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This is not good news from Oregon Live/AP"

By JOHN ENDERS
The Associated Press
8/17/02 12:04 PM

GOLD BEACH, Ore. (AP) -- A 1,000-acre spot fire ignited overnight on the western edge of the massive Biscuit fire and firefighters Saturday were rushing to contain it.

Fire officials pinned their hopes of containing the 419,000-acre blaze on a cooling trend expected over the weekend. They were nevertheless concerned that the new spot fire might spread toward homes in two coastal river drainages.

"It could go into Chetco or it could go into Pistol River. That's a real key piece to get bottled up," said Dick Fleishman, fire information office in Gold Beach.

Residents along the upper Chetco River and upper Pistol River were put on alert earlier in the week in case they had to evacuate.

Higher humidities and temperatures in the 70s predicted for Saturday were expected to help firefighters conduct burnouts and reinforce fire lines around the fire.

The Biscuit Fire, started by lightning more than a month ago, was 33 percent contained. Firefighters hoped to build 112 miles of additional fire line to box it in.

The portion of the fire that is burning across the border in California, formerly known as the Sour Biscuit Fire, was declared 100 percent contained Thursday night.

The blaze is the biggest in a century in Oregon and the largest fire burning in the United States. It covered 655 square miles Saturday -- about five times the size of the Portland metro area, said David Widmark, spokesman at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland.

Fire crews set fires along a four-mile stretch of forest Friday as part of a 25,000-acre burn aimed at consuming ground-level fuels, brush and smaller trees while saving mature trees.

The step is an attempt to stop the fire's progress north toward the Rogue River and populated areas.

An estimated 6,599 firefighters were assigned to fight the blaze. Burnouts earlier in the week along the northwest edge of the fire were successful and similar operations were to continue each night during the weekend, said Tom Lavagnino, fire spokesman.

Firefighters use burnouts to rob the fire of fuel and slow its advance. They are most often conducted at night, when cooler and less windy conditions prevail.

An evacuation notice for 17,000 residents in the Illinois Valley was lifted Friday, but the Curry County sheriff on Thursday ordered evacuation of about 60 residents in 30 homes near Agness.

Only a handful of residents chose to leave their homes in the Oak Flats and Spud Road areas, however. Many rural Oregon residents build their own homes by hand over many years, and are reluctant to abandon them.

If residents did leave, they would not be allowed back in, officials said.

Pre-evacuation notices were still in effect Saturday for residents of the communities of Agness, Illahe, Wilderness Retreat and the upper Pistol River drainage.

Meanwhile, three firefighters were injured Friday on two separate fires.

Firefighters Ryan Rose and Joseph Smith, both of Washington, suffered minor injuries when their fire engine crashed about one mile from Cavitt Creek en route to the Tiller Fire Complex near Roseburg.

Dan Ferrin, 40, a timber faller, was injured on the East Antelope fire near Ashland when a limb fell and struck him. He was airlifted to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford where he was listed in fair condition. His hometown was not immediately available.

Other fires burning around Oregon include:

-- the Tiller Fire Complex, which had burned 52,500 acres and was 42 percent contained.

-- the Monument-Malheur Complex, which had burned 44,062 acres and was 97 percent contained.

-- the Hemlock and Mount Marion fires, each burning between 100 and 200 acres.

-- the Apple fire, 21 miles east of Glide, started Friday and had burned 1,500 acres by Saturday morning. The cause is under investigation. Three campgrounds were closed, as were the Umpqua Trail and portions of the North Umpqua River.

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The new maps form the Florist Circus are really slow coming out. Most of the maps are the 14th of August based on 12/13 th data.

So far the history of this fire with the Florist Circus PR Clowns has been to ignore the bad news until it can't be ignored any longer without endangering a lot of people.

If the Pistol River area between Gold Beach and Brookings is now in danger, this is a new area.