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(Update: Firefighters test positive for COVID-19, quarantined away from campfire)
LAKEVIEW, Ore. (KTVZ) – Incident management teams are working closely with local public health officials and the Oregon Health Authority’s investigation into nine positive cases of COVID-19 among crew battling the fire nearly 400,000 acres, officials said Thursday.
In accordance with protocols developed in partnership with the OHA for the 2020 fire season, individuals reporting symptoms and those who have worked closely with them are tested and isolated until results are received. Those who test positive are quarantined away from the campfire.
Due to the number of positive cases, this will be reported to the OHA as a workplace outbreak, and updates on the number of positive cases associated with this outbreak will be included in the COVID-19 weekly report. ‘OHA, which is published every Wednesday.
“Protecting the health and safety of firefighting personnel and the local community is the top priority,” officials said.
This fire season has been slightly different, due to the wide availability of vaccines and the prioritization of structural and forest firefighting resources for spring vaccination. However, many measures to mitigate exposure to COVID-19 from last year are still in use at fire camps statewide. Measures currently in place at incident camps include:
- Each team has a designated health liaison whose main goal is to mitigate the spread of the virus through the implementation of best practices. They also work with state and local authorities to handle suspected cases and ensure effective testing and contact tracing of fire resources.
- Ensure the safety of incident responders and the public by implementing a comprehensive risk management process, including planning for incident operations that minimizes the impacts and spread of COVID-19.
- Provide wellness services such as hand washing stations, many sanitizing and cleaning products, cleaning services to regularly disinfect surfaces with frequent use.
- Catering services have been designed to minimize contact between resources and support services.
- The camp has also been set up to provide sufficient space for fire teams, in line with social distancing guidelines, and to minimize direct interactions between the teams.
Fire managers remain committed to ensuring safe and efficient firefighting operations. The teams will continue to partner with the OHA and county public health officials to identify any opportunities to strengthen existing mitigation measures. Incident management staff are waiting and hoping for a full recovery of firefighting resources.
Previous story:
BLY, Ore. (AP) – Lower winds and better weather conditions helped crews use bulldozers and helicopters to tackle Southern Oregon’s largest wildfire, the Bootleg Fire, while a northern California wildfire has swept through Nevada, prompting further evacuations as fires burn in the west.
The Bootleg Fire has grown to nearly 400,000 acres, or 624 square miles, or more than half the size of Rhode Island. However, authorities said higher humidity on Wednesday and overnight and better conditions allowed teams to improve firing lines. The blaze was also approaching an area scorched by a previous blaze on its active southeast flank, raising hopes that lack of fuel could reduce its spread and the forecast of favorable weather conditions for firefighting on Thursday.
“Fire crews and support personnel have made significant progress in containing this fire over the past few days,” Joe Prummer, trainee incident commander with Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 2, said in a statement. , we still have a long way to go to ensure the safety of surrounding communities. “
The lightning-triggered Oregon Blaze ravaged the sparsely populated southern part of the state and had spread for up to 4 miles per day, driven by strong winds and extremely dry weather. The fire, which is fought by more than 2,200 people, is now more than a third under control.
At least 2,000 homes have been evacuated at some point during the fire and 5,000 more have been threatened. At least 70 houses and over 100 outbuildings have burned down, but no one is known to be dead.
For more information: https://apnews.com/article/science-health-fires-environment-and-nature-california-2e4bbcb61fcca2608e3f33c5d9118999
Daily Bootleg Fire Update July 22
Location: 28 miles northeast of Klamath Falls, OR
Area: 399,359 acres
Staff: 2,359 Containment: 38%
(Klamath Falls, OR) – Higher humidity and reduced wind speeds yesterday and overnight have allowed firefighters to build and improve fire lines. Today’s forecasts will be favorable to continue these efforts to secure the existing line of fire. A steady trend of warming and drying will begin today and continue through the weekend, which could affect fire activity in the coming days.
“Fire crews and support personnel have made significant progress in containing this blaze over the past few days,” said Joe Prummer, trainee incident commander of the Pacific Northwest 2 Incident Management Team. However, we still have a long way to go to ensure the safety of surrounding communities.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal has started work with Zone 2 on the north and northeast sections of the blaze. The line of fire to Long Creek was improved with bulldozers and helicopter drops. Firefighters explored the area from Long Creek to Coyote Creek to develop a plan to connect the fire line to the already completed line near the grounds of The Nature Conservancy. Fire activity resumed in Sycan Marsh, but was quickly contained by bulldozers. Crews and equipment move directly along the eastern line of fire while working to improve emergency lines between the fire and communities near Summer Lake, as well as to protect the structure of these houses. There was slight growth to the northeast, but the bulldozer crews were able to stop this progress and the crews will strive to maintain that today.
In many areas of the fire, firefighters are working to patrol and clean up areas along the line. This step is necessary to ensure that any heat that could threaten the safety of the line of fire has been extinguished. Resources continue to be moved around the fire perimeter to meet resource needs throughout the fire area. As the need for night operations in the Southern Zone diminishes, these resources will either be moved to the Day Team or returned home to rest as they expire.
An additional responsibility of firefighters on the Bootleg Fire is to provide an initial attack response in the area adjacent to the fire. Any new start has the potential to grow quickly, given the extremely dry fuel conditions. Fire managers identified resources that would respond immediately in the event that a new fire broke out.
Evacuations: Klamath and Lake counties have changed evacuation zones; please be sure to check out the new areas on the interactive Lake and Klamath County Evacuation Level Map at tinyurl.com/bootlegevac.
Red Cross Evacuation Shelters: Open 24/7: Thrive Church – 235 South Laguna St. Klamath Falls, Oregon For more information or assistance: 1-800-Red-Cross, FB @RedCrossCascades, (www.redcrossblog.org/disaster)
Closures: The Fremont-Winema National Forest is closed to the public in the fire zone. Map and full order available at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7609/.
Smoke: Afternoon smoke impacts will continue to be high in areas to the north, northeast and east of the fire, particularly near Silver Lake, Summer Lake and Paisley . Continuing southwest winds will push the Bootleg Fire smoke away from Lakeview, Klamath Falls and the Sprague River Valley, but may bring some Dixie Fire smoke to the area. See: fires.airfire.org/outlooks/southcentraloregon.
Public Fire Information Telephone: 541-482-1331 Fire Information Media Telephone: 971-727-7255
InciWeb: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7609/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/BootlegFireInfo
Twitter:twitter.com/BootlegFireInfoHashtags: #BootlegFire # FireYear2021
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