Florence fire jumps lines, makes tracks for Brookings (SW Oregon)

Medford Mail Tribuen ^ | 10 August 2002 | Paul Fattig

[Grampa Dave]

August 10, 2002

Florence fire jumps lines, makes tracks for Brookings

By PAUL FATTIG

Medford Florence fire jumps lines, makes tracks for Brookings

Mail Tribune The dog days of August continue to hound firefighters battling the southern flank of the 331,375-acre Florence fire.

As temperatures rise, residents in the hamlet of Wilderness Retreat along the Chetco River more than a half-dozen miles east of Brookings have been warned to evacuate on a moment’s notice if the fire flares up along its southwest flank.

However, the fire is about three and a half miles from the scattered homes and as of Friday night remained contained by a fireline, officials said.

Firefighters on the fire’s southeast flank near O’Brien battled a 240-acre "slopover" Friday which erupted after the fire jumped a containment line.

The spot fire demonstrated the dangerous fire potential still facing the region, officials cautioned.

"We thought we got the slopover 100 percent last (Thursday) night, but it picked up again today," said Forest Service spokesman Tom Valluzzi, noting it had been fanned to life by broiling temperatures and gusting wind.

"Next week is supposed to be hot," he said, referring to weather predictions that include triple-digit temperatures in the interior valleys early next week.

"This fire ain’t over, not by a long shot," he added. "It’s going to be a long time before it’s out."

Still, the fire is now considered 20 percent contained by firelines, he added. And the evacuation notice for Illinois Valley residents has been extended to 12 hours. Favorable weather conditions have decreased the threat in the northern flank of the fire near Agness.

The fire flared up near the Quail Prairie Lookout on the west side of the Siskiyou National Forest early Friday afternoon, forcing officials to pull back firefighters in that area, said agency spokesman Bob MacGregor.

"The inversion lifted up a little — it made a little bit of a run," he said. "But it didn’t burn to our firelines. We’re pretty confident we’re going to be able to hold it."

That’s because an inversion is expected in the area this weekend, in effect putting a "blanket" on the flames, he said.

Nearly 5,500 firefighters are now battling the blaze, which covers about 463 square miles in Oregon and the far northwest tip of California.

The fire has surpassed the 1933 240,000-acre Tillamook burn but is still a far cry from the 988,000-acre Silverton fire of 1865, the largest fire in western Oregon, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry.

The fire was sparked by lightning in the Florence Creek drainage west of Selma on July 13.

Meanwhile, the fire has given crews the opportunity to deploy the PHF 20T, a converted 1960s German military tank. The vehicle is being used to snuff out hot spots that could spring up around the perimeter near O’Brien.

Built in Germany and distributed in the United States by the Texas-based Texoga company, the tank has been extensively converted for fire protection purposes. It is equipped with a 5,000-gallon water storage tank and a nozzle capable of launching 200 to 500 gallons of water every minute from a turret at its front.

A large adjustable dozer-blade also extends off the front, allowing drivers to dig or reinforce fire lines.

"We tested it for a week in Nevada and it goes great," said Jes Webb, a fire information officer. "I tried to find some place it couldn’t go and something it couldn’t go over — I couldn’t find it."

As the firefighters continue to increase containment lines around the fire, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office will begin reuniting evacuated pets and livestock with their owners today.

The estimated 400 animals, evacuated when the fire threatened the Illinois Valley, include everything from horses to dogs and cats and at least one guinea pig, according to an office spokesman.

[Grampa Dave]

I don't know what the current status of the fire is.

It is the weekend, so the Oregonian and Oregon Live have their weekend feel good news up with local murders and rapes. This is not news to the Green Jihadists controlling Portland.

[Grampa Dave]

Good Morning!

Hope all of you are safe and reasonably smoke free today.

This is it for now.

Please post what you are aware of.

[Grampa Dave]

Good morning!

This is the latest on the Druid/Green Jihadist Rural Cleansing fire in SW Oregon.

No one has written a story on how the Kalmiopsis Wilderness no longer exists. It was struck by lightening in July. As per the Druid/Green Jihadist mentally ill agenda, lightening is considered to be a good fire. So the Floristry Circus in that area, held hands and chanted "Fire is Great! Fire is Good!"

When it threatened to burn out 17,000 innocent victims living in the Illinois River Valley area, they decided that it should be fought outside of the former wilderness area.

The fire in the former wilderness area will have to be put out by nature as it is against the law for evil men to put it out. So it will burn until this fall when the fall/winter rains come.

The weather will be heating up this weekend and really getting hot next week. Now those living in Curry County to the west of the burning former Wilderness are in danger and will be in danger most until the former Wilderness burns out.

This is a perfect text book example of the Druid Green Jihadist Fire Agenda in action.

Thanks for your help in pinging and keeping this sad story alive on Free Republic.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanksf for your interest and pings on this Druid Green Jihadist Rural cleansing by fire story!

This is the latest on the Druid/Green Jihadist Rural Cleansing fire in SW Oregon.

No one has written a story on how the Kalmiopsis Wilderness no longer exists. It was struck by lightening in July. As per the Druid/Green Jihadist mentally ill agenda, lightening is considered to be a good fire. So the Floristry Circus in that area, held hands and chanted "Fire is Great! Fire is Good!"

When it threatened to burn out 17,000 innocent victims living in the Illinois River Valley area, they decided that it should be fought outside of the former wilderness area.

The fire in the former wilderness area will have to be put out by nature as it is against the law for evil men to put it out. So it will burn until this fall when the fall/winter rains come.

The weather will be heating up this weekend and really getting hot next week. Now those living in Curry County to the west of the burning former Wilderness are in danger and will be in danger most until the former Wilderness burns out.

This is a perfect text book example of the Druid Green Jihadist Fire Agenda in action.

Thanks for your help in pinging and keeping this sad story alive on Free Republic

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks to meeknming, we have a candid photo of the evil mastermind of this Rural Cleansing Strategy:

ACTUAL PHOTO OF ENVIRO-NAZI-JIHADIST POS

[connectthedots]

Meanwhile, the fire has given crews the opportunity to deploy the PHF 20T, a converted 1960s German military tank. The vehicle is being used to snuff out hot spots that could spring up around the perimeter near O’Brien.

Built in Germany and distributed in the United States by the Texas-based Texoga company, the tank has been extensively converted for fire protection purposes. It is equipped with a 5,000-gallon water storage tank and a nozzle capable of launching 200 to 500 gallons of water every minute from a turret at its front.

The ultimate in 'Super Soakers'. Be the first on your block to get one.

[Grampa Dave]

The tank sounds like fun. I would like to use one to get to and from the fly fishing streams in S. Oregon and N. Kali that are overgrown with brush and have no roads due to the Green Jihadist's forest agendas.

Then when an ALF/ELF/PETA Freak shows up to protest me making new roads, clearing brush and fly fishing, I could use the 500 gallon per minute nozzle to clean them up for the first time in their lives.

The Green Jihadists will be against it as it is too effective.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Grampa LOL - that picture looks like what I grilled last night! ITs hard to get those damn feathers off though!

The smoke is back in the basin in a major way. Had a clear day yesterday.

BTW Surf & Turf at Bunkers house is Spotted Owl & Sucker Fish!

[Grampa Dave]

August 10, 2002


United nations: Canadians join fight
By MELISSA MARTIN, Medford Mail Tribune

Gerry Trudeau calls himself the "fire headhunter from the Yukon," the first to confront the flames and the first to take the blame if something goes wrong.

"I’m responsible for the fire and the safety of everybody," said the firefighter from Pelly Crossing, just over the Canadian border from Alaska. "If the fire escapes the initial attack line and if an accident happens, it comes down to me."

He stepped off a Boeing 737 at the Medford airport Friday night with 102 fellow Canadians carrying gear on his back and knowledge in his head that could save lives and keep the largest fire in the continental U.S. at bay. The five, 20-person crews were bused to a Gold Beach base camp to fight the Florence fire burning 26 miles southwest of Grants Pass.

"I have to keep good track of every decision I make and why I make them," said Trudeau, pulling the tools of his trade from his waist pack — a tape recorder small enough to fit in the palm of his hand and a fire diary where he records his, and the fire’s, every move.

He packs weather-watching equipment and communication antennae on his back and he carries a radio and global positioning system in his vest.

"If we’re out in the open, we can follow the column of smoke, but once we get under the canopy, we rely on a compass and a GPS," Trudeau said. A paramedic and volunteer fire chief, Trudeau gave up a Caribbean vacation with his wife — the town’s librarian, school secretary and ambulance service coordinator — to take a job 2,500 miles away.

The Canadians who arrived Friday night are among 367 from six different fire fighting agencies in Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories arriving this week in the Rogue Valley.

The U.S. government asked the Canadians help fight the 331,375-acre Florence fire that’s threatening western Josephine County. Some 5,434 people from across the country are battling the blaze.

"I’m looking forward to seeing how things work here and learning the different environment of the fire," said Jennifer Platz, a FireRanger from Edmonton, who earned an arts and forestry university degree. She fights fires in the summer and skis in the winter.

Don Sullivan welcomes the work, despite breathing smoke and ash for 12 hours a days in a constant danger zone of falling trees and unpredictable flames. The mill where the man from Hazelton, British Columbia, used to work closed.

"That’s what I love about this job is going away and the farther the better," said the crew leader, who once a led his team in a fast retreat in their trucks when a fire made an unexpected turn.

His crew got its name "Rainmakers" because the heavens seem to open whenever they show up, he said.

"It’s awesome being here," said Rainmaker Tricia Seinen, a carpenter and skier in the off season. "We’re going to make lots of money."

Canadians and Americans first joined forces against North American fires in 1988, when the Canadians asked the Americans for help, said Rick Strickland, Northwest Interagency Media representative from Edmonton. In 2000, the Americans asked the Canadians for help fighting fires in Montana.

When Uncle Sam called this time, Alberta was just mopping up the 545,600-acre House River Fire, Strickland said.

"We have 2 to 3 feet of duff layer so to dig a hand line to the mineral soil is not feasible," said Strickland, explaining the different strategies. "We use a water delivery system with pumps and sprinklers, even pumping water uphill. We have planes that we call "Ducks" that scoop up water from lakes and swamps. We mix it with foam to give the water longevity and create a kind of soapy substance. We drop retardant to steer the fire to a body of water. When the fire gets to a lake, it stops and then we work along the flanks. We’re not always successful, but we do our best."

He hails from fire country, noting an Aug. 4, 1998, storm with 40,000 recorded lightning strikes that started 350 fires over the next 10 days.

"But your values of risk are greater here," Strickland said. "You have more communities and more people than we do."

There are also more people working this fire, said Yukon team leader Don Hutton, from Mayo, population 500. His crew includes firefighters from the Tutchone, Taan, and Trondek nations.

"We just finished a 2,100 hectare (5,187-acre) fire in the Prince Albert National Park," said Hutton, who bought his wife an anniversary gift early knowing he would be in Oregon on the big day. "We helped protect the second-largest white pelican breeding ground in the world at Lavawwee.

"But this fire is bigger than most of us have seen," Hutton said. "It’s big by anybody’s standards."

The U.S. government called in the Canadians when man-power started running low, said Marty O’Toole, fire information officer for the National Interagency Coordination Center at the Boise airport. The Canadian crews spent a day in Boise learning how to identify poison oak and scorpions before flying in to Medford.

Next week, 56 mid-level supervisors from New Zealand and Australia will arrive in Medford.

"It will be four nations working together on the same fire," Strickland said.

---

The Empire minus England has arrived to help!

We should send their bill to Club Sierra, Andy Kerr, the ONRC and of course the great governor of Oregone up in Smoke, Kitzyslobber.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Was at that airport Thurs night. Half the passengers appeared to be fire support. Probably flew first class.

[Grampa Dave]

I would like to grill him and his POS Green Jihadist Nazis, but not to eat.

Just strap them to trees in the way of the blazes and let them hug the trees and chant "Fire is God! Fire is Good! Fire is Great!" as it crowns out and cinderizes these worthless POS's!

You consider Spotted Owl to be Turf! We consider Bambi, his mother, aunt and all male relatives to be Turf. Spotted Owl is Wings from Heaven on a Grill!

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

I used to be afraid of eating spotted owl. I was told the reason it is spotted is because its diseased. I've gotten over that now.

[dixiechick2000]

"It is equipped with a 5,000-gallon water storage tank and a nozzle capable of launching 200 to 500 gallons of water every minute from a turret at its front."

Really kewl! I've gotta get me one of those things!

Now, I'm off to read the rest of the thread.

[dixiechick2000]

"Gusty winds remained a threat Saturday to fire crews struggling to contain what has become Oregon's largest wildfire in over a century."

This is from KGW 8. It's about the only thing that's not included in your article. I might add that they are expecting winds up to 50 MPH today.

BTW, Good morning, Gramps!

[countrydummy]

thanks for posting it! Have been trying to follow them all....when are folks ever going to wake up and see what is really happening in America?

[backhoe]

You may find this useful:

Environmentalist Slams "lunatic fringe"

[dixiechick2000]

"Environmentalism was hijacked," he said. "The original people in the movement could arguably claim to be the largest grass-roots movement in America, and one of the greatest. People joined together to do good. Then they made a crucial and critical mistake: They gave power - unchecked power - to their leaders.

"We allow the Enviros to write critical legislation. We elected many to the House and Senate who just blindly accepted that what the Enviros were doing was good. Now we're unwilling to examine what the Enviros say and do to see if it is flawed.

"It is one thing for the Enviros to say, 'We are going to do good,' but if what they do creates profoundly negative impacts on the habitat and turns out to be unconstitutional, it is proof that the power handed to their leaders has corrupted them.

"Right now, taxpayers are paying for 'Green Bureau-babble,' which equates to power. The people who come up with these ideas are power perverts. They don't want to stand for election. They want the power without the responsibility. These people are a perversion of the republic."

Thank you, backhoe! What a refreshing article.

[Salvation]

Florence Fire Grows: Biggest in Century

08/10/2002

By AP Staff

Gusty winds remained a threat Saturday to fire crews struggling to contain what has become Oregon's largest wildfire in over a century.

In Curry County, a pre-evacuation notice was posted to make sure residents are ready to leave on a moment's notice if the Florence Fire -- which had grown to 333,891 acres by Saturday morning -- moved closer to a few dozen homes scattered along river canyons near the ocean in the southwest corner of Oregon.

A helicopter fights the Florence Fire near Agness. (AP Photo)

"This does not mean that residents are asked to leave, but that each resident is prepared to leave immediately if notified," Curry County Sheriff Kent Owens said Friday.

A voluntary evacuation advisory remained in effect in Gasquet, Calif., at the fire's southern end, which has a population of about 800 people. The blaze jumped a fire line near there Thursday.

The blaze is now larger than the 1933 Tillamook Fire, which burned 311,000 acres. There are indications some 19th century fires may have covered more ground, however. National forest management did not begin until after the Forest Service was established in the 1890s.

Gusty winds and low humidity, which became a concern on Friday, remained an issue Saturday, said Carol Tocco of the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which oversees fire management. The blaze is about 25 percent contained, she said.

More than 6,000 firefighters are at the blaze, which covers more than 460 square miles in southwest Oregon and Northern California. Although favorable weather limited the fire's advance in the Agness area, east winds gusting to 40 mph and temperatures in the 90s gave the blaze new vigor in the steep hills and valleys east of Brookings near the California border.

"Unfortunately, this thing is getting ready to blow up," Owens said Friday. "It's been sort of idling the last few days. But with the wind change, it could go into high gear."

Some area residents have already moved their families out, but others said they would stay with their homes as falling ash sprinkled on cars.

Bob Wilhite said he's been building his house for two years and is still doing some finishing work. "I'm not gonna pick up and leave now," he said. "These guys seem pretty good at what they do."

Normally the Chetco River Inn would be packed with guests this time of year, but the bed-and-breakfast in the rugged hills 15 miles east of Brookings is empty.

Co-owner Sandra Brugger said she hasn't had a paying guest in two weeks, ever since the Florence fire prompted officials to close the road leading to the inn and the community of Wilderness Retreat two weeks ago.

Crews strung fire hose from the Chetco River up to, over and around Wilderness Retreat homes. A series of portable pumps sends river water through the hoses to the sprinklers that douse the houses and nearby land. For houses too far from the river, they'll feed the sprinklers with tanker truck water.

About 50 houses in all have been rigged with sprinklers and are being wetted down a couple of hours a day.

On fire lines in the Illinois River Valley to the east, fire crews tried out the PHF 20T, a converted 1960s German military tank, to help put out hot spots that could spring up around the perimeter of the Florence Fire.

Built in Germany and distributed in the United States by the Texas-based Texoga company, the tank has been extensively converted for fire protection purposes. It is equipped with a 5,000-gallon water storage tank and a nozzle capable of launching 200 to 500 gallons of water every minute from a turret at its front.

A large adjustable dozer-blade also extends off the front, allowing drivers to dig or reinforce fire lines.

"We tested it for a week in Nevada and it goes great. I tried to find some place it couldn't go and something it couldn't go over -- I couldn't find it," said Jes Webb, a fire information officer.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks, this is one of my bookmarks!

I feel that we have about .000000001% of 1% of Americans awake and alert re the enviral nazis and their agendas of harm and death to to America.

They have gotten to their power with no controlling legal authority over them the past two decades. That accelerated and became even more deadly during the Clintoonian years. This is another legacy from the Criminal from Arkrazy.

[Salvation]

Sorry, #18 was from kgw.com