Firefighters contain cigarette-sparked fire
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Last updated 7/16/1996 at Noon
Up to 704 firefighters from the Sisters Ranger District and other Central Oregon agencies battled to contain the blaze which fire officials believe was touched off by a carlessly discarded cigarette Monday, July 8. Crews threw fire lines around the fire's perimeter to halt the fire's spread.. Helicopters were also called in on water-dumping duty as the fire plunged downslope Tuesday into the lava flow immediately west of Warm Springs Indian Reservation.
On Wednesday a wind shift blew the blaze back upslope, nearly doubling the fire's size. This proved beneficial to the firefighters' efforts; higher elevations provided natural fire barriers of smaller tree density and snow, according to Forest Service spokesperson Tori Roberts.
"The fact that it's increasing in size is part of the strategy," she reported at the fire's height on Friday.
Roberts said firefighters used light-handed suppression tactics because the fire is in a wilderness area where its threat to humans is minimal. However, aircraft were brought in to aid ground crews because of the remote, high-fuel burn area.
At the fire's height, the Forest Service had eight helicopters running sorties on the fire, 24 20-person crews on the ground and 60 administration and support staff backing them up.
After the fire was contained at 6 p.m. Sunday, July 14, crews set to work mopping up and rehabilitating the area, pulling berms back on hand-cut fire lines and fixing saw cuts on logs to make things look more natural. The rehabilitation is part of an effort to mitigate the effects of using mechanized equipment such as chainsaws in a wilderness area.
Roberts said it may take up to 30 days to fully control the flames.
"Because of inaccessibility and size, this fire's going to be a concern for a long time for us," Roberts said.
Roberts said this fire is reminiscient of a blaze in 1987 that burned in the Jefferson Wilderness all summer long. She said that this one has similar potential. Roberts also expressed concern Monday afternoon that high west winds could fan the blaze and create a new crisis.
The Forest Service reported that four 20-person crews will continue working on the fire, living in spike camps in the wilderness.
The Forest Service will continue to monitor the burn area all summer until there is a "season ending event" -- such as snowfall.
The fire cost almost $2 million to fight as of July 14 and Forest Service officials estimate a total cost of $2.5-$3 million before all the work is done.
Forest Service officials have determined that a cigarette was the probable cause of the large fire.
The Sisters Ranger District did not adopt a "let burn" approach to this fire since the new "prescribed natural fire" plan has yet to be implemented.
Even if such a policy was in place, this fire would have been fought aggressively anyway. According to the Forest Service, the Jefferson Wilderness fire didn't meet "let burn" criteria because it was not naturally started and its fuel load was mostly dead timber.
The decision to contain and control the Jefferson fire comes hard on the heels of the recent decision by the Forest Service to begin "salvage logging" in nearby Jack Canyon, where officials say thinning is necessary to prevent a catastrophic fire.
Officials say that 100 years of logging and absolute fire suppression efforts have defeated the forest's own system of thinning by fire. The consequent growth of smaller, denser tree stands have contributed to a "tinderbox" situation in many areas such as Jack Canyon.
The Forest Service felt it was necessary to contain this fire because of its extreme initial behavior.
"The way it spread the first day was significant," Roberts said,
"If we'd allowed it to go unchecked, it would have been serious."
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