Bootleg Fire, Aug. 2

ODF report, Sunday, August 1, 1:30 p.m. – Location: 28 miles NE of Klamath Falls; Size: 413,752 acres; Personnel: 1,878; Fireline total: 323 miles (83 miles active fire edge, 240 miles of contained line = 74% containment). KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Cloud cover and light rain over the last couple of days have moderated fire behavior. These favorable conditions have allowed crews on the ground, with continued air support, to make good progress on the fire line. The entire perimeter has been closed and crews are working to expand the width of the line, extinguish residual heat and flames, cut snags so they don’t roll downslope taking embers with them, and use bulldozers to straighten the ragged edge on the east side of the fire. Because there haven’t been more spot fires or breaches of the line, the Incident Management Team has been able to allocate necessary resources to focus on the active areas of the fire and strengthen the fire line. Those efforts may be just in time. Sunday some isolated thunderstorms are possible, but they are more likely to bring gusty winds than rain. By Tuesday or Wednesday, warmer temperatures, low humidity, and gusty winds are likely to create conditions for rapid fire spread. This will be a test of the work that has been done so far to contain the fire. “We’re not nervous about this weather,” said Karen Scholl, Operations Section Chief. “We want this test to happen to see how our line holds, while we have crews and contingencies in place. We believe we’re in a good position to be tested.”