The Year of the B and B Complex Fire. Santiam Pass (pg. 3)

Just 4 weeks
after the Booth Lake fire began, Santiam Pass shows the burn damagesThe early days of the B and B Fire saw it overrun the broad expanse of Highway 20 about August 19-21. Later, it roared south and west, seriously endangering both Hoodoo Ski Area and Lost Lake campground. In the picture to the left, fire damage envelops the entire ridge shown, although a slim margin of greenery remains along the roadside at this particular spot.

You are looking east and north from the summit of Santiam Pass (signs say, "Summit Santiam Pass, elev. 4817, Entering Jefferson County").

Two to three miles away on the other side of this ridge is the approximate location where the Booth Fire began, later to become the biggest part of the B and B Complex Fire. ("B and B" = the Booth and Bear Fires, which merged together about 11 miles north of this picture to become one giant fire, probably during the evening of September 3rd).

This image shows the a typical tree burn area along Highway 20. The fire was very much a "hit and miss" thing along most of this 5-10 mile stretch. Large firs and pines have been torched, while just yards away their neighbors will live. The net long term effect in areas like this will be many zones with little brush and debris on the forest floor, and with groves of large trees replacing the dense, unbroken tree cover of pre-Fire times. There will also be tens of thousands of dead snags--- in general, the forest will be easier to move through both summer and winter for outdoor recreationists. Summer travel will stir up unpleasant clouds of dust/ash for at least a few years. There will be some danger for weeks/months or even years from falling limbs and dead trees.

 

 

 

one mile north of Rockpile Lake is a forgotten
trail junction where the Summit Trail met one of its feeder trails. All this history was
incinerated about Sept. 3 by the raging fires that rose up Brush Creek, touching even this remote
and hidden place.See images of ancient forest patriarchs and portions of historic Skyline Trail threatened or lost to the fire near Jefferson Creek and Brush Creek

 

 

E-mailer: click to query Bruce Johnson, author of the above opinions

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Contact: brucej@oregonphotos.com as your message recipient.


Mt. Pisgah Lookout tower was enveloped in smoke from the B and B Fire. This tower is on the Ochoco National Forest, fully 75 air miles distant from the Fire!

More about Oregon Fire Lookout Towers

 

See page two of my B and B coverage

See view 3 miles east of the above pictures


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Link to the official B and B Complex Fire website (as of September 17th, 2016, this became a historical website not receiving any further updates)

 

Page last revised 10/18/2021