Beginning Saturday, several days of gusty winds and warmer temperatures are expected around the Cedar Creek Fire outside Oakridge.
Incident command personnel say they’re prepared.
At today’s briefing for Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a fire weather outlook showed elevated fire severity including east winds exceeding 20 miles per hour, and highs near 80.
Kit Moffett is with Northwest Team 9 as an operations section chief. He told reporters that they’ve put together a “surge task force” ahead of the weekend.
“Including an additional Hot Shot crew in addition to the two we have, and some engines, some other resources, to kinda bolster what we’ve got in place in case we have trouble with those east winds,” said Moffett.
“We do feel pretty good about the removal of fuel we’ve been able to do along the containment feature, so we’re feeling like we are in a good spot. But just as a safety measure, we’re bringing in those additional resources.”
Moffett added they don’t expect evacuation levels to change for the Oakridge-Westfir communities.
For residents in those wildfire-prone areas, having systems in place to keep alert to evacuation notices is key to keeping safe.
Mariana Ruiz-Temple is Oregon’s State Fire Marshal. At the briefing for the governor, she outlined what Oakridge-Westfir residents need to have in order to stay on top of wildfires.
“One is your cellphone and those OR-Alerts, two is landlines, three is radio, and then four is know your neighbor, so that your neighbor can help in those events.”
Ruiz-Temple said Oakridge-Westfir residents have had to contend with recurring wildfires in their area, especially the past three years.
State and county officials continue to revisit communication systems, to help avoid confusion and delays during emergencies.
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