Today, Northwest Team 2 is completing their work on the Rail Ridge Fire. Heavy equipment is being pulled off of fire lines and roads in anticipation of hazardous weather conditions. Fire personnel are making their final patrols of the fire, retrieving remaining hoses, pumps, signs, flagging, and other items from the firefighting efforts. Most resources are being released to return to their home units. Some personnel will stay to break down the Incident Command Post near Dayville and to provide further assistance to the local agencies.

Hunting, Recreation and Fire Closure Areas: Closures remain in place today on the Ochoco and Malheur National Forests, BLM lands, and areas managed by ODFW. These closures will be changing on Monday, October 28. Please see the agency websites for the latest updates. Closures have been established for public safety, wildfire recovery projects and resource protection. Please stay out of the closure areas and “know before you go” into the area.

This will be the last update from Northwest Team 2. For further updates and information after 6:00 p.m. on October 28, including current information about closures and restrictions, please contact the following:

https://www.blm.gov/office/prineville-district-officePrineville BLM, Deschutes Field Office541- 416-6864lmclark@blm.gov	https://www.fs.usda.gov/ochocoOchoco National Forest541-416-6647 isabella.isaksen@usda.gov
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife – Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Areahttps://myodfw.com/phillip-w-schneider-wildlife-area-visitors-guideFor access information: 541-318-7972For tag and related information: 541-620-1047	https://www.fs.usda.gov/malheurMalheur National Forest541-575-3008 amy.franklin1@usda.gov

USFS & BLM Closures / Evacuation Information / Fire Restrictions / Social Media for the Rail Ridge Fire area can be found at: https://linktr.ee/RailRidgeFire.

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Malheur National Forest reduces fire closures

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Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley provided the video below of the Rail Ridge Fire, and what appears to be a “fire whirl”:

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FOLLOW THE STORY BELOW FOR GRANT COUNTY EVACUATION ZONE UPDATES:

All Grant County wildfire evacuation zones have been lifted

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(Press Release from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife)

The Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area is closed to all public access until further notice due to the Rail Ridge fire.

The Rail Ridge fire started in the south fork of the John Day River with several lightning strikes on Sept. 2. It has grown to more than 61,000 acres and is still growing. To date, the fire has burned large areas of the Murderers Creek flats and areas to the north. The fire continues to be a significant safety threat on all wildlife area lands at this time.

The Malheur National Forest has also closed large areas on the forest immediately next to the wildlife area. Updates on fire information can be found at Oregon Emergency Management Interactive Map.