Joint Information Center (JIC)
[email protected] 541-608-1243 http://swojic.blogspot.com Daily JIC SUMMARY September 10, 2017 Overview: Long Range Weather: The recent rains moderated fire behavior on all of the fires. This allowed firefighters an opportunity to “go direct” and work closer to the fire’s perimeter. The rains also caused the smoke to lift, allowing aircraft to fly, providing support for firefighters on the ground. We are now going into a drier, warmer trend which will cause fires to become more active. The good news is, these warmer and drier periods are lasting for shorter and shorter periods as we move closer to fall. Shorter days, better relative humidity recovery at night and shorter active burning periods will begin to slow the progress of the multiple fires across the landscape. Fires at a Glance FIRE RESOURCES
CHETCO BAR MILLER
HIGH CASCADES
TOTAL RESOURCES
Acres
182,284
34,126
70,654
287,064
Personnel
1,421
604
759
2,787
Crews
42
15
16
73
Engines
47
35
39
121
Dozers
17
6
2
25
Water Tenders
18
5
10
33
7
6
6
19
Helicopters
Evacuations For more information on what the evacuation levels mean, visit: http://www.rvem.org/general-evacuation-information.html See swojic.blogspot.com for the latest information. Chetco Bar Fire Fire Stats: Start Date: July 12, 2017 Cause: Lightning A cres: 182,284 acres Total Personnel: 1,421 Containment: 5% Current Situation:
The recent rainfall and high humidity led to minimal fire activity, best described as creeping and smoldering with little perimeter movement. Later in the day on Thursday, temperatures were noticeably warmer, signaling the beginning of a warming and drying trend that is expected to continue through Monday. Smoke impacts today will vary from light to heavy in communities surrounding the Chetco Bar fire. Today, during the morning hours, there will be smoke and fog in some areas with clearing in the afternoon. Skies will be partly sunny, temperatures in the mid 60’s with 5-10 MPH winds from the northwest. As humidity levels begin to drop and temperatures begin to rise, vegetation will begin to dry out, leading to increasingly active fire behavior with surface spread, fire backing downhill and making flanking runs uphill. Fire could climb to the tops of trees (isolated torching) in areas where wetting rain did not occur. Today: Crews have been on the offensive the last couple of days and will continue to take advantage the moderated fire behavior as long as it lasts by further strengthening containment lines, building more direct line and reducing the potential footprint of the fire. As the warming and drying trend continues, fire activity will increase on the south and southwest fire perimeter and crews are ready to make that transition. Crews will construct and remove brush from contingency firelines so that they can better hold when tested. Along the west side, firefighters will patrol for spot fires and continue to mop-up the existing spot fires. To the north, crews are re-establishing some of the previous Biscuit Fire dozer lines, in preparation for bringing fire down to containment lines in a deliberate fashion that would remove ground vegetation and add depth to improve effectiveness of those lines. Structure assessment for communities of Agness and Curry County Oak Flats continues. Evacuations: Evacuations remain in Curry and Josephine County and will be evaluated daily. Residents are encouraged to monitor the interactive evacuation map for changes: http://arcg.is/2vWQN2N Shelters: The Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation is operating a shelter at the Xaa-wan’-k’wvt Village & Resort (old Ship Ashore) RV Park located at 12370 Highway 101 North in Smith River. Closures: Several large wildfires are burning in southwest Oregon. Area closures have been implemented on the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest and BLM lands. Fire restrictions are in place: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/5385/ Air resources will support firefighting efforts as visibility and weather permit.
Chetco Bar Fire Map Interactive Evacuation Map High Cascades Complex Fire Stats: Start Date: 8-13-17 Cause: Lightning A cres: 70,654 acres Total Personnel: 759 Containment: 21% Current Situation: The High Cascades Complex is now being managed as two Zones. The West Zone consists of the Broken Lookout and Pup Fires. The East Zone is comprised of the Spruce Lake, Blanket Creek and North Pelican Fires. Updates will be produced for each Zone and posted to Inciweb under the High Cascades Complex: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5503 There are numerous area, road and trail closures associated with the fires on the High Cascades Complex issued by Crater Lake National Park and the Umpqua, Rogue River-Siskiyou and Fremont-Winema National Forests. Firefighters and fire managers appreciate the cooperation of the public in respecting the closures for their own safety and the efficiency and effectiveness of the firefighting operations. Today’s Planned Activity: On the Broken Lookout Fire crews will continue to prepare Forest Roads 2925, 68, 6510 and 6520 for future containment lines. Tactical firing operations will proceed to further secure the southeast flank of the fire if conditions permit. Helicopter bucket drops will be utilized to check the fires spread in the Woodruff and Cougar Creek drainages as needed. On the Pup Fire firefighters will work to reopen Forest Road 6540 to provide access to the eastern flank and continue to scout for containment opportunities on the western flank. Closures: Area closures have been enacted for the Rogue Umpqua Divide Wilderness and surrounding National Forest lands by both the Umpqua and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forests. Forest visitors should familiarize themselves about these closures before they venture into the area. For a complete list of closures see Inciweb at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/5503/ Evacuations Level 1 Evacuation Notification is still in place for Union Creek (Jackson County) and Mazama Village in Crater Lake National Park.
Miller Complex Fire Stats: Start Date: August 14, 2017 Cause: Lightning Complex Size: 34,126 acres Total Personnel: 604 Complex Containment: 35% Website: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5514/# Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MillerComplexFires/ or https://facebook/R6RRSNF Twitter: #MillerComplex Current Situation: Favorable weather conditions combined with good progress made on containment lines prompted officials to lift evacuation notices within the Miller Complex on 9/8/17. The Joe Bar area, located in California near the north edge of the Abney Fire, will remain under an evacuation warning. Today: Containment lines are being created and held with great success throughout the complex. Higher humidity, lower temperatures and moisture reduced fire behavior assisted in securing containment lines on the Creedence, Bigelow and Burnt Peak fires. Crews on the Abney Fire will continue to build, improve and secure containment lines to the east, north and northwest of the Abney fire. Firefighters continue to patrol and monitor secured line in all divisions of the complex. The change in weather conditions has decreased smoke over the fire area, especially at high elevations which has allowed use of air operations. Both weather and fire behavior should be fairly stable for the next couple of days, allowing for continued progress on containment lines. Although progress has been made, the public can still expect to see smoke and burning within the interior of the fires until a season-ending event occurs. Fire activity on the Creedence and Bigelow fires has been minimal over the last few days. Firefighters continue to monitor and patrol firelines and conduct mop-up efforts. Given the dense fuel-type, the interior of the fire will continue to smoke and burn for some time. Although the fire has not grown in several days, residents may continue to see fire activity within the fire’s interior. Crews will continue securing containment lines, patrolling, and mopping up around the perimeter of the fire.
The Abney Fire continues to slowly grow to the south. Divisions on the north side of the fire are working to build line to tie into on the northwest side of the fire Cedar Fire and Knox fires, which are burning in the Red Buttes Wilderness Area. Additional resources on the east flank of the fire today will allow for more aggressive efforts to contain this side of the fire. Fire line along the 48N20 and 46N50 Roads above Seiad Valley are now considered contained and the threat to Seiad Valley and Horse Creek is greatly diminished. This line was secured by allowing for low intensity fire to back down the slopes to containment lines. Crews have now completed line on the Abney Fire’s east flank from the 46N50 Road north to the Pacific Crest Trail. Contingency lines are in place east of Horse Creek along the Gap Fire burn area. Closures: The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has closed three areas on the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District in each of the branches, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/rogue-siskiyou/alerts- notices. The Bureau of Land Management has closed the Grayback Mountain Trailhead. Closures are in place for the Klamath National Forest including a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. Refer to https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/klamath/alerts-notices. See where you are in relation to the fires: http://tinyurl.com/MillerComplexEvacs
Miller Complex Overall Map The Southwest Oregon Joint Information Center (JIC) has been established in Medford to serve as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for information on fires currently burning on federal and state lands. Agencies represented at the JIC include the USDA Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Coos Forest Protective Association, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service.
