Posted on 07/18/2002 8:39:19 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
More crews arriving as flames keep spreading
By JOHN ENDERS, The Associated Press, 7/18/02 4:08 AM
SISTERS, Ore. (AP) -- Firefighters from several states are on their way to Oregon.
And just in time: there are plenty of fires here for them to fight.
Ten Oregon crews that were fighting fires in other Western states will be returning home by the weekend. Joining them will be firefighters from Alaska, California, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee, fire officials said late Wednesday.
And, on July 29, a battalion from an Army base in Kansas will be arriving in Oregon.
Crews already on the ground continue to struggle against gusty winds and rugged terrain as they seek to control wildfires burning on more than 120,000 acres of brush and timber in vast stretches of Oregon.
New wildfires are flaring before others are contained.
The Geneva 2 fire, 10 miles northeast of this tourist town on the eastern flank of the Cascades, grew from 400 to 1,000 acres.
"The fire is very volatile and unpredictable. We're concerned about Sisters and residences along Highway 6," said fire spokesman Dan Wood.
As the fire burned up steep, rocky gullies and along ridgetops, with bitterbrush and juniper trees exploding into flames after being ignited by wind-driven embers, three helicopters dumped water onto the lines and the nearby spot fires.
Seven bulldozers, including one huge D-9 with a blade more than 12 feet wide, dug a fire lines into the rock and dirt.
"Even with those big dozers, the going is pretty slow," said Mike Carlson, a district supervisor on the Geneva 2 fire.
It might be slow, but it's also effective. By late Wednesday, the Geneva 2 fire was actually a bright spot, fire officials said.
In southern Oregon, the evacuation of 200 homes outside the town of Ruch was recommended as the Squire Peak fire neared, driven by freak winds. About a third of the residents chose to leave.
The fire burned an outbuilding and a garage but no homes. Residents were allowed to return when the winds calmed. But they remained on alert.
Three other towns in southern and eastern Oregon could become threatened by wildfires nearly at their doorsteps: Unity, Prairie City and Paisley.
Fire commanders say Oregon's wildfires could worsen because of higher temperatures that are expected over the next couple of days.
"It looks like the weather is going to turn on us," said David Widmark, spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Fire Center in Portland.
Fire commanders on Wednesday drew up a new priority list as they juggled their resources.
First priority was given to the Winter complex, burning on about 25,000 acres outside Paisley. Roughly 30 homeowners have been advised to evacuate, officials said.
Next in priority was the Squire Peak fire, followed by the Toolbox complex, which is burning on nearly 30,000 acres north of the Winter complex.
So far, the only homes that have been destroyed are 18 residences that were consumed by the Eyerly fire last weekend. Firefighters have been making progress against that fire, which on Wednesday was 65 percent contained.
Other wildfires included:
--Monument fire, 18,700 acres, nine miles southwest of Unity, 5 percent contained.
--Grizzly complex, 4,105 acres, 15 miles west of Lakeview, 2 percent contained.
--Mahogany complex, 24,500 acres, 15 miles northwest of Jordan Valley, 30 percent contained.
Oregon has less fires in the SW area. We have more in Kali., including 4 new ones up north and one that looks like it is around the Big Sur area.
We started off with a North breeze this morning. The North Wind is a drying wind and often shoots down from Southern and SW Oregon. When that happens, often Oregon will be hot, windier and drier.
Weekends are particuliarly dangerous with smokers in the woods and flipping lighted ciggies out the windows. Then you have the idiots who start a bonfire to enjoy the great outdoors.
This is not the weekend to be camping in Oregon or Kali..
There are weather warnings of electrical storms throughout most of Kali today and this weekend. Then, we are supposed to enter one of those high pressure involvements on Tuesday. This will mean higher and drier North Winds after possible lightening strikes.
Bumping and safety to our firefighters!!!!!
Ed
Ed
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