Posted on 08/19/2002 8:07:08 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
Black line protects subdivision from Biscuit
Oregon Live/The Oregonian, 08/19/02
WENDY LAWTON and WENDY OWEN
Residents in a 25-home subdivision near Agness got some relief Sunday as crews finished a burnout to protect them from the Biscuit fire raging three-quarters of a mile away.
A black line, an area devoid of fuel, now protects the Oak Flat subdivision, but the line needs to be tested by the main fire to ensure it's secure.
"They've got a good buffer," said Dick Fleishman, fire information officer.
However, hot temperatures and high winds can blow embers across the line and spark spot fires, Fleishman said.
A new wildfire was reported Saturday in Lane County. The Siuslaw fire has burned about 400 acres of forestland 15 miles southwest of Veneta.
About 220 firefighters were battling the blaze Sunday with the help of four helicopters, five water trucks, five engines and two bulldozers, said Joe Walsh, a spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
Although small, the Siuslaw blaze has grown quickly in the tinder-dry forest. The fire was reported by a motorist and was estimated at the time to be about a quarter-acre in size.
Northeast of Agness, near the Rogue River, 120 firefighters and 16 engine crews made great strides in completing burnouts along Bear Camp Road to fight the Biscuit fire. Only five miles of the 30-mile section remained to be burned, said Rochelle Desser, fire information officer.
"We're making excellent progress," she said.
The fire there has the potential to enter the protected Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue River and follow it upriver to Galice, near Grants Pass.
The news wasn't as positive along the southwestern side of the 435,654-acre fire, where a 1,000-acre spot fire continued to nag fire managers.
While crews worked directly against the flames Saturday, heavy smoke kept them away most of Sunday. Fire managers would not deploy crews because they could not assess the fire's danger.
The blaze, near the headwaters of the Pistol and Chetco rivers, concerns fire officials because it could sweep into the river drainage system. Both rivers lead to populated areas.
"That's a real key piece to get bottled up," Fleishman said.
On Sunday, fire commanders made the spot fire's containment a top priority.
The Biscuit fire continued to creep toward homes on its western flank. High humidity prevented crews from setting burnouts near Wilderness Retreat east of Brookings. Firefighters worked on a containment line to protect homes in Gardner Ranch near the Pistol River drainage southeast of Gold Beach. Flames remained about five miles from the homes.
The Siuslaw fire in Lane County is not threatening people or residences, said Walsh of the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. But it has burned about 400 acres of old and second-growth trees owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the private timber firm Roseburg Forest Products.
Crews have asked for an additional 400 firefighters. Favorable weather forecasts have officials hopeful they can control the blaze quickly with the additional help, Walsh said.
The Siuslaw brings to seven the number of wildfires charring Oregon forests, including the Biscuit, Tiller, Apple, East Antelope, Mount Marion and Monument-Malheur fires. There are 540,699 acres burning and a total of 9,800 firefighters working the lines.
The Apple fire, which started Friday 21 miles east of Glide, is the only Oregon fire that worsened significantly during the weekend. It burned 3,000 acres Saturday.
"It was moving like a freight train," said David Widmark, a spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. "There's even a roar like a train when they're moving that fast."
Hot air, big winds and dry conditions fueled the burn, pushing it about two to three miles from the Tiller complex. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for the Apple and Tiller, a blaze east of Canyonville that has been burning for more than a month, to join up, Widmark said. A single perimeter may be easier for firefighters to manage.
The Apple has closed a portion of the North Umpqua River -- a popular spot for whitewater rafting -- and closed a popular Forest Service trail called Twin Lake Trail near Diamond Lake.
The Apple started Friday night near a campground. An untended campfire is the suspected cause of the blaze. Since then, the fire has burned 5,000 acres, Widmark said, and 172 firefighters are working the lines.
"It's really giving us a run for the money," he said.
There was mostly good news from other sources. No other fires made major progress since Saturday, thanks to good weather and to good resources such as helicopter crews and fire retardant.
Jon Silvius, a public affairs officer with the Forest Service who's tracking the Tiller complex, said the weather was on the firefighters' side.
Based on reports, Silvius said today and Tuesday will bring cooler, damper air into the area. Lower temperatures, he said, discourage burning and boost firefighter endurance.
Although the 53,000-acre Tiller fire won't get extinguished in the next couple of days, Silvius said, crews could make major headway in encircling the fire to contain it. There are 90 miles of fire line to dig to encircle and contain it.
"For the first time in a long time, we've got some cautious optimism," he said. "Beating fires always depends on the right combination of firefighters and weather. Now it appears we've got both on our side. We won't beat this fire out, but at least we can check its spread."
Staff writer Jeff Manning contributed to this report.
This helped me to understand how an unknown, miserable and dangerous governor from Georgia could suddenly become our president. If we could ever follow the Opecker Blood Money trail, they probably financed a large amount of his campaign.
Of course the Opecker Princes and the left wing media have been tight butt buddies for decades. The NY Slimes, DC Compost and the phoney news magazines are very Pro Opecker Princes and their PA terrorist agents. The ad $'s that the Opecker Princes have spent over the last two to three decades with these left wing fish wraps has been tremendous. Do you remember any of their multi page, multi color ads telling us how great the Opecker Princes were and what great allies they were?
Jimmy Carter may have been even more dangerous to America than the Clintoon. At least with the Clintoon, we knew what he was all about. Carter still has a lot of Americans fooled. They think that he is a kind and gentle man.
His recent trip to Cuba to lick Fidel's clymer and fawn all over his evil regime, showed another facet of this terrible man. He loves the communist despots who have killed millions of their own people in the last century and caused misery for millions not living in communist countries. Yet, Carter, loves them and fawns all over them.
Suggest to my friends to keep up their target practice... the day may come when there is bounty for the miscreants......
How did Foreman, "Tre Arrow" and such dangerous thought ever get introduced into America?
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