Sharing important information from the Bureau of Land Management:

Our firefighters worked through the night combating the Willowcreek Fire northeast of Vale, Oregon. Growing to 40,000 acres in its first day, it’s our first major wildfire of the summer.

Currently, it is at 0% containment.

Though it began on private land, the fire soon spread to BLM public lands. So far, we’ve had no injuries, no threatened structures, and no evacuations necessary.

Our fire teams are making strategic use of the cooler temperatures and light winds to help slow the burn.

“The winds calmed at about 3 a.m., which gave us a good chance to get around the hot spots on the fire,” said Justin Fenton, BLM Fire Duty Officer.

We were also able to provide aviation support yesterday.

Interstate 84 was closed between Ontario and Baker City for several hours last night due to smoke but has since been reopened.

We’re investigating the cause of the fire, which is currently unknown.

If you’re out recreating this weekend, please help us prevent wildfire by never using fireworks or exploding targets on public lands, properly extinguishing your campfire, and never parking on dry grass.

Stay safe out there!

Wildfire information:

• BLM OR/WA Fire Restrictions and Closures: http://ow.ly/JRQI50Ji5x9
• Northwest Coordination Center Seasonal Outlook: http://ow.ly/QCiZ50Ji5x8
• Map of active wildfires in the PNW from National Interagency Fire Center: http://ow.ly/aSpr50Ji5x7
• Stay safe this fire season with Firewise USA: http://ow.ly/Ec9s50Ji5xa

Follow the BLM of Oregon & Washington on Facebook here.