PAULINA, OR -- Firefighters finally reached 5% containment on the Crazy Creek Fire, burning in the Ochoco National Forest, about 16 miles north of Paulina. Cliff Russell, with SW Area Incident Management Team 5, says weather conditions have been challenging, "The biggest thing is the lower humidities, higher temperatures and that wind all coming together and making it grow." He tells KBND News, "We've had some dry spells that have moved through here, with some heat. So when those fuels out on the landscape dry out, they tend to dry out a little bit quicker. And then that combined with the wind to kind of push it."
As of Friday morning, the fire is estimated at 35,360 acres. Evacuation orders remain in place for eastern Crook County. Click HERE for the latest map.
The area is under a Red Flag Warning and a Heat Advisory, and lightning is predicted for this weekend. Russell says crews are putting in more dozer lines to slow the fire's spread. But they're also preparing in case it grows. "Up there in the historical areas, by Salters Cabin and Wolf Creek Campground, they're actually wrapping the buildings with- it's almost like an aluminum foil-type material. That helps redirect that heat if it gets close to it. It also seals it in so those floating embers that are prevalent around fires don't get into the cracks or anything like that."
The SW Area Incident Management Team is from New Mexico and Arizona. "Our fire season starts normally around March, down there in the southwest, runs until about July," says Russell, "Then we got what we call monsoons; it's our rainy season." When their season ended, he says they were asked to stage in Boise. They arrived on the Crazy Creek Fire on Tuesday, "It's a shorter drive from Idaho to Oregon, than it is from Albuquerque, New Mexico all the way up north."
Nearly 500 personnel are currently assigned to the Crazy Creek Fire. Russell says everyone knows crews are spread thin across the region, "The resources are kind of hard to get, but they're starting to trickle in now. And as those resources start to come in, you can just see the relief on folks' faces that they're like, 'Oh. Somebody's here.'"
They hosted a community meeting Thursday night at Crook County High School. Earlier in the week, they met with about 50 people in the small town of Post.
