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Fire Information Update
Florence Fire
Tuesday, August 6, 2002 8:00 am
Fire Information Center: (541) 592-1029

Total Florence Fire
Status: 241,282 acres Start: July 13, 2002 Cause: Lightning
Location: 26 miles southwest of Grants Pass, Ore., on the Siskiyou National Forest within the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
Percent Contained: 10% Expected Containment: Unknown Structures Lost: 4 residences and 8 outbuildings

East Florence Fire
Cost to date: $13.7 million Fire Line to Build: 61 miles Personnel: 1,894 Injuries: None
Today’s Resources: 16 helicopters (seven Type 1, four Type 2 and five Type 3), 48 handcrews (10 Type 1 and 38 Type 2), 93 engines, 25 water tenders, 30 dozers.
At Risk: Portions of the towns or communities of Cave Junction, Kerby, Selma, O’Brien, and Agness; Gardner Ranch; private lands east of McCaleb Ranch; Late Successional Reserve; threatened and endangered fish; Illinois and Rogue River wild and scenic rivers; campgrounds.
Closures: Galice and Illinois Valley Ranger Districts on the Siskiyou National Forest west of State Highway 199 are closed to all public access due to extreme fire conditions; Bear Camp Road #2300 from Galice to Agness; hiking trail through Rogue River Wild and Scenic area.
Cooperating Agencies: USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Indian Affairs, USDI National Park Service, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, Josephine County, Oregon Department of Forestry, Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Oregon National Guard, City of Cave Junction, Coos Fire Protective Association, and private entities.

What’s New: Two 5-acre slopovers occurred along the southeast flank of the Florence Fire yesterday afternoon. This was in an area west of the community of O’Brien. Crews were able to contain the slopovers quickly, and night shift crews mopped up flames and smokes.

Today, crews working along the northeast flank of the Florence Fire will continue preparing a fire line from Hanson Saddle to Soldier Camp. From Sam Brown Horse Camp, where there is a fire camp, to the area west of O’Brien, firefighters will be patrolling fire lines and mopping up smokes. South of O’Brien, fire line construction will continue, followed by burnouts (weather permitting).

Weather this morning is cool and moist. As an upper level low pressure system moves slowly east of the fire area this afternoon, the Florence Fire will experience gradual warming and drying. The possibility of sustained northeast to east winds over 15 mph, coupled with relative humidity dropping below 35 percent, has prompted a fire weather watch for tonight.

Temperatures today will range from 70-76 in the valleys and 59-64 on the ridges. Humidity will range from 30-38 percent in the valleys and 38-46 percent on the ridges. Winds on the ridges will range from 8-18 mph. Winds in the valleys will be downslope 3-8 mph this morning, becoming upslope 5-10 mph this afternoon.

An inversion will remain over the fire until about 3:00 p.m. today.

The threat of evacuation for Illinois Valley residents eased slightly on Monday, allowing fire officials to extend the alert status from 2 hour- to 4 hour-notice.

Pacific Northwest National Incident Management Team 2
Mike Lohrey, Incident Commander