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Fire Closures affecting the Olallie Highlands and Mt. Jeff Wilderness

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The lightning-caused Waterfalls 2 Fire has been burning since the 4th and is now at 2800 acres on Warm Springs land. It is only 3.5 miles from the top of Jeff and the southernmost tongue is just above Jefferson Park.

Quoting from the inciweb site  http://inciweb.org/incident/3165/ :

"Fire behavior is extreme in some areas, and is too intense for direct attack."

"The Pacific Crest Trail is closed by closure order from Olallie Lake trailhead to just north of Jefferson Park. In addition, the Gibson Lake trail, the Horseshoe Lake trail, and the Ruddy Hill trail are also closed by order."

"For day operations 8/17, continue to locate and establish safety zones, continue reconnaissance to locate potential containment lines, prepare roads for both access and for use as contingency containment lines, plan for burnout operations, and enforce fire closures."

Anotherwords they have yet to put feet on the ground past the planning stage.

If we are unlucky and substantial spread occurs, damage could happen to high elevations around Mt. Jefferson and in the Olallie highlands / Scenic Area. Recent burns in the past two years will may block the fires spread in some areas.

Breitenbush Lake Campground is closed as well.

The Olallie Lake Area remains open for camping and fishing but consider the possibility of a little smoke. Forecast winds should help with that but with 30-40% chance of wet lighting storms on Saturday who knows!

It is of interest that the last 3 years have each brought one or more major burns to the Bull of the Woods / Olallie areas, but almost none before that for decades.

Other info on this fire:

http://inciweb.org/incident/article/3165/15995/

Either of the above link to other articles.

Bryon

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Just to add a bit - the entire Olallie Lake scenic area is now closed due to the fire, as well as some additional trails.  At this point, it appears to be spreading east and north due to wind, and it is still getting larger.  It is now 6000 acres in size.

From the closure order:

Closed campgrounds include:

 1) Triangle Lake 5) Peninsula

2) Lower Lake 6) Horseshoe

3) Paul Dennis 7) Breitenbush Lake

4) Camp Ten

 The fire closure area also includes the following trails:

 1) Pacific Crest Trail #2000 on the north in proximity to Forest Road 4220-130 to the south at the Forest boundary in Mt. Jefferson. The Willamette National Forest has closed the PCT in a separate closure order south of this point.

2) Lodgepole Trail #706

3) Fish Lake Trail #717

4) Potato Butte Trail #719A

5) Red Lake Trail #719

6) Gibson Lake Trail #708

7) Horseshoe Lake Trail #712

8) Ruddy Hill Trail #714

 

Here is a link to the closure order:  http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mthood/news-events/?cid=STELPRDB5387047

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The fire perimeter now contains 7,363 acres. Not all land in this has burned. There was a doubling of the area Monday and a smaller increase Tuesday. The containment percent has went up from 2 percent to 5 as of Tuesday evening. Lower temps and wind allowed some direct control efforts, but it is spreading NE too fast to risk putting humans in its way. Containment is only on the south side.

This is a dangerous fire which threatens the Olallie area including Olallie Butte and Lake and Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area. Though the fire is now spreading away from these areas a shift in winds could change that.

From the inciweb site:

"Enhanced surface winds late last evening again pushed the fire across containment lines on the NE perimeter. Additional growth was not as substantial as the previous evening and no additional road or area closures were implemented. Progress is occurring in the implementation of direct attack strategies on the south perimeter."

Bryon

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This fire is now 9222 acres. still entirely on Warm Springs Reservation land.

The good news that the Olallie Lake area is open, though Breitenbush Lake remains closed as well as the southernmost trails west of Monon. The PTC is open but camping along it next to closed areas is still banned.

Forest Road 4220 from just past Monon Lake, to the south and west to Road 46. Breitenbush Lake and Horseshoe Campgrounds, and the Gibson Lake Trail #708, Horseshoe Lake Trail #712, and Ruddy Hill Trail #714 also remain closed.

Closures in the Willamette National Forest remain in effect, affecting Pyramid Butte Trail 740. The entire Wilderness in Mount Hood National Forest but administered by the Willamette National Forest is closed.

Bryon

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Good news!  It appears as though all the closures have been lifted.  The fire is now at 12,254 acres, but is 70% contained, and all the closures outside of the reservation land seem to have been lifted.

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