Cool weather is two-edged sword on Florence and Sour Biscuit Fires/Oregon

Oregon Live/ AP ^ | 06 August 2002 | Jeff Barnard / AP

[Grampa Dave]

Wildfire News/Oregon

Cool weather is two-edged sword on Florence and Sour Biscuit Fires

By JEFF BARNARD, The Associated Press, 8/6/02 3:17 AM

CAVE JUNCTION, Ore. (AP) -- Cool and humid weather that has kept a lid on the Florence and Sour Biscuit fires prevented crews from fire-hardening the southern end of the 40-mile containment line protecting the Illinois Valley.

"It's a two-edged sword," said Mike Lohrey, incident commander on the eastern front of the fires that have burned a combined 275,000 acres of the Siskiyou National Forest in southwestern Oregon said Monday.

A few drops of rain fell on the area Monday night.

Lohrey said about 25 percent of the containment line on the eastern flank of the fires has yet to be burned out, but a warming and drying trend beginning midweek will make that job easier, without whipping the fires to the explosive energy they showed a week ago.

"There's still a lot of fire out there," Lohrey said. "Until we can make that area black and the area is contained, the threat is real."

Though Florence was just 10 percent contained, and Sour Biscuit 15 percent, the threat diminished enough for the standing evacuation warning for the valley's 17,000 residents to be downgraded from two hours to four hours, meaning people should be ready to leave on four hours' notice.

Sheriff's deputies checking on the homes of about 1,200 people who evacuated the area have found three-quarters of them returned, said Josephine County sheriff's Lt. Lee Harman.

Illinois Valley Fire Chief Kyle Kirchner said he was not ready to lift the evacuation warning yet, because the warming trend will make the fire more volatile.

"We're very concerned about lifting it too soon if we get abnormal heat and would like to see how the fuels react," to the change in the weather, Kirchner said.

The threat remained high enough for Mayor Ed Faircloth to go ahead and cancel this weekend's Blackberry Festival, which brings an extra 5,000 people to the valley, but low enough for Susie and Jim Wood to take a break from five days of cutting brush around their home within sight of the fire line.

"I can't say it's not a little scary, especially as I look out the kitchen window and see an awful lot of smoke swirling around," said Susie Wood. "I think they've got a handle on it."

At the Illinois Valley Golf Course, smoke hugging the ground forced pro shop manager Bob Paul to quit playing on the back nine, but did not deter Kenny Lewis from his daily round.

"We're going to go out and see if we can find the ball in this smoke," he said.

While seven major fires continued burning across more than 462,000 acres in Oregon, the Florence and Sour Biscuit fires remained the top priority in the nation for scarce resources.

Favorable winds kept the northern flank of the fire from advancing on the rural communities of Agness and Oak Flat, located at the confluence of the Illinois and Rogue rivers, where firefighters cleared brush around homes and bulldozers dug containment lines, said spokeswoman Susan Mathison.

The fire was three miles from Oak Flat and six from Agness, but there was no evacuation notice in force, Mathison said. However, fire commanders marked their maps with 72-hour and 48-hour trigger points which, if the fire reaches them, will prompt deputies to go door-to-door warning residents to be ready to leave within 72 hours and 48 hours.

Harman said deputies arrested a Grants Pass man on charges of impersonating a firefighter and stealing some turkeys and chickens from a home where he advised residents to flee.

Wearing a yellow Nomex fire shirt with homemade patches identifying him as a firefighter, Kenton Bowden knocked on doors in the Selma area Sunday night telling people to evacuate, and tried to get into fire camp, Harman said. He was arrested Monday morning after going to the sheriff's office to ask why he had heard his name on his police scanner.

The fire still has the potential, given the right weather conditions, to run down the Chetco River to the coast or jump over Chrome Ridge and descend on the Rogue River near the whitewater rafting center of Galice, Lohrey said.

Reflecting the changing threat, fire commanders stopped the every-other-night community meetings at Illinois Valley High School, but held their first one in Galice, located on the Rogue River about 15 miles northeast of the fire perimeter.

Other Oregon fires causing major concern are:

--The Tiller Complex east of Canyonville, at 31,052 acres and 25 percent containment, threatening 15 residences.

--The Timbered Rock Fire 20 miles north of Medford, 75 percent contained at nearly 26,000 acres.

[Joe Hadenuf]

I wish our Oregon brothers the best of luck and rain.....

[Grampa Dave]

What happened to the Key Word list that I posted?

It was there and it wasn't there.

Also, this is not showing in breaking news now as it was at first.

Thank you.

Should I re post the keywords?

[EBUCK]

Here you go G'Pa....

And the solution to all of our enviral problems?

Gain control of the media and public opinion. By being sensible. By espousing Carry Okies book. By preaching managed use. By promoting property rights. By detailing the errors in the enviral agenda. By detailing the good that had come of it early on in their movement. By showing how corrupt and power hungry the large enviral covens have become, i.e. Sierra Club.

The envirals have taken over by way of media hype and crisis. We can use the same tactic or we can go the other route and take the high, logical, road. But the key is getting the media's favor. How do we do that? We make it hard for media outlets to keep advertisers while pushing their econaught agenda. We boycott eco-funders. We befriend (however repulsive this may be) local media folk that seem to be receptive. And the biggie, we need to get young people on our side. We need to get the western campuses to throw off the dogma and see reason.

I don't know how much sense this post makes 'cause I'm only on my first cup of coffee and a little scattered...but these are my thoughts on how to regain control.

EBUCK

[calawah98]

On channel 7, Seattle TV News last nite, a reporter was in Cave Junction. The smoke was as thick as the fog gets here on the coast. I doubt if the people will ever get the smoke smell out of their homes. Some people came back, but were leaving again, the smoke and ash are so bad. One woman said she had a sore throat from breathing the smoke. This is like a lot of things, it is not their ox getting gored, so they just ignore it. Sad, but that is the mentality of most of the people now a days.

[EBUCK]

The ox just may be their taxes skyrocketting and precious pet programs that will be getting up on the chopping block soon. The firefighting bill will come due and it'll be to the tune of 100+ million. That will be the time to pounce and really spread the word that enviralists cost us, this year alone, 100 million dollars (best Dr. Evil impression)!!

EBUCK

[calawah98]

I heard on the news that is it costing over a million and half dollars a day to fight the fires, but sounds like it is way more than that. You are right, come tax time you will see a lot of moaning and groaning, lets hope they get it thro their brain, the reason why, and who caused the higher taxes. Only time will tell.

[Grampa Dave]

FYI, the latest on the fires in SW Oregon, courtesy of the agendas of the Oregon al Qaeda Green Jihadists.

[Free the USA]

bttt

[Grampa Dave]

That smoke odor can linger around for months if not years.

It gets into the carpets, drapes, rugs, bedding and any furniture that has material on/in it like sofas/chairs.

It gets into the inside paint and the drywalls.

Sometimes you have rip out all the carpets, the drywalls, the drapes and throw away all furniture. Then put in new drywalls, drapes, carpets and furniture. That gets to be really expensive.

[Granof8]

Smoky here today, KURY radio says the same in Brookings.

[Grampa Dave]

Well, since this has been down graded from Breaking News to barely news, ( I guess that the turmoil of over 17,000 Oregonians isn't as important as other agendas), I'm out of here for awhile.

[EBUCK]

I don't know what to tell ya. Perhaps the Admin Moderator can re-upgrade this thread. Whadya say AM?

EBUCK

[Grampa Dave]

Well, since this thread has been down graded from Breaking News to barely news, ( I guess that the turmoil of over 17,000 Oregonians isn't as important as other agendas), I'm out of here for awhile.

If you have any other non important enviral news, please link it to this non important news and vice versa.

Who knows maybe 30 or 40 Freepers might be interested in what the Green Jihadists of America are doing. Naah, their agendas are more important than 17,000 people living in smoke and fear of burning up.

[Grampa Dave]

Naah, the lives of 17,000 Oregonians being in harm's way is not major news to most Freepers.

Even if more than 200,000 Oregonians in surrounding areas are being affected by the smoke, it is not important.

This is not a priority to 99.99999999999% of the Freepers. They don't care nor do they see these fires in Oregon/California as an important conservative issue/news.

Very good friends told us last night that the Mother of the husband had to be evacuated from the Ashland area to go to Portland due to the smoke. She was up there for the month for the Shakespear Festival. She was taken to the hospital twice last week and again on the weekend due to breathing problems due to the smoke. The doctor called her son in Portland and told him to get her out of Ashland before she died. So her son drove down from Portland yesterday and took her to Portland. She was not in great shape.

At my meeting at our church yesterday, a lady who has a cottage in Ashland was at the church. She normally stays up in Ashland, the entire month of August. She came back last Wednesday due to the smoke and ashes. She was sick all day Sunday through Tuesday. So Wednesday, she packed up and closed up her cottage and drove home. A big financial loss to Ashland and Oregon with these two ladies leaving Ashland.

I can't blame the admin moderator. This is not important news to most freepers with other pressing personal agendas.

This is a reality that most conservatives/freepers don't want to face. They had rather argue about philosophy than face this reality.

I do wonder what happened to my key words that I posted. I just reposted them. Wonder if they will disappear, too.

Oh well, time to go fly fishing and forget about this non important news for awhile.

[EBUCK]

Don't take it so hard GmPa. Most people are only good for a soundbite or two before they fade to black. I'm impressed that we had as much attention as we did for so long. Yak at ya when you get back.

EBUCK

[Black Agnes]

Wow, your thread got pulled? How rude. I live on the other side of the country and consider this to be very important news! The end result of the ecowackos tirade against logging, underbrush management and roads is directly responsible for these fires. The sooner the general public realizes the ecowackos are *not* concerned about the health of the forest, but *are* concerned with making vast spaces 'people free', the better!

[calawah98]

Thats what I figured, a real horrendous mess, Smoke smell is super hard to get rid of.

[Granof8]

Fire Information Update
Florence Fire
Tuesday, August 6, 2002 8:00 am
Fire Information Center: (541) 592-1029


Total Florence Fire
Status: 241,282 acres Start: July 13, 2002 Cause: Lightning
Location: 26 miles southwest of Grants Pass, Ore., on the Siskiyou National Forest within the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
Percent Contained: 10% Expected Containment: Unknown Structures Lost: 4 residences and 8 outbuildings

East Florence Fire
Cost to date: $13.7 million Fire Line to Build: 61 miles Personnel: 1,894 Injuries: None
Today’s Resources: 16 helicopters (seven Type 1, four Type 2 and five Type 3), 48 handcrews (10 Type 1 and 38 Type 2), 93 engines, 25 water tenders, 30 dozers.
At Risk: Portions of the towns or communities of Cave Junction, Kerby, Selma, O’Brien, and Agness; Gardner Ranch; private lands east of McCaleb Ranch; Late Successional Reserve; threatened and endangered fish; Illinois and Rogue River wild and scenic rivers; campgrounds.
Closures: Galice and Illinois Valley Ranger Districts on the Siskiyou National Forest west of State Highway 199 are closed to all public access due to extreme fire conditions; Bear Camp Road #2300 from Galice to Agness; hiking trail through Rogue River Wild and Scenic area.
Cooperating Agencies: USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Indian Affairs, USDI National Park Service, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, Josephine County, Oregon Department of Forestry, Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Oregon National Guard, City of Cave Junction, Coos Fire Protective Association, and private entities.

What’s New: Two 5-acre slopovers occurred along the southeast flank of the Florence Fire yesterday afternoon. This was in an area west of the community of O’Brien. Crews were able to contain the slopovers quickly, and night shift crews mopped up flames and smokes.

Today, crews working along the northeast flank of the Florence Fire will continue preparing a fire line from Hanson Saddle to Soldier Camp. From Sam Brown Horse Camp, where there is a fire camp, to the area west of O’Brien, firefighters will be patrolling fire lines and mopping up smokes. South of O’Brien, fire line construction will continue, followed by burnouts (weather permitting).

Weather this morning is cool and moist. As an upper level low pressure system moves slowly east of the fire area this afternoon, the Florence Fire will experience gradual warming and drying. The possibility of sustained northeast to east winds over 15 mph, coupled with relative humidity dropping below 35 percent, has prompted a fire weather watch for tonight.

Temperatures today will range from 70-76 in the valleys and 59-64 on the ridges. Humidity will range from 30-38 percent in the valleys and 38-46 percent on the ridges. Winds on the ridges will range from 8-18 mph. Winds in the valleys will be downslope 3-8 mph this morning, becoming upslope 5-10 mph this afternoon.

An inversion will remain over the fire until about 3:00 p.m. today.

The threat of evacuation for Illinois Valley residents eased slightly on Monday, allowing fire officials to extend the alert status from 2 hour- to 4 hour-notice.

Pacific Northwest National Incident Management Team 2
Mike Lohrey, Incident Commander

[Granof8]

Fire Facts
Agness, Gold Beach, Brookings and vicinity


Tuesday, August 06, 2002 0800 hours

Fire Information: 541-247-2486 or 541-247-2590

The Florence fire encompasses 241,282 acres. The fire perimeter is approximately three air miles southeast of Oak Flat (Curry County) and five air miles east of the Wilderness Retreat area in the Chetco drainage.

Today’s resources: 17 Type I crews, 54 Type II crews, 16 helicopters, 113 engines, 864 Overhead, 56 Dozers, and 36 Watertenders. Approximately 130 fire support personnel from Canada have joined in the battle of the Florence Fire, with 5-20 person crews and miscellaneous overhead assigned to the fire today.

The following report is for the western half of the Florence Fire.

At Risk: Private residences in Oak Flat (Curry Co.), Agness, and Wilderness Retreat on the Chetco River.

Closures: The entire Siskiyou National Forest is under a fire closure. All open campfires are prohibited. Most Forest Service roads and trails south of the Agness Road (#33) are closed to public access and the Upper Rogue River Trail is closed. Bear Camp Road (#23) road closure is now in effect; travel is limited to emergency fire traffic only.

Community meetings: Meeting scheduled for this week are:

Tuesday, August 6, 7:00 p.m. at Gold Beach High School in Gold Beach
Wednesday, August 7, 7:00 p.m. at the Agness Community Building in Agness

Fire Weather Status:

Partly cloudy, and smoke will be drifting toward the coast today. The fire is expected to spread to the north and west. Highs 70-76 valleys, 59-64 ridges. Winds from 8-18.

Agness and Oak Flat

The fire continues to be active in and around the Fish Hook Peak area. The fire continues to back down- slope to the west side. Twenty-three crews and 26 dozers continue construction of a fire line on the ridge east of Oak Flat. Handcrews continue to make progress on the line inaccessible by dozers. The fireline will run north from Indian Flat and tie in with the existing road system in preparation for a potential burnout operation. Structures will continue to be prepped in the Agness area today.

Brookings, Gardner Ridge, and Carpenterville

Crews and dozers continue to build a fire line in the area east of Wilderness Retreat near the South Fork confluence of the Chetco River. Progress is slow due to extremely difficult terrain. At this time there is no imminent danger to the Brookings, Gardner Ridge or Carpenterville areas.

Today’s Objective:

To continue protection of private land and residences and adjacent communities along the Illinois River, Agness, Chetco River, and Brookings.

Establish line to keep the fire east of the ridge running from Lawson Creek to Sugarloaf Mtn, Snow Camp Mtn, Quail Prairie Mtn, Pollywog Butte, Snaketooth Butte then tie to Sourdough.

[Granof8]

Zone 2 (Sour Biscuit) CA

Incident Information Contacts:
Terry Knupp Phone: (707) 464-8590

Last Update: 08/05/2002 12:09:08

Location: 6 miles east of Smith River, CA
Date of Origin: 7/13/02
Size: 24,039 acres
Contained: 40%
Estimated Containment Date: Not Determined
Number of Incident Personnel: 1,360
Injuries:0

Structures Threatened
Residential: 0
Commercial: 0

Equipment
16 Engines
5 Dozer
4 Water Tenders
9 Helicopter