Last evacuation advisory lifted for Grant County
Published 4:30 pm Monday, October 21, 2024
- Flames climb a hill as the Falls Fire spreads on July 16, 2024.
DAYVILLE — For the first time in nearly two months, there are no wildfire-related evacuation advisories in effect in Grant County.
With cooler, wetter weather and more subdued fire behavior, the Grant County Emergency Management Office announced Monday, Oct. 21, that it has removed the final evacuation zones for the Rail Ridge Fire, leaving Grant County in an evacuation zone-free status.
Road closures are still in effect.
“All remaining evacuation zones in Grant County have been removed,” Sheriff Todd McKinley said in a news release. “We remind the public that Forest Service road closures and the closure of the fire perimeter remain in place, as do closures of County Roads, 21, 47 and 40, also known as Fields Creek, South Fork and Antone Ranch roads.”
Evacuation notices have been a regular feature of life for Grant County residents since mid-July, when a wave of destructive wildfires swept through much of Eastern Oregon.
Numerous evacuation notices — from Level 1 “be ready” advisories to urgent Level 3 “go now” orders — were issued at various times for Grant County residents in the vicinity of the Falls, Battle Mountain and Courtrock fires.
The last of those evacuation advisories was lifted on Aug. 20, according to the county’s emergency management coordinator, Eric Bush, but a fresh round of notices began Sept. 2 with the eruption of the Rail Ridge Fire south of Dayville on Labor Day, Sept. 2.
As of Monday, that fire had burned 176,619 acres and was considered 92% contained.
Wildfires have consumed an estimated 314,172 acres in Grant County this summer, nearly 11% of the county.
More than a third of the burned area — 87,882 acres — was private ground, and the public lands consumed by fire included numerous grazing allotments. About 155 landowners suffered some level of damage to their property.
A total of 16 structures, including two primary residences, were lost to the flames. Miles upon miles of fences were destroyed, and an as-yet-unknown number of livestock were killed.
An air tanker pilot was killed in a crash near Seneca while battling a blaze in the vicinity of the Falls Fire. James Bailey Maxwell, 74, of Clarkston, Washington, was working under contract with the Bureau of Land Management when his single-engine aircraft went down shortly before 7 p.m. July 25.
For updated information on evacuation notices and road closures, visit the Grant County Emergency Management Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/p/Grant-County-Emergency-Management-100068819321423/; call the information line at 541-575-2885; or email the Emergency Operations Center at GCEOC@grantcounty-or.gov.
You can access the active GIS map at https://oregon-oem-geo.hub.arcgis.com/.
