Evacuation orders and land closures issued for Rowe Creek Complex near Fossil

The Wheeler County Sheriff's Office has issued levels 2 and Level 3 evacuation notices for communities near Rowe Creek Complex, where multiple lightning-caused wildfires continue to burn with 0% containment.

Officials are sharing up-to-date evacuation maps and zone details on the Wheeler County Sheriff's Office Facebook page and the Genasys Protect dashboard.

In response to the growing fires, the Bureau of Land Management has closed all BLM-administered land along both sides of the John Day River, spanning from Service Creek north to the Columbia River. Additional public land closures are being considered for portions of Crook County east of Prineville. Concurrently, the National Park Service has closed the Clarno and Painted Hills units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument to all entry.

Twelve active wildfires burning across Wheeler, Wasco and Crook counties have now been consolidated under the Rowe Creek Complex for streamlined management. The unified complex includes the Camel Hump, Cove Creek, Crosswhite, Deep Canyon, Pat's Cabin, Parrish, Red Rock and Twickenham fires, as well as Incidents 432, 482, 501 and 502.

At 6 a.m. Saturday, the NW2 Complex Incident Management Team and the Oregon State Fire Marshal Green Incident Management Team assumed unified command. Total acreage for the complex is currently unavailable while teams await overnight infrared flight data.

Regional firefighting resources remain heavily constrained due to the sheer number of active wildfires across the state. Overnight Friday, a moderation in fire behavior allowed wildland crews, structural task forces and local resources to secure firelines and complete defensive structure preparations around homes and buildings along Rowe Creek Road and near Fossil and Twickenham.

Steep, inaccessible terrain continues to hamper direct suppression efforts, forcing crews to scout for safe entry points to establish bulldozer lines.

Five structural task forces are currently assigned to the incident to protect homes and critical infrastructure in Fossil, Twickenham, and along Burnt Ranch Road. These state resources are working alongside Wheeler County Fire and Rescue and local Rural Fire Protection Associations. On the wildland flanks, hotshot crews, hand crews, engines and dozers are utilizing aircraft support to hold the fire west of Rowe Creek Road and the Dry Hollow areas. Additional resources have been ordered and will arrive over the coming days.

Conditions remain critically dry across the region following not much rainfall from the initial July 15 thunderstorms. Forecasters expect Saturday's temperatures to reach the low to mid-90s, with west winds gusting up to 15 mph. Officials note that the area's varied terrain will likely cause localized shifts in wind patterns.

Incident Contact Information

• Phone: 541-800-1280 (Daily 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.)
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rowecreekcomplex
• Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/orprd-rowe-creek-complex
• Evacuations: https://www.facebook.com/WheelerCountySheriffsOffice | https://protect.genasys.com/search
• Closures: https://blm.gov/programs/fire/regional-info/oregon-washington/fire-restrictions | https://www.nps.gov/joda/planyourvisit/conditions.htm