Keeping Watch. High above an area burned by the Lobster Creek Fire, a lookout keeps watch as her team works far below. (Inciweb) — Keeping Watch. High above an area burned by the Lobster Creek Fire, a lookout keeps watch as her team works far below. (Inciweb)

Final Update

ODF Incident Management Team 3 (ODF IMT 3) will hand responsibility for the Lobster Creek Fire back to Coos Forest Protective Association (CFPA) Sunday at 12:00 pm. After four days with no additional growth and well-established control lines, fire managers are handing off the fire confident it poses no additional threat to life or property. Containment is estimated at 75 percent.

“History will judge us by what we leave behind. The fire team did excellent work and I’m confident our efforts to suppress this fire will withstand the summer,” said Link Smith Team 3 Incident Commander.

Control lines around the fire’s perimeter have been mopped up to at least 100 feet and deeper in areas with more potential to reignite. However, occasional smoke from unburnt fuel smoldering in the fire’s interior may be visible.

CFPA will manage the fire with a smaller (Type 3) organization based at the Curry County Fairgrounds. Suppression strategies include additional mop up, regular engine patrols and rehabilitation efforts. The Curry County Fair will take place at the Fairgrounds as planned August 14-18.

Resources on the fire today include 192 personnel—five hand crews, six engines, three water tenders and one light helicopter on standby.

The Lobster Creek Fire was a fast-moving wildfire driven by strong winds. It burned valuable productive timberlands protected by the Coos Forest Protective Association. Responsive efforts by state and local wildland forces kept the fire’s size under 400 acres. Through July 6th, suppression costs reached $2,038,000.

Team 3 fire managers leave an excellent safety record. Over 700 personnel logged more than 36,100 hours of exposure in hazardous terrain without a reported injury.

Klamath Falls News coverage of the 2018 Wildfire Season is brought to you by Excel Auto Body.

We at Excel Auto Body appreciate the brave men and women wildland firefighters that put themselves in harms way to protect our greatest treasures. Thank you for all that you.

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