Elbow Creek Fire Update For July 22
By Paul Hall on Thursday, July 22nd, 2021 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories Eastern/Southeast Oregon News Eastern/Southeast Oregon Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories
Wallowa, OR – The Elbow Creek fire, now at 19,993 acres, is moving up the ranks in priority across the region, and orders for crews and other resources are being filled. Twelve new crews arrived yesterday evening and the fire now has resources from Washington, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan, California, Oregon, and Idaho.
As additional personnel arrives more objectives are being met, giving firefighters the ability to plan ahead and make changes to suppression techniques.
The most active area of the fire remains in the Elbow Creek Drainage near the confluence of the Grande Ronde River. This particular area is central to the intersection of several canyons that produce erratic winds from all directions.
Steep slopes along Indian Ridge and Grossman Creek are challenging as firefighters continue to establish hand and dozer lines. Water dispensing helicopters and a retardant-dropping air tanker are being used to aid firefighters in slowing the fire in the Elbow Creek and Sickfoot Creek drainages. A mobile retardant base is now in place at the Bar B Ranch on the southeast side of the fire for faster aircraft turnaround. Looking ahead, the fire team is planning on opening up existing road systems and ridgetops with bulldozers and hand crews. This contingency planning will create backup containment lines should they be needed in the future.
With little to no activity in the northeast and eastern side of the fire, crews continue to mop up and widen containment lines. Firefighters were successful in yesterday’s burnout operation within Sickfoot Creek and today’s goal is to develop a fire line around the area perimeter. Firefighters are having success on the south end of the fire, in the Deep Creek drainage, securing lines, and transitioning to mop-up.
Weather conditions call for lower humidity with the potential for unpredictable and erratic westerly winds. These conditions can cause swirling winds within the deep canyons leading to additional fire activity.
Incident management team members and others will once again share information about the fire this evening through Facebook Live and Zoom. Stay tuned for details.
ELBOW CREEK FIRE EVACUATION LEVEL changes on behalf of Wallowa County Emergency Management and the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office, the following changes to evacuation levels will take place at 12:00 noon today (July 22, 2021). Please refer to the attached map and Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page for more detailed information. Level 3 (GO NOW) is in effect for the Eden Bench and Promise communities. Level 2 (BE SET) is now in effect for the Troy community, previously under Level 3.Level 1 (BE READY) is now in effect for the Flora community.https://www.facebook.com/Wallowa-County-Sheriffs-Office-147212815486187https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare…/ready-set-go/
