By Duffie Taylor

The Bulletin

The Shadow Lake fire has burned through 3310 acres of Mt. Washington Wilderness and continues to move north toward the Santiam Wagon Road, fire officials said Monday.

Strong winds and high temperatures are expected to increase fire activity along the northeast and northwest flanks of the blaze, said Sommer Moore, an information officer with the Shadow Lake Incident Management Team.

“It’s going to get warmer, it’s going to get dryer, the winds are probably going to be shifting, and fire activity’s likely to increase,” Moore said.

The 435 firefighters assigned to the blaze are working to contain a 100-acre spot fire north of Santiam Wagon Road and keep the fire from Big Lake through the use of fire lines and helicopter water drops. Sprinklers and hoses have been set up between the dozer lines surrounding the fire and the lake to protect any nearby structures.

The area surrounding the fire, which includes the Pacific Crest Trail, remains closed to the public for safety reasons. On Saturday, the U.S. Forest Service and Shadow Lake Fire crews evacuated over 500 people from the Big Lake Recreation Area and Pacific Crest Trail in the Willamette National Forest.

No further road closures or evacuations have been ordered, Moore said. U.S. Highway 20 is expected to have increased smoke and fire traffic today.

A public meeting about the Shadow Lake Fire will be held Tuesday at Sisters Elementary at 7 p.m.

The High Cascades Complex series of fires burning near Warm Springs is about 60 percent contained, said Paul Galloway, spokesman with the ORCA (Oregon-California) Incident Management Team.

Approximately 106,355 acres have been burned and 2,412 firefighters assigned to the seven fires comprising the High Cascades Complex.

Galloway said the ORCA incident management team plans to turn over control for some of the fires to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs on Tuesday.

Duffie Taylor can be reached at 541-383-0376 or at dtaylor@bendbulletin.com.