Posted on 07/30/2002 6:48:28 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
30-mile fire front menaces southwest Oregon towns
07/30/02
BETH QUINN
CAVE JUNCTION -- Wildland firefighters battled to keep a 30-mile-long wall of fire from reaching the Illinois Valley on Monday where 17,000 people were warned to get ready to flee.
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As the 70,000 acre Florence fire roared south toward the 20,000-acre Sour Biscuit blaze, firefighters dug a last-ditch fire line stretching along the western edge of the valley and southwestern Oregon communities.
Sixteen bulldozers worked the line on the steep ridges west of Woodrat, Tennessee and Eight Dollar mountains while 14 more wait along U.S. 199 in Selma, awaiting orders to join the fire fight.
Firefighters are preparing to set a 34,000-acre backfire that would be larger than most of the other fires being fought in Oregon.
"We are running dozers 24 hours a day," said Rick Hartigan of the Arizona Central West Zone Incident Management Team overseeing the firefighting.
If the fire hits the bulldozed line, they'll bombard it with fire retardant and water, but even with all that, fire officials told residents Sunday night, they weren't confident they could stop it.
"There is a very good chance that this fire is going to reach the valley floor," said Greg Gilpin, an incident commander for Oregon Department of Forestry. "It is so big and so awesome there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop this fire."
Fire officials warned area residents that the fire could reach the floor of the Illinois Valley today in a third straight day of extreme fire behavior.
Throughout the weekend and into Monday, the head of the Florence fire advanced a mile an hour with 150-foot flames and wind gusts up to 40 mph that threw spot fires up to two miles ahead. Three times the fire built plumes 30,000 feet tall and three times those plumes collapsed back into the fire with explosive force, further spreading the blaze.
"We have veteran firefighters who have never seen such fire behavior," said Hartigan.
"The forestry people all have their eyes rolled back," said Tim Birr of the Oregon Fire Marshal's overhead team. "This fire is kind of like the proverbial 5,000-pound gorilla that goes wherever it wants to go."
On the floor of the mountain-ringed Illinois Valley, firefighters went door-to-door on U.S. 199 from Selma to Kerby. At each spot the firefighters took a location fix with a global positioning system to add each building to the maps used for fire planning.
In addition, the structure firefighters assessed the defensibility of each house, noting which had fireproof roofs and brush-free zones that could be defended against fire and which were overgrown with trees and shrubbery and might be impossible to save.
"In cases where a home can be made more defensible, if they can take some simple steps, they will do it," said Birr.
But even homes that are well-prepared can fall victims to the flames, as two homeowners in Oak Flat learned Sunday. All 12 homes along the Illinois River had been singed on Thursday but survived, yet when the fire moved back through the area Sunday, two homes burned. Another home was lost at McCaleb Ranch along with eight outbuildings.
"There's higher percentage of nondefensible homes," said Kyle Kirchner, chief of the Illinois Valley Fire District and Josephine County Fire Defense Board. Homeowners are "interested now in getting defensible space, and it's too late."
Fire officials began making contingency plans for safety zones where firefighters and residents could find shelter should evacuation routes be cut.
Two of the four routes out of the valley to the south have already been cut off by other fires in Northern California. The only exits are north on U.S.199 to Grants Pass and by a remote forest road from Upper Deer Creek near Selma over the 5,000-foot crest of the Siskiyou Mountains to Williams.
"If it comes across through Selma and compromises that artery, we are preparing to shelter in place," said Kirchner. "We can now see the fire from Selma. As far as I'm concerned, it's imminent."
Fire shelters were being set up at the closed Selma School in Selma and the Illinois Valley High School in Cave Junction, both buildings made of materials designed to withstand fires that sit amidst several acres of cleared, defensible space. A third fire shelter planned for O'Brien had not been designated by early Monday evening.
With bulldozers working feverishly on smoke-shrouded ridges to build the last-ditch line to protect the communities under his care, Kirchner's thoughts turn to a new set of nightmare scenarios should the last-ditch line fail to hold the Florence fire.
"If it goes, now we're worried about the caves," he said, referring to the Oregon Caves National Monument 16 miles east of Cave Junction. "There's enough volatile dry fuel that we're going to have problems."
The fire is also moving northwest. Fire officials projected the blaze could reach homes outside Agness by Wednesday. It would have to jump the Rogue River to burn the town itself, but the fire, fueled by strong winds, has jumped the Illinois River several times, said Pam Leschak, Florence fire information officer.
A structure protection team was already assessing homes and removing brush and trees from around structures south of the Rogue River near Agness on Monday.
An 80-acre blaze closed a section of U.S. 199 near the Oregon/California border Monday. The Shelly Creek fire, burning up the steep canyon walls, was causing boulders and logs to fall onto the road, said Carol McCall, spokeswoman, Redwood National State Parks.
The fire also forced the evacuation of Patrick Creek Lodge, Patrick Campground, Bar-O-Boys Ranch, and a few houses near Gasquet, 20 miles northeast of Crescent City, Calif., in the Smith River Canyon. You can reach Beth Quinn at 541-474-5926 or by e-mail at bquinn@terragon.com.
Most fire access roads start out as logging roads. That's one of the things environazis were incorporating into their "roadless policy" propaganda early on. After the 2000 wildfire season, the environazi propaganda concentrated on 4x4's, snowmobiles and ATV's.
Those "Roadless policies" have guaranteed that many of these roads stopped recieving maintainance many years ago. After twenty years of no maintainance, you can find your best timber growing in the middle of an old logging road.
Partly for this reason, on State land in PA and NY, the minimum length of the resulting stumps from logging has been reduced from 12 to 16 inches to only 6 inches...so that firefighters in a hurry could drive their pickups over them without hanging their pumpkins up on the stumps.
Workers for the PA Conservation Department spend most of their time keeping old logging roads clear for fire access. Those are some reasons why we don't have those types of fires here in PA. Also, out forests and our timber are plenty healthy, WITHOUT massive burns. You can tell the "But fire makes forests healthier" environazis that.
Hopefully, some of those wackos will recieve a wake up call similar to the one many of them recieved on 9-11 when they are allowed back to the areas where their homes once stood and are forced to survey the COMPLETE destruction that is the aftermath of a huge wildfire.
I saw Yellowstone both before and after the devastating wildfire there...which wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad, in terms of the loss of human life or the loss of habitat and forage, if it weren't for the "fire is the forest's friend" propaganda. I haven't been back since the "after". I do know that they're having a real problem with invasive, noxious weeds all these years later.
Hubby was one of those who fought that. He broke his ankle when he landed in an area rockier than they thought...and had to fight his way out, Indian tank and all. His ankle had to be rebroken when he finally got out. He doesn't talk about Yellowstone much, except to mention that. He knew many of the people who died.
Comfortable office digs and sumptuous fund-raising banquets are another drain on donor dollars. The Sierra Club spends $59,473 a month for its office lease in San Francisco. In Washington, Greenpeace pays around $45,000 a month.
For the entire link on the high flying/spending elite fascists in the Enviral Gangs: (Link to Sac Bee's article on how the rich and famous elites Enviralist Fascists live)
Ash is a wonderful enviromental amenity, isn't it.
Stop the attacks by the wacko, extreme left-wing, enviro-nazis terrorist's on our Freedoms !!
Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!
Molon Labe !!
EBUCK
EBUCK
It's great that the Sacremento Bee did this series of exposes...but maybe we should be asking the major news outlets why they never followed this up.
Those who know the environment best -- the scientists who devote their careers to it -- say environmental groups often twist fact into fantasy to serve their agendas. That is especially true in the debate over one of America's most majestic landscapes: its Western evergreen forests. A 1999 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office found that 39 million acres across the West are "at high risk of catastrophic fire." Yet many groups use science selectively to oppose thinning efforts that could reduce fire risk.
"A lot of environmental messages are simply not accurate," said Jerry Franklin, a professor of forest ecology and ecosystem science at the University of Washington. "But that's the way we sell messages in this society. We use hype. And we use those pieces of information that sustain our position. I guess all large organizations do that."
And sometimes when nature needs help the most, environmental groups are busy with other things.
(snip)
(unsnip) In June 1998, The Nature Conservancy spent more than $1 million on a single fund-raising bash in New York City's Central Park. Carly Simon and Jimmy Buffett played. Masters of ceremonies included Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Mike Wallace and Leslie Stahl. Variety magazine reported that the 1,100 guests were treated to a martini bar and a rolling cigar station.
Wowser! You mean Dan, Peter and Mike are in on it too!! And the greenies don't know what the hell they're talking about!! Revalations!!
Great article, recomended reading for all concerned. Re-Link to article
EBUCK
That was GREAT! Your whole POST was great! I HOPE they publish it.
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