Wildfire — Ochoco-john Day Highlands, Oregon

2014-09-01 to 2014-09-23 · Ochoco-john Day Highlands, Oregon

Event narrative

Inciweb.

Wider weather episode

Lightning sparked a wild fire south of the John day area on August 2nd. The fire would go on to spread over 2500 acres.

Update as of 9/23/14:

A moderate amount of smoke settled into the John Day Valley yesterday, with air quality measured as 'good' by monitors placed in John Day and Unity. A cold front brought multiple lightning strikes across Grant County west of the fire area, with new smoke reports being investigated this morning. Cloud cover overnight prevented infrared detection the fire's expanded perimeter.

More than a half-inch of rain has been measured since yesterday near Deardorff Mountain, on the southeast side of the fire, and will limit fire growth and smoke today. However, the rain was not enough to clear visible smoke from the air.

Winds will be out of the south today, causing smoke to again settle into drainages and valleys north of the fire tonight, in Unity and Baker City. Southerly winds will shift to out of the north tomorrow evening, moving smoke back over the fire and away from John Day, Prairie City, Unity and Baker City.

Fire resources on the ground yesterday included a 20-person handcrew, 5 engines, and 2 water tenders, along with a field observer and several fire commanders. In light of changing conditions, many of those resources are being released today, and will be available to respond to new fire starts.

Estimated Containment Date Oct 15th 2014.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 536202. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.