On Monday, firefighters on the northwest corner of the Falls Fire in Harney County will look for opportunities to construct direct control lines to tie in slop-overs back into Forest Service 3750. Construction of secondary contingency dozer lines will continue along roads going north and south off of Forest Service Road 4781 from Snow Mountain. Near Forest Service Roads 3750 and 47, structure and wildland firefighters will continue to mop up heat sources along control lines and prepare for a small tactical burnout operation to secure a previous slop-over in that area. Firefighters will continue scouting for additional contingency dozer lines on the Forest Service Roads 3150 and 3160 to connect into the Forest Service Roads 37 and 31 road systems to establish a continuous secondary control line running east-west north of the fire.
On the northeastern corner of the fire, just south of Myrtle Park Meadows, mop-up work will continue on a 200-acre slop-over along Forest Service Road 31 Road. The Oregon State Fire Marshal crews will support burnout operations and continue hardening surface prep at cabins and homes off Forest Service Road 37. In the southern and western sections of the fire, much of the established control line that extends from the southeast corner, over to the western flank of the fire, firefighters will continue to hold, improve, and mop up control lines. Efforts to secure the Red Hill area will continue with crews noting significant progress made in the past several days. Structures in this area are being hardened by OSFM crews ahead of an anticipated wind shift mid-week that will test control measures along the southern edge.
Further north, away from the fire perimeter, construction will continue on a planned secondary contingency line along Forest Service Road 37 just west of Hwy 395 in the Fisk Gulch area. This secondary contingency line is part of an alternate plan and will run east to west using portions of Forest Service Roads 37 and 31.
Fire weather includes a Heat Advisory for Monday with temperatures approaching 100 degrees. East winds will become variable around 11 a.m. becoming southwesterly after 5 p.m. Dry and unstable conditions will persist over the fire. Winds will become increasingly northwesterly after 10 p.m. Due to the progress made in structural preparations over the past week; the Yamhill County Task Force is being reassigned to the Lone Peak fire this morning.
QUICK FACTS
Size: 132,751
Start Date: July 10, 2024
Location: 13 Miles NW of Burns, Oregon
Containment: 16%
Total Personnel: 1,655
Cause: Human-caused, under investigation
Sunday, the fire became significantly more active in the afternoon compared to the previous three days. The Falls Fire was hit by a series of thunderstorms and strong southwesterly winds; outflows from these storms were reported at 25 miles per hour within the fire area and up to 50 miles per hour for surrounding areas. The many days of structure preparation work put into private property was tested and found to be successful. The fire remains approximately 13 miles north of Burns, 11 miles southwest of Seneca, 7.5 miles south of Izee, and 2.5 miles west of Highway (Hwy) 395.
The fire protection plan was implemented at a ranch at the southernmost section of Forest Service Road 63 near Forest Service Road 68. Structure and wildland crews worked together, building on the multiple days of surface prep, dozer line, fuel reduction, and other fire-hardening preparations. Fire was used as a tool to stop the forward progression of the fire. Crews were shifted from less impacted areas along the fire line to areas of critical need. Tactical firing operations were successfully used to secure previously constructed control lines around the ranch’s structures.
In the northwest corner of the fire, firefighters worked on securing line and mopping up spots over FSR 47. A tactical burnout operation was conducted last night near Forest Service Road 4785 (Coral Creek) to secure line near private properties. Resources continued constructing direct line with dozers and hand crews on Forest Service Road 4785 toward Burnt Mountain. Construction of secondary contingency (backup) dozer line was completed to the northwest near Snow Mountain along Forest Service Road 4781. Additional secondary dozer line going both north and south off Forest Service Road 4781 is now under construction. Along the eastern end of the northern flank, crews and dozers continued to establish control line to tie off fire east of Forest Service Road 47 back into Forest Service Road 3750. Oregon State Fire Marshal Task Forces were stationed near structures in the area of Forest Service Road 47, where fire was very active during the weather event on Sunday. Night crews patrolled the fire line, extinguishing hot spots and monitoring fire activity to ensure these structures remained unharmed. Firefighters scouted additional contingency dozer lines along Forest Service Road 3150 and Forest Service Road 3160 to connect to a series of roads near Forest Service Road 37 and Forest Service Road 31 into a continuous secondary control line running east-west north of the fire. In the northeast corner of the fire, a small tactical burnout operation was conducted in the evening east of Forest Service Road 31 and south of Myrtle Park Meadows to clean up a slop-over and strengthen control lines. Crews lined and controlled some additional spots in the area with support from helicopter bucket drops. Control lines along much of the southern portions of Forest Service Road 31 and west to Forest Service Road 43, continued to hold firm, despite windier conditions, as mop-up operations are ongoing.
Evacuation notices remain in effect in Grant and Harney Counties. For evacuation information, please visit the Harney County Sheriff’s evacuation map or Grant County Emergency Management Facebook.
The Malheur National Forest issued a fire area closure. A detailed map and additional information about the fire area closure are available here.
A temporary flight restriction (TFR) remains in place over the fire area.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Falls-Fire-2024-61562126623985/
InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/ormaf-falls-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
Smoke Outlooks: https://outlooks.airfire.org/outlook
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