Fire Information Update
Florence Fire
Friday, August 2, 2002 08:00 am
Fire Information Center: (541) 592-1029
Status: 164,000 acres Start: July 13, 2002 Cause: Lightning
Location: Five miles west of Selma, Ore., on the Siskiyou National Forest within the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
Percent Contained: 5 Cost to date: $7.1 million Fire Line to Build: 61 miles
Structures Lost: 3 residences and 8 outbuildings
Personnel: 1,313 Injuries: None Expected Containment: Unknown
Today’s Resources: Eleven helicopters (four Type 1, five Type 2 and two Type 3), 35 handcrews (six Type 1 and 29 Type 2), 44 engines, 21 water tenders, 34 dozers. In addition, structural task forces from many Oregon cities and counties are providing fire protection to residences within the fire area and along Highway 199.
At Risk: Portions of Cave Junction, Kerby, Agness, Gardner Ranch and Selma, private residences in the Oak Flat area and McCaleb Ranch, private inholdings east of McCaleb Ranch, Late Successional Reserve, Illinois and Rogue National Wild and Scenic River, campgrounds.
Closures: Galice and Illinois Valley ranger districts on the Siskiyou National Forest west of State Highway 199 are closed to all public access due to extreme fire conditions. The Bear Camp road #2300 is exempt from this closure.
Cooperating Agencies: Oregon Department of Forestry; Oregon National Guard; Illinois Valley Fire District; Oregon State Police; Josephine County Sheriff’s Dept; American Red Cross; Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office; U.S. Forest Service; Bureau of Land Management; Josephine County Emergency Operations Center.
What’s New: Burnout operations between Selma and Kerby, west of Highway 199, are proceeding as planned and are going well. The fire is highly visible at night from these communities and from the highway. Heavy smoke and some flame will be seen in this area throughout the day and into the night. Structural protection engines are in place in Selma and Kerby during the burnout operations.
Telephone traffic, land line and cellular, in the Illinois Valley is exceptionally heavy, causing problems for fire managers who need to call out of the area. To relieve this problem, residents are asked to reduce the number of phone calls they make. Questions to the fire information center may be asked via e-mail. Send messages to
pnwteam2@hotmail.com. Also, current information about the Florence Fire is posted on the World Wide Web at www.pnw-team2.com.
An additional information center is open at the Selmac Lake fire camp. News reporters and photographers interested in visiting the camp are asked to check in at the front gate for parking instructions, then are asked to visit the fire information tent. An incident information officer will escort media representatives on tours of the camp, and will arrange interviews.
A new incident management team is setting up today to take control of the west side of the Florence Fire. This team is based in Gold Beach.
Fire danger remains extreme, and area residents are asked to be extra careful with fire.
There will be a second public meeting Saturday, 7:00 p.m., at the Illinois Valley High School in Cave Junction.
The entire Illinois River Valley remains under a 30-minute evacuation notice. The communities of Agness, Gold Beach, and Brookings are not currently at imminent risk.
The American Red Cross shelter is located in Grants Pass at the South Middle School (541-890-0612). Residents who have voluntarily left their homes are asked to call or check in at the shelter; this will help shelter staff locate these people if necessary.
Pacific Northwest National Incident Management Team 2
Mike Lohrey, Incident Commander