Boiler Bay Beacon
Lincoln County fire agencies answered two separate resource requests from the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office this week, deploying task forces to active wildfires in southern and central Oregon.
The deployments, announced in consecutive Lincoln County Fire Defense Board notifications, mark the fifth and sixth times local resources have been requested during the current period of heightened statewide wildfire activity.
On Thursday, Aug. 6, Task Force 52 left Lincoln County at 5 a.m. for a pre-positioning assignment in Sutherlin in Douglas County. The move was intended to bolster rapid response capability in an area under Red Flag warnings. Pre-positioning assignments are typically limited to 72 hours.
Task Force 52 includes units from Lincoln and Tillamook counties: North Lincoln Fire E-15 (Type 3 engine), Central County Fire HB-73 (Type 3 engine), Newport Fire BR-31 (Type 6 engine), Seal Rock Fire BR-62 (Type 6 engine), Tillamook Bay Fire WT-71 (water tender), and North Lincoln Fire C-1 (task force leader). The deployment is led by Task Force Leader Chief Rob Dahlman of North Lincoln Fire & Rescue. The task force arrived in Sutherlin about 9 a.m.
During its second day, Task Force 52 was redirected to the Wrights Spring Fire in Klamath County. The fire started Aug. 5 and had grown rapidly to an estimated 8,772 acres by the time of the reassignment. What began as a short pre-positioning mission may now last up to 14 days depending on fire activity and operational needs.
The following morning, Friday, Aug. 8, the Fire Defense Board mobilized Task Force 62 to the Brewer Fire-Rowe Creek Complex-West. The complex, which started July 15, was estimated at more than 357,895 acres. It is located approximately 11.5 miles east of Madras in Crook and Jefferson counties.
Task Force 62 consists of units from Lincoln, Tillamook and Yamhill counties: Depoe Bay Fire HB21 (Type 3 engine, three firefighters), Netarts-Oceanside Fire E62 (Type 3 engine, three firefighters), Dayton Fire BR6 (Type 6 engine, two firefighters), North Lincoln Fire BR16 (Type 6 engine, two firefighters), Siletz Valley Fire WT52 (water tender, two firefighters), and North Lincoln Fire C-11 (task force leader, one firefighter). Personnel from Central Coast Fire are filling positions on various apparatus. The task force is led by Chief Cody Heidt of North Lincoln Fire Rescue.
Task Force 62 departed Lincoln County at 6:30 a.m. and headed to a staging area in Prineville. It was expected to arrive about noon and be assigned to operational duties. The deployment may last up to 14 days.
Lincoln County Fire Defense Board Chief Tom Jackson said local agencies remain committed to maintaining emergency response capabilities at home even as resources are deployed elsewhere in the state. Outdoor debris burning remains prohibited throughout Lincoln County. Residents and visitors are asked to use extreme caution with any activity that could produce a spark or ignite dry vegetation.
“Every preventable wildfire places additional demands on firefighting resources that are already heavily committed across the state,” Jackson said in the notifications. “Every wildfire prevented helps protect our communities while allowing available resources to remain focused on the incidents already threatening lives and property.”
Jackson asked the public to keep affected communities and the firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical personnel, dispatchers, incident management teams and support staff working the fires in their thoughts.
