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Fire Facts
Agness, Gold Beach, Brookings and vicinity

Tuesday, August 06, 2002 0800 hours

Fire Information: 541-247-2486 or 541-247-2590

The Florence fire encompasses 241,282 acres. The fire perimeter is approximately three air miles southeast of Oak Flat (Curry County) and five air miles east of the Wilderness Retreat area in the Chetco drainage.

Today’s resources: 17 Type I crews, 54 Type II crews, 16 helicopters, 113 engines, 864 Overhead, 56 Dozers, and 36 Watertenders. Approximately 130 fire support personnel from Canada have joined in the battle of the Florence Fire, with 5-20 person crews and miscellaneous overhead assigned to the fire today.

The following report is for the western half of the Florence Fire.

At Risk: Private residences in Oak Flat (Curry Co.), Agness, and Wilderness Retreat on the Chetco River.

Closures: The entire Siskiyou National Forest is under a fire closure. All open campfires are prohibited. Most Forest Service roads and trails south of the Agness Road (#33) are closed to public access and the Upper Rogue River Trail is closed. Bear Camp Road (#23) road closure is now in effect; travel is limited to emergency fire traffic only.

Community meetings: Meeting scheduled for this week are:

Tuesday, August 6, 7:00 p.m. at Gold Beach High School in Gold Beach
Wednesday, August 7, 7:00 p.m. at the Agness Community Building in Agness

Fire Weather Status:

Partly cloudy, and smoke will be drifting toward the coast today. The fire is expected to spread to the north and west. Highs 70-76 valleys, 59-64 ridges. Winds from 8-18.

Agness and Oak Flat

The fire continues to be active in and around the Fish Hook Peak area. The fire continues to back down- slope to the west side. Twenty-three crews and 26 dozers continue construction of a fire line on the ridge east of Oak Flat. Handcrews continue to make progress on the line inaccessible by dozers. The fireline will run north from Indian Flat and tie in with the existing road system in preparation for a potential burnout operation. Structures will continue to be prepped in the Agness area today.

Brookings, Gardner Ridge, and Carpenterville

Crews and dozers continue to build a fire line in the area east of Wilderness Retreat near the South Fork confluence of the Chetco River. Progress is slow due to extremely difficult terrain. At this time there is no imminent danger to the Brookings, Gardner Ridge or Carpenterville areas.

Today’s Objective:

To continue protection of private land and residences and adjacent communities along the Illinois River, Agness, Chetco River, and Brookings.

Establish line to keep the fire east of the ridge running from Lawson Creek to Sugarloaf Mtn, Snow Camp Mtn, Quail Prairie Mtn, Pollywog Butte, Snaketooth Butte then tie to Sourdough.

Thanks for the update re the westward and northward movement of the wilderness fire. ============================================================

The following report is for the western half of the Florence Fire.

At Risk: Private residences in Oak Flat (Curry Co.), Agness, and Wilderness Retreat on the Chetco River.

Closures: The entire Siskiyou National Forest is under a fire closure. All open campfires are prohibited. Most Forest Service roads and trails south of the Agness Road (#33) are closed to public access and the Upper Rogue River Trail is closed. Bear Camp Road (#23) road closure is now in effect; travel is limited to emergency fire traffic only.