Cedar Creek Fire Grows to 85K Acres, 0% Contained

Officials on the Cedar Creek Fire dropped containment levels to 0% today as the fire breached existing lines and has grown to over 85k acres as of Sunday morning. Here is the latest information on the Cedar Creek Fire from incident command: Size: 85,926 acres Contained: 0% Start Date: August 1, 2022 Location: 15 miles E of Oakridge, OR Cause: Lightning Total personnel: 994 Resources: 53 engines, 19 crews, 62 heavy equipment, 8 helicopters Current Situation: A Level 3 evacuation remains in place for the greater Oakridge, Westfir, and High Prairie area. There have been no changes in evacuation levels or areas in the last day. The fire grew significantly due to the weekend’s weather event (over 32,000 acres), primarily to the west, driven by strong easterly winds and dry fuels. Because the fire breached existing lines, the fire’s containment has been dropped to 0%. Currently 2,230 homes and 443 commercial structures remain under threat from the Cedar Creek Fire. The Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal has committed seven taskforces and an incident management team to protect homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure in the area. Due to strong east winds and triple digit temperatures that work has primarily focused on the west side of the fire. As conditions change and winds shift, firefighters with the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office will continue to evaluate threats to lives and properties. Fire crews will continue working day and night shifts to access structures and patrol critical areas where the fire is encroaching. Status: Yesterday evening, as winds started moving toward the east, firefighters on the western flank completed strategic burning operations near Eagle Butte, 5 miles northeast of Oakridge. The fire remained north of Highway 58, south of Forest Road 19, and east of Eagle Butte. Today, resources will maintain a heavy presence on the Highway 58 and Forest Road 19 corridors as they continue direct attack on the fire. Crews on the western flanks will mop-up and secure burnout operations. In the east zone, direct checking actions continued on the southeast edge of the fire in the Waldo Lake area. Efforts are focused on creating fire breaks along existing roads and other barriers and burn-out operations to reduce fuels. Heavy equipment is arriving on site for use near Cultus Lake and Little Cultus Lake, and along the Cascade Lakes Highway and forest roads. The Cascade Lakes Highway remains closed to protect the public and firefighters as crews remove brush. Crews are preparing Forest Road 4290 between Charlton Lakes and the Cascade Lakes Highway to control the spread of the fire to the southeast. Brushing along the Cascade Lakes Highway continues to create fuel breaks 100-200 feet in depth on both sides of the road. Crews are working in the Brown Mountain area to reinforce a barrier east of the highway between Crane Prairie and Wickiup reservoirs. These fire breaks are high priority and will likely take most of a week to complete. In addition, crews are prepping infrastructure around Lava Lake Resort and evaluating values around Odell Lake. Weather/Fire Behavior: The extreme weather from the last two days has eased. Winds are shifting to northwesterly direction and have calmed. It is still very dry, but temperatures are starting to cool, and the heavy smoke layer has the effect of shading and moderating fire activity. Spotting and torching are still anticipated, and fire will continue to advance through lichens and heavy fuels.