Wallowa County Commissioner Mike Hayward is on his way to a Walla Walla meeting with the Incident Management Team called up on the Grizzly Bear Complex fire. Meanwhile, County Commissioner Paul Castilleja remains on the scene in the hamlet of Troy as the fire approaches.

A Level 2 evacuation order for Troy was issued earlier today and Wallowa County Sheriff Steve Rogers, several deputies, and Asotin County Sheriff John Hilderbran, are on the scene, monitoring the threat level as residents pack up.

The Walla Walla meeting, which will include representatives from the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), US Forest Service (USFS), Incident Management Team, commissioners and others, is set for 3 p.m. this afternoon. The decisions taken at that meeting will determine the type and level of inter-agency resources to be thrown at the fire.

The commissioners expect to know by this evening whether or not Gov. Kate Brown will be contacted and asked to issue an Emergency Conflagration Act with regard to the fire.

Issuance of the act authorizes the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to mobilize structural firefighters and equipment to assist local resources battling the fire.

It is not known at this time if Oregon National Guard soldiers will join the fire fight locally. The Governor activated Oregon National Guard soldiers as firefighters Aug. 14 after issuing an Emergency Conflagration Act with regard to the Canyon Creek Complex fire near John Day.

The Governor announced that about 125 soldiers would begin training this week at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training facility in Salem. The guard members will join first responders, the Governor said. However, guardsmen are not expected to join the fight until after training, later next week.

Oregon National Guard Public Information Officer Major Steve Bomar was not available for comment on the availability of guardsmen as firefighters at press time.

The Incident Management Team (Type 2) assigned to the Grizzly Bear Complex fire is a seven-man oversight team qualified to work large incidents.

As of now, firefighters from ODF, USFS and private contractors are already on the fire, assisted by heavy equipment in form of masticators and bulldozers.

“The resources we will need have been ordered,” said ODF Public Information Officer Erik Pronold. “We’re awaiting the team, the oversight team, and they’ll get the boots on the ground. We already have three (20-man) teams of private contractor firefighters.”

Evacuation levels are determined by county officials in partnership with the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office and with the advice of the forestry agencies, Pronold said.

“We’ll advise them by setting trigger points,” Pronold said, “such as Level 1 when the fire reaches this point, Level 2 when the fire reaches this ridge, and so on.”

The evacuation level is currently at Level 2, which advises any residents still in the town of Troy be ready to depart at a moment’s notice.