HURRICANE CREEK FIRE IN NE OREGON
Hurricane Creek fire continues to burn and was started by lightning on July 14th and is burning on steep, heavily timbered slopes. It is located approximately 4 miles southwest of Joseph, Oregon in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The fire is burning on the backside of Chief Joseph Mountain in the Dunn Creek drainage east of Hurricane Creek. It has burned over 500 acres and is 80% contained.
Wildfire smoke from Hurricane Creek has trickled into Joseph and Enterprise over the last week. There has been good progress on fighting the fire, and yesterday fire crews conducted a burnout along the north face of the fire. Smoke in Enterprise increased in the afternoon on July 30th and peaked at 5PM. According to Nathan Goodrich the Wallowa Zone Fire Management Officer from the USFS, the smoke was caused by a SW down canyon wind from a passing thunderstorm that pushed smoke into the valley. The event was short-lived once the north wind returned. The smoke was predominantly from the wildfire itself. The monitor in Enterprise showed:
Larry Calkins