Oregon wildfires: Progress on Boulder Fire near Mount Hood, new fire sparks near Ashland
For the second day in a row, the Boulder Fire burning southeast of Mount Hood showed no growth as fire crews made major progress in containing the blaze.
The fire started July 8 near Boulder Lake Trailhead, about 9 miles southeast of Government Camp, bringing closures to a handful of nearby campgrounds. It remains listed at 234 acres.
A total of 385 fire personnel, aircraft and other heavy equipment have “been so effective at limiting fire growth that fire managers are beginning to transition to the mop-up phase of suppression operations,” a Thursday morning fire update said.
The fire is listed at 5% containment. Fire crews are working hard to keep the fire as quiet as possible before conditions that could lead to fire growth arrive this weekend. A fire weather watch has been issued for the Willamette Valley as temperatures climb into mid 90s.
On Thursday, fire crews planned to finish digging handlines, improving containment lines such as roads and bulldozer lines, and installing hose lays in preparation for mop-up operations, the report said.
“Mop-up efforts include carefully checking along containment lines and adjacent areas to locate and extinguish all heat sources so these lines will hold under current and expected fire behavior. Firefighters will also patrol for hot spots and use air resources as needed.”
Lamb Fire ignites near Ashland
A 1.5 acre fire has ignited in the Ashland Watershed above Reeder Reservoir that was reported early Thursday morning.
The fire is visible from the Rogue Valley, a news release said.
“Air attack (fixed wing airplane) is flying overhead coordinating two helicopters. Due to pre-planning and importing of additional resources, the forest has adequate firefighting resources to aggressively attack this fire while maintaining coverage across the forest for any new starts,” Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest said in a statement.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Progress on Boulder Fire, wildfire starts near Ashland, Oregon
