East Maury Escaped Prescribed Fire 2016

At 14:00 on the second day of the East Maury #42 prescribed fire during a patrol, a column of smoke was spotted near the north handline (adjacent to private property). Upon further investigation, it was determined that the burn had escaped control lines with a spot fire approximately 0.5-1.0 acre in size, burning actively. The Burn Boss was notified and ignitions on the prescribed burn were stopped. Two T-6 engines remained on the burn unit to manage the burn while other resources were diverted to contain the spot fire. Fire behavior was described as very active with crowning, group torching and spotting approximately two chains ahead of the fire with rapid growth. Initial containment efforts were successful. However, torching trees ignited additional spot fires that exhibited rapid growth. It was determined that additional resources would be needed to stop fire spread.

A helicopter was requested but due to a wildfire on an adjacent forest, the Oregon Department of Forestry helicopter located in Prineville had been released for initial attack. Additionally, the Burn Boss was informed that resources from Oregon Department of Forestry were not able to be used for prescribed burns due to lack of a payment mechanism. The Burn Boss requested a Federal aircraft but no aircraft were available locally and response time would be over an hour. The prescribed fire was converted to a wildfire (East Maury Fire) at 16:00 and additional resources were ordered. Containment of the East Maury Fire was achieved on October 5th at 1,445 acres.

Escaped RX, Firing, Prescribed Fire, Escaped Prescribed Fire