LYLE — The Burdoin Fire has slightly grown in size since Monday morning, now encompassing nearly 11,000 acres between Bingen and Murdock. Although yesterday’s cooler temperatures and light rain granted a brief reprieve, warmer, drier weather is expected through Thursday, with winds potentially reaching up to 35 miles per hour.
“That’s when we’re looking at our next critical fire weather period,” said Matthew Dehr, the meteorologist on Complex Incident Management Team Northwest 13, which is coordinating response efforts. “[We] still have a good 24 to 48 hours to get really good work done before that critical fire weather arrives.”
Today, crews focused their operational efforts on several fuel-abundant, steep canyons where fire can spread rapidly: Catherine Creek, Major Creek, Silvas Creek and along the Klickitat River. On the spot fire northeast of Lyle, they completed a burnout, an intentionally set fire to remove vegetation, near Oda Knight Road, complementing another burnout off Struck Road already done and strengthening tied fuel breaks on the north and south sides.
On Monday, fixed-wing scoopers and heavy helicopters helped slow the fire’s movement while hand crews and bulldozers built fire lines from the west across Catherine Creek and east across Major Creek, according to a report from Northwest 13. Successfully connecting those two lines is still ongoing, as is mop up and structure assessment along State Route 14 and Old Highway 8. Almost 850 personnel and fire resources are now engaged in suppressing the Burdoin Fire.
Lyle residents, and others in the Level 3 zone, are to stay out of the area until notified by the county. KCSO, emergency management and the assessor’s office are working to confirm the number of structures damaged or destroyed and will contact property owners individually. Those served by the Lyle Post Office, which is temporarily closed, can pick up their mailin White Salmon at 185 NE Snohomish Ave. with a valid photo ID.
State Route 14 is still closed in both directions between milepost 66 east of Bingen to milepost 76 west of Lyle. Other complete closures include the Courtney, Bristol and Bates connection up to where Snowden Road intersects with Pearce Road; State Route 142, from milepost 1 near Klickitat County Park to milepost 4 near Knight Creek; Old Highway 8; Lyle Snowden, Canyon and Fischer Hill roads up to Sleepy Hollow Road, which is closed between Acme and Fischer Hill; Struck Road; and Centerville Highway between Lyle and Schilling Road.
For up-to-date information on closures and reopenings, visit the county’s website or Facebook page. You can sign up for emergency alerts here. Red Cross emergency shelters are located at Grace Baptist Church, 1280 W. Jewett Blvd., in White Salmon, WA, and The Dalles Middle School, 1100 E. 12th St., The Dalles.
For livestock and animal evacuation assistance, or to check the status of your home, contact the Klickitat County Emergency Operations Center 509-773-0570. If you have extra housing available for affected residents, fill out this form, or if you’d like to volunteer, click here.
The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area has also issued a closure order for the following recreation sites: Catherine Creek Recreation Area, Coyote Wall Trailhead, Balfour-Klickitat, Lyle Trailhead, Klickitat Milepost 1 and Klickitat Wild and Scenic River. For a map and further details on the closures, click here.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.