Cache Creek Fire Update 9-7-12 10am
Incident: Cache Creek Fire Wildfire
Released: 9/7/2012
Contact: Matt Burks, 541-523-1364 or
Kathy Arnoldus, 541-786-3694
September 7, 2012 10am
Inciweb Website: www.inciweb.org/incident/3202
Type 3 Incident Management Team
Incident Commander Tyler
Incident Command Post at Thomason Meadows
Cache Creek Fire Update
Baker City, OR - The fire continues to smolder and creep in the rugged areas around the upper end of Cook Creek, Five Points Creek and Buckhorn Lookout. As the fire reaches the flat surface at the top of the steep canyons, crews are building direct fire line in the places that they can safely access, using helicopters for water drops as needed. Progress is being made in securing more of these areas each day. Mop up is almost complete in the upper end of Cherry Creek. In areas where the fire edge is inaccessible, firefighters are looking for opportunities to build fire line to secure the edge of the fire.
Visible columns of smoke are seen from pockets of unburned fuels that are continuing to burn inside the fire line, along the west side of the fire. They are not threatening the fire line. The north, east, and south sides of the fire will continue to be monitored. Along the west and southwest perimeters of the fire, firefighters are gridding the area looking for smoke, and feeling the ash and charred material to make sure it is cold.
Limbs were chipped yesterday along the fire line on the Cold Springs Road (Forest Service Road 4680) and that work will continue today. The road grader worked yesterday with water tenders on the Zumwalt Road to maintain the safety of the road surface, and will be moving to other roads, including the Buckhorn Lookout road, to repair damage from fire traffic. Water tenders will continue refilling stock ponds to replace water used in fire suppression. Some water tenders were released from the fire yesterday. The rehabilitation of the interior fire lines built by crews is ongoing.
Four crews, two helicopters, eight engines, and nine water tenders are assigned to the fire. The estimated containment date is September 15th.
The Lower Imnaha Road/Dug Bar Road is now open (Forest Service Road 4260). The public is encouraged to avoid traveling in this area due to potential congestion from fire suppression traffic.
The area closure for the Cache Creek Fire in the Hells Canyon National Recreation area of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest was revised today. The closure now allows the public to enter a larger area along the Snake River in Oregon, in the fire area between the Washington/Oregon state line on the north and the Power Line access road on the south. The new eastern boundary of the closure follows trail 1691 to Road 250, to trail 1705, to trail 1713, to trail 1731, to Cemetery Ridge Road, to trail 1724, to Power Line access road. From the Power line access road the new southern boundary of the closure follows the Dodson drainage to Forest Road 46. Forest Road 46 is the southwest boundary of the closure. The Cold Springs Road (Forest Service Road 4680) is the boundary of the area closure on the west side of the fire. A map and description of the Forest Closure can be found at http://www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman or www.inciweb.org/incident/3202. The closure is in place for the safety of both firefighters and the public. The need for the closure will be assessed daily and removed as soon as possible.
Percent Contained: 90%
Date Started: 08/20/12
Total Personnel: 147
Cause: Lightning
Size: 73,534 acres
