Crews battling the Beachie Creek fire east of Salem spent Thursday morning mopping up areas along the southern fire front along Highway 22. The fire size, as of Friday morning, is 186,856 acres, according to a fire officials.
Fire officials said crews have been successful in establishing anchor points in the Mehama and Lyons area where significantly less fire growth occurred. Crews then transitioned to doing structure protection in Silver Falls State Park, the areas of Drake’s Crossing, Scott’s Mills, and the Abiqua drainage.
Meanwhile, officials say additional fire crews established anchor points to limit spread. As the fire continued north, work was performed along the northwest and northern fire fronts. Extremely dry conditions fueled continued growth toward the Riverside Fire.
Fire Officials said they’ll continue to work closely with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, ODOT and the Oregon State Police to coordinate recovery efforts along the Santiam Canyon. As of Friday morning, 13,700 structures are at Level 3 evacuations and more than 18,500 homes are under level 2 evacuations.
The pubic is being warned by officials that anyone who enters the fire perimeter is jeopardizing firefighting and rescue operations, and increasing the time it will take to return residents to their communities and putting lives at risk.
