Light winds today at South Valley Fire should result in lower fire behavior

August 4, 2018

Firefighters continue to strengthen containment lines and extinguish hot spots 25′ or more interior from those lines. Unburned interior pockets of fuel will be assessed today and measures taken to reduce the threat of embers igniting them. Structural protection on Dufur Gap Road 8.1 With the majority of the fire’s heat located in the Winslow Rd. area, a hose line was put in place to assist firefighters with mopping up those areas. The north and east flanks of the fire continue to cool and firefighters will be assessing those containment lines for strength and mopping up the perimeters.  With the risk to structures reduced, structure protection task forces will begin to demobilize today, with the last task force anticipating being released tomorrow morning. The Oregon State Fire Marshal has reported a total of 14 structures destroyed (three primary structures and eleven outbuildings). Aviation resources today will continue to support firefighters by using retardant and helicopter water drops. Firefighters will continue to monitor for hazards which include snags, smoldering tree stump pits and heavy duff. A community meeting will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at the Christian Church, 315 Harrison St. in Dufur. It will also be posted on Facebook live via the South Valley/Substation Fire 2018 Facebook page. Ignition date: Aug. 1, 2018 Cause: Human Acres burned: 21,730 Personnel: 602 Containment: 20% Fire growth is expected as winds change at Sugar Pine Fire As inversions lift and winds change, fire behavior is likely to become more active. Today, firefighters will continue to provide structure protection along Elk Creek Road and will be initiating protection assessments on the homes that are in the Level 3 Evacuation area along Ulrich Road. Additionally, firefighters will be reinforcing constructed firelines northward along Forest Road 6640 and will directly attack any spot fires if they develop. Firefighters are continuing to flow in to help from around the country. Recently, crews have arrived from as far away as Puerto Rico and Pennsylvania.  Protecting the tallest Sugar Pine tree Unified Command now includes the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office. In addition, the Oregon National Guard, Jackson County Sheriff, Oregon State Patrol, Army Corps of Engineers and Oregon State Parks are also integrated in this effort. The Northern Rockies Incident Management Team will continue the work to minimize the impact of these fires to private lands, the public and natural resources. Ignition date: July 15, 2018 Cause: Lightning Acres burned: 8,788 Personnel: 954 ODF resources arrive at South Umpqua Fire A national Type 1 team along with Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) command and general staff has been in-briefed and will assume command of both the South Umpqua Complex and Sugar Pine and Goodview Fires on Sunday. ODF resources will work specifically on private and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands and the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) Office is bringing teams to assist with structure protection. Ignition date: July 15, 2018 Cause: Lightning Acres burned: 23,726 Containment: 18% Personnel: 1,032 Garner Creek Fire sees decreasing fire activity Hard work gets results. The difficult, dangerous work happening on the Garner Complex is getting the job done. On each shift hand crews seek and extinguish more and more hot spots. When all the hot spots have been mopped up, that section of the fire is placed in patrol status. Ignition date: July 15, 2018 Cause: Lightning Acres burned: 8,886 Containment: 75% Personnel: 1,065 Other recent fires Taylor Creek Fire – Josephine County This lightning-caused fire has grown to 36,406 acres. ODF is a cooperating agency on this fire, which is being managed by Northwest IMT #2 and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Blue Team. Ignition date: July 15, 2018 Cause: Lightning Acres burned: 36,406 Personnel: 1,154 Containment: 34%   Klondike Fire – Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Fire size is now at 25,873 acres. Containment remains at 5%. Nearby is the Natchez Fire. Burning 15 miles southeast of Cave Junction, that fire is reported at 9,463 acres with containment unchanged at 25%. Ignition date: July 15, 2018 Cause: Lightning Personnel: 450 Containment: 5% High to extreme fire danger across Oregon  Find the latest fire danger levels and restrictions at ODF’s Fire Restrictions and Closures webpage at https://gisapps.odf.oregon.gov/firerestrictions/PFR.html.

Threat to structures reduced on the South Valley Fire

August 4, 2018

DUFUR,
Ore. – It was a busy and productive night for firefighters as they continued to
strengthen control lines and extinguish hot spots 25’ or more inside those lines. Oregon State Fire Marshal resources have reduced the threat to structures by removing
fuels and mopping up hot spots. Unburned interior pockets of fuel will be
assessed today and measures taken to reduce the threat of embers igniting them.

ODF team is heading to Sugar Pine-South Umpqua Complex

August 3, 2018



Above: Smoke haze hangs over a section  of the Sugar Pine Fire in southern Oregon.

ODF Incident Management Team 1 is transferring in stages today from the Garner Complex to the Sugar Pine-South Umpqua Complex. The complex of fires in southeastern Douglas County has burned a combined area of almost 30,000 acres, including several thousand acres of forestlands protected by ODF. They will now be managed in unified command by ODF and a Northwest interagency team.

Ignition date: Aug. 1, 2018

Containment: 20%

Other recent fires

Taylor Creek Fire – Josephine County

 

This lightning-caused fire has grown to 33,591 acres. ODF is a cooperating agency on this fire, which is being managed by Northwest IMT # 2 and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Blue Team.

 

Ignition date: July 15, 2018

Cause: Lightning

Acres burned: 33,591

Personnel: 1,154

Containment: 34%

  

Left:  Control lines help keep fire away from a home threatened by the Taylor Fire in southwest Oregon.

Klondike Fire – Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

 

Fire size is now at 23,460 acres. Containment remains at 5%.

 

Nearby is the Natchez Fire. Burning 15 miles southeast of Cave Junction, that fire is reported at 8,432 acres with containment unchanged at 15%.

 

Ignition date: July 15, 2018

Cause: Lightning

Personnel: 412

Containment: 5%

High to extreme fire danger across Oregon 

 

Find the latest fire danger levels and restrictions at ODF’s Fire Restrictions and Closures web page at

https://gisapps.odf.oregon.gov/firerestrictions/PFR.html

 

More Oregon National Guard members join the Garner Complex effort

August 3, 2018

MERLIN, Ore. – Crews from the Oregon National Guard joined firefighting efforts on the Garner Complex yesterday, adding much needed capacity. The added workforce has helped firefighters reach 75% containment.

Above: Work days begin early at the Garner Complex in southern Oregon, where crews continue mopping up inside control lines.

Fire crews are mopping up and working to strengthen control lines. More than 1,400 personnel were still engaged on the Complex as of yesterday.

Most of the hot spots have been mopped up 200-300 feet inside the perimeter. Smoke may be visible deep in the interior of the fire. Personnel are checking on all of the fires regularly.  About 70 people attended a community meeting about the fire last night in Wimer.


Size of fires in the Garner Complex


Grave Creek – 816


Pleasant Creek – 6


Spencer Creek – 8


King Mountain –

ODF team will transfer control of the Garner Complex to an out-of-state team this week

August 2, 2018

An Incident Management Team has been brought in from Florida to
manage the Garner Complex’s final mop up, freeing ODF’s IMT 1 to transfer to
very active fires threatening private timberlands in southeastern Douglas
County. After turning over the Garner Complex to the Floridians, IMT 1
will enter this weekend into unified command on the South Umpqua and Sugar
Pine fires with the U.S. Forest Service and Office of the Oregon State Fire
Marshal. ODF has already been supporting the interagency team managing the twin
fires, including sending aircraft to slow the fires’ spread.

South Umpqua Complex – southern Douglas and northern Jackson
counties

ODF, Douglas Forest Protective Association, the US Forest Service
and Bureau of Land Management are engaged on fires in this Complex, some of
which are threatening structures and private timberland.

Fires in the Complex include:

Klondike Fire – Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest