The Elbow Creek Fire, burning west of Troy, started Thursday, July 15, 2021.

WALLOWA COUNTY — The Elbow Creek Fire continues to spread rapidly, and as of Friday afternoon, July 16, is at an estimated 12,000-13,000 acres, according to David Weaver, duty officer with the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Smoke that filled the region from the blaze, however, is keeping officials from getting an exact reading on the fire’s size. 

That smoke, too, is hindering efforts to fight the blaze.

“Because of the smoky condition and winds, aircraft is not effective in these afternoon (runs),” Weaver said. “The conditions over the afternoon are not great at all.”

The fire has progressed on the west, Weaver said, as it has jumped Grossman Creek and has currently spread to Indian Point, which is west of Grossman Creek and south of the Grande Ronde River. 

“That is the big drainage we were hoping to keep it from moving west (toward),” Weaver said.

The fire is also continuing to wreak havoc in the area of Eden Bench, which was evacuated Thursday afternoon shortly after the fire was spotted.

“On the northern side, it has jumped Eden Bench Road,” Weaver said. “It has moved higher up into some heavy timber area on the Eden Bench side.

“It’s running up the south side of Eden Bench to the top.”

At the east edge, it is moving close to Troy — Weaver estimated about four miles away. It is also within about 1/2-mile to a mile of Promise, which is to the south of the fire. A spike camp is still set up in the Promise area.

“As far as we know it has progressed up Ward Canyon,” Weaver said. “It’s so smoky in there. It’s hard to know what’s going on.”

Type 1 ODF Team 3 is scheduled to hold a briefing on the fire at 5 p.m. Saturday in Wallowa, and will take over fighting the blaze Sunday morning, Weaver said.