Wildfires
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
FIRE
Continued from Page A1
Photo by Colin Murphy for the Blue Mountain Eagle
A backburn is set by wildland firefighters for structure protection.
Fire¿ghters ZorN to contain
Canyon CreeN, 2 other ¿res
Nancy McCarthy
Blue Mountain Eagle
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days following the initial out-
break of the Canyon Creek
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Wednesday, Aug. 19:
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north at Canyon City, south
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Thursday, Aug. 20
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tions ordered for another
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as winds shifted out of the
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Sunday, Aug. 23
Tuesday, Aug. 25
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WILDFIRE TERMINOLOGY
What did they say?
Blue Mountain Eagle
We’re hearing an abundance
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ly associated with the Canyon
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• Air tanker: A fixed-wing aircraft
equipped to drop fire retardants or
suppressants.
• Backfire: A fire set along the
inner edge of a fire line to burn the
fuel in the path of a wildfire and/or
change the direction.
• Bambi bucket: A collapsible
bucket slung below a helicopter,
used to dip water from sources for
fire suppression.
• Complex: Two or more sepa-
rate incidents in the same general
area, assigned to a single incident
commander or unified command.
• Contained: A fuel break
around the fire has been complet-
ed. It might include natural barriers
or manually created lines.
• Controlled: The complete
extinguishing of a fire, including
spot fires. The fireline has been
strengthened to keep flare-ups
within the fire’s perimeter.
• Hazard trees: Trees with struc-
tural defects that might cause all
or part of the tree to potentially
strike a “target,” such as a vehicle,
building or a place where people
gather.
• Incident Commander: The
person responsible for the man-
agement of all incident operations
at the incident site.
• Inversion: A layer of stable air
where the temperature increases
with increase in altitude. It acts as
a cover and limits the amount of
vertical motion in the atmosphere.
• Level 1 evacuation: Be ready.
There is an incident in the area,
people there should be aware
of potential evacuation. Monitor
emergency services sources and
local media for information. Vol-
untarily relocate to a shelter or
with family/friends outside of the
affected area. If they choose to
remain, they should be ready at a
moment’s notice.
• Level 2 evacuation: Get set.
There is significant danger in the
area, and residents should be
ready to leave at a moment’s no-
tice. People are encouraged to go
to a shelter or with family/friends
outside the area as soon as possi-
ble. Those choosing to stay should
be ready to leave immediately.
Residents may have time to gather
items, but doing so is at their own
risk. This might be the only notice
people receive. Emergency ser-
vices can’t guarantee they will be
able to notify residents if conditions
rapidly deteriorate.
• Level 3 evacuation: Go now!
Danger to the area is current or
imminent, and people should
evacuate immediately, quickly and
safely, without gathering belong-
ings or attempting to protect their
home. Follow any directions from
emergency services personnel.
Entry into evacuated areas will be
denied until the hazard subsides.
This will be the last notice given.
• PIO: Public information officer.
The main responsibility of a PIO is
to provide information to the media
and public as required by law and
according to the standards of their
profession.
• Rappeller: A crew of specialist
firefighters trained to access a fire
area by sliding down ropes sus-
pended from a hovering helicopter.
• Red Flag Warning: Term used
by fire weather forecasters to alert
forecast users of an ongoing or im-
minent critical fire weather pattern.
• Spotter: The person responsi-
ble for selecting drop targets and
supervising the needs of dropping
smokejumpers.
• The Level 1 alert was lift-
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Saturday, Aug. 22
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signed off on an order granting
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By Wednesday afternoon,
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“I believe we did everything
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ed at Eagle Peak, further adding
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stretched thin across the North-
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continue to burn in Oregon and
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gency services contractor, said
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hearts go out to all who lost their
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and he is thankful for all the
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