8/20/2015 Grizzly Bear Complex Update

Grizzly Bear Complex Update

Pendleton, Ore:  Wednesday’s fire behavior was moderate, growing approximately 2,000 acres to roughly 12,000 acres.  The most active part of the fire was on the south edge near Patterson Ridge and Weller Creek.  The fire crossed the Wenaha River and has moved up onto the plateau near Cross Canyon 10 miles from Troy, Oregon.  The Grizzly Bear Complex is burning in timber and heavy fuels in steep terrain. Wednesday’s infra-red  (IR) flight showed intense heat on the western perimeter along Grizzly Bear Ridge as well as on the eastern perimeter’s south facing ridge of Weller Butte.  IR flights detect locations of heat, the intensity of the heat source, the fire perimeter and fire spotting.  A level one evacuation notice has been issued by County officials for the Eden Bench, Troy and Grouse Flat communities.  Equipment is being utilized to improve Forest Road 62 in an effort to reduce the spread of the fire to the south. On the north end of the complex, crews used the addition of heavy equipment to improve Forest Road 46 in an effort to contain the fire.  Structure protection around seasonal cabins is a continued emphasis in the early stages of suppression.   Scattered heat sources were detected on the northern edge of the fire. Numerous lightning fires make up the Grizzly Bear Complex burning in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness  20 miles SE of Dayton, Washington.  Several fires burned together and made a strong six-mile push to the south down Grizzly Bear Ridge, across the Oregon/Washington border, and into the Wenaha River drainage. Today, Forest and County officials will continue making contacts with the community members of Troy, Eden Bench and Grouse Flats who reside to the east of the wildfire. The Washington Interagency Type 2 Team, led by Incident Commander Brian Gales, will arrive today to assume management of the fire. “Nationally, 76 large fires are currently burning across the United States creating a significant demand on firefighting resources to assist with fire suppression efforts. Fire resources are moved to the highest priority fires where public safety, homes and other high values are currently being impacted,” said Brian Ebert, Deputy Fire Staff.  “Firefighter and public safety is the highest priority, we will utilize the resources we have to maintain public safety and concentrate efforts to utilize point protection measures to minimize fire impacts where we can. The sheer number of fires combined with extremely dry fuel conditions has created extreme fire conditions which will challenge firefighting resources over the coming days with forecasted high winds over the fire area,” said Ebert. Smoke continues to be an issue in the Pacific Northwest. To monitor the air quality index, the public can access the Department of Environmental Quality’s website for Washington at www.fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/ and Oregon at www.deq.state.or.us/aqi. Fire and closure information for the Grizzly Bear Complex is available through several social media outlets including: InciWeb: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4511/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/UmatillaNF Twitter: @UmatillaNF Forest Website: www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla/ Quick Facts Incident Summary Approximate Size: 12,000 acres Fire Containment: 0% Incident Commander: Steve Carlson Resources on the Fire: Hand Crews: 3 Tenders: 3 Engines: 5 Dozers: 7 Water Tenders: 3 Helicopters: 1 Type 3 Misc. Overhead Total Personnel: 106 Jurisdiction: USDA-Forest Service  Umatilla National Forest-Pomeroy R.D. Fuels: Grassy ridges with timber stringers on the south facing slopes. Heavy timber with downed material on north facing slopes. Closures: Full closure of the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness and several roads that access wilderness trailheads.