Awatchfire

Clackamas County, Oregon

Austin Fire

Burning 19.9 miles south of Rhododendron and 20.8 miles south of Mount Hood Villages, since Sunday 9 August.

Map of Oregon. The Austin Fire burns 49 miles from Portland and 53 miles from Salem, and 53 miles from the state capital, Salem.
The fire sits 49 miles from Portland and 53 miles from Salem.

12,888

acres burned so far — about 20 square miles

67

days burning so far

97%

of the perimeter held

The picture as of 2:20am today

The Austin Fire is still listed as active, and has not been looked at lately. Nothing has given off fresh heat for 1068 hours. There is no clear movement in the last six hours: the middle of the heat has shifted less than the width of the ground a single reading covers.

No fresh look at this fire for 1068 hours. Everything on the map below was seen before then.

Shaded relief map of the Austin Fire. Amber flames mark every place that gave off heat in the last day; the shading is the shape of the ground.
Heat in the last day Higher ground pale, valleys dark

1068hours

since anything was last seen giving off heat — about 2:50pm on Tuesday, local time.

98% more

energy in the last 6 hours of the record than in the 6 before them — the fire was hotter when it was last seen.

19.0miles

is how close the heat has come to Rhododendron at any point in the record. In the last day the nearest heat has been None miles from it, and the closest this fire has come to Mount Hood Villages is 19.0 miles, None in the last day.

3.7miles

is the furthest any heat has been seen from the point on the official record — the width of the ground involved so far.

Smoke has been recorded lying over this ground two times so far. The thickest of it was thin between 8:00am and 10:00am local time. The last of those windows closed 10 hours ago, so what is overhead now is not known.

Where the heat is

No cluster large enough to call a separate front. The heat is in one piece.

Conditions measured 1.2 miles from the fire: 56°F, air at 62% humidity, a 2 mph wind out of the east.

How it got here

Ten days of record on a day-69 fire

The record here begins at 3:11am on 22 Aug and runs to 2:50pm on 1 Sep — 252 hours, 216 readings of heat. The fire is on day 69, so the first 59 days are missing: nothing showed up from above until the fire was large enough and the sky over it clear enough for it to be seen.

Animated map of the Austin Fire across the whole record, with a time bar along the bottom showing energy released and the local date.
The whole record, 86 frames at 3 hours a frame. The bar along the bottom is energy released; the moving line is the clock.

Day by day 10 days of record

  1. Map for Sat 22 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sat22 Aug

    First readings

    • 7 heat readings
    • Heat from 3:11am to 2:38pm
    • Spread 3.1 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  2. Map for Sun 23 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun23 Aug

    Cooling off

    • 5 heat readings
    • Energy 65% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:54am to 1:59pm
    • Spread 2.9 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  3. Map for Mon 24 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon24 Aug

    Flaring up

    • 15 heat readings
    • Energy 13.5 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:34am to 9:19pm
    • Spread 3.1 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and night
  4. Map for Tue 25 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Tue25 Aug

    Cooling off

    • 22 heat readings
    • Energy 52% down on the day before
    • Heat from 3:02am to 3:01pm
    • Spread 3.1 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  5. Map for Wed 26 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Wed26 Aug

    Holding

    • 22 heat readings
    • Energy 1.1 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:41am to 3:03pm
    • Spread 3.2 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  6. Map for Thu 27 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu27 Aug

    The fiercest day

    • 22 heat readings
    • Energy 15.5 times the day before
    • Heat from 1:49pm to 9:38pm
    • Spread 3.2 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the afternoon and night
  7. Map for Fri 28 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Fri28 Aug

    Cooling off

    • 34 heat readings
    • Energy 90% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:05am to 2:25pm
    • Spread 3.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  8. Map for Sun 30 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun30 Aug

    Cooling off

    • 8 heat readings
    • Energy 81% down on the day before
    • Heat from 3:09am to 2:31pm
    • Spread 3.6 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  9. Map for Mon 31 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon31 Aug

    Flaring up

    • 38 heat readings
    • Energy 7.6 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:47am to 9:00pm
    • Spread 3.7 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and night
  10. Map for Tue 1 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Tue1 Seplatest

    Today so far

    • 43 heat readings — the most of any day
    • Energy 20% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:30am to 2:50pm
    • Spread 3.7 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning and afternoon

How the record has moved

Each step is a change on the interagency incident record — acreage, containment or crews — with the date it was reported. No satellite reading is involved.

  1. Sunday 9 August

    First reported

  2. Sunday 23 August

    4,808 acres on record — 0% contained, 509 personnel assigned

    4,808 ac · 0% held · 509 crew

  3. Sunday 23 August

    Grew to 5,295 acres — 536 personnel

    5,295 ac · 0% held · 536 crew

  4. Monday 24 August

    Grew to 5,620 acres — 546 personnel

    5,620 ac · 0% held · 546 crew

  5. Tuesday 25 August

    Grew to 7,394 acres — 527 personnel

    7,394 ac · 0% held · 527 crew

  6. Wednesday 26 August

    Grew to 8,781 acres — 507 personnel

    8,781 ac · 0% held · 507 crew

  7. Thursday 27 August

    Grew to 9,237 acres — 513 personnel

    9,237 ac · 0% held · 513 crew

  8. Friday 28 August

    Grew to 10,045 acres — 546 personnel

    10,045 ac · 0% held · 546 crew

  9. Saturday 29 August

    Grew to 10,261 acres — 594 personnel

    10,261 ac · 0% held · 594 crew

  10. Sunday 30 August

    Grew to 10,708 acres — 635 personnel

    10,708 ac · 0% held · 635 crew

  11. Monday 31 August

    Grew to 11,682 acres — 787 personnel

    11,682 ac · 0% held · 787 crew

  12. Tuesday 1 September

    Grew to 12,610 acres — 690 personnel

    12,610 ac · 0% held · 690 crew

  13. Wednesday 2 September

    Containment 8% — 665 personnel

    12,610 ac · 8% held · 665 crew

  14. Thursday 3 September

    Containment 19% — 594 personnel

    12,610 ac · 19% held · 594 crew

  15. Friday 4 September

    Containment 21% — 639 personnel

    12,610 ac · 21% held · 639 crew

  16. Monday 7 September

    Containment 22% — 792 personnel

    12,610 ac · 22% held · 792 crew

  17. Tuesday 8 September

    Grew to 12,722 acres — 844 personnel

    12,722 ac · 22% held · 844 crew

  18. Wednesday 9 September

    Grew to 12,824 acres — containment 34%, 864 personnel

    12,824 ac · 34% held · 864 crew

  19. Thursday 10 September

    Grew to 12,831 acres — containment 36%, 886 personnel

    12,831 ac · 36% held · 886 crew

  20. Friday 11 September

    Grew to 12,873 acres — containment 54%, 955 personnel

    12,873 ac · 54% held · 955 crew

  21. Saturday 12 September

    Grew to 12,881 acres — containment 56%, 939 personnel

    12,881 ac · 56% held · 939 crew

  22. Sunday 13 September

    Revised to 12,879 acres — containment 60%, 840 personnel

    12,879 ac · 60% held · 840 crew

  23. Monday 14 September

    Grew to 12,887 acres — containment 67%, 801 personnel

    12,887 ac · 67% held · 801 crew

  24. Tuesday 15 September

    Revised to 12,844 acres — containment 77%, 720 personnel

    12,844 ac · 77% held · 720 crew

  25. Wednesday 16 September

    Grew to 12,881 acres — containment 87%

    12,881 ac · 87% held · 720 crew

  26. Thursday 17 September

    Revised to 12,866 acres — containment 98%, 658 personnel

    12,866 ac · 98% held · 658 crew

  27. Friday 18 September

    Grew to 12,886 acres — 571 personnel

    12,886 ac · 98% held · 571 crew

  28. Saturday 19 September

    Revised to 12,882 acres — 603 personnel

    12,882 ac · 98% held · 603 crew

  29. Tuesday 22 September

    Grew to 12,884 acres — 611 personnel

    12,884 ac · 98% held · 611 crew

  30. Tuesday 29 September

    Grew to 12,889 acres — 506 personnel

    12,889 ac · 98% held · 506 crew

  31. Wednesday 30 September

    Revised to 12,888 acres — 445 personnel

    12,888 ac · 98% held · 445 crew

  32. Sunday 11 October

    Containment 97% — 325 personnel

    12,888 ac · 97% held · 325 crew

97% of the perimeter is being reported as held. 325 people are assigned to it. It has grown from 0 acres when it was first written down to 12,888 now. Nothing has looked at it for 1068 hours, and the record still lists it as active.