Operating Base established in Spray as Lonerock Fire moves toward John Day River

SPRAY, OR - The Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office announced on Sunday, July 21, that they have created a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Spray.

Oregon State Fire Marshal spokesman Steve Chapman said in a morning briefing that the operating base in Spray will allow for quicker response times.

Chapman said that crews have been engaged in point-protection, which focuses preventative efforts on homes and structures and pushes the fire around structures.

With erratic winds, the fire has continued to move to the southwest. The Alder Creek area has seen increased fire activity and crews struggled to maintain lines along the southwest portion of the fire.

The good news is that several structures were saved last night, and the town of Spray appears to be in a good place.

Eleven special task forces that specialize in structure fires have been established in Spray and the surrounding area. These task forces are with the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office and are highly trained in preventing structure fires, and are also skilled in fighting structure fires.

Here is the rest of the 7/21/24 Morning Operation Briefing from the Northwest 2 Team and the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office:

Lone Rock Fire Morning Update - July 21, 2024

Containment: 40%

Total Acres: 116,563

Total Personnel: 819

Crews: 10

Engines: 69

Dozers: 17

Helicopters: 4

"We're busy," John Szulc, Incident Commander Trainee for NW Team 2 said during Saturday's Community Meeting in Fossil, OR. "We're strapped. We got a lot of people, a lot of fires, and a lot of people engaged on those fires all over the state."

Fire season is in full swing in the western states, especially in Oregon. Nationally, more than 20,000 people are assigned to wildfires. The Lone Rock Fire has outstanding requests for fire crews, fireline leadership and other positions to support this large incident. With the current wildfire situation (Preparedness Level of 5), critical needs and resource shortages arise.

National Situation:

Uncontained wildfires: 60

Active acres: 1,077,697

Personnel assigned: 21,124

Crews: 520

Engines: 1220

Helicopters: 111

The Pacific Northwest also hosts 14 Incident Management Teams (IMTs); 8 Federal Complex IMTs, 3 Oregon Department of Forestry Type 1 IMTs, and 3 Oregon State Fire Marshal IMTs. As of yesterday at 7:00 PM, all these teams were assigned to wildfires within Oregon and Washington. Three additional IMTs were brought into the area from Northern California, the Great Basin and the Northern Rockies.

"I haven't seen this (all of our IMTs committed) in many, many years, especially in July." Szulc added. "This is highly unusual."

To watch Saturday's entire community meeting on Facebook, visit this link:

https://www.facebook.com/pnwteam2/videos/504333105501291

For an interactive fire map and to download the Watch Duty app: https://app.watchduty.org/

Northwest Coordination Center - detailed wildfire information morning brief: https://gacc.nifc.gov/.../intelligence/MORNINGBRIEF.pdf

Access the National Incident Management Situation Report for large wildfire info: https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/sitreprt.pdf

Oregon State Fire Marshal

Oregon Department of Forestry

U.S. Forest Service

Gilliam County Sheriff's Office

Wheeler County Sheriff's Office

Morrow County Sheriff's Office

Bureau of Land Management

Oregon Department of Forestry Central Oregon District

@grant county emergency management

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