Evacuation notices updated, OSFM sending firefighters, incident management team to Falls Fire in Harney County
By Mindy Gould on Sunday, July 14th, 2024 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
HARNEY COUNTY- UPDATE: 1:15 P.M. (From the Harney Co. Sheriffs Office)
The Harney County Sheriff’s Office, with collaboration from Falls Fire 2024 Incident Command, local fire personnel and Grant County Sheriff’s Office has updated the evacuation areas to include: https://bit.ly/FallsFireEvac (map link)
LEVEL 3: GO NOW, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY
West of Hwy 395 from Poison Creek to Silvies Valley
South of Jump Creek and Crooked Creek Meadows (aka Forest Road 37)
East of Emigrant Creek and Forest Service 41 (in sections)
Extends south toward Burns, estimated 8-10 miles from town
LEVEL 2: BE SET
East of Highway 395 N between Highway 20 and Silvies Valley
West of Highway 395 and Forest Service Boundary (Grant Co)
South and East of Forest Road 63 and Big Flat (Grant Co)
East of Forest Road 41
2 Miles North of Burns
LEVEL 1: BE READY
Areas surrounding the Level 2 Evacuation Zones; this level is a precautionary level for residents to have awareness, monitor the situation and make preparations should the fire and evacuation levels change.
ROAD CLOSURES:
County Road 31 will be closed to the public and is in the LEVEL 3 Evacuation Zone
The City of Burns, City of Hines, Burns Paiute Tribe, and Seneca are under advisory as an abundance of caution to monitor the situation should the fire change course. Currently, it is expected that the fire will move more in an eastern direction.
For Fire Information, please call 541-208-4370
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UPDATE 1:10: P.M. (from the Oregon State Fire Marshal)
The Oregon State Fire Marshal is sending its Blue Incident Management Team and four task forces to the Falls Fire burning 20 miles northeast of Riley in Harney County.
Hot, dry, and windy conditions caused the fire to grow rapidly on Saturday, pushing it to 55,000 acres with zero percent containment.
“Within the last week, we mobilized three incident management teams to fires across Oregon. This highlights the substantial fire danger we are seeing,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said. “With dry lightning expected to hit east of the Cascades on Sunday, I can’t stress enough the importance of taking action to prevent sparking another wildfire.”
The Grant and Harney County sheriffs’ offices have evacuation orders in place. A map of Harney County evacuations can be found here. Grant County evacuations can be found here.
A Red Flag Warning remains in effect for Sunday with temperatures in the mid-90s and very low relative humidity. Afternoon thunderstorms are predicted for the area that may produce gusty outflow winds reaching 20-25 mph. Little to no precipitation is expected from these isolated thunderstorms.
For fire information, please follow the Falls Fire Facebook Page or the Falls Fire InciWeb page.
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UPDATE: 12:15 P.M. (From the Falls Fire Organization)
As fire personnel engaged in suppression activities and ranchers extracting cattle navigate around Falls Fire, they need priority access to some commonly used roadways. If you don’t need to be on the following roads, please stay out of the area if possible to allow fire crews and ranchers to complete their important tasks:
*Lone Pine Road
*FSR 47
*FSR 43
*HWY 395
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UPDATE 10:10 A.M. (Release from the Falls Fire Organization)
The Falls Fire exhibited extreme fire behavior with significant growth on Saturday. The fire is estimated at 55,000 acres with 0% containment.
Evacuation notices have been issued in Grant and Harney Counties. For the most accurate evacuation information, please visit the Harney County Sheriff’s evacuation map here: https://tinyurl.com/3zst4sjy, or the Grant County Emergency Management Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068819321423.
A community meeting will be held tonight (Sunday), July 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce, located at 484 North Broadway Avenue in Burns, Oregon.
The eastern and southeastern flanks were the most active portions of the fire yesterday. Westerly and northwesterly winds pushed the fire across Forest Service Road (FSR) 37 and to the confluence of Myrtle Creek and Silvies River. To the south, the fire has reached Skull Creek Road. Crews were able to hold the fire along FSR 43. Along the north, crews were also able to hold the fire along FSR 4780. Isolated lightning and thunder were observed in the northeast portions of the large smoke column generated over the fire area. Crews worked throughout the night holding control lines, engaging the fire directly when it was safe to do so, and scouted for opportunities to establish indirect control lines ahead of the fire.
Two helicopters, six single-engine air tankers (SEATs), two large air tankers (LATs), and two very large air tankers (VLATs) supported firefighters Saturday as they made progress securing containment lines on the fire’s north and south flanks along FSR 43.
Similar fire behavior is expected again today. Rapid fire growth is likely given the forecasted weather and fuels conditions. Firefighters will work to hold the fire along established control lines along the western and southern flanks. Crews will continue to scout for opportunities to create indirect control lines and protect values at risk ahead of the fire along the northern and eastern flanks.
Ten hand crews, 16 fire engines, five bulldozers, and six water tenders are assigned to the fire. Additional resources are also responding to the incident and more resources have been ordered.
A Red Flag Warning remains in effect for Sunday with temperatures in the mid-90’s and very low relative humidity. Winds will prevail from the west and southwest from 8-10 mph. Afternoon thunderstorms are predicted for the area which may produce gusty outflow winds reaching 20-25 mph. Little to no precipitation is expected from these isolated thunderstorms.
The Malheur National Forest issued an updated fire area closure yesterday, July 13. Emigrant Creek Campground, Falls Campground, Yellowjacket Campground, and Delintment Lake Campground are closed. A detailed map and additional information about the fire area closure are available at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/malheur/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1188914. A temporary flight restriction (TFR) remains in place over the fire area.
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PREVIOUS:
Falls Fire Morning Quick Facts:
Acreage: 55,000
Containment: 0%
Overnight, firefighters completed tying in control lines on the western edge of the fire to the north. Today, crews will continue anchoring off of the southwest corner of the fire to create control lines to the east.
Today’s temperatures, winds and relative humidity are predicted to be similar to yesterday, with possible thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 25 mph in the afternoon.
NWIMT8 will continue to order resources needed to meet the needs of this quickly growing fire.
An operational video will post at 8:00 a.m. with further details on the fire.
Evacuation levels are in place, for current information visit:
https://www.facebook.com/HarneyCoSheriff?mibextid=LQQJ4d
U.S. Forest Service-Malheur National Forest
Burns Interagency Fire Zone
