When first reported in early August, the Knoll Fire brought an ominous sense of déjà vu to McKenzie River Residents. But several factors kept the incident from becoming as destructive as last year’s Holiday Farm Fire.
Standing on the banks of the McKenzie River, Darren Cross pointed across the waters to dark and ashy spots where the Knoll Fire burned. The acting deputy supervisor of the Willamette National Forest told KLCC that when the lightning-caused fire began, there were immediate barriers helping crews.
"We had very little line construction, we were able to use roads and rivers," said Cross. "Here we had Deer Creek and the McKenzie River as those control features.
"And then used control fire, using backfires to remove some fuels in a methodical way and kept the fire within those boundary lines.”
Cross added that the Holiday Farm Fire was an east-wind event with low humidity, whereas the Knoll Fire was more typical. Dozens of personnel took just a week to contain the 544-acre incident; now it’s in the mop-up and patrol phase.
Copyright 2021, KLCC.
