Thursday, wildland firefighters were successful in increasing containment on the Alder Springs Fire burning on lands managed by the US Forest Service and BLM and protected by Crooked River Ranch Fire and Rescue and the Lower Bridge Rangeland Fire Protection Association. The Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) task forces completed their structure protection and mop up work in and around Crooked River Ranch. The Alder Springs Fire footprint remains 3,278 acres and is now 40% contained.
“On behalf of the Forest Service and BLM, we would like to thank the Central Oregon Interagency Management Type 3 Team, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Red Team, and all our cooperators and partners for coming together as one team with one mission,” said Crooked River National Grassland District Ranger, Slater Turner.
“We are very proud of our firefighters whose aggressive attack of this fire helped return our community members back to their homes,” said Lisa Clark, Field Manager with the Prineville BLM Deschutes Field Office. “The OSFM and Central Oregon teams showed a high level of professionalism and provided the public with helpful, up-to-date information that was critical to the success of this incident. We are grateful for all the hard work and planning that helped keep firefighters and the public safe during this early season fire.”
All Oregon State Fire Marshal structural task forces are demobilizing Friday. The last two task forces will finish their work Friday morning before heading to their home department.
“The Red Team is deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the Crooked River Ranch community — your support means everything,” said Incident Commander Ian Yocum.
Wildland firefighters are back on the fire this morning, continuing to mop up to reach the goal of 100 ft of cold ground all the way around the fire perimeter. Crews will continue to use Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) also known as “drones” equipped with infrared (IR) technology to identify areas of heat both on the perimeter, as well as areas of more dense heat on the fire interior. Fire Managers are also working with Resource Advisors (READs) to begin to assess the needs for suppression repair. Where firefighters have put in control lines with dozers, skidgens or hand tools, those fire lines will need to be repaired and naturalized so they do not become new roads, trails or paths for increased erosion. READs help advise fire staff on how to complete to protect or mitigate negative impacts to natural and cultural resources.
With cooler temperatures and moisture forecast for today and this weekend, some wildland resources are being released from the fire to return to their homes and families so they can rest and be available for future fires.
The Alder Springs Fire was human-caused and the investigation is on-going. More information will be released when the investigation is complete.
Evacuations: The Jefferson and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Offices have issued evacuation notices for the Alder Springs Fire. For more information on evacuation notices visit:
Deschutes County Evacuation Map: https://tinyurl.com/DeschutesCountyEmergency
Jefferson County Evacuation Map: https://tinyurl.com/JeffersonCountyEmergencyMap