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Oregon Homes Near Fire Evacuated, 08/16/2002

By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer

The Curry County sheriff ordered evacuation of about 30 homes in the Oak Flats area south of Agness Thursday evening as flames from the Biscuit Fire came within a mile.

But many residents stayed put.

"We will stay here to defend our properties," said Willis Crouse, a carpenter and volunteer fireman who has lived in Oak Flats for 25 years.

Navajo Hotshot Alfonso Dawez of Fort Defiance, Ariz., sets a burnout on the Biscuit fire near Brookings. (AP Photo)

Residents had the right to stay and defend their homes. But once they leave, they can't come back.

Crouse said that after watching the fire crawl closer the past several weeks, residents felt more in tune with it, though not more comfortable.

"It is like some kind of monster eating its way around us," he said.

National Guard troops were guarding the roads leading to Oak Flats and Spud Road to keep residents from re-entering. For any who decided to evacuate, the Red Cross set up a shelter at Riley Creek Elementry School in Gold Beach, about 25 miles west. But by 11:30 p.m. Thursday, no one had arrived at the shelter, said Pat Irish of the Red Cross.

Fire officials say it will probably be a few days -- depending on the weather and crews' success battling it -- before the fire gets in reach of the houses. But they didn't want to take any chances.

"The fire hasn't blown up," said fire spokesman Dick Fleishman. "But it's progressing that way, and the sheriff thought it would be safer to evacuate during the day than at night."

In other troublesome areas of the Biscuit Fire, now burning on almost 400,000 acres, crews are making solid progress, fire officials said.

Wind-borne embers had been sparking small fires near Quail Prairie Mountain, on the southwestern flank of the fire near Brookings. But crews were able to do some burning out in the area Thursday, fire information officer Mark Wilkening said, and were able to shore up lines built to stop the fire.

Structural firefighters from around the state, summoned by Gov. John Kitzhaber in his record 10th use of the 1940 Emergency Conflagration Act this year, were headed to the Chetco River area, around the fire's southwestern tip, to help evaluate fire danger to homeowners.

The Biscuit Fire is now the largest recorded fire in Oregon history, burning primarily on the Siskiyou National Forest.

The fire has burned for a month since a lightning strike ignited it deep in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. With 6,848 people assembled from around the country, as well as Canada, New Zealand and Australia, the fire has cost $62.6 million to fight.

The Biscuit Fire was 28 percent contained, with the most secure lines on the eastern and southern flanks. The threat to the 17,000 residents of the Illinois Valley diminished, but an evacuation notice remained in effect.

Other Oregon Fires

Elsewhere in Oregon, the East Antelope Fire grew to 1,550 acres and curled around the southeast slopes of Grizzly Peak. Flames could be seen four-and-a-half miles away in Ashland. The fire was sparked Tuesday by power lines sagging into tree limbs.

Ashland did not appear to be threatened.

Four hundred people are now working on that fire along with 14 helicopters, although the area is still too smoky to bring in air tankers.