Randy Dreiling
I know people ride this road
Randy Dreiling
Owner - Oregon Adventures www.oregon-adventures.com
Promoter - Mt Bike Oregon www.mtbikeoregon.com
FOREST SERVICE NEWS www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette
3106 Pierce Parkway, Suite D Springfield, OR 97477
Ph 541.225.6305
Date: August 24, 2010
Contact: Judith McHugh 541.915.5372
Scott Mountain Fire in the Mt Washington Wilderness – Update for Tuesday, August
24
McKenzie River Ranger District, Willamette National Forest
(McKenzie Bridge, OR) The Scott Mountain Fire grew to an estimated 600 acres
today as winds pushed the fire slightly north. The fire, which is relatively
long and narrow in shape, is near the edge of the Mt Washington Wilderness. An
incident management team has arrived to help the Forest manage the fire. The
team, led by Incident Commander Jeff Pendleton, is highly experienced and is
able to handle fires at all complexity levels. “Given the projected weather over
today and tomorrow we decided to bring in IC Pendleton here on Forest to manage
the Scott Mountain Fire” commented Meg Mitchell, Willamette National Forest
Supervisor, “He and his team bring lots experience in managing larger wildfires
and increases our current capacity to manage the incidents from last week’s
lightning event which resulted in over 150 fires across the Forest. Our
firefighters have done a great job. Most of these fires are contained or
controlled at this point, but with this many fires, one or two are bound to get
bigger.”
The public can continue to get updated information at inciweb.org, Scott
Mountain Fire or inciweb.org/incident/2082. “We’ve been keeping people informed
by visiting businesses in the McKenzie Bridge area, using the inciweb.org
website, sending tweets from willametteNF and through the media.” according to
Public Affairs Officer Judith McHugh. Folks can call the McKenzie River Ranger
District at 541.822.3381 during normal business hours.
The Scott Mountain fire was ignited by lightning during last week’s storm and
had been visible only intermittently since then. Tuesday afternoon, hotter
temperatures and dry winds resulted in rapid fire growth; that same pattern
continues today. Embers from the fire are being carried westward by the wind;
the fire is bordered by lava fields to the East.
An emergency closure is in place for the area bounded by Oregon State Highway
126 on the west, bounded by Oregon State Highway 242 on the south and described
by the Deschutes/Linn County Line on the east. The northern boundary of the
closure is defined by the section line separating sections 25 and 36 in T 14 S,
R 7 ½ E and east from there to the intersection of the section line separating
sections 29 and 32 in T 14 S, R 7 E with Highway 126.
The closure includes all roads east of Highway 126, many of which access
trailheads into the Mt Washington wilderness. The primary roads are: 2664
(Robinson Lake), 2657 (Olallie), 2653 (Boulder Creek), 2649 (Scott Creek), and
2647 (Cupola). Additionally, Scott Lake and Alder Springs campgrounds are closed
and visitors have been required to leave. Trails 3508 Robinson Lake, 3513 (Hand
Lake) and 3502 (Benson Lake) are also closed.
State Highways 126 and 242, the Pacific Crest Trail, Belknap Crater trail and
Limberlost Campground are open. The public is encouraged to avoid using Highway
242 as that is the route that fire crews are using and there is a lot of traffic
on the road.
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Judith McHugh
Public Affairs Officer
Willamette NF
541.915.5372 (cell)
541.225.6305 (desk)