Oregon National Guard to Hit Fire Lines as Area Blaze Grows
Soldiers help extinguish a small fire while battling the Rocky Fire near Clear Lake, Calif., Aug. 12, 2015. The soldiers are California National Guardsmen. (California National Guard photo)
The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. | Aug 25, 2015 | by Les Zaitz
The first Oregon soldiers activated this season to wildfire duty are expected to take the field outside John Day Wednesday, helping on one of the state's most dangerous fires.
The 125 guardsmen from the Oregon Army National Guard are expected to tackle mop-up work at the south end of the Canyon Creek complex. That will free up fire crews to move to more active areas of the blaze on the Malheur National Forest and adjacent private range.
The fire, which by Monday morning covered 73,000 acres, grew more troublesome Sunday night. High winds and low humidity allowed the fire to burn north and threaten homes where evacuation alerts had been relaxed on Saturday.
And firefighters faced yet more trouble with the discovery Sunday night a new wildfire about 13 miles north of Prairie City on the south slope of Vinegar Hill. The fire was estimated at 15 acres.
A U.S. Forest Service spotter plane detected that fire less than an hour before police back in the John Day Valley had to initiate one more emergency evacuation.
They alerted about two dozen homeowners most threatened by the advancing Canyon Creek complex to evacuate. The fire got within 200 yards of some homes but didn't destroy any, according to Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
Officials earlier estimated there were about 120 homes in that area east of John Day. They evacuated only those closest to the fire along Upper Dog Creek and Upper Pine Creek.
The fire, started in two locations Aug. 12 by lightning, so far has destroyed 39 homes and about 50 barns, shops and other outbuildings. Officials said 300 homes remained under threat.
Fire commanders shifted resources from locations around the fire to check the new advance.
Morgan Warthin, public information officer with the complex staff, said strong winds Sunday afternoon pushed the fire north from the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness toward the populated area. She said the move came about three miles from where crews had been working to build additional fire line.
With 20 mph winds and a chance of thunderstorms forecast for Monday afternoon, "firefighters are going to be in a defensive posture today," Warthin said.
And fire commanders will have to make do without a strategic force -- the fire crews deployed from local departments from around Oregon under the Conflagration Act. Those 45 engines and crews were released over the weekend because the imminent threat appeared over and evacuation levels around the fire had been reduced.
The soldiers expected on Wednesday won't be used for home protection, officials said. Instead, they will be deployed for mop-up duties at the south end of the fire, where containment lines are most established. They will work to extinguish smoldering stumps, roots and logs and otherwise insure the fire doesn't take hold again in burned-over areas.
They were expected to complete their training in Salem Tuesday before heading out. Another 250 guardsmen will be behind them in training, but their fire assignments haven't yet been made.