Portland water still ‘safe to drink’ as Camp Creek Fire inches toward treatment plant

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Portland Water Bureau says that Portland’s water remains safe to use and drink Sunday as the Camp Creek Fire continues to burn closer to the department’s Headworks treatment plant along the Bull Run Watershed in the Mount Hood National Forest, northeast of Sandy.

The Camp Creek Fire, which was sparked by lightning on Aug. 24, is now 1,226 acres in size and remains completely uncontained. On Aug. 26, the fire was estimated to be burning 1.5 miles from Reservoir 1 and 3 miles from the Portland Water Bureau’s Headworks treatment plant. As of 10 a.m. Sunday, the distance between the fire and Portland’s source of fresh water has shrunk.

“The fire is burning in the Bull Run Watershed in the Mt. Hood National Forest, approximately 1.3 miles from Reservoir 1 and 2.4 miles from the Headworks treatment facility,” PWB said.

Roughly 160 firefighters, three helicopters and two scooper planes are actively battling the Camp Creek Fire. The team of firefighters managing the wildfire said that the fire is expected to grow significantly.

“The fire grew mainly to the south and west,” the team of firefighters said. “Bull Run Watershed is a dense temperate rainforest, with lots of down and dead trees and deep forest duff. This abundance of material provided plenty of tinder dry and receptive fuel, causing the fire to put up a large smoke column relative to its size. Warm and very dry weather conditions are expected to continue [Sunday] and into the near future, with continued active fire behavior, increasing impact of smoke, and significant fire growth likely.”

A Camp Creek Fire community meeting is scheduled for Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at Sandy High School. Firefighters will also attempt to live stream the meeting on the fire’s Facebook page. There are currently no fire-related road closures or evacuations issued for the area. However, Clackamas County residents are advised to be prepared for both.