Oregon Fires: Heat, dryness, lightning, wind fuel wildfire flames

PAISLEY -- Oregon National Guard troops plan to join the battle today as 16 forest fires continue to rage unchecked in Central and Southern Oregon, burning 219,781 acres during the weekend and threatening hundreds of isolated homes and ranches despite the efforts of nearly 8,000 firefighters.

Gov. John Kitzhaber is expected to visit the Paisley area in south-central Oregon this afternoon, where the Winter and Tool Box fires merged during the weekend into a "megafire" covering more than 87,000 acres, the state's largest. He will also visit the Squire Peak fire camp south of Medford this morning.

Those fires, feeding on dead and dry ponderosa pines, have jumped, twisted and spread in a manner that officials described as "incredible." At one point last week, the Winter blaze created a "tornado" of fire, lifting whole trees and utility poles as it grew in two directions along Summer Lake, spreading 10 miles to the north and two miles to the south.

Firefighters have managed to save houses but have had to let the fire take its own path at times, said Jim Mair, incident commander of the Winter fire.

"One of our people said this fire is like a dragon -- every time it turns his head there's fire, so we don't want to disturb the dragon," Mair said.

A contingent of 250 National Guard troops is expected today to help with firefighting duties. The troops, 150 from the 82nd Battalion based in Bend and 100 from the 316th Battalion based in La Grande, will focus efforts on the southern end of the Winter fire, where most of their time will be spent mopping up after the blaze.

As of Sunday, the troops had spent five days in Bend at a basic fire-fighting camp learning skills. The soldiers must be supervised by fire crew bosses to ensure their safety in the charred forests.

"The problem now is finding enough fire crew bosses to get them out on the line," said Chris Friend, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Forestry. "We've been shaking the trees to make sure we get enough."

One Summer Lake resident, Judy Blais Napier, was critical of the way state and federal officials handled the fire. Napier, who had to evacuate her 13 Tennessee walker horses from her 400-acre ranch and who nearly lost her home, said response was delayed and officials wasted time deciding jurisdiction.

Officials disagreed, pointing out that their crews helped save Napier's home. They also said the number of blazes in the region was a factor in how the fire was fought.

"We were so stretched out, where do you go first?" Mair asked. "It's still that way with resources; we still don't have enough resources."

The combined Winter and Tool Box fires continue to threaten about 60 homes as well as Bonneville Power Administration power lines, said David Widmark, spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordinating Center in Portland.

"It's moving in several different directions," Widmark said. "The winds in that area, because of the geography, change very quickly. That's one of the reasons we've had a hard time getting a handle on those fires."

Flames raced over a major communications site atop a mountain, but the facility remained in operation, he said. The facility includes Oregon State Police, Forest Service, Lake County and Bureau of Land Management radio and cell phone relays.

The Winter fire was said to be 40 percent contained Sunday, but officials said heat and lightning continue to threaten the region.

Danny Mercer, a fire weather forecaster for the National Weather Service in Portland, said a new round of thunderstorms late Sunday could rumble up from the south into the south-central part of the state.

"It could get real nasty at first, with lightning and high winds," Mercer said. "But the model forecasts are showing that these storms may bring with them a lot of rain."

Mercer said the threat of thunderstorms along the spine of the Cascades will continue into Wednesday and possibly Thursday.

Although 16 of the Northwest's 17 largest fires are in Oregon, regional officials have made the lone Washington state fire their top priority, diverting air tanker flights to dump fire retardant and preparing to reassign crews if necessary.

The Deer Point fire near Lake Chelan, north of Wenatchee in eastern Washington, became the region's top priority because it threatens 250 homes, said Widmark, the fire coordination center spokesman.

Many of the threatened residences are upscale vacation homes, he said. One home was destroyed Sunday.

The coordinating center opens when large forest fires break out in the region. Operated by nine state and federal agencies, the center decides which fires in Oregon and Washington get top priority and assigns resources accordingly.

Firefighting priorities are decided based on a fire's potential to hurt people, destroy communities and harm commercial, historical and cultural resources, Widmark said.

The Deer Point blaze was started by a campfire, and the Tool Box and the Winter fires, which occurred in what signposts call "Oregon Outback" country, were caused by lightning strikes.

Lightning ignited drought-stressed sage and juniper, which flashed into the heavier stands of ponderosa pine.

In some cases, the fires have provided some benefit by thinning smaller trees and killing brush, said John Zapell, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

In other spots, however, including several key drainages, the fire burned hot and fast, torching trees into their crowns and taking even the largest ponderosa pines.

Here is this morning's wildfire summary for Oregon:

Oregon
Number of Fires: 15
Acres: 183,920
New Fires: 1
Fires Contained: 2

NEW - Lava (BLM Lakeview District): 400 acres at 0 percent contained. This fire is 15 miles north of Christmas Valley. Limited access and rocky terrain are hampering suppression efforts. Personnel are monitoring.
Information: Call 541-947-2177

Sheep Rock (BLM Vale District): 700 acres at 50 percent contained. This fire is two miles northeast of Riverside. Extreme fire behavior was observed. Engines and crews are mopping up.

Wall Creek (Southwest Oregon District, Oregon Department of Forestry): 321 acres at 95 percent contained. This fire is burning ten miles northeast of Medford. Minimal fire behavior was observed. Crews are mopping up.
Information: Visit the Oregon Department of Forestry web site

747 (Ochoco National Forest): 10,630 acres at 20 percent contained. This fire is northeast of Paulina. Extremely rugged and inaccessible terrain is hampering suppression efforts. Structure protection is in place for four threatened residences and several outbuildings.
Information: Call 541-416-6811 or visit the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center web site

North Umpqua Complex (Umpqua National Forest): 600 acres at 20 percent contained. This fire is burning 25 miles east of Glide. Rocky, inaccessible terrain is hampering containment efforts. Personnel are constructing indirect attack handline, improving established fireline and mopping up. Twenty residences are threatened.
Information: Call 541-957-3270 or 541-957-3227 or visit the Umpqua National Forest web site

Squire Peak (Southwest Oregon District, Oregon Department of Forestry): 2,804 acres at 95 percent contained. Minimal fire behavior was observed.
Information: Call 541-899-6987

Flag Tail (Malheur National Forest): 7,600 acres at 55 percent contained. This fire is burning 13 miles west of Seneca. Crews are burning out and mopping up.
Information: Call 541-575-3008 or visit the Malheur National Forest web site

Biscuit Complex (Siskiyou National Forest): 4,840 acres at 0 percent contained. This complex consists of several fires, 17 miles southwest of Cave Junction. Steep, inaccessible terrain is hampering containment efforts. Crews are constructing indirect attack fireline for structure protection. Twelve residences are threatened.
Information: Call 541-592-4024 or 541-592-4020 or visit the Siskiyou National Forest web site

Grizzly Complex (Fremont National Forest): 6,050 acres at 60 percent contained. This complex, comprised of the Grizzly, Bare and Logan fires, is 15 miles west of Lakeview. Personnel are patrolling and mopping up.
Information: Call 541-947-0244 or visit the Fremont National Forest web site

Tool Box Complex (Fremont National Forest): 59,160 acres at 40 percent contained. This complex consists of the Tool Box and Silver fires which are 30 miles northwest of Paisley and eight miles southwest of Silver Lake respectively. Crews and engines are constructing fireline and providing for structure protection. Fifteen residences, a major power line and an extensive communications site are threatened.
Information: Call 541-576-2107 or visit the Fremont National Forest web site

Winter (Klamath Lake District, Oregon Department of Forestry): 31,100 acres at 40 percent contained. This fire is ten miles northwest of Paisley. Steep and rocky terrain is hampering containment efforts. Crews are burning out and constructing handline on the west and south flanks. Sixty residences are threatened; structure protection is in place.
Information: Call 541-943-3513 or visit the Fremont National Forest web site

Monument (Malheur National Forest): 24,700 acres at 30 percent contained. This fire is nine miles southwest of Unity. Limited access is hampering containment efforts. Seventy-five residences are threatened.
Information: Call 541-446-3614 or visit the Monument Fire web site

Tiller Complex (Umpqua National Forest): 3,600 acres at 6 percent contained. This complex is comprised of 94 reported fires on the Tiller Ranger District and in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness Area, west of Tiller. Forty residences are threatened.
Information: Call 541-825-3201 or visit the Umpqua National Forest web site

Malheur Complex (Malheur National Forest): 8,211 acres at 20 percent contained. This complex, consisting of the Roberts and Easy fires, is burning eight to 25 miles south of Prairie City. Fifty residences, several commercial properties and numerous outbuildings are threatened; structure protection is in place.
Information: Call 541-820-4503 or visit the Malheur National Forest web site

Eyerly Complex (BIA Warm Springs Agency): 23,204 acres at 70 percent contained. This complex consists of the Eyerly and Geneva 2 fires which are burning in the Metolius River Canyon, 15 miles northeast of Camp Sherman. Crews are constructing direct attack fireline and mopping up. Two hundred and eighty residences are threatened; structure protection is in place.
Information: Call 541-546-6170 or 541-546-6175

They have keep the news lid on the Biscuit Fire in SW Oregon by the Illinois River and the fires east of Roseburg in the upper Umpqua areas.

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