Rubble: Central Oregon Wildfires

Friday, August 26, 2011

Central Oregon Wildfires

One of the things that struck me on our recent camping trip was how many of the places we visited had been tremendously effected over the last decade or so by wildfires. Looks like this summer will be no different, with new fires springing up in the areas we visited last week.

2nd night of lightning sparks new wildfires in Central Ore. - Koinlocal6.com: "Federal fire dispatchers say there were far fewer strikes on Thursday night, though, than the night before. Thursday's stormy weather was concentrated in the Willamette Valley and northwest parts of the state — areas that didn't get hit on Wednesday, when lightning started nearly 200 range fires.

"East of the Cascade Range, federal agencies list nine large fires as of Friday morning, one of them a complex of five fires burning on both sides of the John Day River in Central Oregon.

"The night before, a science camp for kids had to pull up stakes and head for a safer spot. The fire area is 13,000 acres, 20 square miles."

Lightning strikes near Bend, as seen from Awbrey Butte the evening of Aug. 24, 2011. (Michael Caligure, KOIN)

'via Blog this'

Some photos from our trip:

From 000-FB Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day, August 24, 2011. Taken August 16, 2011. Mt. Jefferson from Peninsula Campground on Olallie Lake.

From 2011-08 Camping Trip - Central Oregon Bisection

Forest fire snags and Mt. Jefferson. Pacific Crest Trail above Breitenbush Lake, Oregon. August 17, 2011.

The Olallie Lake Scenic Area apparently was affected by fires in both 2001 and 2010.

From 2011-08 Camping Trip - Central Oregon Bisection

Forest fire snags. Santiam Pass, Oregon. August 17, 2011.

From 2011-08 Camping Trip - Central Oregon Bisection

Three Fingered Jack from Santiam Pass. August 17, 2011.

From 2011-08 Camping Trip - Central Oregon Bisection

Forest fire snags at Saddle Creek Campground, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Oregon. August 20, 2011.

From 2011-08 Camping Trip - Central Oregon Bisection

Display on the 1989 Summit Fire, Hat Point Day Use Area, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Oregon. August 21, 2011.

Some links:

Much of Olallie Lake Scenic Area opens after closure due to fire | OregonLive.com:
Published: Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 9:11 AM Updated: Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 9:29 AM

"The View Lake fire in the southern Mount Hood National Forest is sufficiently contained to allow the reopening of Olallie Lake Resort this morning.

"The 102-acre blaze is 90 percent contained. In its early stages around Aug. 20, it burned some campers' tents in Peninsula campground. The campground had been evacuated quickly prior to the incident, so no one was injured."

"Other parts of the Olallie Lake Scenic Area will remain closed for the season.

"Here's the update:

"The closed part of the Olallie Lake Scenic Area was partially opened (on the north end of the scenic area,with a closure remaining in effect south of Camp Ten campground) at 12:01 a.m., Sept. 1."

InciWeb the Incident Information System: View Lake Fire Complex:
"The View Lake Fire Complex consists of several lightning-caused fires in Olallie Lake Scenic Area, Mount Jefferson Wilderness, and Bull of the Woods Wilderness on the Mt Hood and Willamette National Forests, 45 miles east of Estacada, Oregon."

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ftp/InciWeb/ORMHF/2010-08-26-13:43-view-lake-fire-complex/picts/pict-20100907-171259-0.jpeg

B&B Complex Fires - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The B&B Complex Fires were a linked pair of wildfires that together burned 90,769 acres (367.33 km2) of Oregon forest during the summer of 2003. The fire complex began as two separate fires, the Bear Butte Fire and the Booth Fire. The two fires were reported on the same day and eventually burned together, forming a single fire area that stretched along the crest of the Cascade Mountains between Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington. On the western side of the Cascades, the fire consumed mostly Douglas-fir and western hemlock. On the eastern side of the mountains, the fire burned mostly Ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and jack pine. Most of the burned area was on public land administered by the United States Forest Service including 40,419 acres (163.57 km2) within the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. The fire also burned forest land on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and small areas of state and private land. Firefighters battled the blaze for 34 days. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were over 2,300 personnel working on the fire. The cost of fire suppression was over $38 million."