MERLIN, Ore. – Over 900 personnel are engaged on the dozen wildfires making up the Garner Complex in Josephine County, including Canadian airtankers and their crews expected to arrive today. Also on order from the Oregon National Guard are two Chinook helicopters.
This morning there were 15 helicopters assigned to the fire. Helicopters are important because they can be the most effective way to reach fires located in very steep and hard-to-access areas. This keeps the number of firefighters who must get into the steepest areas to a minimum.
Also working on the fire today were 31 hand crews, 10 fire engines, 8 water tenders and 7 dozers.
Firefighters are expecting active fire behavior overnight, with critically low humidity. Temperatures Thursday were over 90 in and around Merlin on Thursday. The forecast calls for rising temperatures on Sunday, possibly reaching triple digits by Monday.
The Garner Complex is made up of the Spencer Creek Fires, the Grave Creek Fires and the Pleasant Creek Fire. In addition to the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Incident Management Team 2, cooperators on the fire include the Bureau of Land Management, and Rogue Valley Fire Chiefs Association.
Updates can be found on the @ODFSouthwest Facebook page as well as on Inciweb at inciweb.nwcg.gov