suppression repair work over the next few months.

The Burned Area Emergency Response (Bear) Team members will continue their assessments of the Bootleg Fire and will closely assess the watersheds for post-fire rain related impacts such as increased flooding, debris flow potential, and increased soil erosion.

The current weather pattern is causing thick smoke from fires in Northern California to settle in over the region. These conditions are expected to continue for the next couple of days but should begin to clear out on Friday.

Closures:  An emergency closure order is in effect for the Bootleg Fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest to protect public and firefighter safety. All travel or entry into the area is prohibited. The full closure order and map are available on the website under Alerts and Closures at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/fremont-winema/alerts-notices

Red Cross Disaster Relief: For information or assistance: 1-800-Red-Cross (www.redcrossblog.org/disaster)

Insurance Assistance: For additional information on submitting insurance claims after losing your home or property to a wildfire, please visit https://dfr.oregon.gov/insure/home/storm/Pages/wildfires.aspx or call the state’s team of consumer advocates at 888-877-4894 (toll-free).

Fire Information Public Phone: 541-482-1331
Fire Information Media Phone: 971-727-7255
Inciweb: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7609/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BootlegFireInfo
Twitter: twitter.com/BootlegFireInfo
Hashtags: #BootlegFire #FireYear2021

Bootleg evacuation levels lifted

Bootleg Fire
Location: 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, OR                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Containment: 98%
Size: 413,765 acres (647 square miles)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Personnel: 938

Walrus Fire
Location: 10.5 miles N of Bonanza
Size: 75 acres
Containment: 90%

Yainax Fire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Location: 10 miles NE of Bonanza                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Size: 84 acres                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Containment: 70%

(Klamath Falls, OR) – At noon yesterday Klamath and Lake Counties lifted all evacuations for the Bootleg, Walrus, and
Yainax Fires. There are still fire personnel working on each of the fires and residents are asked to exercise caution when
travelling near the fire areas. Forest closures remain in effect, please check with your local ranger district before
entering national forest lands.

The Red Cross is closing the evacuation shelters but will still be working with the public during the recovery efforts.

Containment numbers continue to climb on each of the fires. The Bootleg Fire is now 98% contained and the majority of
the fire is in patrol status. Firefighters continue to grid and mop up along the last piece of uncontained line in the
northwest corner of the fire near Coyote Creek. Some critical suppression repair activities are underway on the
northeast corner of the fire and along the southern perimeter.

Firefighters made great progress yesterday mopping up the Walrus and Yainax Fires and expect to put those fires in
patrol status at the end of shift today.

A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team arrived yesterday to begin the work of assessing the fire area for
erosion potential and determine if preventative measures are needed. BAER teams are staffed by specially trained
professionals: hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, vegetation specialists, archeologists, and others who
rapidly evaluate the burned area and prescribe emergency stabilization treatments.

Closures: An emergency closure order is in effect for the Bootleg Fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest to protect
public and firefighter safety. All travel or entry into the area is prohibited. The full closure order and map are available on the
website under Alerts and Closures at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/fremont-winema/alerts-notices

Red Cross Disaster Relief: For information or assistance: 1-800-Red-Cross (www.redcrossblog.org/disaster)

Insurance Assistance: For additional information on submitting insurance claims after losing your home or property to a
wildfire, please visit https://dfr.oregon.gov/insure/home/storm/Pages/wildfires.aspx or call the state’s team of consumer
advocates at 888-877-4894 (toll-free).

Fire Information Public Phone: 541-482-1331                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Fire Information Media Phone: 971-727-7255
Inciweb: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7609/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Facebook: www.facebook.com/BootlegFireInfo
Twitter: twitter.com/BootlegFireInfo Hashtags: #BootlegFire #FireYear2021

Mop up continues in NE corner of Bootleg Fire, National Guard heading home

(Klamath Falls, OR) – A Virtual Public Meeting will be held tonight at 7:30 pm to update the public on the current status of the Bootleg, Walrus, and Yainax Fires. The meeting will not be live but will be recorded and posted to Facebook and Inciweb. Fire manager will answer questions from the public submitted in advance. This will be the final public meeting.

Firefighters continue to grid and mop up in the northeast corner of the Bootleg Fire near Silver Creek as they work toward achieving 100% containment. Control lines that have already been secured are being patrolled and firefighters are removing pumps and hose and other suppression supplies that are no longer needed. Some suppression repair activities are underway in the northeast corner of the fire.

The women and men of the Oregon National Guard have completed their tour on the Bootleg Fire and are packing up today and preparing to head home tomorrow, many to get ready for immediate overseas deployments. The guardsmen and women played a crucial role in containing some critical areas of the fire, and we are thankful for their service.

Ground resources on the Walrus and Yainax Fires have completed constructing containment lines and installing hose lays around both fires and are well into the mop-up phase.

Due to the lessening need for suppression aircraft on all three fires, the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) was lifted from the fire area last night.  Pilots should be aware that there will still be fire aircraft in the area and should exercise caution when flying near the fire. Forest closures remains in effect, please check with your local ranger district before entering national forest lands.

Closures:   An emergency closure order is in effect for the Bootleg Fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest to protect public and firefighter safety. All travel or entry into the area is prohibited.  The full closure order and map are available on the website under Alerts and Closures at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/fremont-winema/alerts-notices

Red Cross Evacuation Shelters: For information or assistance: 1-800-Red-Cross (www.redcrossblog.org/disaster)

Insurance Assistance: For additional information on submitting insurance claims after losing your home or property to a wildfire, please visit https://dfr.oregon.gov/insure/home/storm/Pages/wildfires.aspx or call the state’s team of consumer advocates at 888-877-4894 (toll-free).

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