August 3, 2015
Two new fires ignited by lightning overnight in the remote Kelsey Creek drainage north of the Rogue River in far northeast Josephine County have been aggressively attacked by firefighters of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Southwest Oregon District. Hand crews, bulldozers, engines, and helicopters have successfully established a fireline around the seven acre East Kelsey Fire with mop-up operations in progress. The Trappers Camp Fire, also estimated at seven acres in size, is currently 60% lined. Firefighters will continue to work on both of these fires through the night in order to achieve full containment as quickly as possible.
August 3, 2015
Firefighters had a good day Sunday, as moderating weather conditions created calmer fire behavior on the Stouts Fire. Crews took advantage of the lower temperatures, higher humidity, cloud cover, and smoke inversion to build additional fire line, prepare contingency lines, and assess the areas around structures that need clearing and starting work to help protect them if the fire moves that way. The fire grew slightly but remains just over 15,000 acres, and is estimated at 5% containment. About 1400 firefighters continue fighting the Stouts Fire around the clock. Over 160 community members turned out to last night’s meeting at the Milo fire hall.
Working together protecting homes, the wildland firefighters will start clearing road systems and constructing line along the east side of the fire today, while the structural firefighters keep working around homes clearing the areas to help prevent a wildfire from harming homes. Smoke remains heavy and may start lifting around noon. The crews are using the weather to their advantage to make some gains on the fire.
“The crews are doing an excellent job,” said Roseburg Resources Forestry Manager Mark Wall. “They are literally working night and day to get this thing under control. No doubt, this is a difficult job, but I’m confident it’ll get done as quickly as possible and most importantly, safely.”
The Oregon Department of Forestry, the Oregon State Fire Marshal, and the USDA Forest Service Stouts Fire continue managing this fire under unified command. The Incident Management Teams representing these agencies train together, work together, and cooperate together under the Incident Command System (or ICS). The fire is burning approximately 1/3 on private land, 1/3 on Bureau of Land Management land, and 1/3 on National Forest land.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal Green Team, Oregon Department of Forestry Team 1, Roseburg Resources and other landowners, dozens of private contract crews, and structural firefighters from Clackamas, Lane, Linn/Benton, Lincoln, Marion and Yamhill counties continue fighting the Stouts Fire.
The number of structures threatened is 317. Evacuation Level 1 (Ready) is in place for the Milo Academy area and three residence along the Tiller Trail Highway in Jackson County. Level 2 (Set) evacuations are in place along the Upper Cow Creek Road on the south side of the fire; Ferguson, Stouts Creek, and Conley lanes on the north side; and the Drew Valley along the Tiller Trail Highway from milepost 28 to 39 on the east side. No Level 3 (Go) evacuations are in place at this time. The Red Cross evacuation shelter remains at the Canyonville YMCA.
