Butte Fire grew overnight, closures remain
Roseburg, OR – The Butte Fire, which broke out on the Diamond Lake Ranger District on the Umpqua National Forest late Tuesday afternoon near Windigo Butte, is now estimated at 120 acres and is also burning on Deschutes National Forest.
The fire has increased approximately 45 acres since yesterday.
The fire, located north of the Mount Thielsen Wilderness, has closed approximately 12 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail closure on the south begins near Miller Mountain and ends near Cow Horn Mountain in the north.
The Type 2 ORCA (Oregon California) Incident Management Team is currently managing the fire.
The fire is burning in steep terrain with dead and down timber and is challenging firefighting efforts due to a lack of safety zones and lookouts.
The specifics of the road and trail closures due to the Butte Fire include:
• Pacific Crest Trail 2000 is closed at intersection of Trail 2000 and 3641 (Willamette National Forest) southeast to intersection of Trail 2000 and 1466 (Umpqua National Forest).
• Forest Service Road 60 from junction of Road 60 and 6000-700 (Umpqua National Forest) to junction of FS Road 60 and 6020 (Deschutes National Forest).
• Forest Service Trail 1412 is closed at intersection of Trail 1412 and Pacific Crest Trail southwest to junction of Trail 1412 and 1445 (Umpqua National Forest).
• Forest Service Trail 1455 is closed from FS Road 60 to junction of Trail 1494 (Umpqua National Forest).
• Forest Service Trail 2845 is closed from junction of Trail 3845 and 3846 southwest to junction of FS Road 60
>>>See maps of the closures
For more information about the Pacific Crest Trail closure, people can go to http://www.pcta.org. For up to date information on the Butte fire http://inciweb.org/incident/3161/
The Butte Fire has created smokey skies here in the Crescent Lake area. Forest Service cntract helecopter crews are using the Crescent Lake airstrip as a base of operations. We watched them refuel and take off with their water bucket and head back toward the fire early this afternoon. The fire is not threatening the Crescent Lake area at this time, but this fire is a reminder to everyone that with these hot and dry conditions, a wildfire is just a wayward campfire spark, a carelessly tossed cigarette or a lightning strike away. Please be careful when recreating in the forest!