Winding Waters Complex 2024

The Winding Waters Complex of fires started after a lightning storm moved through Northeast Oregon starting multiple fires across the footprint of the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch response area during the afternoon of July 24, 2024. Initial attack into the evening caught all of the fires on Oregon Department of Forestry protected lands.

The afternoon of July 25th, the Charlie Brown Road Fire ignited about 10 miles north of Wallowa on Oregon Department of Forestry jurisdiction.  A strong initial attack was initiated by units of the ODF Northeast Oregon District Wallowa Unit, US Forest Service, landowners, contractors, and industrial logging operators.

Shortly after the start of the Charlie Brown Fire, approximately 25 air miles to the northeast, the Courtney Creek Fire was reported. Photos provided by air attack revealed the fire footprint to be positioned atop a flat ridge amongst deep, rugged canyons requiring savvy firefighting tactics. Coordination between ODF, the Forest Service, and additional landowner resources caught that fire before it could spread across the landscape and engulf 23 threatened structures. One minor structure was lost. That day the district, along with their agency partners, local landowners and the industrial operators had success in corralling these two fires with extreme potential.

On the afternoon of July 26, as crews continued holding and mopping up the two fires from the previous day, as temperatures rose and humidity dropped, two new starts were reported. The Water Fire and Big Canyon Fire, in a brief time, began showing visible columns due west of the City of Wallowa. As the district responded, a third column from the Mountain View Fire pushed skyward north of the Water and Big Canyon Fires across Highway 82 and the Wallowa River canyon.  With the local district resources stretched from the prior day’s firefight, and three additional fires growing at a rate soon to exceed local IA resource capacity, aid streamed in from across the District to join the firefight. Helicopters and fixed wing aircraft arrived, deploying retardant and water. Additionally, dozers, engines and handcrews were engaged. Responding to the need, structural departments from Wallowa County and Union County arrived to assist. Multiple industrial operators, along with landowners and grazing leasees were giving all they had to protect their ground. All hands were protecting all lands.

In a desperate sprint, aware of the implications of failure, and through a fight that ran into late afternoon, the combined effort achieved a “catch-and-hold" on the Mountain View Fire stopping its advance before it reached the Highway 82 corridor and negatively impacting Pacific Power’s high voltage transmission line that services Wallowa County. Forward spread was also stopped and dozer line constructed on the Water Fire.  The Big Canyon Fire, burning in extreme terrain in the Deer Creek drainage, was the only fire not able to be lined by the end of the day.  he ODF Northeast Oregon District, by that evening, had no additional resources but for firefighter resolve to hold the fires they had caught. Five active fires were planted on the district footprint and adjacent regional districts and cooperators were using all the resources they had in their own response areas. With no other resources, and a need for overhead to manage the multiple fire responses, the Northeast Oregon District ordered the Blue Mountain Interagency Type 3 team. The Blue Mountain Interagency Type 3 Team was reassigned to the Winding Waters Complex from the Double Snag Fire in Umatilla County. The Type 3 team was on day 10 of their 14-day assignment. 

On July 27, Incident Commander JB Brock and the Blue Mountain Type 3 team arrived. They were in-briefed and took command of the five incidents for the district, now called the Winding Waters Complex. That next day on July 28, with the Big Canyon Fire as their priority fire, the Type 3 team became fully engaged on all fires in the complex.

After careful consultation with the Blue Mountain Interagency Type 3 Team Incident Commander, Operations Section Chief, and the ODF Northeast Oregon District Forester, it was agreed on July 28 that ordering a Type 1 IMT (ODF IMT2) was the prudent decision. Factors considered in making this decision were:

• At least a week's worth of work remained to fully contain and mop up the five large fires on the district.  The Type 3 team had only three more days of availability. There was a lack of overhead to manage the resources necessary and maintain an adequate span of control.
• A lack of available suppression resources nationally.
  • The inability to execute an alternate suppression strategy if the Big Canyon Fire escaped its primary line. The desire to secure these fires at 800 to 1000 acres prior to the forecast weather which included 90-to-105-degree temperatures, critically low relative humidities and dry lighting impacting the area within a 5-day period.
• In sum, these factors equate to likely difficulty to contain and hold all of these fires.

Due to the severity and increasing complexity of the situation, the ODF Northeast Oregon District ordered the Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 2 (ODF IMT 2). The team was activated and tasked with mobilizing as rapidly and safely as possible to relieve the Blue Mountain Type 3 team under a delegation of authority between the Oregon Department of Forestry and the USFS Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. ODF IMT 2 traveled and arrived in Wallowa on July 29, assuming command of the Winding Waters Complex at 0600 on July 30, 2024.

That evening, moderating weather provided lower temperatures, higher relative humidities, and light precipitation across the complex footprint. Using those temperate conditions to their advantage, crews were able to construct more direct line to eventually burn out and secure the critical piece of containment line on the south perimeter of the Big Canyon Fire before hot and dry conditions returned and worsened in the following days. 

With the arrival of ODF IMT 2, resources were secured, logistics were put in place to care for the firefighters and other critical resources, and adequate organizational management was in place. Operationally, the Courtney Creek, Water, Charlie Brown and Mountain View fires continued to be secured and mopped up. Within two days of ODF IMT 2 taking command of the Complex, a fire line was constructed and secured with strategic firing operations around the Big Canyon Fire. All of this in extreme heat-triple digit temperatures, an unstable atmosphere and single digit humidities. 

The fires on the Winding Waters Complex were contained to relatively small sizes because of the complete and coordinated system and the management provided by the ODF IMT 2. 

 On Monday, August 5, the fires were turned back over to a local Type 4 organization (ICT4 Swedin). The need for overhead and resources on the complex has diminished to where it can transition back over to the district Type 4 IC and a small complement of resources.