JOSEPH — Road closures due to wildfires will be reassessed, with some roads possibly being reopened soon, said Brian Anderson, district ranger with the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

Anderson’s comments came during a public briefing on the fires in Wallowa County held Friday, Sept. 16, at the Joseph Community Events Center.

According to a press release issued early Sept. 15 by the Pacific Northwest Team 2, which has been managing the Double Creek and Eagle Cap Wilderness fires, the Lostine River Road from Moffitt’s south is closed, as is Highway 350 (Little Sheep Creek Highway) at mile marker 6.5 due to the following closures: Lower Imnaha Road and Dug Bar Road, Upper Imnaha Road, Hat Point Road and Forest Service 39 Road, from Target Springs Junction to Ollokot Campground, including the Canal Road (3920) and Lick Creek Road (3925).

Wallowa County Sheriff Joel Fish said during the briefing that although some roads remain closed, area residents are allowed access.

Fish lifted evacuation orders Sept. 14.

“It’s up to the people to leave their homes” when an evacuation is urged, Fish said. “We don’t make them leave.”

But, he said, his office wants to know who chooses to remain so first responders know if they’re needed.

The Double Creek Fire is at 157,185 acres and 27% contained, the Sturgill Fire is at 20,075 acres, the Nebo Fire is at 12,588 acres and the Goat Mountain Fire is at 536 acres.

Jason Loomis, incident commander for Pacific Northwest Team 2, said his team’s departure Sept. 17, when the fires were turned over to the Southern Area Blue Team, had nothing to do with the status of the blazes. It’s just that the Pacific Northwest team was scheduled for two weeks and it’s time for the team to rotate out. The Southern Area Blue Team took over at 6 a.m. Sept. 17.

Mark Morales, incident commander of the Southern Area team, said his team has been working closely with the Pacific Northwest team to get a good feel for what they’re dealing with.

“Our hope is you won’t see anything different” after the teams change, he said.

Morales said that while the Sept. 16 briefing was the last by the Pacific Northwest team, the Southern Area team will hold similar briefings as warranted.

The audience at the briefing and attending via Facebook Live got to see what the fires look like from the air when a video was shown of the Sturgill and Nebo fires. Both showed columns of smoke rising from the thick forest in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The video did not show the Double Creek Fire.

When an audience member asked if any damage had been sustained by the Tryon Creek Ranch in the Double Creek Fire area, Anderson said there hasn’t been any damage there. He did say three structures had been lost — two of three buildings at the Dorrance cow camp and the Marks Cabin.

In going over the three main fires, Sonny Caldwell, operations chief for the Pacific Northwest team, said the Nebo Fire “just needs a few days of cleanup.” He said the Double Creek Fire, which at the time was 27% contained, is well prepared along much of the rest of the perimeter, such as to the north where firefighters have prepared lines of defense all the way to Dug Bar on the Snake River. He said there also is a river group working out of Pittsburg Landing near Lucile, Idaho.

Loomis explained that the fact that the wilderness fires are still listed as zero percent contained “doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything, because we are.”

He said the low containment figure just means the blazes are being managed to allow them to burn as part of fire’s natural role in the forest. He added that the fires are not getting out of hand and are remaining in a “confinement area.”

“We leave (Sept. 17) and you guys still have to live with fire. We get that,” Loomis said.

He thanked local communities and officials, particularly Sheriff Fish and the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners for their cooperation.

Michael Brown, an incident meteorologist trainee, outlined the weather that has occurred over the past several weeks and is expected in coming weeks.

He noted that since Sept. 6, there has been warm, dry weather with low relative humidity until the past couple of days, when the area received rain.

Brown said that the outlook for the next week or two includes a 20%-40% chance of rain, but there’s also a chance the weather will dry and warm up.

Still, he said, the chance of more lightning — which caused all the current fires — is decreasing.

“We’re pretty much at the end of lightning season,” he said.