Progress continues on Durkee Fire as containment is now 68%
By Joe Hathaway on Saturday, August 3rd, 2024 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER/MALHEUR COUNTIES – Update for Saturday, August 3
Size: 293,882 acres
Containment: 68%
Location: 1 mile west of Durkee, OR
Personnel: 439
Cause: Lightning
Current Situation
Road safety is no accident. Be alert for firefighters and equipment in the fire area and please slow down.
Yesterday as planned, firefighters used maps created from the previous night’s infrared flight to mop up heat. They also patrolled the interior fire area looking for and mopping up heat around structures and roads. Despite the dangerous fire conditions created by the high temperatures and dry air, however, there was very little active heat overall. Firefighters did find hotspots in areas that had not shown any heat in the past few days including Shirttail Creek and the I-84 corridor.
Today, pockets of fuel are expected to continue flaring up producing visible smoke. An infrared flight last night has given firefighters current information on where heat remains on the fire. Firefighters will use maps created from this data to search for heat, ground truthing the maps. Where they find hotspots, they will apply water to eliminate it. Firefighters will continue to secure and hold the fireline, mopping up and cold trailing the fire’s edge and in the interior especially around structures. Crews will begin to repair roads used as dozer lines on BLM and Forest Service managed lands in coordination with resource advisors. They will pull back berms and install water bars to reduce erosion. Crews will also remove excess equipment.
Night shift will start working noon to midnight to ensure there is more staffing on the fire during peak burning conditions and resources available for initial attack later in the day. Structure protection will continue where needed and also be available for initial attack. Aircraft are available as needed and may fly reconnaissance missions for resource advisors and operations. An uncrewed aircraft system (UAS or drone) with infrared capability will be looking for heat on the north and west sides of the fire.
Weather and Fire Behavior
The incident meteorologist has issued a red flag warning today for dry lightning and gusty winds. The first round of thunderstorms is expected around 1 p.m. PDT bringing lightning and a potential for outflow winds of 40-55 mph. They are not likely to produce rain since the air is dry. Temperatures remain very hot and fire danger is well above normal. The higher relative humidity, with minimums around 30%, will reduce the chance of fire spread though there is a possibility of relative humidity dropping as low as 15%. Later in the day, thunderstorms developing from monsoonal and tropical moisture have a better chance of bringing rainfall, with brief periods of heavy rain possible Saturday night into Sunday afternoon.
Evacuations
The Malheur County Sheriff’s Office (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069245917855) and the Baker County Sheriff’s Office (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064434892363) have issued evacuation orders for multiple areas during the Durkee Fire. Please continue to be vigilant and stay tuned to their Facebook pages for the latest information as weather patterns and fire activity may change evacuation levels.
Residents in Level 3 Evacuations “GO NOW” should leave immediately and not return to their property until evacuation levels are lowered. Carry enough supplies to support you and your family for multiple days. A real-time map of fire evacuations is available on the State of Oregon Fire Dashboard (https://www.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html…).
Closures:
• The Baker County Sheriff’s Office has closed Burnt River Canyon Road to non-local, non-emergency traffic.
• I-84 and other highways: Please go to tripcheck.com for current road closures as the situation is dynamic and subject to change.
• A burn ban is currently in effect for all of Malheur County (https://www.malheurco.org/category/public-notices), and all Bureau of Land Management lands in Malheur and Baker counties.
• The temporary flight restriction has been reduced over the Durkee Fire. More information is available at https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_2285.html. Remember, if you fly we can’t! If a drone or other aircraft enters the air space, all firefighting aircraft will be grounded.
Additional Resources:
• For current air quality information, visit fire.airnow.gov.
• Weather and fire behavior could impact transportation, power transmission, cell service and other utilities. Monitor IdahoPower.com for information.
• Post-fire resources for eastern Oregon livestock and agricultural producers are available. For immediate assistance associated with livestock, forage, and crop losses contact your county’s USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. Learn more about these and other disaster relief programs at www.farmers.gov/protection-recovery/wildfire and contact your FSA Service Center.
• For technical expertise regarding livestock, post-fire rehabilitation and land management, call Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center at (541) 573-8900.
• Questions related to agriculture and natural resources, family and community health, and more may be directed to the OSU Extension Service office in your county (https://extension.oregonstate.edu/find-us).
• If you don’t have access to a computer and/or internet connection, Extension offices house Ag Disaster Relief Resource Computers, which are available to producers to access federal/state relief programs.
• Oregon Wildfire Response & Recovery website (wildfire.oregon.gov/recovery) provides guidance on topics including wildfire insurance, filing a homeowners claim after the fire, returning to a home that survived a fire, replacing lost or missing documents and next steps for people whose homes or businesses burned.
• For longer term management needs, contact the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) field office in your county to explore current funding/technical support available and inform future program offerings in your county. Go to http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/…/whats-available-in-my-county.
