Tiger Creek Fire grows to 611 acres; more firefighters added
Posted: October 08, 2024
Jeremy Burnham Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Oct 7, 2024
More than 300 firefighters from multiple agencies and states continue to battle the prescribed fire-turned-wildfire about 15 miles southeast of Walla Walla.
The Tiger Creek Fire, which is active in the Mill Creek Municipal Watershed, has grown to 611 acres as of Monday, Oct. 7, according to the latest update from officials.
The fire is now 7% contained.
Command of firefighting operations transferred from local authorities to a complex incident management team from California on Saturday evening, Oct.5.
Travis Ederer, an operations section chief from the California Interagency Incident Management Team 15, said the transfer of command went smoothly.
“We’re really not changing anything, functionally,” Ederer said. “The team we are relieving here, the local folks, did a great job coming up with a plan and connecting the dots. We’re just continuing to do that.”
The 77 firefighters from the California team bring the total number of firefighters to 341.
Officials said conditions have stayed pretty dry because of poor overnight relative humidity, allowing the fire to grow.
Forest Service Road 65 through Forest Service Road 64 to the junction with Indian Camp is closed. Government Mountain Road is closed from North Fork Walla Walla trailhead to the junction with FSR 65 at Tiger Saddle, according to the latest update.
The fire began as a prescribed fire aimed at burning fuel in the watershed to prevent future wildfires. Umatilla National Forrest officials picked Monday, Sept. 30 to start the fire because of favorable weather conditions forecasted for the week.
However, the weather did not follow the forecast, and crews lost control of the fire Tuesday, Oct. 1, and the prescribed fire was declared a wildfire.
