Cooperative weather continued helping crews Thursday on the week-old 195-acre Bruler Fire 30 miles northeast of Sweet Home.
No further growth was reported. Containment remains at 12%.
Heavy equipment arrived Wednesday in the form of masticators, feller bunchers and bulldozers, according to a U.S. Forest Service press release. Crews used them to strengthen direct control line on the blaze’s north side, allowing firefighters to place hoses and sprinklers. On Thursday, personnel began establishing a contingency control line on its west and south side in case of unanticipated fire behavior.
“We are constantly working with stakeholders, firefighters and safety managers to anticipate possible challenges in fire behavior and to develop strategies to keep it in check,” Incident Commander Brian Gales said in the release.
The blaze, first detected Monday, July 12, burns near the jurisdiction of Forest Roads 11 (Straight Creek and Quartzville roads) and 1133 approximately 9 miles south of Detroit in the Sweet Home Ranger District.
Air quality around Detroit and Sweet Home continues to be listed as “good,” the agency reported, and light winds from the southwest prevent smoke from this and surrounding larger fires to the east.
Large closures remain in effect. These still includes large portions of U.S. Forest Service lands south of Detroit Lake, west of Highway 22 and north of Highway 20, plus the Middle Santiam Wilderness, Daly Lake, Tule Lake and the Old Cascade Crest trail system. A Bureau of Land Management closure area is also in place for areas along Quartzville Scenic Byway and Quartzville Road, including Yellowbottom Campground, Old Miner’s Meadow Group Site and nearby dispersed camping areas.
Visit InciWeb for more information about closures at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7663/. For other updates, please consult the Willamette National Forest’s Bruler Fire Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/brulerfire2021) or the agency’s Twitter account at @WillametteNF.
