Josephine County Fire Evac and Road Block Press Release – 7-22-18

INCIDENT: Current Fire Evac Levels and Road Blocks in Josephine County
INCIDENT DATE AND TIME: 7/22/18 @ 10:00 pm
REPORTING DEPUTY: C. Krauss
Current evacuation levels:
 Level 3 – West Pickett Creek Road
 Level 3 – Upper end of Shan Creek Road
 Level 3 – Upper end of Limpy creek Road
 Level 3 – Oak Flat community at the end of Illinois River Road
 Level 2 – Lower end of Shan Creek Road
 Level 2 – Lower end of Limpy Creek Road
 Level 2 – Pickett Creek Road, including secondary roads
 Level 2 – Dutcher Creek Road, including secondary roads
 Level 1 – Riverbanks Road between Limpy Creek Road and Pickett Creek Road including all secondary roads and streets
Due to the Taylor Creek wildfire, road blocks have been established to prevent non-essential vehicle traffic from interfering with residents attempting to evacuate and emergency services vehicles engaged in firefighting activities.
Current road block locations:
 West Pickett Creek Rd at Pickett Creek Rd
 Shan Creek Rd at Riverbanks Rd
 Limpy Creek Rd at Riverbanks Rd
 Riverbanks Rd at US Hwy 199
 Lower River Rd at Robertson Bridge Rd
We would like to ask non-residents of Riverbanks Rd, including secondary streets and drives off of Riverbanks Rd, to please avoid the area. We would also like to remind residents of the area to carry proof of residence to re-enter the area if they leave and return. Proof of residence includes a driver’s license, utility bill with address, photo ID, etc.
If you have not signed up for Josephine County Citizen Alert, Josephine County’s emergency notification system, you can sign up on line at www.rvem.org.
The Red Cross evacuation shelter remains active at Grants Pass High School, 830 NE 9th St, Grants Pass, OR 97526.
The Fire Information Center can be reached at 541-474-5305 and is staffed from 8:00am to 8:00pm each day.
An animal evacuation center is currently being set up and will be open tomorrow at 10:00am. More information will be released separately about these details tomorrow morning.
These evacuation notices are based on fire activity from the Taylor Creek and Klondike Fires in Josephine County.

Garner Complex Special Update – Additional Resources Arrive at Garner Creek Complex – 7-22-18 9:00am

Additional Resources Arrive at Garner Complex:
In the last 24 hours additional resources have arrived to help in the efforts on the Garner Complex.

Troops from the National Guard arrived this morning to help with security at roadblocks in active fire areas and evacuation zones.  A total of 50 personnel are expected to assist in the effort.

The Oregon State Fire Marshall will be adding three more task forces to the Garner Complex.  This brings the total to nine task forces.  The task forces will be working in the Grave Fire, Pleasant Creek Fire and Taylor Creek Fire areas.  Their mission  is to assess and protect homes and structures near the fires.

Two DC-10 VLATs (Very Large Air Tanker) began work on the fires yesterday.  One 747 VLAT was used on the Garner Fire and is planned to be used on the Taylor Fire today.  These three aircraft bring the total of four VLATs available to the Complex.  An additional Type-2 helicopter arrives today.

Garner Complex Update 07/22/18 AM

#GarnerComplex AM #Update
Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 8:00 A.M.
Oregon Department of Forestry IMT 2
Chris Cline, Incident Commander

Information Center: 541-474-5305 (8 AM—9 PM)
Media Information Line: 541-660-7634
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5935/ email: garnercomplexinformation@gmail.com

QUICK FACTS
Size: 7,949 acres
Change in last 24 hours: +1,567 acres
Containment: 10%
Start Date/Time: 7/15/2018 9:00a.m.
Expected Containment Date: 8/7/18
Location: Josephine County
Cause: Lightning
Est. Cost: $6.3 Million
Personnel: 1834

Assigned Resources
Hand Crews: 59
Engines: 52
Dozers: 14
Water Tenders: 26
Assigned Aircraft: 30
Structure Task Forces: 6

Structures Threatened: 393
Structures Damaged: 0
Structures Destroyed: 0
Evacuations: Levels 2 and 3
Closures: Road Closure at intersection of West Pickett and Pickett.
Road closure at Pickett Cr. Rd and Riverbanks Rd, except
for residents.

Last night crews continued to tighten and secure control lines. They continue to evaluate where to place containment lines around the Grave Creek and Taylor Creek fires.
The Grave Creek fire continued to spread towards the Pleasant Creek Rd. The State Fire Marshall’s Team was in place working to triage and surface prep around houses to support the wildland firefighters. Overnight the Taylor Creek Fire continued to spread as crews work to tighten direct fire lines when possible and work on contingency lines. The fire has spread on the south side onto Forest Service ground. Overnight the State Fire Marshall’s had three Task Forces in place working to assess and surface prep near homes.
The three Spencer Creek Fires, King Mountain Fire, and Swamp Creek Fire have been lined, plumbed and are in mop-up. The Pleasant Creek Fire and Ditch Cr. Fire are still having control lines secured by hand and equipment. Today there will be 30 aircraft working on the fires including three airtankers. The
aircraft time follows strict federal aviation laws regarding the amount they can fly everyday. Equipment either for fire camp such as tables and chairs or fire line equipment necessary
for fighting fires on order from the Incident Management Team is in short supply due to all of the fires in the region. We continue to place orders with Redmond Cache, who have to prioritize for all regional fires to fill orders.

DEFINITIONS: Control lines: A term used for all constructed or natural fire barriers used to control a fire.
Containment: When firefighters or other resources stop the
forward progress of a fire with secured control lines.

CURRENT EVACUATION ORDERS:
Level 2 Limpy Cr. Rd, Level 1 for Riverbanks Rd.,
Dutcher Creek Rd. and all secondary roads and streets from Limpy Cr to Pickett Cr.
Pleasant Creek Rd: Levels 2 and 3.
Grave Cr. Rd is Level 3 north of intersection with Ditch Cr. Rd. Pickett Cr. Rd and all cross roads are Level 2
West Picket Cr. Rd. is Level 3.

A Red Cross Shelter is set up at the Grants Pass High School at 830 NE 9th Street in Grants Pass. 541-474-5710.

(Photo: Sunset on the Taylor Creek Fire)

Garner Complex Evening Update – 7-21-18 11:45PM

CORRECTION: Last night’s update stated ODF was in unified command with USFS. That is
not accurate, ODF entered into an agreement to assume command of the Taylor Creek
Fire, which consists of some USFS lands, as part of the Garner Complex.
The Oregon State Fire Marshall’s Blue Team (IC Kunze) arrived this afternoon and quickly
intergraded with ODF IMT 2 into unified command of this complex. They arrived with a full
team and six structural task forces. Their mission is to assess, triage and protect the homes
and structures near the fire.
FIRE UPDATE:
The three Spencer Fires, King Mountain Fire, and Swamp Fire have been lined, plumbed
and are in mop-up. The Pleasant Fire and Ditch Cr. Fire are still having control lines built by
hand and equipment.
The three Grave Fires have grown together. Roads are being used along with dozer and
hand lines at the northern edge of the fire. Indirect fire lines were constructed along the
east and west sides. Retardant drops and water bucket drops were applied along the east
edge to prevent spread any closer to structures and homes.
Today was the first operational period for ODF Team 2 on the Taylor Creek Fire. The Team
continued work already initiated by the local District and gathered a lot of information
along with identifying access routes for fire suppression activities.
FIRE ACREAGES:
Sec. 14 257 acres                   Ditch Cr. 142 acres
Grave Cr. 3,792 acres           King Mtn. 6 acres
Pleasant Cr. 599 acres          Spencer Cr. 234 acres
Swamp Cr. 3 acres                Taylor Cr. 2,916 acres
CURRENT EVACUATION ORDERS: NEW: Level 2 for Riverbank Rd., Limpy Cr. Rd and all
secondary roads and streets from Limpy Cr to Pickett Cr. Pleasant Creek Rd: Levels 2 and
3. Grave Cr. Rd is Level 3 north of intersection with Ditch Cr. Rd. Pickett Rd and all cross
roads are Level 2 and West Picket Rd. is Level 3. A Red Cross Shelter is set up at the Grants
Pass High School at 830 NE 9th Street in Grants Pass. 541-474-5710.

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