Bootleg Fire map. The white line was the perimeter at 10:39 p.m. PDT July 12. The red areas represent heat detected by a satellite at 4:06 a.m. PDT July 13, 2021.
On Monday the Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon was driven by strong winds out of the west, northwest, and north gusting at 20 to 30 mph while the temperature at Beatty, Oregon reached 95 degrees with 7 percent relative humidity. This pushed the east side of the fire another 2 to 4 miles to the east, increasing the size to nearly 202,000 acres.
It is burning on the Fremont-Winema National Forest 4 miles north of Beatty and Highway 140, 27 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, and 20 miles east of Chiloquin.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bootleg Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
The weather forecast for Beatty, Oregon on Tuesday calls for a high of 95 degrees and 5 mph winds out of the north and west. They will shift at sunset with speeds growing to 15 mph with gusts of 23 mph out of the northwest with a relative humidity of 10 percent. This is likely to lead to increasing fire activity throughout the day.
Wednesday afternoon the prediction is for 91 degrees, late afternoon 14 mph northwest winds gusting to 22 mph, and 12 percent RH.
By Sunday night it had burned more than 153,000 acres
Updated at 8:10 p.m. PDT July 12, 2021
Bootleg Fire map. The white line was the perimeter at 9:16 p.m. PDT July 11, 2021. The red areas represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:12 p.m. PDT July 12, 2021.
After three days of explosive growth, a smoke inversion moderated fire activity Sunday on the Bootleg Fire and allowed fire crews to construct and improve fire control lines. However that changed on Monday. By 2 p.m. a strong west wind had pushed the fire one to four miles further east, and it continued that direction into the late afternoon. (see the map above)
Due to the size and complexity the fire will be managed using two zones. This will allow the two primary incident management teams to better manage the fire and limit travel for firefighters. ODF Incident Management Team 1 assumed command of the fire’s south part, or Zone 1, Monday. Pacific Northwest Team 10 manages the north part, or Zone 2. The Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal’s Green Team continues to protect structures.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bootleg Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
Part of the fire has burned across a major interstate power line, a corridor of three parallel 500 kV lines that connect to power grids in Oregon and California. But the northeast part of the fire was still burning intensely Monday afternoon near the lines. Since there was concern with the lines having been de-energized combined with very high temperatures requiring more air conditioning in homes, a statewide FlexAlert was issued in California for Monday from 4-9 p.m. This meant there was a possibility of power shutoffs due to an inadequate supply of electricity.
Evacuations Level 3 (GO NOW) in effect at 3 p.m. PDT July 12, 2021:
Klamath County, north of the town of Beatty. East side of Godowa Springs Road north of the OC and E Trail to the Klamath County Line.
Klamath County, near the town of Sprague River. Upper tableland area north of Oregon Pines Rd need to leave immediately.
If you look closely at the smoke from the Bootleg Fire in the satellite image below, you may notice that the white pyrocumulus cloud above the smoke plume rose to such a high elevation that it cast a shadow as the sun got low in the sky at 7:01 p.m. local time.
Satellite photo, wildfires in the West, at 7:01 p.m. PDT July 12, 2021. NASA.
Updated at 2:20 p.m. PDT July 11, 2021
Map of the Bootleg Fire at 11 p.m. PDT July 10, 2021.
Saturday the Bootleg fire in Southern Oregon grew to Megafire status, crushing the 100,000-acre threshold. After advancing for four miles to both the east and north it was mapped Saturday night at 143,607 acres, an increase of more than 53,000 acres in about 24 hours.
It is now 4 miles north of Beatty and Highway 140, 27 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, and 20 miles east of Chiloquin.
On Saturday, firefighters, emergency managers, and other public safety officials faced the fifth day in a row of extreme, intense fire behavior as hot, dry, windy weather persisted.
Those conditions escalated Saturday afternoon, resulting in an immediate, life-threatening risk to area residents, visitors, firefighters and other emergency responders.
Due to public safety concerns and the immediate threat to life, the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office took the rare step of citing or arresting those who remained in or were trying to re-enter the Level 3 (leave now) evacuation areas.
Conditions were so extreme Saturday that firefighters needed to disengage and move to predetermined safety zones. Fire managers evaluated conditions and looked for opportunities to reengage firefighters safely.
Wildland and structure protection Incident Commanders Al Lawson and Lance Lightly stated “Our first priority is to provide for firefighter and public safety. Removing our personnel from these conditions is always our guidance under such extreme conditions.”
“Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Thirtymile Fire, where four firefighters tragically lost their lives,” said Lawson. “The fire behavior we are seeing on the Bootleg Fire is among the most extreme you can find and firefighters are seeing conditions they have never seen before. We understand the frustration of the community as the fire continues to grow. We also need to ensure our firefighters are able to engage safely so that they can return home at the end of this assignment to their families.”
The fire has burned across a major interstate power line. It is actually a corridor of three parallel 500 kV lines that connect to power grids in Oregon and California. (see map above)
“The fire was moving in and through the powerlines,” said Gayne Sears, a public information officer with the Bootleg Fire, told Oregon Public Broadcasting Saturday afternoon. “The companies made decisions, or there was enough fire and smoke that the lines did go down some, but they’ve been working very carefully with the firefighters to re-energize in safe manners.”
Sears said she didn’t know whether they were currently online. (More information about this critical power line and the fire.)
Saturday evening the 143,607-acre fire was being managed by a Type 2 Incident Management Team and an Oregon State Fire Marshal team that was assisting with structure protection, but on Sunday two Type 1 Incident Management Teams were mobilizing.
Resources assigned Sunday include 19 hand crews, 10 helicopters 6 dozers, 83 fire engines, and 25 water tenders for a total of 926 personnel.
The fire area is under a heat advisory through Tuesday. The weather forecast for Beatty, Oregon on Sunday calls for a high of 85 degrees, 8 to 10 mph winds out of the west, and a relative humidity of 11 percent. On Monday the prediction is for 94 degrees, northwest winds gusting to 20 mph, and 10 percent RH.
Satellite photo showing smoke from wildfires at 8:26 a.m. PDT July 10, 2021.
Saturday morning it was mapped at more than 79,000 acres.
Updated 10:47 a.m. PDT July 10, 2021
Map of the Bootleg Fire, showing heat detected by satellites as late as 4:12 a.m. PDT July 10, 2021.
The Bootleg Fire was extremely active again Friday, spreading to the north and east while sending up a very large plume of smoke to the northwest that traveled for hundreds of miles.
The fire was mapped at 10:02 p.m. PDT July 9 which determined it had added 29,000 acres over the previous 24 hours to reach a new total of more than 76,000 acres.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bootleg Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
The fire is 5 miles north of Beatty, 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, and 20 miles east of Chiloquin.
Resources assigned include 11 hand crews, 51 fire engines, 2 dozers, 3 water tenders, and no helicopters for a total of 580 personnel.
Mandatory leave-now evacuations are in effect:
North of the town of Beatty. North end of Godawa Springs Road north of the rock quarry.
Near the town of Sprague River. Upper Tableland area north of Oregon Pines Road.
North of the town of Beatty. Sycan Estates area.
About 3,000 homes and a major interstate power line are threatened.
8:38 a.m. PDT July 9, 2021
Bootleg Fire. The red areas represent heat detected by a satellite at 2 a.m. PDT July 9, 2021. The white line was the perimeter approximately 24 hours before.
The Bootleg Fire in south-central Oregon more than doubled in size Thursday as it ran for more than 5 miles to the east while Red Flag Warnings were in effect. At 11:07 p.m. Thursday it was 38,892 acres, or 61 square miles.
The fire is 6 miles north of Beatty, 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, and 21 miles east of Chiloquin.
The fires in Western Idaho and Southeast Washington were very active and continued to expand Thursday night.
The Shovel Creek Fire east of the Snake River 20 miles south of Lewiston, Idaho was mapped at 16,066 acres. It is being managed by a Type 3 Incident Management Team led by Incident Commander Miller.
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the wildfires in Southeast Washington and West Idaho, including the most recent, click HERE.)
The Captain John Creek Fire is just north of the Shovel Creek Fire and the two are likely to merge. By our estimate it has burned at least 5,000 acres based on satellite imagery.
The Hoover Ridge Fire is 25 miles south of Lewiston, 6 miles east of the Shovel Creek Fire. We estimate it has burned about 2,000 acres.
Satellite photo showing smoke from wildfires in the Northwest U.S., at 7:30 p.m. MDT July 8, 2021. NASA.
The Dixie Fire is just east of the small community of Dixie, Idaho, east of Road NF-222. On Thursday it had burned about 11,000 acres but has grown since then.
The 1,300-acre Jumbo Fire is seven miles west of the Dixie Fire. They are both being managed by the same Type 1 Incident Management Team, Northern Rockies Team 2.
In Washington the lightning-caused Dry Gulch and Lick Creek Fires 9 miles southwest of Lewiston, Idaho merged and are now known as the Dry Gulch Fire. Friday morning the revised size was 19,346 acres due to more accurate mapping. The fire behavior is being described as extreme, structures are threatened, and evacuations are in effect.
8:02 p.m. MDT July 8, 2021
Northern Idaho and Southeast Washington Fires, July 8, 2021
The lightning that came through Washington, Idaho, and Montana Tuesday and Wednesday started many wildfires, in large part due to the dry fuels and the fact that little or no rain accompanied the lightning.
On July 7, 106 new fires were discovered in the Northern Rockies Geographic Area which includes Northern Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota.
The area where three states converge, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, has seen a lot of wildfire activity over the last two days. Some of the blazes started yesterday, July 7, and may be related to the dry lightning, but the causes for all fires have not been determined.
The Shovel Creek Fire started from lightning July 7 and has burned at least 6,000 acres in Western Idaho just east of the Snake River very close to the point where the three states meet. It is 20 miles south of Lewiston, Idaho. The river is the boundary between Idaho and the other two states. The fire is being fully suppressed by the Northern Rockies Team 4, with Incident Commander Connell.
There are two other large fires near the Shovel Creek Fire in Idaho — one is two miles north, about 1,100 acres, and the other is six miles east, approximately 1,300 acres. We were not able to determine the name of those two.
The 11,000-acre Dixie Fire is just east of the small community of Dixie, Idaho, east of Road NF-222. It has been burning since July 5 and is being managed by a Type 1 Incident Management Team which is expected to assume command July 9. The team’s strategy is four-fold, 25 percent each: monitor, confine, point protection, and suppression.
The Jumbo Fire has burned about 571 acres 8 miles west of the Dixie Fire. It started from lightning July 6 and is being managed by a Type 3 Team led by Bransford. They have multiple strategies: monitor, confine, and point protection.
There are two large fires in southeast Washington about 15 miles southwest of Lewiston, Idaho. Heat detected by satellites at 2:48 p.m. Thursday indicates that they probably have burned together or merged with other blazes. The fire names are Dry Gulch and Lick Creek and they both started July 7 and are being fully suppressed. As of Thursday afternoon the Dry Gulch had burned 27,929 acres and the Lick Creek was last mapped at 1,500. Extreme fire behavior was observed on both.
Map showing heat on the Bootleg Fire detected by satellites at 4:18 a.m. PDT July 7, 2021.
The Bootleg Fire grew very, very rapidly after it started in southwest Oregon at about 1:42 p.m. Tuesday, putting up a huge plume of smoke pushed to the north during the afternoon. The spread was described as “extreme, running, torching, and spotting” by firefighters.
The fire is 21 miles east of Chiloquin, 29 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, and 11 miles northwest of Beatty. (see map above)
(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bootleg Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.)
Data from satellites at 4:18 a.m. Wednesday indicated that the Bootleg Fire had burned approximately 5,000 acres, and was active throughout the night.
Satellite photo at 7:01 p.m. PDT July 6, 2021, showing the Beckwourth Complex of Fires and the Bootleg Fire.
Firefighters are being mobilized, including a Type 2 Incident Management Team, NW Team 10.
At the request of the Bootleg Fire Incident Commander, Klamath County Emergency Management has issued a Level 1 (GET READY) Evacuation notice for the Sycan Estates area north of the town of Beatty in eastern Klamath County. Level 1 is notice for residents in the affected area that wildfire is potentially near them and they should begin preparations to leave should the Incident Commander believe further increase in evacuation levels is warranted.
In addition, two property owners closer to the fire area were advised that their properties are under Level 2 (GET SET) evacuation notice. Level 2 is notice that the danger has dramatically increased and they need to be prepared to leave at any moment.
An MD-87 air tanker drops on the Wrentham Market Fire in northern Oregon, June 29, 2021. Photo by Amanda Huelle.
Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act Wednesday morning in response to the 10,000-acre Wrentham Market Fire that broke out in Wasco County Tuesday. The fire is seven miles east of Dufur, Oregon and 11 miles southeast of The Dalles.
The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office ordered evacuations affecting 70 to 100 residents.
Map Wrentham Market Fire
The fire is on Wrentham Market Road burning wheat and brush in the Columbia Rural Fire Protection Area. About 20 residences are threatened and 1 barn was destroyed. Aviation resources used on the fire have included helicopters, as well as single engine and multi-engine air tankers.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Red Incident Management Team assumed command at 9 a.m. June 30 and will work to bring additional resources from counties around Oregon to assist in the response.
Three task forces, totaling 41 people, 12 engines, and 3 water tenders from Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill Counties, arrived Wednesday morning. The fire was reported Tuesday afternoon.
The declaration made by Gov. Brown cleared the way for the State Fire Marshal to mobilize firefighters and equipment to assist local communities battling the fire.
