Oregon Firefighters get no help from the weather

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Dry east winds, low humidity and temperatures topping 100 degrees are giving firefighters all they can handle as the massive Biscuit Fire creeps toward several small towns.

The fire, Oregon's largest in more than a century, stood at 376,800 acres on the Siskiyou National Forest and adjoining lands in southwestern Oregon and northern California. It started July 13 from lightning that struck in the remote Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

"This week is an important week for the fire," said Susan Mathison, a Forest Service spokeswoman. "High temperatures, single-digit humidities, strong east winds -- all those contribute to an expectation of increased fire activity."

Said David Widmark, a spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center: "The next 24 to 36 hours will be a big test for the Biscuit and the Tiller fires."

Widmark said the Biscuit Fire was moving slowly toward the small communities of Agness and Wilderness Retreat.

Firefighters on Monday did manage to get a line around a spot fire that threatened a major power line serving northern California.

"I don't think we'll have any reason to turn the power off and cause any problems down in Crescent City (Calif.)," said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Mike Ferris.

The spot fire had slopped over the main containment line on the southeastern flank, coming within a half-mile of two transmission lines serving 14,800 customers in Del Norte County, Calif., said Monte Mendenhall, regional community manager of Pacific Power.

Meanwhile, on the northeast flank of the fire, strong dry winds forced crews to withdraw from trying to light off a burnout operation to strengthen containment lines between Bear Camp Road and Indigo Prairie, Ferris said.

The Biscuit Fire has prevented a search for a Grants Pass man who was last seen a month ago as he hiked into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

Two days after 32-year-old Michael Woods set out on a three-week backpacking trip, lightning sparked the 376,492-acre Biscuit Fire. The blaze has been burning since July 13 and covers an area nearly half the size of Rhode Island.

"With the fire activity, hopefully he was able to find some shelter -- a creek, river drainage, an abandoned mine," said Lt. Brian Anderson of the Josephine County Sheriff's Office.

Boy Scout officials say they consider the damage done by the fire as an opportunity to make improvements at McCaleb Ranch, a historic camp damaged two weeks ago.

The wildfire reached the ranch on July 26 and destroyed most of the camp's buildings. The fire, however, didn't touch a footbridge and low-water bridge that cross the Illinois River, so the scouts still have access to the site.

"I think we'll use this as a means to improve the facility," said Pat Fahey, Troop 23 Scoutmaster. "We've been wanting to do stuff for years. This might spur us to get something done."

Full containment for the southern flank in California was expected by Thursday. The whole fire was 25 percent contained.

"The fire isn't spreading that much," said Ferris. "It's creeping against the wind along the ridges and down the slopes, then running up the other side."

Meanwhile, a new fire erupted Sunday in eastern Oregon, about 17 miles northwest of Burns. Officials said the fire was caused by human activity.

"This one has potential. If we don't catch it today, it's going to be a biggie," Widmark said.

The new fire, named the Bald Green Butte fire, was burning near a Ponderosa pine forest and rugged terrain.

It will be hot all over Oregon today.

The east winds blowing down over the burning former Kalmiopsis Wilderness area could endanger the cities, towns and people living west of the fire.

Also, inspite of the North winds the past week, the fire appears to be inching its way north to Agness and Wilderness Retreat.

Pray for those who live in this area are in severe harm's way thanks to the agendas of the al Qaeda Tree Huggers of Oregon. The fire fighters of course are at peril any day they are on the line.

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