Crews battle Middle Fork Complex blazes as they fill Oakridge skies with smoke and firefighting aircraft

By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald — The skies over Oakridge and Westifr were like a smoky war zone Friday, July 30, with helicopters and other firefighting aircraft working on multiple lightning-caused fires on the Willamette National Forest’s Middle Fork Ranger District.

In a statement late Friday, the U.S. Forest Service said the recent barrage of lightning caused 22 wildfires in the Middle Fork Ranger District, headquartered in Westfir.

“For fire management purposes, the various incidents have been officially named the Middle Fork Complex,” said Tammy Robinson, public affairs officer for the Willamette National Forest. “The fires range in size from less than an acre to 300-plus acres. The incidents are in the Fall Creek, Hills Creek Reservoir, and north of Huckleberry areas. ”

Two of the fires are close to private land and are receiving priority from the Forest Service, she added.

Robinson said she could not yet provide a containment percentage for the fire, but such updates will be coming over the next two days as the agency forms a “Type 2” response team, which includes smokejumpers and Hot Shot crews.

The Forest Service calls fires “incidents” and rates their severity according to five “types.” Type 2 is the second most challenging level. Robinson said two Type 2 helicopters are already deployed on the Middle Fork fires and a third is on the way.

As of Friday night there was no evacuation order for the Road 18 area, but Robinson said the Forest Service is  asking the public not to recreate in that area “due to fire suppression efforts and timber and logging crews frequenting that road.” The lack of cell service in that area is another concern, she said.

Robinson reminded the public to avoid using drones during these fires. Their presence in the skies would ground all fire-fighting aircraft, she warned, and the drone operators would be subject to severe penalties under the law.

She also cautioned residents about smoke — lots of it.

“During wildfire activity, firefighters can do little to reduce smoke impacts,” she said. “Affected communities should remain aware of smoke advisories and conditions.”

In the Upper Willamette, the place to go for real-time air quality reports is OakridgeAir.org/Smoke (and you can text “Oakridge Air” to 313131 for text alerts).