Crews prepare lines for hotter weather on the Winding Waters Complex in Wallowa County
By Joe Hathaway on Wednesday, July 31st, 2024 in Northeastern Oregon News
WALLOWA COUNTY – The Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 2 will hold a community meeting at Wallowa High School on Thursday (8/01) at 7pm. The meeting will be held in the commons at the entrance to the gymnasium. Community members are invited to attend. This will offer community members the opportunity to hear more about fire conditions and planned operations.
Today, firefighters on the Big Canyon fire are preparing to remove unburnt fuel between the fire and indirect containment lines with strategic firing operations along the Deer Creek drainage. Removing unburnt fuel inside the lines will better secure the fire from increasingly hotter and drier weather forecasted through the weekend. Some smoke may be visible, as a result, on the southern end of the Big Canyon Fire due west of Wallowa. Aircraft will be airborne to locate spot fires that may emerge and to assist firefighters with bucket drops as needed. On other fires in the complex, crews continue patrol and mop up to further ensure that the fires remain within the lines.
The Winding Waters Complex is comprised of the following fires, listed by name and Acres:
Big Canyon: 288 Acres
Charlie Brown: 69 Acres
Courtney Creek: 59 Acres
Mountain View: 318 Acres
Water: 18.5 Acres
Public use and industrial restrictions remain in effect on both ODF and USFS jurisdictions. Above normal temperatures are forecast to return by Thursday.
Contact Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center at (541) 963- 7171 or dial 9-1-1 to report a fire or smoke. Stay informed about current fire-related updates in the Blue Mountains by visiting http://bluemountainfireinfo.blogspot.com/
