Oregon Fire Fight Hampered by Cooler Weather

KGW TV ^ | 5 August 2002 | GILLIAN FLACCUS

[joyce11111]

Oh, jeeeeeeeeeez Grampa, you ought to send that post to the red guard right now...LOL

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

I'm sure the green plague would love to see the town of Agnes in flames. Agness is base camp to industries that cater to those that invade the pristine Rogue wilderness.

[Grampa Dave]

Here is the link to the 5 day forecast for the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, where the fire is really located. Not a bad forecast with the exception of some high winds, Tuesday through Thursday from the NWN. (Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, 5 day weather forecast)

[Grampa Dave]

Clean it up a little and send it them with your name.

I sent that to our local fish wrap and they actually backed away from some of the enviral BS that they were pushing. Of course they did not put it in as a letter to the editor.

This is the fishwraps worse nightmare that nationwide and locally people will challenge Fishwraps as a terrible enviral way to get out stale news and stale agendas of the left.

[Grampa Dave]

The Green al Qaeda plague/thugs have been trying to shut down the Rogue to all fishing for at least 10 years.

If they ever succeed, that will leave Agness and down stream to their soul brothers who run the rafting, canoes and white water trips and rental businesses. No nasty fishermen in the way of them making trips down stream and lots of money.

[Granof8]

http://www.nwtec.com/home/map020805.html updated at 2 a.m. this morning. Below the map you will find links that go back to previous days' maps.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

"Eco Tourism" A term I despise! How do the greenies feel about the jet boat incursions to the wild Rogue out of Agness? They cost about 50 bucks a head. No fishermen, just wilderness lovers. However, they use precious fossil fuels to transport the tourists.

The west side of Klaamth Lake gets the green scum. They like to paddle their canoes around the marshes ejaculating every time they see a red winged blackbird. I make sure they know I'm out their to rake hooks through the trout that inhabit their cathedral.

I also love it when the afternoon winds kick up and their out their with nothing but a canoe - thats after I've failed to slow down and they've had to negotiate my boat wake.

[Granof8]

Agness has a few of its own greenies, but many of the families have lived in the area since the 1850s. I don't believe the greens can drive them out, fire or no fire.

[EBUCK]

Oh the irony...in their efforts to keep nature pristine the eco-morons declared the forests off limits. The off limits created an abundance of ground fuel which when set off would make for uncontrolable blazes. The blazes being uncontrolable by normal means call for unconventional means. So the firefighters have to resort to BLASTING and Bulldozing the countryside, far more damaging than thinning would ever be. It's thick aint it? (the irony, not the $hit, shich would be termed "deep" )

EBUCK

[Salvation]

According to the Oregonian and Oregon live, these fires don't exist, (At least on their web sites).

Same with katu.com except for this story:

August 5, 2002

Fire Destroys Log Chipping Plant
Near The Dalles

THE DALLES - Firefighters allowed a fire in a deck of logs and tons of wood chips at a mill here to burn itself out Sunday after a spectacular blaze destroyed most of the complex Saturday night.

Lt. Fred Coleman of Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue said firemen were patrolling downwind to watch for new fires and to protect what was left of Mountain Fir Chip Co.

"They're letting the logs burn," he said.

The wind carried burning chips and bark some 500 yards across the Columbia River to the unincorporated town of Dallesport, Wash., starting a fire there that grew to 70 acres before it was controlled. There was no structural damage reported.

Damage to Mountain Fir, which employed about 20 people, was estimated at $4 million.

The fire, which started in grass, spread to the logs and the mill and its hoppers. Firemen were able to save other structures at the plant and other businesses in the Port of The Dalles.

Cause of the fire has not been determined.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[EBUCK]

I don't believe the greens can drive them out, fire or no fire.

Don't be so sure..We have been exploring the issue of insurance lately and we've come to the conclusion that without insurers willing to insure rural homes the people will be moving out shortly. Hope it doesn't go that far but it's certainly possible and a brilliant tactical approach.

EBUCK

[Salvation]

Here is a story posted on kgw.com

Crews to Attack Fire's West Flank

08/02/2002

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer

The Florence wildfire has grown so large that officials Friday drew an imaginary north-south line down the middle of the 80-mile-long blaze and split firefighting duties into two camps about 40 miles apart.

More than 1,200 firefighters and support staff are en route to Gold Beach to operate out of a new command post that will focus on fighting the fire's movement to the north and west.

A fire crew from Keizer, Ore., stays with their truck along U.S. Highway 199 as the Florence fire sends plumes of smoke skyward. (AP Photo)

The fire west of Silver Peak will be renamed the West Florence Fire.

The eastern side will be managed from the established camp in Cave Junction, said Richard Nieto, branch director for the Florence Fire.

"The fire has become so large that it's too big for a single team to handle," said Rick Hartigan, fire spokesman in Gold Beach.

Fire crews from around the country have been trickling into tent camps in the area. They scrambled to prepare a common radio frequency, bring facilities for hot meals and form a list of crews and equipment to battle the fire's western flank.

After a limited presence earlier in the week, fire engines, hotshot crews and helicopters were seen Friday near Gold Beach and in the tiny outpost of Agness.

Dark, colorful smoke fills the sky over a Selma, Ore., home as the Florence fire continues to burn. (AP Photo)

Fire commanders have been concentrating on the fire's eastern flank because of the threat to 17,000 residents in the Illinois Valley. Crews now seem to be gaining the upper hand on that part of the fire, although the threat isn't over.

Nieto said wind gusts, uneven terrain and dense fuels were pushing the flames west and northwest.

Flames were about four miles from the tiny community of Wilderness Retreat in the fire's southwest corner and triage teams headed there Friday to assess and protect homes, he said.

The new command post is being set up at the Curry County Fairgrounds, displacing college summer courses that use the facility, said Janet Pretti, program coordinator for Southwestern Oregon Community College.

About 45 students will finish their last two weeks of class at the high school, she said.

Nikolas Granville, 11, and his sister Victoria Granville, 3, of Selma, Ore., look towards the mountains and a giant cloud of smoke. (AP Photo)

"This is a small town and everybody shares, so it'll be working out just fine," Pretti said as she watched officials scramble to install eight temporary phone lines.

Officials were waiting for a 10,000-gallon metal-framed water tank to hold water for helicopter drops on the fire's western and northern edges.

Firefighters must treat water pumped from the Illinois River with Clorox before they dump it on the burning forests because they are trying to prevent the spread of Port Orford cedar root disease, a devastating blight that has already infected several watersheds.

The river water will be pumped into the tank at 325 gallons a minute, then treated with one gallon of Clorox for every 1,000 gallons of water. Firefighters must also wash the wheels and undercarriage of their trucks with treated water before leaving the forest to prevent the disease from spreading.

The tank can fill about five helicopter buckets at a time, and will be refilled constantly, said Rick MacDonald, a U.S. Forest Service assistant fire management officer.

In Agness, a team of structural protection specialists said they had finished assessing about 50 houses in the area. About half could be saved if fire came through, said Paul Konzen, with Engine 53 from the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura, Calif.

Bulldozers, two hand crews and a hotshot crew worked Friday to complete three staggered containment lines around the fire's northern edge.

"It's moving in pulses," said Daniel Ramirez, also with Engine 53. "Today it might burn real good and then die down for a day or two."

Conditions in the woods were tough, firefighters said, and included run-ins with scorpions, rattlesnakes, "old growth" poison oak and tan oak, a plant that emits a dust that is poisonous to breath.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[backhoe]

You bet- I sent a link to this in the morning mass email.

[Granof8]

Good point!

KURY Radio is just now commenting on the politically correct procedures that have to be addressed to fight the fires, it's amazing that anything gets accomplished at all.

[EBUCK]

it's amazing that anything gets accomplished at all.

You know it! But that's the point isn't it? To keep us from doing anything for ourselves and keep us on the gubment teat. Anyone able to operate outside the system is immediatley targeted to be pulled into the fold by way of legal restrictions etc., at taxpayer expense to boot. The basis of socialism is convincing people that they need gubment even though it's gubment that needs us to survive, not the other way around.

EBUCK

[Grampa Dave]

I will be off line for a few hours.

A project at our church that I'm in charge of is calling me.

Take care and kept the up dates coming in.

A 200 (two hundred mile fire line) what the two fires in the Illinois River will require to control is incredible.

Yet there is no national news on this and a semi blackout in the Oregon area.

Catch you later this afternoon.

[PoisedWoman]

Your comments about the Eugene Fishwearp being a waste of paper reminds me of my daughter, who in second grade was given assignment to make a poster about saving trees. So she didn't make one. Took her teacher a minute to catch on, but she got a good grade.

[RightWhale]

There is a huge amount of smoke in and around Fairbanks, has been for 3 days. It's not clear where it is coming from, but it seems to be from far away. Any idea or link to a satellite mage?

[Granof8]

Here's an item from the Curry Coastal Pilot, Saturday, August 3:

Curry Coastal Pilot, August 3, 2002
By Jennifer Henion, Triplicate Staff Writer

U.S. Forest Service officials in Oregon will investigate whether bad advice or unavoidable bureaucracy is to blame for the spread of the Sour Biscuit Fire into Del Norte, County.
"They may say in hindsight that we made the wrong decision, but they may say that because of weather conditions and other factors it couldn't have been done any other way," said spokesperson for the Siskiyou National Forest and U.S. Forest Service Mary Marrs.
In question is whether a leading California Department of Forestry firefighter could have put out the blaze when it first sparked July 13, and whether he was told not to fight it by the Oregon office with jurisdiction over the other area.
According to Del Norte County Supervisor Chuck Blackburn, a high ranking firefighter with a crew and equipment was ready to douse the fire the day it started.
Blackburn said when that firefighter called the Siskiyou National Forest office for permission to attack the flames, he was told no. As a result, the fire grew out of control and eventually crossed into California.
"It's frustrating to the firefighters and it's frustrating to the people wondering if their houses are going to burn," Blackburn said.
Marrs said she had not heard of the incident until yesterday, and was unsure of the facts.
She said many factors are involved in organizing a fire strike and than no one would get authorization to begin the battle without all the bases covered.
"We wouldn't assign anyone to a fire unless we know there is a back-up unit, some kind of an escape route, there has to be a communication link and we would want to know what the weather conditions are," Marrs said.
Weather and smoke conditions are especially important, she said.
"One of our biggest obstacles is visibility. With all of the air crashes we've had this year, we're taking extra precautions," Marrs said.
She also pointed out that the U.S. Forest Service is a para-military organization and all the levels of bureaucracy within it often bog down the efficiency of fighting the fires.
In response to questions about two recent incidents where firefighters were ready to go to keep the fire from spreading but were denied, Marrs said that sort of thing happsnes sometimes in a huge coordinating effort such as this.
"That person may have felt miffed at missing the change to go, but when you're told no, you can't question it. We have 1,000 firefighters out there and it puts people at risk and communities at risk," Marra said.
Officials at the Medford headquarters, at the Cave Junction and Crescent City incident command centers, will be informed of the problem and the(sic) brought together for better understanding at Marrs' urging.
She also promised better communications between Forest Service staff and the communities at risk.