Rail Ridge Fire surges to 83,000 acres; Dayville on Level 2 “Be Set” alert
Published 12:07 pm Thursday, September 5, 2024
- A smoke plume towers over the Rail Ridge Fire burning south of Dayville.
DAYVILLE — The Rail Ridge Fire grew overnight to almost 83,000 acres from 61,000 the day before, according to the latest estimate posted on the InciWeb fire information website Thursday, Sept. 5.
The Grant County Emergency Management Office stated around midday Thursday that evacuation levels in the county remained the same, with Level 3 “Go Now” advisories in place in areas adjacent to the fire and a Level 2 “Be Set” alert issued for Dayville.
The Level 2 alert also includes a strip of land between Smokey Creek and Johnson Creek on the south to Highway 26 on the north, running east to Marks Creek and west to the county line.
Other evacuation zones extend as far south as the Izee-Paulina Highway in Grant County and even farther south near the Crook County line.
For the latest information on evacuation notices, visit the Grant County Emergency Management Office Facebook page.
The Rail Ridge Fire is burning 7 miles south of Dayville in Grant and Crook counties, with 150 firefighters assigned to battle the blaze.
The fire started on Monday near the South Fork of the John Day River around Martin Creek and quickly moved into the Murderers Creek drainage. Evacuations for all of Aldrich Mountain remain in effect.
Several other lightning-caused fires combined with the Rail Ridge Fire. Wildfires designated as the 778 Fire, 761 (Rail Ridge) Fire, 779 (Powell) Fire and 796 (Black Canyon) Fire are now being managed as one wildfire response.
Full suppression strategy will be used where possible and with firefighter and public safety in mind, fire officials said. If a resident is not already signed up for evacuation alerts, they can contact their local county sheriff’s office.
Firefighting operations on Wednesday focused on aggressively building fire perimeter where safe for fire personnel. Natural barriers, existing roadways, and established fuel breaks continued to be utilized to stop or slow spread along the perimeter of the fire.
Conditions remained too smoky for aircraft operations, but smoke shading and light winds provided opportunity to make progress in slowing fire spread and establishing control lines for upcoming operations.
Wednesday afternoon and into the night, fire managers planned to use strategic burning operations from control lines to remove unburned fuels between defensible barriers and the active fire front.
On the north end, the focus was on stopping the fire from spreading into the Deep Creek drainage to keep the fire away from structures in this area. Along the west side of the Rail Ridge fire, managers planned to use firing operations in the same way to connect lines that were built over the last few days.
Crews were instructed to continue strategic structural point protection, as safe to do so, while continuing to stop the fire’s spread along these planned lines.
A warming and drying trend will continue to dry out fuels in the coming days, further increasing the likelihood of new ignitions and active fire behavior, fire managers said.
