Bonanza, Ore. Yesterday crews continued to make progress on the Hagelstein Fire, achieving 50 feet of mop up on the west side of the fire. Today they will be working to expand that to 75 feet on the west side and 50 feet on the east flank.
In the coming days crews will focus on mop up and falling snags to minimize overhead hazards for firefighter safety. Pacific Power was able to reenergize the powerlines running through the Hagelstein Fire yesterday, stabilizing the power grid for the surrounding communities.
With at least 200 feet of solid mop up around the Elk Fire, crews are shifting their focus to fire suppression repair and pulling hose and equipment from the fireline that is no longer needed. These items will be washed and refurbished for the next deployment. Crews are using handheld infrared cameras to search for heat as they grid the area adjacent to the fireline.
Oregon Department of Forestry Team 1 Incident Commander, Joe Hessel, reminded firefighters at the morning briefing, “We need to make sure we are watching for changes in the conditions and monitoring for smoke and heat across the fires as the dry cold front moves through.
Today, strong, gusty afternoon winds along with hot and dry conditions will serve as a good test to ensure that firelines around the fires hold.
The Fremont-Winema National Forest has implemented forest area closures around the fires for public and firefighter safety.
Areas of smoke can be expected in the Klamath Basin from local and regional wildfires; air quality may be unhealthy for sensitive groups at times. Visit https://www.oregonsmoke.org/ for air quality information and ways to reduce impacts from wildfire smoke.
The Klamath County Sheriff has evacuation levels around the Elk Fire. For the latest evacuation information, please visit: https://protect.genasys.com/search
