Lake George Fire grows to 4,250 acres - UPDATED

Tuesday, August 15, 5:15 p.m. - The Lake George Fire continued to burn hot with some spotting in the southeast corner today, according to fire information officer Tom Kroll.

"We actually had to back some people out of there and re-insert them," Kroll said.

The fire still did not make any aggressive moves toward Black Butte Ranch some six miles away to the northeast.

Kroll said firefighters wer able to tie lines in to the lava fields on the east side of Mt. Washington, creating a strong perimeter on the north side of the fire.

Infrared analysis of the fire showed last night that the blaze has grown to 4,250 acres.

While most of the fire remains in the Mt. Washington Wilderness, yesterday's fierce burning did push the southeast corner of the blaze across the wilderness boundary.

"We have a little finger going out of the wilderness boundary into the dozer line," said fire information officer Cindy Glick. "That's toward Dugout Lake."

That move was toward the southeast, still not directly toward Black Butte Ranch, which lies about six miles to the northeast of the fire.

Higher humidity and cooler temperatures should help firefighting efforts, though an inversion will hold the smoke low and impede air operations through the early part of the day, according to Glick.

Winds will be blowing from the northwest and north in the afternoon at seven to 15 miles per hour with gusts up to 20 miles per hour. That's somewhat less than yesterday's stiff gusts that helped push that southeast corner of the fire out of the wilderness.

Still, those winds will test the east side of the fire.

"We expect active fire today," Glick said. "We're going to hit that east side really hard."

There will be seven helicopters in the air when the inversion lifts, Glick reported. There are 18 20-person hand crews working on the fire and the Rogue River Hotshots are also in the combat.

There are six bulldozers and 12 engines poised to battle the fire along contingency lines outside the wilderness on the east side of the fire.

"I'm pretty optimistic," Glick said. "I think it's going to be a pretty good day out there."

Highway 242 remains closed from Cold Springs Campground past the Dee Wright Observatory due to smoke and the movement of firefighting vehicles.