Eastern Oregon fire burns to 73,000 acres

A new wildfire near the small Malheur County town of Brogan grew quickly to over 20,000 acres by Thursday evening, prompting closure of a 23-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 26 in eastern Oregon and evacuation alerts, along with call-up of two state structural-protection task forces, authorities said.

It’s burning on private and public lands 9 miles east of Ironside, and by this afternoon it was pushing 75,000 acres.

KTVB-TV reported that crews are battling two fires near U.S. Highway 26 in eastern Oregon. The Cow Valley Fire and the Bonita Road Fire both started early Thursday morning.

Others include the nearly 14,000-acre Larch Creek Fire south of The Dalles in Wasco County, which is still without any containment, and the nearly 4,000-acre Salt Creek Fire in Jackson County, about 16 percent contained.

The Larch Creek Fire grew from just 100 acres Tuesday afternoon, overnight and the next day, and by Wednesday night it was pushing 11,000 acres, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry. Zach Urness with the Statesman-Journal reported that the fire was at 13,816 acres Friday morning after more than 3,000 acres of growth overnight. The fire remains at zero percent containment, and Highway 216 east remains closed between milepost 1 and 4.

Thursday afternoon brought windy conditions to the area but fire behavior moderated overnight with lower temperatures and winds. Overnight crews worked closer to the active areas, building line and securing perimeters around Shadybrook Road and Highway 216.

“Today, air and ground crews will be active on all sides of the fire, building fire line, reinforcing existing line, and monitoring for hot spots. Structure protection will be focused on the community of Tygh Valley, Pine Hollow and Shadybrook subdivisions, and along Highway 216,

 

The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office has issued a Level 3 “Go Now!” evacuation order from Friend Road, East to Elliott Road and Highway 197, South to Badger Creek Road, West to McCorkle Grade Road.

Residents of at least 41 homes were advised to evacuate. Several other areas are under Level 2 and Level 1 evacuation orders.

Check the latest evacuation maps from the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office

The area was under a Red Flag Warning for critical fire weather on Tuesday afternoon.

 

There are 22 large fires burning Oregon totaling over 145,277 acres, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.

Early afternoon Friday Vale District BLM said the Cow Valley Fire had burned over 73,720 acres. ODOT shared photos on TripCheck of the Cow Valley Fire yesterday.

Between Ironside and Brogan, eastern Oregon.

KTVB in Boise reported 30-50 homes in Brogan are threatened, and power was shut down for customers at risk from powerlines close to the fire.

It was one of three large new area fires, along with the 4,500-acre Huntington Mutual Aid Fire in Baker County, which forced evacuations and alerts in the Huntington area and Farewell Bend State Park, and the 1,867-acre Bonita Road Fire, also in Malheur County, reported early Thursday morning.

The fire is moving toward Malheur Reservoir and is threatening 30 to 50 homes in the Brogan community. Malheur County Sheriff’s Office is advising residents to prepare for evacuation orders. At one point, 16 aircraft were assigned to the fire, dropping water and retardant, along with seven engines and four dozers plus crews from Vale and Burnt River RFPAs and Sand Hollow Fire District.

SEAT crashes in Montana reservoir

A pilot on the Horse Gulch Fire in Montana died Wednesday when  her single-engine airtanker (SEAT) crashed into Hauser Lake. Lewis and Clark Co. Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton says the 45-year-old pilot Juliana Turchetti was the only person onboard.

Juliana Turchetti, Dauntless Air
Juliana Turchetti, Dauntless Air

Lewis & Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton said Juliana Turchetti was killed when her plane crashed into a mountainside and landed in Hauser Lake. Turchetti was employed by Dauntless Air, a firefighting company that operates a fleet of single-engine airtankers

Originally from Brazil, she was in the U.S. on a visa. KPAX-TV reported that Turchetti leaves behind a 17-year-old son and numerous family members in Brazil. According to agriculture aviation magazine AgAir Update, Turchetti was one of the first women ag pilots in Brazil.

The fire’s been burning on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest since mid-day Tuesday in dense timber with heavy dead and down fuels; Wednesday included extreme fire behavior pushed by winds, and the fire’s grown to over 1,000 acres — still at zero percent containment. The Northern Rockies Team 2 is in charge; they were moving resources onto the southern flank to protect critical values at risk there.

Hauser Lake
Hauser Lake

The aircraft, a 2013 Air Tractor AT-802F Fire Boss owned by Aero Spray (now Dauntless Air), was contracted by the Forest Service and was flying out of Coeur d’Alene and scooping from Hauser Lake, one of a series of dammed lakes on the Missouri River upstream of Mann Gulch. The Fire Boss crashed into Hauser Lake, near Canyon Ferry Lake 20 miles northeast of Helena, while scooping water for dropping on the Horse Gulch Fire. The pilot was killed and the aircraft was written off. Lewis and Clark County Undersheriff Brent Colbert confirms the pilot’s body was recovered.

Horse Gulch Fire July 9
Horse Gulch Fire July 9

Numerous roads in the area have been closed after firefighters complained that people were trying to get close to the fire for photographs, and the sheriff’s warned residents to either evacuate or stay put, and told others to get out of the fire area.

Two more large scoopers are en route to the fire, along with resources from area VFDs and the Montana DNRC.

KTVH-TV reports that the area from Cave Gulch to Magpie Gulch on the north and south sides of Canyon Ferry Rd. is evacuated. Riverside Campground has been closed and there is a pending order to close the national forest in the area of the fire. Expected weather includes hot, dry and windy conditions with RH of 9-14 percent, and winds of 10-15 mph with gusts of 25 mph.

 

 

Aero Union 1960 – 1997

Aero Union’s Past Demonstrated Ability

~ contributed by cbk

We received this lovely little piece of historical documentation of the tanker operations — for 37 years — of Aero Union’s fleet, including its P-3 Orions flying out of Chico in northern California. The much-missed red/white P-3 ships were the last of a long line of Aero Union’s many airtankers, the red/white icons of aerial firefighting. Not many companies have a history so impressive.

Aero Union airtanker operations 1960 – 1997

Aero Union Operations 1960-1997

Aero Union operations 1960 - 1997

Aero Union operations 1960 - 1997

Aero Union operations 1960 - 1997

Aero Union operations 1960 - 1997

Aero Union operations 1960 - 1997

 

Thompson Fire burns in northern California

Thousands were ordered to evacuate in northern California ahead of a fire  burning in Butte County, as an “exceptionally dangerous and lethal” heat wave in the West is building. Cal Fire reported that three firefighters suffered injuries on the fire and thousands of people were still evacuated early today  near Oroville. Several others were injured today. 

Soaring temperatures — forecasted to hold into next week – have parched the already-dry vegetation in the area.

The Mercury-News reported that the Thompson Fire has spread around Oroville Dam — the tallest dam in the United States — at one point burning on the dam itself.

Authorities initially evacuated more than 28,000 people from Oroville and  neighboring communities in Butte County, and by Wednesday the fire had grown to almost 3600 acres with zero containment and temperatures well into the triple digits.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the fire area, according to CNN,  bringing on  additional suppression resources including the California National Guard.

The Mercury-News has a dandy photo gallery online; they reported that the Thompson Fire was one of a half dozen wildfires that started Tuesday in northern California and the Central Coast; it took off around 11 a.m. near Oroville.

More than 1,400 firefighters were working the fire, along with eight helicopters, 199 engines, and 46 bulldozers. Several large airtankers also were on the fire.

The town is about 20 miles south of Paradise, where the catastrophic Camp Fire killed more than 70 people in the 2018 disaster. The city of Oroville’s July 4 fireworks celebration was canceled by California State Parks on Wednesday.

Fire helicopter down in Northwest Territories

The CBC reported that a fire pilot with no passengers went down Friday in a Bell B212 near Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories. Fire information officer Mike Westwick said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Transportation Board of Canada (TSB) are responding to the incident.

The Canadian Press reported Tuesday evening that Great Slave Helicopters (GSH) said pilot Tom Frith died while fighting 20,000-acre fire near the Fort Good Hope  community, about 800 km northwest of Yellowknife.

The company expressed condolences to Frith’s family. “He was a beacon of light,” GSH said. “He was beloved by all who had the privilege of knowing him. Our heartfelt condolences to Tom’s wife, children, parents, brothers and all extended family and friends in Yellowknife and in Australia.”

Fort Good Hope fire

The TSB said it will activate a an investigative team; Great Slave Helicopters (GSH), and CKLB Radio reported that there were no passengers besides Frith, the pilot in the helicopter. Fort Good Hope Chief Collin Pierrot related it was a very difficult weekend for the community.

It was about 2 p.m. Friday when the RCMP received  its first report of the accident, and before the end of the day the TSB was involved in the B212  investigation.

Pierrot said he got the news of a the helicopter crash while he was in a fire management meeting. The incident happened at the Fort Good Hope airport and involved only the Bell B212. The TSB investigators accessed the crash site on Sunday and are now collecting data and interviews.

Fort Good Hope has been under an evacuation order since June 15 as a fire burns at the edge of town.

Fire in central Oregon burns to almost 4000 acres

The Darlene 3 Fire just east of La Pine in central Oregon has been burning aggressively; by Thursday morning it had grown to 3,889 acres — up from 2,415 acres the day before.

The fire is about 30 percent contained. KTVZ-TV reported that the cause remains under investigation.

The fire was human-caused — and federal, state, and county law enforcement agencies are involved in that investigation. Crews worked hard on initial attack Tuesday, building line off Reed Road to protect assets to the north.

Darlene 3 Fire -- photo by C.O. Fire Management Service
Darlene 3 Fire — photo by Central Oregon Fire Management Service

The Central Oregon Type 3 IMT is in unified command with the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) Red Team, in part because of the large number of threatened homes at the edge of town. Winds and high temperatures on Wednesday allowed the Darlene 3 Fire to create spotfires beyond the firelines, and it then burned east onto the Deschutes National Forest, where it merged into a couple of fuels-treatment burns previously created by the BLM and the USFS. Crews noted that those burns moderated fire behavior on this incident.

Darlene 3 Fire

On Wednesday night, crews finished containment lines and firing operations. As long as the temps and winds remain moderate, crews and dozers and engines will work on reinforcing firelines; 335 personnel are assigned, including 38 engines, 5 hand crews, 8 watertenders, and numerous dozers and aircraft.

Six task forces of structural firefighters are protecting homes and other buildings and working mop-up around homes and town infrastructure.

Deschutes County evacuation info is online at deschutes.org/emergency — and the Red Cross has  set up a shelter at La Pine High School (51633 Coach Road). The La Pine Activity Center (16450 Victory Way) is open for RVs to park and also has meals and N95 masks available. Rebecca Marshall with the Red Cross said they do not at this time need donations.

Air quality information can be found at aqi.oregon.gov or AirNow.gov — and residents can add the OregonAir app on their smartphones.

1-2-3 ... Ready, Set, Go!

The fire took off Tuesday afternoon and then grew rapidly, just a mile or so outside of the town of La Pine. A level 3 evacuation order — remember Level 1-2-3  =  Ready-Set-Go — is in effect on the east side of La Pine. There’s an evacuation map here.

Zach Urness with the Salem Statesman Journal reported that a Type 3 IMT  took over on Wednesday morning; on Tuesday, Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act. “This allows us to send the full power of the Oregon fire services to protect life and property,” said Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple. There are six task forces of structural firefighters defending local buildings that are threatened on the east edge of town. The fire is threatening nearly 1200 structures, according to Deschutes County Sheriff Sergeant Nathan Garibay

SEAT pilot down in New Mexico

The NTSB and other federal officials are looking into a plane crash that occurred Friday near Capitan, New Mexico.  KRQE-TV said the Coastal Airstrike team confirmed the pilot was Ronald “Van” Patton, who was not involved in firefighting on the South Fork Fire or the Salt Fire near Ruidoso but was on a ferry flight between airports.

Patton was an experienced pilot who’d logged more than 14,000 flight hours.

Ronald "Van" Patton
Ronald “Van” Patton

“The Coastal Air Strike team is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our tanker pilot and dear friend, Ronald ‘Van’ Patton, while on a ferry flight Friday, June 21st,” the company said.

Van was a second-generation airman who earned his pilot’s certificate as a teenager. He was also a respected aircraft mechanic and for decades held an inspector authorization (IA), building and maintaining various aircraft. One early build as a teenager was his dad’s RV-4, which — as his friends say — he used to terrorize the skies of the Oregon coast. He worked at Boeing in Portland, building control assemblies for a few years, then gave that up to fly ag planes. He settled in Keizer, Oregon with Industrial Aviation Services,  where he flew for 30 years. He transitioned into aerial firefighting, earning Coastal’s Rookie of the Year award in 2023.

Van was recently checked out in the single-engine scooper aircraft, a longstanding dream for him, and he used those skills this spring in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  “I got to meet Van this spring in Brainerd,” said Sandie Youngblom. “He was a very kind person and very personable. He helped to hold down the fort here in Minnesota during an unprecedented early spring fire season.”

“I had the greatest honor of working with Van in Fredericksburg, Texas last fire season,” said Cassidy Ince. “His kind and funny personality lit up the base every single day. He will be missed by many.”

Van’s big-hearted and extremely kind personality, along with his ability to make others smile, will never be forgotten. On top of his admirable aviation career, he was a committed family man, always holding his wife and son dear as his first priority.

Questions can be directed to admin@coastalairstrike.com

Top fan
Cassidy Ince

FIREWORKS: Just say no

Speaking of fireworks safety over the Independence Day holiday, James Duff with the City of Orinda, California tipped us off earlier this month to this outstanding little 2021 PSA from Lubbock, Texas. We are entertaining nominations for award-winning fireworks messaging, and there is a prize involved, so please nominate your “July 4th Hot PSA” from a fire agency, government agency, or NGO related to fireworks use and fire safety.

Write at least one sentence about who it is and where it is, add the link, and post it in the comments below.

Meanwhile, enjoy this little gem from Texas.