Courtesy of USFS

Six months after the devastating Eagle Creek fire in the Columbia River Gorge was fully contained and a winter came and went, fire crews are suppressing a hotspot Tuesday morning, according to U.S. Forest Service officials.

A caller alerted emergency personnel to the area east of the Herman Creek Trailhead about 3 miles east of Cascade Locks after spotting a glow from the woods bout 2 a.m.

The Forest Service dispatched two engines and a hand crew to the area, roughly half a mile east of the trail site.

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Courtesy of USFS

The Eagle Creek fire started in September and burned about 50,000 acres before it was declared 100 percent contained in late November.

But Rachel Pawlitz, a Forest Service spokeswoman, said containment does not mean extinguished. Trees can retain burning embers throughout the winter, she said, through snow and ice.

“The main factor is that it dried back out,” she said of the hotspot.

Unfortunately, she added, this is may not be the last hotspot.

It’s also not the first hotspot reported on the Eagle Creek fire. In March, Oregon Department of Transportation officials spotted a flareup while conducting a routine flight over the territory to look for fallen trees blocking roads or streams.

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Courtesy of USFS

Pawlitz said ODOT in April reported a smoking tree in the Mt. Hood National Forest portion of the Eagle Creek fire territory, but the tree was no longer on fire on a subsequent flight.

An already unusually dry spring in the Columbia River Gorge could translate to more fires, flareups, and trail closures as crews are called again to battle the blazes.

Pawlitz said Tuesday’s hotspot is further reminder that hikers and campers need to learn how to correctly extinguish campfires.

“You’ve got to put your hand on it,” she said, and “realize it’s stone cold.”

Without such assurances, Pawlitz said, wildfires are possible.

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Courtesy of USFS

It’s also important that outdoor recreators follow any existing prohibitions on fires.

Fireworks, she added, are always outlawed on public lands.

The Vancouver teen, who started the fire with a firework, was ordered earlier this month to pay $36 million in restitution.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen