This is the best this fire has looked in a long time.
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.
Not good news re the potential on the SW side re the Chetco River (Brookings, Oregon) and the Pistol River (small communities from Gold Beach to Brookings).
The new Apple fire is still roaring and growing.
This is a new fire: "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.
As B4 Ranch noted, Oregon is Still Burning, can be the title to this thread until the rains come this fall.
This is the best this fire has looked in a long time.
Here is what Mr. Merlich warned about the potential of the Siuslaw Forest if it catches on fire:
The fires on the west side were huge and large. The cycle is the fuel builds up and it gets to a point and then it all burns and replaces itself. In this day and age, what would happen if we had a 1,546 square mile fire? People are not going to accept that--they might think it's good until it happens, and then they aren't. That's like burning from Redmond all the way to Salem or the Coast Range. That's how big that is. So our choices are to let it burn or to do something in advance of the fire--spend some money and get some products out, do a little thinning.
The Siuslaw, for one, is headed for that type of thing again. The trees are getting so thick. You don't do anything: there's no roads--when it catches on fire, it's going to burn.
Lets hope that Mr Merlich is wrong. Did some Green Jihadist read that article and decide to use Arson to start this fire?
I thought the green jihadists taught us that OLD growth trees were fire resistant.
Thanks for the update Dave.
The Siuslaw, for one, is headed for that type of thing again. The trees are getting so thick. You don't do anything: there's no roads--when it catches on fire, it's going to burn.
Go to this link for this interview: (Link to Brainstorm Interview with Oregon Fire Fighters)
Ernest, can you provide a link to the thread re this interview that you posted over the weekend. Thanks!
The entire Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area has basically been burnt, is burning and will burn.
Expect the Green Jihadists's Fire is Good, Fire Ecologists to start their Bravo Sierra about how good this good fire really was for the wilderness that was burnt up.
EBUCK
Oregon: Firefighting Firsthand - Interviews with Oregon's Firefighters
Are all of the fires on the eastern side of the mountains (Cascade range? ).
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