Free Republic

Published: August 16, 2002 By Kent Gray, Triplicate staff writer Fire officials have acknowledged a request was made to attempt to extinguish the Biscuit Fire when it was only 100 acres, but that request was turned down. "They offered to make one run on the fire to do bucket work for one fuel cycle," said Paul Galloway, information officer for the Biscuit Fire said. "But management didn't believe that would be helpful. There were no ground crews to take advantage of it and it would have had minimal effect." Del Norte County Supervisor Chuck Blackburn said yesterday the helicopter crew...

Grants Pass- U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said thinning national forests and restoring the natural role of fire in the ecosystem should be made top priority after he toured the largest active wildfire in the nation.The Florence Fire was threatening to become the largest wildfire in state history after expanding to 308,000 acres on the Siskiyou National Forest and adjoining lands in southwestern Oregon and Northern California.The largest wildfire in Oregon was the Tillamook Fire in 1933 which burned 311,000 in the northwest corner of the state.The threat to 17,000 people of the Illinois Valley has eased, but the...

Florence, Sour Biscuit Fires Merge 08/08/2002 By KGW and AP Staff Shifting winds helped merge the Florence and Sour Biscuit Fires, creating a megafire that appeared to be heading back towards the southern Oregon hamlet of Agness. The Florence and Sour Biscuit fires have burned more than 285,000 acres on the Siskiyou National Forest in southwestern Oregon and California since lightning struck July 13. Florence was 10 percent contained and Sour Biscuit 30 percent, authorities said. The threat to the 17,000 residents of the Illinois Valley diminished as crews burned out the last of a 40-mile containment line protecting O'Brien,...

Agness residents receive evacuation warning By JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press 8/7/02 2:01 AM GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- The Curry County sheriff on Tuesday warned residents of more than 220 homes around the white-water rafting community of Agness to be ready to evacuate in case the Florence Fire moves closer. Firefighters and deputies began going house to house through the settlements of Agness, Illahe, and Oak Flat, located at the confluence of the Rogue and Illinois rivers within three to six miles of the northern flank of the Florence Fire. "If we come talk to you a second time,...

Wildfire News/Oregon Cool weather is two-edged sword on Florence and Sour Biscuit Fires By JEFF BARNARD, The Associated Press, 8/6/02 3:17 AM CAVE JUNCTION, Ore. (AP) -- Cool and humid weather that has kept a lid on the Florence and Sour Biscuit fires prevented crews from fire-hardening the southern end of the 40-mile containment line protecting the Illinois Valley. "It's a two-edged sword," said Mike Lohrey, incident commander on the eastern front of the fires that have burned a combined 275,000 acres of the Siskiyou National Forest in southwestern Oregon said Monday. A few drops of rain fell on the...

Fire Fight Hampered by Cooler Weather 08/05/2002 By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer Firefighters trying to get a line around the massive Florence Fire hoped for rain Monday, but said they were nevertheless making good progress on corralling the blaze with a 200-mile containment line starting at the California border. The 240,000-acre fire, located in the Siskiyou National Forest in southwestern Oregon, increased Sunday by more than 40,000 acres from burnouts alone, said Tom Valluzzi, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. Burnouts are fires that are intentionally set behind dirt containment lines by crews hoping to rob the main blaze of...

The following is a transcribed portion of an interview aired today on the Lars Larson radio program from Portland, Or., which is broadcast across the Northwest from noon to 4:00 P.M. pacific. There is little I can add to his exchange with the executive vice-president of a company that supplies helicopter service to the US Forest service to show the inept and dangerous policies of this bureaucracy. Please bring these disclosures to your congress people’s attention and demand the policy of silence and media blackout practiced by the Forest Service and environmental groups stop. Our homes, forests and lives are...

Fires burning on more than 438,000 acres across Oregon The Associated Press Major wildfires have burned and are burning on more than 438,000 acres in Oregon on Friday. About 12,000 firefighters are working in the state. The Northwest Interagency Communication Center is tracking at least nine major fires in Oregon. Top priorities for fire officials were the 150,000-acre Florence fire, the 17,000-acre Timbered Rock fire, the 38,000-acre Sour Biscuit Fire, and the 26,850-acre Tiller Complex. LUCKY FIRE Started: 7/29/02, 10 p.m. six miles south of Detroit. Size:87 acres Containment: 70 percent Evacuations: None. Damages: None yet. In heavy timber. On...

Wildfire News! Successful burnout diminishes threat to Illinois Valley, Oregon homes By JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press 8/2/02 3:43 AM SELMA, Ore. (AP) -- A shift in the wind allowed firefighters to torch miles of brush in an effort to save thousands of homes in southwest Oregon. Hotshot crews poured fire from drip torches, burning a black swath of safety for the 17,000 people of the Illinois Valley. With each mile of burnout added along the 30-mile front of fire, the threat to the towns of Selma, Kerby, Cave Junction and O'Brien diminished. "I certainly feel better today," Illinois Valley...

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. From Our Advertiser 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...