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August 8 morning FS reports from the east and west sides of the Florence fire.

WEST FLORENCE FIRE
Thursday August 08, 2002 0800 hours
Fire Information: 541-247-2486 or 541-247-2590 or 541-247-2620
The Florence Fire and the Sour Biscuit Fire have burned together to form one fire encompassing 296,000 acres. The fire perimeter is approximately three air miles southeast of Oak Flat (Curry County) on the Rogue River and five air miles east of the Wilderness Retreat area in the Chetco drainage northeast of Brookings.
Today’s resources: 20 Type I crews, 56 Type II crews, 16 helicopters, 113 engines, 864 Overhead, 56 Dozers, and 38 Watertenders. In addition, 130 fire support personnel from Canada are assisting with the fire and 116 Oregon National Guard personnel are staffing road closure points and will provide security support should evacuations become necessary.
WEST FLORENCE FIRE (The following report is for the western half of the Florence Fire.)
At Risk: Private residences in Oak Flat (Curry Co.), Agness, Illahe on the Rogue, and Wilderness Retreat on the Chetco River.
Boat Traffic: Currently there are no restrictions on tour boat, fishing or rafting traffic on the Rogue River. The Quosantana Boat Ramp is closed. Lobster Creek and Foster Bar Boat Ramps are open.
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.
Fire Weather Status: RED FLAG WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY
Sunny, windy and dry today. Smoke will be drifting toward the coast today. The fire is expected to spread to the south/southwest. Highs 86-90 valleys, 76-80 ridges. Winds from 12-16 gusting to 27mph in the valleys with 17-25mph winds gusting to 40 on the ridges. These weather conditions are associated with increased fire activity.
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. Handcrews and 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. The Curry County Sheriff has issued a pre-evacuation notice for Agness, Illahe, and Oak Flat (Curry County) residents to be prepared to evacuate.
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. Structure preparation continues in the Wilderness Retreat area.
Today’s Objective:
To continue protection of private land, residences and adjacent communities along the Illinois River, Agness, and Chetco Rivers, 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.
Great Basin National Incident Management Team
Kim Martin, Incident Commander

Fire Information Update
Florence Fire
Thursday, August 8, 2002 11:00 am
Fire Information Center: (541) 592-1029
Overview
Florence Fire (all zones) 296,133 acres 5,168 personnel
What’s New: Overnight, crews on the north flank of the Florence Fire burned out fire lines between Indian Flat and Fish Hook Peak, and no problems were reported. Burnout operations on the north end will continue over the next few days, weather permitting, in a clockwise direction beginning on Forest Road # 2308.
Burnout operations also went well west of the community of O’Brien, which is approximately three miles from the fire line around the east flank of the fire. A spotfire was found across the fire line in this area, but crews were able to redirect the fire line and contain the spotfire.
Two minor injuries occurred on Wednesday. One firefighter injured a knee, and another sustained a lower back injury. Overall, the safety record on the Florence Fire is very good. However, many hazards exist - snags, black bears, rattlesnakes, rolling material, poison oak, narrow roads and extreme fire behavior.
A red flag warning continues today for strong northeast-north winds along ridgetops. Poor relatively humidity and higher temperatures will help fires to burn hotter and faster.
Yesterday, the Florence and Sour Biscuit fires were merged as a common fire line and burnout operation now contain both fires on the east side. The entire area is now called the Florence Fire. It has a 202-mile perimeter, and has three administrative zones in Oregon and one in California.
Pacific Northwest National Incident Management Team 2
Mike Lohrey, Incident Commander