[Granof8]

Thursday,
August 1,
2002
6:00 AM
Sour Biscuit Fire-Zone 1
Contact: Jeff Gildehaus
Fire Info Hotline: (541) 592-1029
FAX: (541) 592-1006
Gold Beach/Brookings Contact: Skye Sieber Phone: (541) 247-3653
What: Lightning Caused Wildfire
Started: July 13, 2002


General Location: 17 miles southwest of Cave Junction, OR

Current Size: Oregon (Zone 1): 17,072 Acres

Lat: 42 Deg. 2’ 17” Long: 123 Deg. 56’ 33”

Containment: 5%
Expected Containment Date: Unknown


Resources Threatened: Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Smith River National Wild and Scenic River, Port Orford Cedar and Arabis MacDonaldiana plant species.

Structures Threatened: 1 residence, 2 outbuildings

Injuries: 0 today, 2 total for incident

Jurisdictions: Zone 1 - USDA-Forest Service, Region 6, Siskiyou National Forest Zone 2 - USDA-Forest Service, Region 5, Six Rivers National Forest

Other Cooperating Agencies: Oregon Dept. of Forestry, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, County Rural Fire Protection Districts, Emergency Operations Center.

Road Closures: Highway 199 is closed from the Oregon/California border to Hiouchi, CA due to the Shelley Creek Fire northeast of Gasquet, CA. All Siskiyou National Forest roads leading into Sour Biscuit Zone 1 are closed to public use.

Todays’ Remarks: The responsibility of the Sour Biscuit Fire has been divided. The Broyles Type II Interagency Incident Management Team (IMT) from the Great Basin Idaho Zone is assigned to the portion in Oregon now called Zone 1. Bennett’s Type 1 team will manage the southern (California) portion of the fire, called Zone 2.

Ten 20-person hand crews, eleven engines, nine dozers, seven water tenders and six medium helicopters continue constructing fire-line on the east side of Zone 1. The line is being constructed to the north to connect with a fire-line coming south from the Florence Fire. The two fires are less than two miles apart. Four 20-person hand crews from Sour Biscuit are temporarily assigned to the Florence Fire. Residents in the Illinois Valley are under a 30-minute evacuation notice advisory.

Resources on the fire: Fourteen Type Two Crews, Eleven Engines, Nine Dozers, Seven Water Tenders, Six Medium Helicopters. 456 total people.

[Grampa Dave]

Good report!

Stroll down to the fair grounds and talk to some the guys and gals firefighters to get a handle on what they will be doing.

I have a feeling as all the effort so far has been on the South and SE sides of the circle/oval that the Florence Fire is.

That means nothing has been done on the West and North ends of this big blaze. Fires will burn down hill to the Ocean or River if the winds come from off shore.

All that is needed is a couple of those Banana Belt Days for the Brookings/Gold Beach area with the hot dry air rushing down hill to the ocean to start one hell of a big fire to the west and then push it north to Agness.