Current situation:
Firefighters woke to rain on their tents today, which is good news for those who’ve been working since July 26 to contain the Douglas Complex. Precipitation will certainly speed up the mop up process – stump holes and other dug-in hot spots can be opened up so the rain can cool the embers – reducing the firefighters’ reliance on hoses.
But the rain will cause some problems. Land sloughing and rockfalls will likely occur, and crew supervisors will need to carefully scout their assigned areas and flag the hazards they find – or move their workers to a safer area.
Driving inside the burned area will also be tricky. Many of the dirt-and-rock backcountry roads will be turned into mud by the rain, and most of these roads will have to be avoided. Even the paved roads will need to be scouted, as rocks will invariably tumble off the steep hillsides as burned topsoil sloughs away in the rain. Bigger landslides are also possible, as are isolated flooding problems where debris may clog road culverts.
For detailed information about the road closures in the Douglas Complex area in Douglas County, contact the BLM district office in Roseburg at 541-440-4930.
For road closure information on the Josephine County side of the Douglas Complex, call the BLM’s Grants Pass office at 541-471-6500.
Maps of the road closure areas are posted online at: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/roseburg/newsroom/index.php
http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/medford/newsroom/index.php
Tomorrow, management of the Douglas Complex will be returned to the Douglas Forest Protective Association.
Complex at a Glance
Size: 48,679 acres
Fires in the Complex:
Rabbit Mountain Fire: 23,952 acres
Dad’s Creek Fire: 24,464 acres
Farmer Gulch Fire: 249 acres
Misc small fires: 14 acres
Cause: Lightning on July 26
Containment: 87%
Expected Containment: 9/01/2013
Crews and Equipment:
Crews: 9 Type 2
Helicopters: 2 Type 2 (Medium Lift)
1 Type 3 (Light)
Engines: 28
Dozers: 7
Water Tenders: 4
Total personnel: 648
Estimated Cost: $50.9 million
Local fire activity and fire prevention information online:
Douglas Forest Protective Association -www.dfpa.net
Twitter – www.twitter.com/DouglasFPA
Facebook – www.facebook.com/DouglasForestProtectiveAssociation
InciWeb – http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3559/