fyi

Note: Links for more info aren't working. Maybe they will be posted at the noon update.

Fire & Aviation Newsroom

9/3/02	Current Large Fire Situation Initial attack was moderate in the Southern California Area and light elsewhere. Nationally, 134 new fires were reported. One new large fire was reported in the Northwest Area. Three large fires were contained yesterday, Bull Elk Fire in Montana, Pack Rat Complex in Arizona, and the Hickok Fire in California. For more information on large wildland fires see the Morning Report. A Fire Weather Watch has been issued in northwest Wyoming for breezy, hot, dry, and unstable conditions. A Fire Weather Watch has been issued in west-central and extreme northwestern Nevada for strong winds and low relative humidity. For more information on fire weather in your area...
9/3/02	Curve Fire - Southern California Area This fire is 30 miles north of Asuza, California and is burning in mixed conifer forest and heavy brush. Thunderstorms over the fir produced gusty winds contributing to extreme fire behavior with rapid rates of speed. The fire is estimated to be 11,000 acres in size and is 0 percent contained. For more information on the Curve Fire...
	Pass Creek Fire - Rocky Mountain Area Approximately 15 miles south of Lander, Wyoming on the Washakie Ranger District, Shoshone National Forest. This lightning caused fire is 13,433 acres in size and is 95 percent contained with a full containment date of today. For more information on the Pass Creek Fire....
9/3/02	Biscuit Fire - Northwest Area Located twenty-six miles southwest of Grants Pass, Oregon this fire is now 499,937 acres in size and 92 percent contained. Warm and dry conditions during the day, steep terrain, lack of natural barriers, and poor humidity recovery at night, has delayed the expected containment of the fire until September 6, 2002. Structure protection is in place at the Chetco Inn, Wilderness Retreat, Gardner Ranch, Tolman Ranch, and in the Pistol River drainage for 274 residences. For more information on the Biscuit Fire...

http://www.biscuitfire.com/

Information Collected @
09/02/02 @ 7:00 p.m. PST

Name: Biscuit Fire
(formerly the Florence Fire)

Location: 26 miles southwest of Grants Pass, Oregon

Lat: 42° 24' 46"
Long: 123° 52' 14"

Date of Origin: 7/13/02, reported at 12 AM

Size: 499,937 acres

Cause: Lightning

Contained: 92%

Expected Containment Date: 09/06/2002 6:00 p.m.

Fuels/Materials Involved: Mixed Conifers and Brush

Structures Threatened:
Residences: 274
Commercial: 0
Outbuildings: 0

Structures Lost:
Residences: 4
Commercial: 0
Outbuildings: 9

Resources Threatened:
65 structures in the Wilderness Retreat, Gardner Ranch, Chetco Inn, Tolman Ranch and Pistol River areas.

Industrial timberlands

Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive fish, plants and animal species, long term ecosystem productivity.

Rogue, and Smith National Wild and Scenic Rivers.

North Fork Smith Botanical Area and Port Orford Cedars.

Personnel Assigned:
2,731 personnel

Number of Injuries to date:
63

Number of injuries today:
0

Equipment Assigned:
Crews:
Type I: 8
Type II: 44
Camp Crews: 20
Helicopters:
Type I: 7
Type II: 3
Type III:7
Engines: 63
Dozers: 61

Cost to Date: $130,799,000

Observed Fire Behavior:

Zone I: Creeping and smoldering, interior islands continue to burn out.

Zones 2: Zone 2 is now under the control of Six Rivers National Forest.

http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/sixrivers/

Zone 3: Slightly cooler temperatures, higher relative humidities, and lighter winds moderated fire behavior. Flare-ups in unburned islands of fuel continued to provide a slight chance for spotting across fire lines. See map.

Zone 4: Fire activity was moderate today in Div. V and W as the fire backs into itself in Lawson Creek. Fire behavior was mostly a low intensity backing fire with isolated tree torching where heavy surface and ladder fuels are present.

Current Weather Conditions:
Wind Speed: 3-6 MPH
Wind Direction: NE-NW
Temperature: 74-88°
Relative Humidity: 25-38%

Back to Top

Click here for updated:
Fire News Releases

Joint Information Center
Fire Information Officers are available to take your calls seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. pacific time at (541) 471-6685 or
(541) 471-6686.
Other Contact Information.

Coordinator:
541-471-6681

Media Inquiries:
541-471-6685

Media Liaison:
541-471-6686

Fax:
541-471-6689

If your areas down south have gotten as dry as it has up north this past week, the state of Kali is in real peril of acting like Oregon has since mid July.

Normal plant irrigation times that has kept plants green for the whole summer are not working now in our area. I'm having to do emergency irritation all most daily to prevent plants from dying.

If that is happening to plants with an automatic drip irrigation system, the trees and brush in our forests must be tinder boxes ready to ignite.

The area north of Azusa includes the Burro Canyon Shooting park. Has that area been hit by the fire?

What's up with this story?

For its size, Oregon Biscuit fire
did little severe burn damage

Tuesday, September 3, 2002

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND -- For the amount of attention it received, this summer's Biscuit fire did relatively little damage to the land across which it raced.

"There is a lot of unburned area, and there's a lot that burned at a very low intensity," said Greg Clevenger, resource staff officer for the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests, where the Biscuit fire touched about 500,000 acres.

Satellite images of the still-burning fire have revealed roughly 200,000 unburned acres within the fire's boundary. The fire, among the largest in modern Oregon history, severely burned less than 20 percent of the total acres, said researcher Annette Parsons.

Moreover, the fire appears to have burned many acres mildly enough to sweep out overgrowth left by decades of fire suppression without turning forests into ruins.

In that way, the fires resemble natural blazes that long ago cleared Western forests and may clear the same tinder now targeted by President Bush for thinning.

"It's not to diminish that large fires are going to happen, but to temper it with the idea that these things are also accomplishing a lot of good that may turn out to help us," said Bruce McCammon, a hydrologist who oversees fire rehabilitation for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon and Washington.

The varied blend of blackened, singed and unburned lands could also lead to debate as foresters decide whether to log singed trees that conservation groups say might survive and serve wildlife.

Officials at the Fremont and Winema national forests in southern Oregon may salvage as much as 160 million board feet of wood or as little as one-eighth of that, depending on how much burned acreage they target.

The final number, said Steve Egeline, resource staff officer for the two forests, will depend on several factors: How severely the timber was burned, how accessible it is, the likelihood of insect infestation in surviving trees and the environmental effects of extracting the trees.

The satellite images reveal what fire scientists and foresters have known for decades -- that fires typically burn in a patchwork pattern.

Even when a fire is roaring, it may suck up so much oxygen it suffocates itself and cannot burn every patch of ground, said David "Sam" Sandberg, the Corvallis-based head of a Forest Service team that studies fire dynamics.

"If you look at a big fire more closely, it's really a whole lot of smaller little fires doing their own thing," he said. "Often most of the land is hardly touched at all."

In all but one Northwest blaze surveyed this summer, more than half the acres were burned lightly or not at all. Taken together, an average of 69 percent of the acreage was burned lightly or not at all, with 19 percent burning moderately and 12 percent burning severely.

The severity rankings reflect damage to soil and the plants that hold it in place. Rehabilitation such as seeding to control erosion usually targets severe burns, where soil was cooked so deeply little vegetation survives.

Where fires burn lightly, though, flames gobble dry grasses and leave roots ready to spring back to life and trees untouched. In the Fremont and Winema forests, site of the Toolbox, Winter and Grizzly fires in July, charred willows and other plants are already resprouting.

California	Number of Fires: 3	Acres: 12,597	New Fires: 0	Fires Contained: 0
Curve (Angeles National Forest): 11,000 acres at 0 percent contained. This fire is 30 miles north of Asuza. Thunderstorms over the fire produced gusty winds contributing to extreme fire behavior with rapid rates of spread. Crews are constructing fireline with support from aerial resources. Steep, rugged terrain and limited access are impeding suppression efforts. Structure protection is in place for 200 residences. The Coldbrook, Crystal Lake campgrounds and areas along the East Fork Road have been evacuated. Ten outbuildings were confirmed lost during the initial phases of the fire. Information: Call (626) 821-6701 or visit the Forest Service Southern California regional web site.
Freeway (Los Angeles County Fire Department): 1,043 acres at 90 percent contained. This fire is nine miles northwest of Santa Clarita. One hundred residences remain threatened. Containment for this fire is expected today. Information: Call (323) 890-4330
Lytle (San Bernardino National Forest): 554 acres at 84 percent contained. This fire is 12 miles north of Rancho Cucamonga. Crews are mopping up. Containment for this fire is expected tomorrow. Information: Call (909) 383-5588

Oregon	Number of Fires: 4	Acres: 582,914	New Fires: 1	Fires Contained: 0
NEW - Office Bridge (Willamette National Forest): 130 acres at 10 percent contained. This fire is burning ½ mile north of Westfir. Crews are constructing fireline and hot-spotting. A three hour evacuation notice has been given to residents of Westfir and Hemlock. Structure protection is in place for 85 residences, 5 commercial properties and numerous outbuildings.
Apple (Umpqua National Forest): 13,595 acres at 75 percent contained. This fire is 21 miles east of Glide. Crews are improving fireline, burning out and mopping up. Twenty residences are threatened. Information: Call (541) 496-3532 or visit the Apple Fire web site
Biscuit (Siskiyou National Forest): 499,937 acres at 92 percent contained. The fire is 26 miles southwest of Grants Pass. Crews are constructing direct attack fireline on the west flank. Mop-up and fireline rehabilitation are underway in all other areas. Structure protection is in place at the Chetco Inn, Wilderness Retreat, Gardner Ranch, Tolman Ranch and in the Pistol River drainage for 274 residences. Information: Call (541) 471-6681or visit the Biscuit Fire web site
Tiller Complex (Umpqua National Forest): 69,252 acres at 95 percent contained. This complex, consisting of eight large and numerous small fires, is on the Tiller Ranger District and in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness Area, 25 miles east of Canyonville. Crews are patrolling, mopping up and rehabilitating fireline. Information: Call (541) 825-1002 or (541) 825-3201 or visit the Tiller Complex web site

ping