Heading to Waldo Lake? Fire officials recommend looking elsewhere as Cedar Creek grows
People planning to head to Waldo Lake should think about recreating elsewhere.
The Cedar Creek Fire has been very active, growing from around 9,200 acres Friday morning to more than 18,000 acres by Wednesday and sparking level 3 evacuations for the eastern side of the lake, Box Canyon area and along Aufderheide Scenic Byway.
"Waldo Lake is, at this time, not really an option for folks," said Jodie Barram, a public information officer for the U.S. Forest Service's incident management team that's handling the fire.
Because the eastern side of Waldo Lake is under a "go now" order, it isn't open to the public, Barram said. There's a map of all Lane County evacuations available at bit.ly/CedarCreekEvacMap, and people can see a map Deschutes County evacuations at deschutes.org/emergency.
Fire officials are recommending people look at other lakes or make other plans, she said.
Nearby Odell and Crescent Lakes could be good options, Barram said, or Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, which has several lakes and reservoirs.
Fire officials know people might already be heading to where they were planning to go, and ask that they check the Forest Service websitefor updates and make sure they're signed up for Lane County alerts and Deschutes County alerts, which warn of further fire growth and evacuation areas.
Anyone recreating this weekend should be prepared for wildfires, she said.
People with questions about whether certain campgrounds and recreation areas are open or closed can call the fire information line at 541-201-2335. The line is staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Barram added while Cedar Creek had a "pretty big jump in numbers" over Labor Day weekend, it was still within the area that fire officials expected it might go.
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Fire officials said they expected that the fire could move north and have planned for it.
A return to warmer temperatures could allow for an extended burn period and fire growth in the next couple of days, officials said.
After that, high temperatures are expected, and east winds could lead to further drying, officials said. They expect the potential for large perimeter growth where wind and slopes align.
There's more information on the fire available at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8307/.
Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: As Cedar Creek grows, fire officials recommend avoiding Waldo Lake
