Oregon Department of Forestry officials plan their next move on the Winding Waters Complex of fires Tuesday, July 30, 2024, from the fire camp set up at the Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland.

WALLOWA — Wallowa is once again a center of activity when it comes to wildfires, as five blazes making up the Winding Waters Complex are burning more than 700 acres of mostly timberland in northern and western Wallowa County.

The most worrisome of the blazes is the Big Canyon Fire west of Wallowa, where rugged terrain makes it difficult to tackle. The fire was up to 288 acres Wednesday, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry’s morning briefing. But the ODF said the fire is completey contained.

The largest fire is the 318-acre Mountain View Fire on Smith Mountain north of Highway 82.

Three smaller blazes also are still burning. The Charlie Brown Fire, about 10 miles north of Wallowa on the Promise Road, is at 69 acres. The Courtney Creek Fire just south of Flora is at 59 acres and the 18.5-acre Water Fire is on the Water Canyon Ranch.

Tuesday morning, the Blue Mountain Interagency Type 3 Team, under the command of JB Brock, transferred command of the Winding Waters Complex to the ODF Incident Management Team 2 under command of Matt Howard. On Monday, the Blue Mountain and ODF teams shared information and updates to ensure a smooth transfer.

“Brock’s team,” Howard said, “put in a hero’s effort. Good work has been going on out there. Last night’s precipitation helped, but once the high pressure returns and temperatures rise, those conditions will test the work that has been accomplished to date.

But rain sometimes comes with thunderstorms, Howard noted.

“We’re in critical fire weather with the lightning,” he said. “These were all lightning-caused fires.”

The National Weather Service in Pendleton forecast a 20-30% chance of thunderstorms this weekend in Wallowa County and the Eastern Oregon mountains.

Monday night, all available crews were assigned to the Big Canyon fire, where they focused on reinforcing the anchor point on the north end of the fire. On Tuesday, firefighters planned to take advantage of the moderating weather to tighten fire lines on the south end of the Big Canyon fire in Chestnut Creek. Firefighters working on the remaining four fires in the complex were to continue to secure and strengthen fire lines.

Howard said that although the fires in the complex are near Wallowa, neither that town nor Flora are in danger. He said he expected the fire crews to be on the scene for another week.

“Then we can turn them back to the local districts,” he said. “The Big Canyon Fire’s our priority fire right now.”

ODF Fire Information Officer Al Devos agreed that the main concern is the Big Canyon Fire.

“At (nearly) 300 acres, we’re actively trying to secure the south end of the fire near the confluence of Deer Creek and Chestnut Creek,” he said.

Howard said there are about 320 firefighters in 10 hand crews on the fires. He said some outbuildings were damaged, but nothing was been destroyed.

He said that in addition to local firefighters and landowners, fire crews are on the Winding Waters Complex from places like New Mexico, Alaska, New Hampshire “and everywhere in between. … We’ve got folks here from Florida, North Carolina. They’re coming from all over the nation.”

The ODF reported there were 23 engines, 10 water tenders, three dozers and seven helicopters on the complex.

Howard and Wallowa Mayor Gary Hulse, who still serves with the Wallowa Rural Fire Department after years as its chief, said the community has been supportive and helpful in battling the blazes, as well as caring for the firefighters.

Hulse said the Lostine Presbyterian Church had gathered food boxes for the firefighters — much as church members there did two years ago when Wallowa was pummeled by a hailstorm.

The mayor was working Tuesday with the Wallowa firefighters on the large Mountain View Fire with a water tanker and Type 6 woodland fire truck that belongs to the department.

“We’ve been working with a hand crew and mopped up about 50 feet back from the fire line,” he said. “Hopefully it won’t take off again.”

Hulse and Howard praised the efforts of local landowners and businesses that have helped battling the blazes. Howard noted that critical help came from industry partners such as Henderson Logging, BTO Logging, Hafer Brothers, Tanzey Forest Improvement “and landowners who came out in force to help us. They’re all part of a complete core system and that’s why we’re successful in fighting these fires.”

Howard also had praise for the Wallowa School District and the Nez Perce Tribe.

“The school has been gracious enough to let us have our incident command post here,” he said. “Our fire camp is down at the Tamkaliks Celebration grounds at the base of Tick Hill, so we’ve had tremendous support from the community.”

Hulse said it works both ways, between the community and the ODF.

“They’ve been really supportive of us, too,” the mayor said. “We have a great working relationship with them.”

What: Oregon Department of Forestry informational meeting

When: Thursday, Aug. 1, 7 p.m.

Where: Wallowa High School commons area next to gym

Who: Fire officials and community.