Fires burning on about 212,000 acres across Oregon

good job!

Thanks for the update, Gramps.
The kids arrived home safe last night. They said that there was a bit of smoke where they were camping and more smoke in Sisters, but the only thing that really bothered them was a couple of black bears that got into their cooler and ate the watermelon!;o)

Glad that your grown kids and grand children are home safe.

From KATU website:

Wildfires Continue to Burn ,
Some Progress is Made

PORTLAND - With flames crackling through mixed sage brush and juniper trees, Oregon's two largest wildfires burned together overnight Saturday and became a single megafire that measured the second largest in the country.

Crews battling the Winter and Toolbox fires in south-central Oregon near Summer and Silver lakes also got together, and said they have a better chance of containing the blaze now that it is concentrated in one area.

"The fire crews are getting together and talking about what's going to happen next," said Dale Warriner, a spokesman at the fire.

Flames burned up hillsides near Picture Rock Pass on about a mile-long combined leading edge, Warriner said.

The fire was about 15 percent contained Saturday afternoon, he said.

A voluntary evacuation order remained in effect for 60 homes near Summer Lake. Several homes in the Silver Lake area also were threatened, he said.

The new fire created by the merger has not yet been named.

The fire burned on about 83,000 acres, said Marc Hollen, spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland.

He said there are about 25 fires the center considers major burning in the state.

Gov. John Kitzhaber will visit a fire camp Monday in Paisley, where hundreds of firefighters are based as they continue efforts to contain four large blazes.

Kitzhaber is to visit the Squire fire in Jackson County Monday morning, then fly to Paisley in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, fixed-wing aerial tankers took off in Oregon again Saturday after Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded the nation's fleet Thursday following a firefighting plane crash.

The restriction had not affected helicopters.

The FAA order was rescended at noon Saturday. Some tankers in Oregon remained on the tarmac for additional checks, but most of the about 10 planes took off with loads of slurry, Hollen said.

Fires burned a total of 212,000 acres in central, southern and eastern Oregon.

In other wildfire developments in the state, residents living near the southwestern Oregon town of Ruch returned to their homes Saturday as firefighters made good progress against the Squire Peak fire.

Authorities lifted a voluntary evacuation notice at 10 p.m. Friday after firefighters labeled the fire 95 percent contained.

In southern Oregon, the Tiller Complex of fires had burned more than 3,000 acres by in the Umpqua National Forest southeast of Roseburg by Saturday.

The Tiller Ranger District fire lookout at Acker Rock was evacuated Thursday because of fire danger. Several of the fires are not being fought because of a shortage of firefighters, Hollen said.

Officials were preparing an evacuation plan for the Umpqua Creek Pow-wow grounds in the Boulder Creek/Jackson Creek area.

In Crater Lake National Park, 11 small fires were reported contained Friday. The largest was two acres, park officials said.

Other fires burning in Oregon:

Eyerly Complex (Eyerly fire, 19,220 acres, 65 percent contained; Geneva 2 fire, 1,120 acres, 95 percent contained. Eyerly fire continued to jump lines on northwest and southwest flanks.
The Grizzly Complex, 6,200 acres in the Fremont National Forest in south-central Oregon, about 15 miles west of Lakeview; 30 percent contained.
Flagtail fire, 13 miles west of Seneca near John Day; remained at 6,000 acres; no estimate of containment.
North Umpqua complex, 24 fires totaling 283 acres, 17 contained or controlled.

From KXL.com

Two wildfires have converged
A new storm threatens to bring lightning to the area, creating yet another hazard for crews.

With flames crackling through mixed sage brush and juniper trees, Oregon's two largest wildfires burned together overnight Saturday and became a single megafire that measured the second largest in the country.

But firefighters battling Oregon's largest fire will confront another hazard Sunday.

A storm with dry lightning is forecast to blow over south-central Oregon, where the Winter and Toolbox fires are burning on about 87,000 acres of sagebrush and juniper in the high desert.

The storm is expected to reach central Oregon by Sunday afternoon.

Fire officials have already dispatched another 800 firefighters to the complex of fires. That brings the total number of firefighters on the lines to about 2000.

About 60 homes are threatened.

Northwest Interagency Coordination Center spokesman David Widmark says National Guard troops are expected to arrive at the Toolbox and Winter fires Sunday.

Widmark added they have a better chance of containing the blaze now that it is concentrated in one area.

"The fire crews are getting together and talking about what's going to happen next," said Dale Warriner, a spokesman at the fire.

Flames burned up hillsides near Picture Rock Pass on about a mile-long combined leading edge, Warriner said.

The fire was about 15 percent contained Saturday afternoon, he said.

A voluntary evacuation order remained in effect for 60 homes near Summer Lake. Several homes in the Silver Lake area also were threatened, he said.

The new fire created by the merger has not yet been named.

Marc Hollen, spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, said there are about 25 fires the center considers major burning in the state.

The largest fire in the country Saturday was the Rattle complex of fires northwest of Green River in Utah, Hollen said. That fire didn't threatening any homes.

Meanwhile, fixed-wing aerial tankers took off in Oregon again Saturday after Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded the nation's fleet Thursday following a firefighting plane crash.

The restriction had not affected helicopters.

The FAA order was rescended at noon Saturday. Some tankers in Oregon remained on the tarmac for additional checks, but most of the about 10 planes took off with loads of slurry, Hollen said.

Fires burned a total of 212,000 acres in central, southern and eastern Oregon.

In other wildfire developments in the state, residents living near the southwestern Oregon town of Ruch returned to their homes Saturday as firefighters made good progress against the Squire Peak fire.

Authorities lifted a voluntary evacuation notice at 10 p.m. Friday after firefighters labeled the fire 95 percent contained.

In southern Oregon, the Tiller Complex of fires had burned more than 3,000 acres by in the Umpqua National Forest southeast of Roseburg by Saturday.

The Tiller Ranger District fire lookout at Acker Rock was evacuated Thursday because of fire danger. Several of the fires are not being fought because of a shortage of firefighters, Hollen said.

Officials were preparing an evacuation plan for the Umpqua Creek Pow-wow grounds in the Boulder Creek/Jackson Creek area.

In Crater Lake National Park, 11 small fires were reported contained Friday. The largest was two acres, park officials said.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

I wish you guys in Oregon good luck, and a fast weather change.

I love Oregon, it's an outstanding, beautiful state. I have always said, If I ever decide to relocate, Oregon would be on top of my list.

Good luck up there with the fires and the leftist idiots.

From FoxNews.com>{?

Evacuation Orders Remain in Effect in Oregon, Washington


AP

Sunday, July 21, 2002

PORTLAND, Ore. — An 87,000-acre wildfire burned along a milelong front Sunday, threatening about 60 homes, and the number of firefighters assigned to the blaze nearly doubled.

A voluntary evacuation order remained in effect for the threatened homes near Summer Lake, and several homes in the Silver Lake area also were in danger, said David Widmark, a spokesman at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.

Thunderstorms were forecast in the area of south-central Oregon with a likelihood of lightning but no rain, said meteorologist Paul Werth at the interagency center.

Any new fires started by lightning could draw crews off the state's major blazes, Widmark said.

"What happens with the weather will tell us what the rest of the week will look like for fire behavior," Widmark said.


	AP
	A small plane lays down fire retardant near Paisley, Oregon.

Officials dispatched an additional 800 firefighters to the blaze Sunday, bringing the total force to about 2,000 people, and National Guard troops are expected to arrive Monday.

The blaze was about 15 percent contained Sunday, Widmark said.

In addition to stiff wind and high temperatures, firefighters have faced a threat of electrical arcs as dense smoke creates short circuits between the ground and Bonneville Power Administration power lines in the area.

Blue bolts of electricity from the power lines already have killed several cows and firefighters won't go near the lines.

Two fires joined on Saturday to form the huge blaze on rolling hills between Summer Lake and Silver Lake, producing one leading edge about a mile long.

Altogether, about 25 major fires active Sunday in Oregon had burned a total of 216,000 acres, officials said.

Elsewhere, a 350-acre wildfire damaged or destroyed 10 homes Sunday in Lake Isabella, Calif., and forced the evacuation of an undetermined number of residents, officials said.

About 75 firefighters and three helicopters are working to save homes in the area. Lake Isabella is about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

In north-central Washington, a wildfire near the north shore of Lake Chelan had burned about 17,000 acres, little changed from Saturday, officials said. It was about 10 percent contained.

A voluntary evacuation order remained in effect for nearly 300 homes near Lake Chelan. Several outbuildings had been destroyed but no homes had burned.

In Colorado, a fire near Rocky Mountain National Park had burned 5,000 acres and residents had been evacuated from about 225 homes in a subdivision near Lyons, 45 miles northwest of Denver. Occupants of an additional 400 to 500 houses were told to be ready to leave.

The Colorado blaze was 5 percent contained. It was 4 to 4.5 miles from Estes Park, one of the gateways to the national park.

A heavy air tanker was used to help firefighters Sunday. On Thursday, a PB4Y-2, a converted World War II-era bomber, crashed near Lyons while fighting the blaze and both crew members were killed.

no rain... lightning!

Thanks for the great updates.

Very scary up there.

I just checked the weather forecast for the Deschutes River area from Warm Springs, Or. to below Maupin, Or..

They are predicting dry lightening and thunderstorms through Thursday. I had planned a trip up there for the Steelhead that are in the river. I will pass.

I wonder how many people are like me who had planned a trip/vacation to Oregon and saying "No thank you!"

We should add to the already bloated fed? I think not.

Oregonians, if left alone, would be able to take care of our own forests. Without the federal restrictions on logging, logging roads, and preventive maintanence we'd would do just fine without a federal wild-fire force.

EBUCK

The coast is still fire-free. So is the Willamette Valley, where I make my home. You mean to tell me you don't want to see why Albany is the "Grass seed capitol of the world"? LOL. Really though, these fires are going to start hurting a lot more, economically, come winter.

EBUCK

Thanks Joe, I agree !!

Stop the attacks by the bureaucrats and wacko, extreme left-wing, enviro-nazis terrorist's on our Freedoms !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

Should we rename Oregon to Oregone?