Lines holding on Falls, Telephone fires as weather heats up

Published 11:28 am Tuesday, August 6, 2024

BURNS — Firefighters continue to hold containment lines around the fires burning in southern Grant and northern Harney counties despite increasingly hot and dry conditions, fire managers stated in an update on Tuesday, Aug. 6.

The Telephone Fire is just over 53,000 acres with 31% containment while the largest blaze in the area, the Falls Fire, stands at 147,000 acres and 75% containment, according to the latest official estimates.

Conditions are prime for high fire activity Tuesday but lines are holding, fire officials said. There are currently 300,000 acres of fire and 200,000 acres of line in the fire zone.

A community meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce, 484 N. Broadway in Burns.

Leaders of the Alaska Incident Management Team will provide an update on the Telephone Fire, Falls Fire, and several other fires they are working to suppress in the area. The meeting will also be shared on the Malheur National Forest Facebook page, as well as the Falls and Telephone Fires Facebook page.

Fire managers laid out the following priorities for Tuesday:

1) Initial Attack (IA): The potential for new fire starts in the area remains significant, and firefighters remain vigilant and focused on IA, ready to respond to any new threats.

2) Southwest side of the Telephone Fire.

3) Northeast side of the Falls/Sand Fire.

4) East side of the Telephone Fire.

Fire Summaries

Telephone Fire: The Telephone Fire was active Monday and will likely be active Tuesday as well, officials said. Lots of resources worked around the recent King Mountain slopover, including 3 hotshot crews (the Navajo, Wyoming, and Grand Hotshots) and aerial resources dropping retardant.

Crews are working to find opportunities along the road system to wrap fire back into the 2820 road. Work will continue on this area Tuesday, including filling in small gaps in existing handline, and increasing dozer line. The Rattlesnake area is looking good; crews will continue working on improving the anchor to it, and patrolling.

Monday, crews gained depth mopping up into containment line along the east side of the Telephone Fire, and improved dozer line. In the southeast portion of the Telephone Fire, there is a pocket of unburned fuel around East Cow Creek with some fire moving around inside it, but this has not caused any issues to containment in the area.

Crews will work Tuesday towards finalizing an arm on the northeast side of Poujade Field, progressing deeper into the containment line, and Oregon National Guard crews continue increasing depth of containment on the southeast side.

Falls/Sand Fires: The Falls Fire also had lots of activity Monday. In the Myrtle Creek area, crews had success conducting small-scale ignition operations along the 3150 road out to the 31 road, addressing some difficult areas with dead trees from bug kill. In this area, two fingers of fire pushed towards the road, and there were lots of spots across line, but all were caught.

Crews will continue working hard in this area Tuesday. As fire weather potentially intensifies, crews who have been working along the southern and southwestern portions of the Falls Fire will be assigned to Initial Attack if needed; they will otherwise continue to hold and secure line and increase mop up depth to the south and southwest sides, and extend mop up depth inside containment lines in the Whiskey Mountain area.

In the Gilbert Ridge area, and also northwest of the Sand fire, crews will continue to hold and reinforce line, and mop up further into containment lines. The east/northeast side continues to look good; on Monday crews removed 9.5 miles of 1.5-inch-diameter hose and related equipment there.

Poison Fire: An interior island of vegetation on Poison Creek filled in with fire, adding acres but no exterior growth. Crews are continuing to clean up pockets of fuel to more deeply secure the control line.

Weather: Terrain-driven winds in the morning will give way to west southwest winds in the afternoon, turning west/northwesterly later in the day, with occasional gusts to 30 mph possible at exposed locations. Relative humidity will be in the low teens. Near Critical Fire Weather conditions are expected Tuesday.

Evacuations: For the most accurate evacuation information, please visit the Harney County Sheriff’s evacuation map here: https://bit.ly/FallsFireEvac, or the Grant County Emergency Management Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068819321423.

Closures: A closure is in effect for the two portions of the Malheur National Forest that run west of Highway 395, north of Mt. Vernon and south of Long Creek, in the Fox Valley area, including all roads, trails, and camping locations within the fire closure area. A detailed map of the closure if included and available on the Malheur National Forest website (https://www.fs.usda.gov/malheur/) and at forest offices.

Investigation: U.S. Forest Service fire investigators are seeking the public’s assistance with any tips or information pertinent to the start of the Falls Fire on the Malheur National Forest. Please submit any information that could assist fire investigation efforts to SM.FS.R6TipHotLine@usda.gov.

Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR): TFRs in the area have been changing; pilots should check the latest information on the Federal Aviation Administration TFR website prior to flying: https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/index.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Falls-Fire-2024-61562126623985/

Falls Fire InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/ormaf-falls-fire

Telephone Fire InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/ormaf-telephone-fire

Fire Information Line: 541-208-4370, staffed 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Email: 2024.Falls@firenet.gov

Harney County non-emergency evacuation questions: 541-589-5579

Air quality questions: 541-573-2271. Air quality information, searchable by ZIP code: https://fire.airnow.gov/

Smoke Outlooks: https://outlooks.airfire.org/outlook

Size: 53,110

Start Date: July 22, 2024

Location: 12 miles NE of Burns, OR

Containment: 31%.

Total Personnel: 484 personnel

Cause: Lightning/Natural

Resources Assigned: 16 hand crews, 10 engines, 6 bulldozers, 8 water tenders, 5 skidders

Size: 147,161

Start Date: July 10, 2024

Location: 13 Miles NW of Burns, OR

Containment: 75%

Total Personnel: 554

Cause: Human-caused, under investigation

Structures Triaged: Residences: 386; Commercial: 119 Outbuildings: 760

Resources Assigned: 27 hand crews, 46 engines, 16 bulldozers, 21 water tenders, 6 masticators, 8 skidders

Size: 5,958

Start Date: July 25, 2024

Location: 17 miles SW of Seneca, OR

Containment: 0%

Total Personnel: Staffed by Falls Fire personnel

Cause: Lightning/Natural

Whiskey Mountain: 4,345 acres

Cow Creek: 86 acres

Parasol: 485 acres

Poison: 1,059 acres

Ritter: 461

Total Personnel: Staffed by Falls Fire personnel.