2022 in review: County endures state’s biggest fire

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, December 28, 2022

WALLOWA COUNTY — A late start to the wildfire season in 2022 had many here thinking the county might almost escape unscathed.

But then a rash of lightning storms in late August started what ended up to be the largest fire in the state, near Imnaha.

The Double Creek Fire ultimately burned about 171,530 acres in the area. Firefighters aggressively did their best to suppress the blaze, given the private and public property in the area.

What’s more, there were three blazes — also lightning-caused — in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The Sturgill Fire capped out at 23,507 acres, the Nebo Fire was 12,609 acres and the Goat Mountain Fire came in at 584 acres. Goat Mountain initially was two separate fires that merged into one.

Brian Anderson, district ranger for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in Joseph, said the blazes were sparked around Aug. 24 by lightning strikes.

“They burned very actively until early October,” he said. “All fires were called contained on Oct. 25.”

Anderson said that at the height of the firefighting efforts Sept. 14, 1,023 people were on the ground fighting the fires, as well as communication and support staff, largely based at the main fire camp at the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Grounds in Joseph. A smaller, frontline camp was set up at the Imnaha Rodeo Grounds just south of Imnaha. He said that by Oct. 1, that number was down to 250 people.

Anderson said Dec. 15 that work already is underway to restore damage done by the Double Creek Fire.

“There is ongoing fire-recovery work to address burned infrastructure on U.S. Forest Service-managed lands such as signs, burned buildings, a damaged water system and a boardwalk,” he said.

“Additional work that is planned or ongoing includes road and trail repair work, hazard tree mitigation and salvage, noxious weeds detection and treatment, reforestation and placement of signage to inform visitors about fire-related threats to public safety. We got a start during the fall, but there will be more work continuing into next field season and likely for several years. There are currently no public closures.”

The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners added its support of the recovery work in a letter to Anderson on Dec. 7. The commissioners shared a press release from the Forest Service issued Dec. 8, that announced that Hat Point Road near Imnaha would have daily closures from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. from Dec. 13-23 to complete post-fire road work associated with the Double Creek Fire. The Hat Point Road area was one that suffered the most of the blaze.

The work includes cleaning ditches, culvert inlets and installing ditch-relief culverts.

Katy Nesbitt, Wallowa County’s director of natural resources and economic development, said at the time that “There are the safety reasons, not only for the immediate danger of trees falling down, but also later on, more trees will be falling down, creating more road maintenance.”

Nesbitt also addressed an economic incentive in the recovery work.

“Secondarily, a lot of those logs are going to go to commercial harvest, which is a little job for somebody in the county to do that logging,” she said. “It’s always nice to have more timber industry work. Other than that, it’s safety, it’s forest health and a little bit of industry.”

Anderson said the fire damage done in the Eagle Cap Wilderness would be allowed to recover on its own, since fire is a natural part of wilderness and can make it healthier.

However, he said, “There will be substantial trail maintenance and tree clearing needed along several trails.”

Overall, the firefighting season was successful, Anderson said.

The combined efforts to protect life, property and natural resources by firefighters and first responders from the Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office and numerous cooperating agencies and contractors were “outstanding,” he said. “We had very few accidents and no serious injuries despite the rugged and remote terrain the fire burned in.”

More coverage of Wallowa County’s biggest news stories of 2022 can be found on pages A8, A9 and in a special year-end section beginning on page B1.