SODA FIRE INFORMATION: Courtesy BLM
Updated 5am Friday 8/14/15
NEW EVACUATION ORDERS:
There are more evacuation orders in place this morning due to fire.
In Owyhee County, evacuation is reccomended for the Hardtrigger and Wilson Creek area, both south of Highway 78.
The Soda Fire is burning eight miles northeast of Jordan Valley, Idaho in grass and sagebrush. For the past two days, the fire has displayed extreme fire behavior that has moved the fire a distance of over 40 miles long and ten miles wide. This rapid growth triggered the evacuation of a four neighborhood roads near of Homedale, ID August 12. Interior pockets burning out along HWY 95 caused closures throughout the day, but did not affect containment. Dozers and air tankers worked together to reduce impacts on sage grouse and grazing land.
Upper Reynolds Creek Road is closed, as is the Jump Creek Recreational site and all trailheads from Silver City to Jump Creek. In Oregon, Succor Creek Road is closed off of Highway 201.Operations Section Chief, Jason Butler, said this evening, “We had a really successful day. With the additional 200 firefighters and weather that worked with us today, we made some great progress today.”The most active fire behavior took place this afternoon when the fire made wind and terrain driven runs into Reynolds Creek and Wilson Creek drainages on the southeast flank of the fire. Firefighters are using existing trails and roads to construct line where possible.On the South flank of the fire today around Wilson Point dozers and aircraft worked to secure a safe anchor on the southern end of the fire. This will allow firefighters to begin to move north to flank the south and west flanks of the fire.On the northern end, there were some pockets of heat that burned interior pockets of brush. Firefighters were able to secure and reinforce the line.
Current Situation: Structures in Reynolds and Wilson drainages are threatened. We are no receiving assistance from Owyhee and Canon County Fire Departments to help with structure protection along the Snake River. This is possible with a mutual aid agreement sponsored by Idaho Department of Homeland Security.Tonight, thunderstorms are expected to develop this evening and overnight that will bring little rainfall and may influence spread in other areas. A nightshift will conduct a burnout operation to help secure the southeast flank of the fire near Reynolds Creek. The fire is expected to be active overnight.An additional Incident Management Team from the Rocky Mountain area arrived in Boise this evening to gather information. They will shadow the Great Basin Incident Management Team 5 Friday and will take command of the southern portion of the fire Saturday.
Weather: Friday, a red flag warning for strong, gusty winds and low relative humidity will be effect. Fire behavior will continue to be very active as a cold front begins to moves overhead bring a change in wind direction. This wind shift is expected to push the fire to the south and east Friday.
