WALLOWA COUNTY — The reported size of the Elbow Creek Fire is up to 17,271 acres as of Tuesday night, July 20, and crews from Type 1 Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management team 3 shared Tuesday evening during a community meeting where progress has been made and where the fire is still presenting challenges. 

Crews had moved into mop-up operations on the north and east sides of the fire as of Tuesday night, but was continuing to spread to the south in the area of Sickfoot Creek and southwest near Grossman Creek. The fire is estimated to be about 20% contained. 

“This thing keeps wanting to creep up the drainages,” Operations Staff Chief Eric Perkins said. 

Meanwhile, the fire “did spot across” Elbow Creek Tuesday, which Perkins said crews were trying to prevent from happening. 

A major challenge continues to be the steep terrain on the south and west, and winds being unpredictable in that region. 

“We’ve got to figure out which one of these ridges is the right one” to attack from, Perkins said.