Hugo Road Fire 09/04/18 AM Update

QuickFacts:
Incident Start Date: 09/02/2018
Incident Start Time: Approx. 7:15 p.m.
Incident Type: Wildfire
Cause: Under Investigation
Incident Location: Hugo, which is roughly ten miles north-northwest of Grants Pass in Josephine County, Oregon
Land Threat: Private
Command Agency: ODF
Fire Size: 199 acres
Containment: 45%
Structures Threatened: 265
Structures (Outbuildings) Destroyed: 13
Structures (Outbuildings) Damaged: 2
Residences Destroyed: 2
Residences Damaged: 3
Civilians Evacuated: 663

Current Situation:

Significant progress continues to be made on the Hugo Road Fire. The 199 acre fire burning north-northwest of Grants Pass in the community of Hugo is now 45 percent contained.

Overnight, firefighters were able to complete mop up of 100 feet from the perimeter control line, around the perimeter of structures, and from the edge of roadways. In addition, power was restored throughout the area impacted by the fire.

Today’s primary goal is to extend the mop up area to at least 200 feet. Firefighters want to ensure that the continued afternoon winds do not pose a threat to our current control lines. While gusty winds will continue, temperatures are expected to be in the mid 80’s today and overnight humidity recoveries have improved.

Resources from the Office of the State Fire Marshal will be traveling home around 4 p.m. today. Community members can expect to see out-of-area engines departing the fire throughout the day and local engines entering to assist with the transition.

Firefighters from all agencies involved would like to express their gratitude for the community’s support. It is an honor to serve you.

Evacuations:

Level 3 “GO” and Level 2 “BE SET” evacuation notices remain in effect, as of 7:00 this morning. With great progress made overnight, there is a possibility evacuation levels may drop throughout the day. The Sheriff’s Office will be evaluating this decision, and will notify all impacted residences via Citizen Alert once they decide which areas are safe to reenter. For additional information regarding information, please contact the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, or follow the Josephine County Emergency Management Facebook page.

A human shelter and animal shelter has been established at the Josephine County Fairgrounds by the American Red Cross and Josephine County Public Health.

For additional information regarding evacuations, please contact the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office.

Assigned Resources:
Engines: 12
Water Tenders: 5
Helicopters: As needed
Hand Crews: 10
Dozers: 5
Total Personnel: 211
Air Tankers: As needed

Cooperating Agencies: ODF Southwest Oregon District​, Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal​ Rogue Valley Fire Chief’s Association,  Rural Metro Fire – Josephine County​, Grants Pass Department of Public Safety​, Illinois Valley Fire District​, Applegate Valley Fire District​, Rogue River Fire District, Ashland Fire & Rescue​, Medford Fire-Rescue​, Jackson County Fire District #5 IAFF Local 2596​, Jackson County Fire District 4​, Fire District 3​, Josephine County Emergency Management​, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office and American Red Cross​.

Hugo Road Fire AM Update 09/03/18

QuickFacts:
Incident Start Date: 09/02/2018
Incident Start Time: Approx. 7:15 p.m.
Incident Type: Wildfire
Cause: Under Investigation
Incident Location: Hugo, which is roughly ten miles north-northwest of Grants Pass in Josephine County, Oregon
Land Threat: Private
Command Agency: ODF
Fire Size: 250 acres
Containment: 15%

Current Situation:

Local wildland and structure firefighters made substantial progress on the Hugo Road Fire overnight, lining most of the perimeter within a few short hours. Crews have been fighting the fire since it started Sunday night in Hugo, 10 miles north-northwest of Grants Pass on the west side of I-5.

Firefighters faced many challenges overnight, including a reported cougar sighting in the area. Live power lines also caused concern as crews worked nearby. However, evening conditions helped crews gain the upper hand on the fire.

Meteorologists are predicting temperatures into the 80’s, and potentially up to the 90’s, with wind gusts as high as 30 miles per hour on ridges. These conditions pose a challenge to fire crews, along with steep terrain, extreme fire behavior, and dry fuels.

Today is a critical day on the fire; crews are focused on holding the progress made overnight, and continuing to build and strengthen the fire line currently surrounding the perimeter of the fire. Currently, there is a combination of hose lays and dozer line surrounding 80 percent of the fire. Air tankers and helicopters will be available as soon as this morning’s inversion lifts in order to help minimize fire activity for firefighters on the ground. Safety of the firefighters and the public is a top priority.

Multiple structures remain threatened. While we anticipate damages, or impacts to some structures due to last night’s fire activity, we have not yet confirmed an exact number. Today, local fire districts alongside our partners at the State Fire Marshal’s Office will be conducting assessments on properties in and surrounding the fire’s perimeter in order to make a concrete determination of damages.

Josephine County Sheriff’s Office has issued Level 3 “GO” and Level 2 “BE SET” evacuation notices for homes surrounding the fire. Residents in these areas should have received a Citizen Alert call notifying them of the evacuations. If you have not signed up for Josephine County Citizen’s Alert, Josephine County’s emergency notification system, you can sign up on line at www.rvem.org.

For those under evacuation notices, a human and animal shelter has been established at the Josephine County Fairgrounds by the American Red Cross and Josephine County Public Health.

For more information, call the Fire Information Line at 541-474-5305.

Evacuations:

Level 3 “GO” evacuation notices have been issued to the following residences:
Oxyoke Road from Three Pines Road to Hugo Road, Hugo Road from Oxyoke Road to Three Pines Road, Three Pines Road from Hugo Road to Oxyoke Road, Monterico and all secondary roads off of Monterico, Hitching Post Road, Hasis Road, Trevor Lane, Dakota Lane, Templin Avenue and Wilson Lane.

Level 2 “BE SET” evacuation notices have been issued to the following residences:
Three Pines Road to Monument Drive.
Monument Drive to the Interstate 5 at Milepost 66 interchange.

A human shelter and animal shelter has been established at the Josephine County Fairgrounds by the American Red Cross and Josephine County Public Health.

For additional information regarding evacuations, please contact the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office.

Assigned Resources:
Engines: 12
Water Tenders: 5
Helicopters: As needed
Hand Crews: 10
Dozers: 5
Total Personnel: 138
Air Tankers: As needed

Cooperating Agencies:
ODF Southwest Oregon District, Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal, Rogue Valley Fire Chiefs Association, Rural Metro Fire – Josephine County, Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, Illinois Valley Fire District, Applegate Valley Fire District, Rogue River Fire District, Ashland Fire & Rescue, Medford Fire-Rescue, Jackson County Fire District #5 IAFF Local 2596, Jackson County Fire District 4, Fire District 3, Josephine County Emergency Management, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, and American Red Cross.

Hugo Road Fire Update PM 09/02/18

Firefighters are working hard to slow the forward progress of the #HugoRoadFire in Hugo, burning west of Interstate 5 near exit 66.

A grass fire was called in at approximately 7:15 this evening and is anticipated to have grown to 150 acres within just a few hours. Firefighters from multiple agencies, helicopters, and air tankers were able to attack this fire aggressively from the start. However, aerial resources had to be grounded when the sun went down.

Tonight, we have five dozers, six hand crews, 10 engines and multiple water tenders fighting the fire. Firefighters are hoping to completely line the fire tonight and keep the fire in check tomorrow. Crews are facing extreme fire behavior, wind gusts, steep terrain, and dry fuels throughout the entire area of the fire.

In addition, nineteen engines are working specifically on protecting and defending homes. Structures remain threatened.

Right now, evacuations are being issued. All that are in a Level 3 “Go” evacuation area have already been notified by law enforcement, or have received a Citizen Alert notification. Additional Level 2 “Be Set” and Level 1 “Be Ready” will be issued shortly. Please monitor the Josephine County Emergency Management Page for additional details. We will also share those updates here as soon as they are announced.

A shelter has been established for people and animals at the Josephine County Fairgrounds. Anyone needing assistance can call Southern Oregon Emergency Aide at 541-226-1124.

The cause remains under investigation.

Partners involved include ODF Southwest Oregon District, Rural Metro Fire – Josephine County, Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, Applegate Valley Fire District, Illinois Valley Fire District, Rogue River Fire District, Ashland Fire & Rescue, Medford Fire-Rescue, Jackson County Fire District #5 IAFF Local 2596, Jackson County Fire District 4, Fire District 3, Josephine County Emergency Management, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, and American Red Cross.

Please keep in mind that this incident is quickly evolving, and all firefighters are doing everything they can to catch this fire overnight. We anticipate having a clearer picture of the situation by morning.

Firefighters Stop I-5 MP 54 at Approximately 20 Acres

Firefighters halted the I-5 Milepost 54 Fire burning near Grants Pass at approximatey 20 acres around 5:30 p.m. this afternoon. The initial report came in just after 2:30 p.m. with an estimated size of one-acre. Within minutes, the fire began spreading and spotting upslope in the direction of a dozen homes. While the homes were initially threatened by the fire, no homes were lost or damaged by this incident. Resources from multiple agencies were able to attack the fire both on the ground and in the air, and get a fire line around the perimeter a couple hours later. The steep slopes and difficult access off of the freeway posed a challenge for all crews; however, they were able to make progress quite quickly. The current fire size is still an estimate, and accurate mapping will take place overnight.

Several firefighters will be strengthening control lines and mopping up overnight in order to reach full containment. Fire investigators are currently looking into the cause of this fire, as well as the 1/10th of an acre fire which was knocked down quickly near I-5 MP 51. Please use caution when driving through this area for the remainder of the night as fire traffic will still be present.

This fire is a true testament of our aggressive and safe initial attack. Every single partner’s collaboration during this incident lead to this afternoon’s success. Crews from the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Southwest Oregon District, Applegate Valley Fire District, Rural Metro Fire Josephine County, Grants Pass Fire/Rescue, Evans Valley Fire District, Rogue River Fire, and Illinois Valley Fire District came together to keep this fire small and protect our community.

This is a great reminder; fire season is not over yet. Please know the fire restrictions in your area before recreating outdoors this holiday weekend. For additional information about the Oregon Department of Forestry, please visit us on Facebook @ODFSouthwest, at www.swofire.com, or call/visit the Southwest Oregon District office nearest to you.

Ramsey Canyon Fire 8/25/18 PM update

RamseyCanyonFire 08/25/18 PM update

QuickFacts:
Incident Start Date: 8/22/2018
Incident Start Time: Approx. 12:45 p.m.
Incident Type: Wildfire
Cause: Under Investigation
Incident Location: near Sams Valley, Jackson County, Oregon
Land Threat: Private, BLM, Industrial
Command Agency: ODF/OSFM
Fire Size: 1,861 acres
Containment: 25%
Expected Full Containment: 9/10/2018
Civilian Injuries: 0
Firefighter Injuries: 0
Structures Threatened: 498
Structures Destroyed: 1
Structures Damaged: 0

Current Situation:

Fire crews had another successful shift on the Ramsey Canyon Fire.
Along East Evans Creek Road, crews focused on burning out small
pockets of fuel near the fireline. In the southern and western sections of
the fire, firefighters worked to secure water sources and hose lays for
mop-up and conducted mop-up operations. On the eastern portion of
the fire, firefighters found and extinguished two small spot fires that
were smoldering outside the containment lines. Wildland and structural
crews will monitor these areas through the night.

All these actions were preparation for the mop-up phase of the fire.
“Mop-up is the name of the game,” said Operations Section Chief Trainee
John Tillotson. Mop-up is a methodical process of putting the fire
completely out. On some parts of the Ramsey Canyon Fire mop-up has
already begun. In other places, crews have been busy putting the
required equipment into place; such as water tanks, pumps and hose
lays. Fallers began cutting down snags that may pose a threat to crews
mopping up at night.

Smoke may be visible in the interior of the fire due unburnt fuels
continuing to burn.

“The Department of Forestry is proud of its aggressive night shift. We
are even prouder of the excellent safety record our night shift crews
have maintained,” said ODF IMT 2 Incident Commander Joe Hessel.
“Night shift did great work last night with the burnout operation. I ask
that you once again set your day shift colleagues up for success.”

Gusty winds of 14-20 miles per hour on the ridges will test the fire lines.

The Red Cross has setup a shelter at Hanby Middle School in Gold Hill at
806 6th Ave, Gold Hill, OR 97525. The phone number is 1-888-680-
1455.

Evacuations:

Level 3 “Go”

East Evans Creek Rd., beginning at the address of 17935, and continuing east including addresses 18505, 18509 (all accessed off of West Fork Evans Creek Rd.), then continuing to include the address of 19373 at the intersection of Meadows Rd; West Fork Evans Creek Rd., the addresses 18504 and 18508; Ramsey Rd., beginning at the address 13469 and proceeding north to include 13001 and 14738 (accessed off of BLM 35-2-20) and continuing to the Meadows Rd. intersection; Meadows Rd, proceeding south from East Evans to include the address of 16880.

Level 2 “Be Set”

East Evans Creek Rd., beginning at the address 15513 and ending at 16995, and beginning at the address of 19395 and continuing to include the address of 21043 East Evans Creek Rd.; Meadows Rd, beginning at the address 16800 and 16821, then proceeding south to include the address 14765; Ramsey Rd., beginning at the address 13465 and proceeding south to include the address of 11655.

For additional information regarding evacuations, please contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Assigned Resources:

Engines: 66
Water Tenders: 14
Helicopters: 8+
Hand Crews: 30
Dozers: 8
Total Personnel: 1072
Air Tankers: As needed

Cooperating Agencies:

Oregon Department of Forestry, BLM Oregon & Washington, Rogue Valley Fire Chiefs Association, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office – Oregon, Jackson County Emergency Management, American Red Cross, U.S. Forest Service- Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

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