Crews battle Ironside fire

By Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 11:45 AM PDT

This small city of tents in Vale signifies the presence of fire crews currently grappling with the Irish Spring Fire, near Ironside. Crews are trying to take advantage of cool temperatures to contain the blaze, which was first discovered Friday.

IRONSIDE - Fire crews under the management of the Northwest Oregon Incident Management Team worked Monday to take advantage of a second day of cool and damp weather to contain a blaze that has consumed thousands of acres in the northwest corner of Malheur County.

The blaze, dubbed the Irish Spring Fire, was first spotted Friday afternoon but quickly spread Saturday. The Irish Spring Fire is the largest blaze in Malheur County.

Initially reported to be about 500 acres Friday night, by late Saturday the fire spread to scorch more than 15,000 acres, Peter Frezen, Northwest Oregon Incident Management team public information officer, said. Monday the blaze covered 55,000 acres.

The Vale District of the United States Bureau of Land Management used initial attack crews early on to fight the blaze. The BLM gained assistance from the Ironside Rangeland Protection Association, the Juntura Rangeland Protection Association and the SRV Fire Chiefs Association, which was called for structure protection.

“It was going pretty fast Saturday night,” Randy Hyde, Vale BLM interim public information officer, said. “We lost four structures.”

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Ten or 11 head of cattle were also lost, he said, and a lot of cattle have been misplaced as fences were cut to get them away from the fire.

“Cause is still under investigation,” Hyde said.

Winds played havoc with the firefighting effort early on, Hyde said.

“We pulled everybody off the firelines when the winds increased to 30 to 35 mph,” Hyde said. “We went to structure projection after that.”

The Northwest Oregon Incident Management Team began to assemble Saturday and took over management of the firefighting effort Saturday evening.

“The fire responded to dry fuels and wind, and grew quite rapidly,” Frezen said. “Access is limited.”

Frezen said much of the terrain at the fire location is steep, with canyons that funnel the wind, making it dangerous for firefighters. Some of the dead fuels had only 6 percent moisture, which is half the moisture of kiln-dried wood, Frezen said.

A heavy helicopter was being used on the fire Monday.

“It will be lifting water out of Beulah Reservoir,” Frezen said, about 20 miles away. The aerial attack also includes seven single airtankers, four heavy air- tankers, in addition to the ground crews. About 500 people were in the fire camp by Monday at noon with another 200 expected to arrive, including an SRV crew. One of the tasks for the airtankers Monday was to make drops on the flames burning on Ironside Mountain, Frezen said, because of the timber.

“It (Ironside Mountain) has quite a bit of fuels,” he said. “It’s pretty rugged. The fire has moved up the mountain.”

Even fuels within fire lines are a threat to spread, as trees can start spot fires as much as one-quarter of a mile away as embers are blown by the wind. The light rain Sunday was welcome, Frezen said, but benefits from the moisture could evaporate quickly as temperatures are expected to warm up again today.