The tip of Mt Thielson as it rises above the smoke near the Timber Crater 6 Fire in Crater Lake National Park. A still image from a helicopter fly over. (Inciweb) — The tip of Mt Thielson as it rises above the smoke near the Timber Crater 6 Fire in Crater Lake National Park. A still image from a helicopter fly over. (Inciweb)

CLICK FOR LARGERMap of the location of the Timber Crater 6 Fire. Located on the northeast corner of Crater Lake National Park. (Timber Crater 6 Fire Information Center) — CLICK FOR LARGER
Map of the location of the Timber Crater 6 Fire. Located on the northeast corner of Crater Lake National Park. (Timber Crater 6 Fire Information Center)

Crater Lake National Park, OR – The Timber Crater 6 Fire stands at 3,126 acres, is 75% contained, and is staffed with 394 personnel. The eastern flank of the fire is in patrol status. Crews on the north and west perimeters are securing containment line, while crews on the southern boundary continue to mop up and cold trail the remaining 25% of line.

The Timber Crater 9 Fire is contained at ½ acre. Today firefighters will be flown into the area by helicopter to confirm that containment lines are secure. They will back-haul equipment and surplus supplies. Once the firefighters are satisfied that the containment lines are secure, they will be extracted by helicopter.

Firefighters held the Timber Crater 10 Fire at 184 acres. Multiple fire crews were assigned to initial attack Saturday, working their way east on both the north and south flanks. Yesterday, firefighters pushed containment lines to the head of the fire and linked the lines together at the fire’s eastern end. There is a continuous line built around the fire. Crews will now secure this line by mopping up and cold trailing. At this time the fire is 20% contained. The fire threatened the East Rim and sensitive research and natural areas, but thanks to a quick response by firefighters and air resources the fire remained small. Field Operations Section Chief Keith Dunn summed it up in this morning’s briefing when he said, “It was an incredible catch.”

Suppression repair is underway. Incident Commander Brian Goff shares the National Park and Forest Service’s belief that while wildfire may be compatible with management of the landscape, the work of fire suppression should not leave a lasting mark. Chippers are being used to transform limbs and brush into easily degradable mulch, that is then dispersed over the area. Road graders and water tenders are repairing damage to forest roads. Other firefighters are working closely with resource advisors to develop plans for repairing contingency fireline lines that were constructed outside of the fire perimeter.

Weather conditions in the region today will remain unseasonably hot and dry. These factors could contribute to more active fire behavior. High temperatures will be in the mid 80s. Relative humidity will be 21 to 28 percent, and wind will be easterly at 1 to 4 miles per hour, becoming westerly in the afternoon with speeds of 8 to 10 mph, and with gusts to 15 mph. No wetting rain is forecast in the coming days.

For more information about smoke conditions from air monitoring sites, visit http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/. For hourly updates visit https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/smoke.pl. Smoke monitor #19 is located at Diamond Lake and smoke monitor #20 is located at park headquarters. More information is also available at https://tools.airfire.org/outlooks/CraterLakeArea.

Information provided by Crater Lake National Park, Northwest Incident Management Team 9.

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