Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
After burning more than 1,000 acres near Green Peter Lake, the Middle Fork Fire was designated officially contained at 6 p.m. Monday, and the Quartzville Corridor was reopened to the public.
Roads into the Rocky Top area will remain closed to the public.
Firefighting crews were reduced from some 640 strong to around 200 Monday night following a week of building fire lines, burnouts and mop-up. The fire team was scheduled to leave on Tuesday morning, and a transition team took over.
The fire burned a total of 1,070 acres, said Mike Barsotti, Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman.
The fire was detected on Sept. 1 when it was between 15 and 25 acres. After an initial attack by local crews, the blaze grew to more than 600 acres by that evening. By Sept. 4, it had reached an estimated 1,090 acres.
The fire did not expand over the last week, and final estimates put the total acreage at 1,070.
“We got all around it that third day,” Barsotti said. “Then we had four days of mop-up and trying to secure the lines.”
The fire jumped the lines at a couple of times, but helicopters were able to keep it down and the heat away from the crews, Barsotti said.
“We haven’t had very strong winds since that initial blow on the 31st and first,” Barsotti said. Along with that came higher humidity, which helped keep the fire from spreading. “The rain we had really wasn’t enough.”
Monday, crews were busy digging up fuels and breaking them apart to make sure the fire was out. They were working through areas where crews had lighted fires in what’s called a “burnout.” Burnouts are fires set against the fire line.
In this case, the goal was to burn 300 feet back from the lines toward the fire, Barsotti said. Under normal fire conditions, it won’t escape.
“Under a strong east wind, it won’t stay put,” Barsotti said. “That area is going to get east wind again.”
That’s where the transition team will come in and keep an eye on the fire.
Beginning Tuesday, a transition team would take over, Barsotti said, and it would essentially begin patrolling the fire. Crews will continue to eat and sleep at Lewis Creek Park during this phase.
At night, patrols check the perimeter for hot spots with infrared cameras, Barsotti said. Because of how dry it is, the fire was able to get deep into the roots of stumps and trees where it can go unnoticed with the unaided eye.
Also on Monday, fire officials were busy developing a rehabilitation plan, deciding how to protect the forest from erosion during the winter rains, essentially weatherizing it.
Four landowners had property damaged in the fire. The majority of the fire was on Seneca Jones land, followed by the Bureau of Land Managment and Guistina Resources. Weyerhaeuser had nine acres burn in a spot fire to the northwest of the main fire.
The landowners all provided intelligence and equipment, Incident Commander James Walker said. Cascade Timber Consulting had land threatened by the fire, and CTC came through with a lot of help.
The fire was contained in the peninsula between the Quartzville and Middle Santiam arms of the Green Peter Reservoir around Rocky Top and Fool’s Canyon, approximately 14 miles northeast of Sweet Home.
During the fire, officials were concerned the fire would spot across the Quartzville arm of the lake and Quartzville Road.
“This is the area we struggled with the most, the Fool’s Canyon area,” Walker said. Wind pushed the fire slowly down the hill into old growth.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. At the most, 749 firefighters were working on the fire, and it incurred $3.4 million in suppression costs.
While resources were an issue with fires burning throughout the Northwest, this fire was ranked fourth in priority, Walker said. That helped ensure resources came here, and the Middle Fork did not need to give up resources to any other fires.
Two minor injuries were reported as a result of the fire, Walker said. Both were from firefighters slipping in steep terrain. In one, the firefighter cracked a rib. In the other, a firefighter dislocated a shoulder.