While crews are mopping up and increasingly containing the Knoll Fire just east of McKenzie Bridge, parts of the affected area will be closed for a year, perhaps longer.
At last check, the 544-acre Knoll Fire was 60 percent contained. But four miles of the McKenzie River Trail – from the Blue Pool trailhead to Deer Creek – will be closed through the summer of 2022, maybe longer.
Darren Cross is the acting deputy Forest Supervisor for the Willamette National Forest. He added part of the McKenzie River – from Trailbridge Dam to Deer Creek – has also been affected.
“The navigability of that is no longer safe," Cross told KLCC. "There’s trees falling into the river in that section as well. So the closure order is then placed to make sure that people stay out of those areas where there’s falling debris, falling rocks, and stump holes, and things like that.”
Campfires remain banned throughout the entire Willamette National Forest due to extreme fire danger and ongoing wildfires.
Copyright 2021, KLCC.
