Crews stop spot fire, hold lines on Courtrock Fire

Published 12:56 pm Saturday, August 3, 2024

Scorched trees stand beside Top Road on July 28, 2024.

MONUMENT — Crews suppressed a spot fire and maintained containment elsewhere on the Courtrock Fire as new leadership assumed command of the fire reponse, fire managers announced in a daily update on Saturday, Aug. 3.

The fire, burning south of Monument and west of Long Creek, stands at just over 20,000 acres with 57% containment.

On Saturday, Southwest Incident Management Team 2 (SWIMT 2), Incident Commanders John Truett and Todd Abel took command of the Courtrock Fire from ODF Team 1, fire officals said. Additional equipment and crews were moved to the Long Creek Camp to assist with fire suppression operations. A crew dedicated to attacking new fire starts is on standby and is ready to respond, if needed.

Firefighters have stopped forward progress on a 150-acre spot fire that started Friday on the east side of the fire’s perimeter where available dry fuels are present. Work continues Saturday to further reinforce fireline around the spot fire utilizing hoselays. Firefighters are closely monitoring the areas along the 538 road for potential hot spots. Night operations on the fire continue. The northern side of the fire is experiencing minimal to no heat on infrared detection.

The Courtrock Fire is still under an excessive heat warning with a red-flag warnings and fire weather starting at 2 p.m. until 7 a.m. Sunday morning. Saturday will be cloudy, slightly cooler in the mid 80s-upper 90s with a 20 percent chance of lightning and relative humidity at 10 percent. Sunday will be hot with lingering moisture and a chance of lightning.

Evacuations: No Level 3 (Go Now) evacuations are in effect.

For Grant County evacuation information, visit Grant County Emergency Management Office’s Facebook page, or sign up for the Grant County Emergency Alert System at https://member.everbridge.net/825462649520134/login.

For Morrow County evacuation information, visit https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/de78333b0d2544f7a320142174aa20ae

Shelters: Evacuation center is set up at Grant Union High School, 911 S Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845.

Closures:

The U.S. Forest Service has issued closures for the Malheur National Forest. For Malheur National Forest closures information, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/malheur/news-events

Information for Zone I of the Battle Mountain Complex, including the western portion of the Monkey Creek Fire (formerly Boneyard Fire) can be found at https://www.facebook.com/battlemountaincomplex2024

Fire Information: 541-208-4369 from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. – 2024.courtrock@firenet.gov

Acres: 20,013 acres

Start Date: July 21st, 2024

Cause: Lightning

Fuels: Timber, grass, brush

Containment: 57%

Resources: 382

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