Firefighters to continue constructing and improving firelines on the 394,000-acre Bootleg Fire
/Bootleg Fire update for July 21, 2021
Operations Update for Zone 2 of the #BootlegFire for Monday, July 19th at 8:00 am. Kyle Cannon, Operations Section Chief gives an insight on the firefighting operations on the west, north and northeast portions of the fire. #fireseason2021. Driven by strong winds, high temperatures, and low relative humidity, the fire progressed to the east and north through extremely dry fuels producing large smoke columns visible from many communities in the area. Firefighters continue to safely build containment lines and adjust tactics according to weather and fire behavior
FIRE DETAILS
Cause:
Under Investigation
Size:
399,359 Acres
Containment: 38%
Location:
South Central Oregon Klamath & Lake Counties
Total Personnel: 2,359
Fuels:
Heavy Timber, grass, and understory.
Initial Report:
1:45 PM, July 6, 2021
Last Updated:
12:00 PM, July 22, 2021
Coverage of the 2021 Wildfire Season is brought to you by Ace Towing.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Higher humidity and reduced wind speeds yesterday and overnight allowed firefighters to construct and improve firelines. Today’s forecast will be favorable to continue those efforts in securing the existing fireline. A steady warming and drying trend will begin today and continue into the weekend which can affect fire activity in the upcoming days.
“Fire crews and support personnel have made significant progress in containing this fire in the last few days.”said Joe Prummer, Incident Commander trainee of Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 2. “However, we still have a long road ahead of us to ensure the safety of the surrounding communities.”
A firelookout tower on the southeastern edge of the Bootleg Fire. July 21, 2021. (Image: Inciweb)
The Oregon State Fire Marshall has transitioned to working with Zone 2 on the north and northeast sections of the fire.
The fireline to Long Creek was improved with dozers and helicopter drops. Firefighters scouted the area from Long Creek to Coyote Creek to develop a plan to connect the fireline to the already completed line near The Nature Conservancy compound.
Fire activity picked up in the Sycan Marsh but was quickly contained by dozers. Crews and equipment are going direct along the eastern fireline while also working to improve contingency lines between the fire and the communities near Summer Lake as well as provide structure protection for those homes.
There was some slight growth to the northeast, however dozer crews were able to stop that progression and crews will work to hold that today.
In many areas of the fire, firefighters are working on patrolling and mopping areas along the line. This step is necessary to ensure that all heat that could threaten the security of the fire line has been extinguished. Resources continue to be shifted around the fire perimeter to meet resource needs across the fire area. As the need for night operations on the southern zone decreases, those resources will be moved to day shift or sent home for rest as they time out.
An additional responsibility of the firefighters on the Bootleg Fire is to provide initial attack response in the area adjacent to the fire. Any new starts have the potential to rapidly grow, given the extremely dry fuel conditions. Fire managers have identified resources that would respond immediately in the event that a new fire should start.
Nighttime Operations on the Bootleg Fire. July 21, 2021. (Image: Inciweb)
– EVACUATION INFORMATION
Evacuations are rapidly changing due to the nature of this wildfire. Visit the interactive evacuations map at klamathfallsnews.org/bootleg-fire-evacuations.
Evacuation Centers
Klamath County
Thrive Church, 235 S. Laguna Street, Klamath FallsLake County
Daly Middle School, 906 S 3rd St. Lakeview, Oregon
For information or assistance: 1-800-Red-Cross and Facebook @RedCrossCascades.
– CLOSURES
The Fremont-Winema National Forest is closed to the public in the fire area. Map and full order are available here.
Smoke report. Click to enlarge.
– SMOKE
Afternoon smoke impacts will continue to be high in areas north, northeast, and east of the fire, especially in the vicinity of Silver Lake, Summer Lake, and Paisley. Continuing SW winds will push smoke from the Bootleg Fire away from Lakeview, Klamath Falls and Sprague River Valley, but may bring some smoke from the Dixie Fire into the area.
Full report at: fires.airfire.org/outlooks/southcentraloregon.
– PROJECTED INCIDENT ACTIVITY
The fire will continue to be extremely active with gusty winds and extremely dry fuels. Significant acreage increases potential on the northern and eastern sides of the fire. Rapid-fire spread with high-intensity fire behavior. Fire will continue to move East/Northeast. Significant amounts of smoke will be present during day and night.
– FUELS INVOLVED
Mixed grass/shrub, timber with an understory, timber with litter fuel types. The area is primarily composed of open to dense timber stands, interspersed by dry meadows and shrub fields, grazing has occurred in some areas.
– WEATHER CONCERNS
A steady warming and drying trend is expected into this weekend as high pressure expands over the region. The decrease in humidity will be most pronounced in the overnight recoveries the next two nights- the driest of the week. Daytime humidity will lower into the 10-15% range. Winds will be westerly Thursday, becoming more northwesterly starting Friday. Overnight winds will be terrain-driven and light, with prevailing flow out of the north.
– HOW BIG IS THE FIRE?
As of, July 21, 2021, the Bootleg Fire is the largest fire burning in the United States at 399,359 acres. The fire is equal to 624 square miles. That is over two times larger than the entirety of Crater Lake National Park.
Information is provided by the Fremont-Winema National Forest, Klamath County Emergency Management, Oregon Department of Forestry, and Northwest IMT 10 is current as of 12:00 PM, July 22, 2021.
Klamath Falls News & Cascade Firewatch’s coverage of the 2021 Wildfire Season is brought to you by Ace Towing.
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