JOHN DAY, OR -- Oregon's 15th and 16th conflagration fires of the season are burning in rural Central Oregon. The Rail Ridge Fire, south of Dayville, is 146,601 acres, and 7% contained. Northeast of Mitchell, the Shoe Fly Fire is 26,409 acres and 26% contained, as of Monday morning.
Fire managers and state officials held a meeting in John Day Sunday afternoon, to brief the community on the Rail Ridge Fire. Scott McFarland, Paulina District Ranger on the Ochoco National Forest, says six fires started on Labor Day and quickly merged into one, "Since then, we've seen a lot of exponential growth of this fire. So, people have been really heavily engaged throughout. We ordered the Gray Team 3 very early on. They happened to be pre-positioned for just this type of thing." He adds, "We're ordering constantly, getting all the resources we possibly could, highlighting the importance of this fire. It got moved up as the number one priority in the region, so we have been getting a ton of resources. This was not like a 'let it burn' type of situation. We threw everything we had at it as fast as we could, it just got out of hand pretty quickly."
Six homes have been destroyed by the Rail Ridge Fire, and 260 more are still threatened. Evacuations orders are in place in Crook County. The fire also led to the closure of the Dayville Post Office Monday. Dayville customers can pick up their mail at the Mount Vernon Post Office.
Fire Behavior Analyst Renee Henault says fuels are perfect for the fire to spread fast, "Everything is extremely critically dry. The large logs didn't get that snow this winter that helps them recover the moisture, so they're burning all the way down to white ash, which a lot of times, those tend to check and slow the fire a little bit. And this summer, it's not happening. Plus we had the late rain in the spring, which created a bigger grass crop than normal." But, she says relief is on the way, "The next system that's coming in for the Pacific Northwest, the good news is by Wednesday we should have temperatures in the 60s, 70% chance of rain." Click HERE for more on the Rail Ridge Fire, including daily operational updates.
In Wheeler County, the Shoe Fly Fire threatens 65 homes. Both incidents have task forces assigned by the State Fire Marshal's office to protect structures. More on the Shoe Fly Fire can be found HERE.
