August 18, 2015
As persistent dry conditions continue across southwest Oregon, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest is moving to “Extreme” fire danger, effective immediately.
Fire agencies in southwest Oregon are urging caution for all those participating in outdoor activities this season. Just one small spark from an unattended fire, muzzle of a gun, or the hot exhaust pipe on a vehicle can ignite fine fuels.
Current information on the National Creek Complex and the Collier Butte Fire, both burning on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, is available online at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/. Additional online resources for fire conditions and fire information are available at http://ormic.org/.
For more information on current fire restrictions, call (541) 618-2200.
August 18, 2015
As the sun sets on your outdoor family vacation, a campfire is a great place for sharing your adventure over a melting marshmallow on stick. Whether you’re cooking, warming up, or just sitting and enjoying the crackle and glow, campfire safety is a must. Before you light that fire here are a few campfire tips:
Building a Safe Campfire
- Build your campfire only in a fire pit inside of a state or county campground. These campgrounds have been approved by the Oregon Department of Forestry for campfires.
- Before you light your fire, be prepared to extinguish it later – have a bucket of water at hand. Never leave a fire unattended.
- Keep your fire small – it will be easier to contain and faster to extinguish.
- Never leave a campfire unattended. Never leave children alone with a campfire.
Putting Out a Campfire
- Keep plenty of water handy for a quick response if the fire were to escape.
- Drown the fire with water making sure all embers, coals, and sticks are wet. If it is too hot to touch then it is too hot leave.
- Use a shovel, stir water and dirt into your campfire to make sure everything is wet and cold to the touch. Carefully run the back of your hand near the surface of the fire remains to double check all heat is gone.
August 18, 2015
For up-to-date info on the National Creek Complex, see National Creek Complex blog and Facebook page.
Crater Lake National Park has closed the north entrance road between State Highway 138 at the park’s north boundary and Crater Lake west rim drive at north junction. This precautionary closure will facilitate fire operations and provide for the safety of firefighters and park visitors. A segment of the Pacific Crest Trial is also closed from the park north boundary to the junction with Lightning Springs Trail.
Yesterday’s Activities: The size of the National Fire remains unchanged as crews continued to search for and extinguish hot spots near containment lines. Firefighters are preparing existing Forest Service roads to be used for containment lines west of the National Fire should they be needed for the Crescent Fire. Other crews constructed hand fire lines perpendicular to and south of Highway 230 to create opportunities for checking the spread of the fire.
The Crescent Fire increased by over 500 acres yesterday. Crews also responded to and suppressed another spot fire north of Highway 230.
Today’s Activities: Fire crews will continue to improve State Highway 230 for use as a containment line west of the fire. Burn out operations may begin at the north eastern part of the fire. Crews will also continue to improve or remove dead trees along the north park entrance road further south in anticipation of the fire pushing to the east. A structure protection group, supported by initial attack resources, is working in the Diamond Lake area to protect structures.
Weather: Warmer and drier temperatures are expected today and are predicted to increase during the next few days. The relative humidity is expected to be near 15 – 19% this afternoon with no substantial winds.
The weather on Tuesday and Wednesday is expected to create very active fire behavior conditions. An inversion layer has been mitigating the fire intensity for the past few days on the northern part of the fire by trapping smoke near the ground level and shading vegetation. These conditions are expected to change and with better air ventilation, an increase in fire behavior will occur.
Closures & Evacuations: Crater Lake National Park has closed the north park entrance and a larger section of the Pacific Crest Trail, north of the lake. The remainder of the park is open. Area closure orders have been issued for the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Umpqua National Forests near Diamond Lake. Maps and descriptions of the trail and area closures are online at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4463/.
State Highway 230 is closed (ODOT Tripcheck). There are trail closures in the National Park and on the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Umpqua National Forest.
Diamond Lake Area is under a Stage 1 Evacuation Notice; the “ready” stage in “ready, set, go”.
August 18, 2015
This fire is not 100 percent contained and still has the potential to grow rapidly, therefore residents in the Upper Cow Creek east of Devils Flat to the end of the road are advised that the evacuation level has been raised to a Level 2 (Get Set). This is a precautionary measure is due to high temperatures and low humidities.
At approximately 7:00 pm tonight fire crews will take advantage of weather conditions and topography to conduct a burnout operation along the established bulldozer lines in the southeast portion of the fire. This area has been prepared well in advance for this operation.
During day operations crews were assisted by heavy lift helicopters cooling hot spots and flare-ups as temperature steady rose throughout the day. The firing operation conducted on Sunday evening was highly successful; the fire continues to back away from containment lines and crews were able to mop up into the perimeter through the day.
Expected warmer and drier conditions on Tuesday will restrict any firing operation as the relative humidity will be in the low teens and temperatures will reach into the mid-eighties. Existing lines will be tested and fire crews will need to remain vigilant as interior burning will be more active. There is a greater probability of embers being carried aloft as the fire burns more intensive. While fire managers are confident, they have a plan to deal with contingencies and have the ground forces and helicopters to attack any fire that escapes.
Throughout the night, patrols will continue monitoring the firelines on the west, north and east sides and addressing any flare ups that are encountered.
Even though resources are needed on other fires, fire managers are keeping as many resources as needed to maintain the integrity of completing the objectives.
The Stouts Creek Fire has been managed under unified command by Oregon Department of Forestry Team 2 Incident Commander Chris Cline and Forest Service Incident Commander Mike Wilde, since August 13.
The fire has blackened 24,756 acres and remains 70% contained. There are 1,120 personnel assigned to the fire with 27 crews, 23 engines, 20 water tenders, 19 bulldozers and 9 helicopters.
To date the Stout Creek Fire has cost $29.5 million. The Incident Management Team is protecting lands that are about 48% on state protected lands, which include BLM and private lands and 52% on the Umpqua National Forest.
