Yesterday:
After five consecutive days of Red Flag conditions, a frontal passage brought erratic winds, but cooler temperatures and increased humidity. No precipitation was received but crews were able to stop the forward progression of the fire in the northwest and southeast corners last night. This was accomplished with the support of eight helicopters, Crews finished mopping up along the northeast quadrant of the fire; all resources were moved to other priority areas. Crews and heavy equipment continued to widen and strengthen lines and conduct hoselay operations in the south and suppress a few hot spot fires near Clover Flat Road. A local timber company constructed a contingency line tying into the Ben Young burn scar. Crews will continue to look for hot spots and continue mop-up operations.
Today:
A virtual community meeting will be live tonight, Saturday, September 19th at 7 pm on the Fremont-Winema National Forest Facebook page or on KPAI 103.1 FM. Topics include: summary of operations, weather and evacuation updates. While the weather is more favorable, anticipate another active fire day today. The east will be in patrol status; access roads will be open to allow for resource advisors to assess rehabilitation strategies. Heavy equipment will continue to improve contingency lines and look for hot spots along the south flank of the fire where fire was seen creeping and smoldering yesterday; northwest winds will test these lines today. Expect to see several aircraft working the fire. Crews will be seizing opportunities to increase fireline construction and containment with the favorable weather over the coming days.
Evacuations:
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has updated the following evacuation notices:
Level 3 (Go) – Highway 31 from Summer Lake Store south to Red House Lane (north of Paisley). Clover Flat Road from Valley Falls east to Moon Ranch.
Level 2 (Set) – All of Paisley – from Red House Lane, continuing south on Highway 31 to Valley Falls/the junction with U.S. Hwy 395. Clover Flat Road from the intersection with Hwy 31 (Beachler’s Corner) south to Murphy Ranch. From Summer Lake Store north along Highway 31 to the top of Picture Rock Pass.
Level 1 (Ready) – Valley Falls approximately 5 miles south on Hwy 395 to Chandler State Park.
Forest Closure:
From Forest Road 29 southeast to Forest Road 3510 and the 28 Road east, all National Forest System lands and facilities are closed per Forest Closure Order 06-02-03-20-03. Forest Road 3315 is closed; the 28 Road is open.
Summary:
The Brattain fire started on September 7th, 2020 and is currently burning on the Paisley Ranger District of the Fremont-Winema National Forest. The Eastern Area Incident Management Team is currently managing the fire. Firefighting crews continue to operate on a 24-hour schedule and are battling winds, extremely dry conditions and shortages of firefighting resources.
SIZE: 47,243 acres
CONTAINMENT: 44%
CAUSE: Human
PERSONNEL: 437
