Oregon fire update: 26 homes destroyed, 137 acres burned near John Day

“There just aren’t that many resources, whether people, fire engines or whatever, available”, U.S. Forest Service Region 1 spokeswoman Elizabeth Slown said Monday. Structure protection is the highest priority for the limited resources; firefighters are providing structure protection and looking for options to construct fire lines. The fire is burning in thick lodgepole pine in steep, rocky terrain. Oregon, however, was exceeding its averages for the number of fires and the acreage burned on land protected by the state Department of Forestry.

Outside of Alaska, fires in the arid West are nowhere near record levels and may even be below average. Partially due to cooler weather on Saturday, the fire saw no significant growth over the weekend, and there was a large reduction in the amount of smoke, with no column visible on Sunday. The complex is made up of several fires, the biggest being the Lawyer 2 Fire burning near Kamiah.

He says if it weren’t for new technology and roads, Idaho would be in a similar situation as the Great Fire of 1910.

Fire information officer Gregg Denitto says the Sheep Fire is estimated at 100 acres and the Granite fire is around 30 acres.

“They’re building a line and making sure that gets secure up there”, he said.

Morel firefighting resources continue to arrive from around the state and country. Some fires have been sparked by passing vehicles. It has also caused the closure of Miners Gulch Road, as well as the Sandstone/Wyman Trail and Hogback Trail.

River Complex: Multiple fires totalling 37,165 acres in Trinity County near Denny, 18 percent contained.

Crews fighting a wildfire near John Day, Oregon, will spend Tuesday trying to strengthen control lines to protect further damage to homes.

Any look at fire data since 2000 must also take into account a major change in firefighting tactics. Fires grew 2,400 acres Monday and overnight.

It’s located about 10 miles east of Curlew Lake.

The largest of the wildfires is the Four Mile Fire, which is burning on just over 1,000 acres 20 miles north of Craig.

This is part of what officials are calling the Clearwater Complex Fire.

Visiting after the community fire meeting are volunteer firefighter Ron Metler, left, Canyon City resident James Dunn, John Day Fire Chief Ron Smith and volunteer firefighter Ronda Metler.

Mike Billman, a forester, said he and his wife could see the fire from their house in Canyon City on Friday, and were packing their belongings as intense south winds pushed the fire through a canyon toward the town of about 700 people. A team of 140 state and federal personnel are assigned to it, backed up by heavy equipment and retardant bombers.

The Scotchman Gulch fire 14 miles southwest of Philipsburg has burned about 186 acres and remains uncontained. The 60-acre Turner Basin fire eight miles south of Dale has a crew of firefighters from New Mexico working to contain it. The 50-acre Merry-Go-Round fire in the Catherine Creek area of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is being fought by a crew that includes a hand line of inmates from Riverbend Correctional Institution in Hilgard.

KAMIAH, Idaho – As of Tuesday afternoon, the Clearwater Complex Fire has burned a combined total of more than 58,000 acres and is still listed at 25% contained.

When the roads open up – which wasn’t expected for a few more days – he would like people to be respectful of private property, for drivers to be safety-minded, and for caution to be used with fire.

Another person asked if there is any containment of the fire.