The battle against the Lee Falls Fire in Washington County has turned a corner, with officials reporting 25% containment as of their last update. Spanning approximately 290 acres west of Henry Hagg Lake near Cherry Grove, the blaze that started Thursday remains under investigation as to its cause. As detailed by OregonLive, over 175 personnel, including those from the Oregon Department of Forestry, contracted firefighters, and adult-in-custody crews from the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, have been mobilized to suppress the fire aggressively.
Further relief comes as the local sheriff's office has downgraded evacuation orders to "Level 2-Be Set" for Cherry Grove residents. A collaboration of efforts between the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Gaston Fire District is ongoing to mop up the fire. The confidence of the Oregon Department of Forestry seems cautiously optimistic. They believe the fire will be maintained within the established perimeter, according to KATU reports.
Explaining the terms often thrown around during wildfire reports, an ODF spokesperson clarified the meaning of having a fire "lined," creating a fuel break to halt fire progress. On the other hand, containment involves surrounding the fire perimeter with a control line that the fire cannot cross. This was further elucidated in an interview with KGW.
"That control line starts on the outside and then fire fighters work their way in and start putting out all the hot spots through mop-up operations. The more in they get, the more containment goes up because the potential for growth has gone down since essentially that control line is getting bigger," the ODF spokesperson told KGW.
