Oregon Department of Forestry
Team 2- Chris Cline, Incident Commander
Oregon State Fire Marshal’s
Office Blue Team – Jim Walker, Interim Incident Commander
Oregon Fire Information Number: 541-826-1599
California Fire Information
Number: 530-842-8866
Hours of operation: 7:00 a.m.
to 9:00 p.m.
8:00 a.m.
Special Message: Oregon Governor
Kitzhaber invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act yesterday, recognizing that a
life safety and property threat exists that exceeds the firefighting capability
of local structural agencies.
Current Situation: The Beaver Complex consists of two fires: Salt Creek
and Oregon Gulch Fires. The largest fire,
Oregon Gulch, is south of Highway 66, burning in the proximity of the Soda
Mountain Wilderness. Yesterday, erratic,
gusty winds on the Oregon Gulch Fire caused extreme fire behavior and rapid
fire spread. The fire has consumed a
total 3 homes, 5 outbuildings, and multiple vehicles. An infrared flight revealed an accurate location of the fire
perimeter with acreage reported at 21,088. There are 270 structures threatened in Oregon
and California.
The
Salt Creek Fire had little fire activity yesterday and increased from 108 acres
to 146 acres. Fire personnel were able
to complete line construction around the fire perimeter.
Due
to the complexity of the Oregon Gulch Fire, a unified command structure with Oregon
Department of Forestry, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office, and CAL FIRE has
been established.
The
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is maintaining a Level 3 evacuation order for
homes in close proximity to the Oregon Gulch Fire. The identified area is Copco Road (6000 block
to Oregon border). In addition, a Level 1 evacuation order for the area will be
in effect as of 9:00 a.m. this morning.
Level 1 is an awareness level, alerting residents to be prepared in the
event an evacuation is necessary. The
Level 1 area affected is the junction of Highway 66 and Hyatt Lake Road to the 22,000
block of Highway 66. The Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office will be administering the evacuation alert.
Evacuation
levels are established as “Be Ready, Be Set, Go!” For more information, visit http://www.oregon.gov/osp/SFM/pages/commed_wui.aspx.
Weather: Little
change in the pattern is expected today.
It will be hot and dry today with light and variable winds becoming west
to northwest. The humidity will fall
below 25% around 2:00 p.m. and remain low until 8:00 p.m. It will be sunny and then become partly
cloudy in the afternoon. The temperature
will reach 97 degrees.
Fire Statistics for
Salt Creek
Location: 20 miles northwest of Medford, OR
Percent Contained: 30%
Complex Size: 146 acres
Cause: Lightning
Start Date: 7/30/14
Fire Statistics for Oregon
Gulch
Location: 15 miles east of Ashland, OR
Percent Contained: 5%
Complex Size: 11,632 acres
Cause: Lightning
Start Date: 7/30/14
Resources Include: 22 Type 2 hand crews, 6 Camp Crews, 50 engines, 17 dozers, 9 water tenders,
and overhead personnel. Total Personnel
is 788.
Air Resources: 14 helicopters
and air tankers on request.
Places
to get information:
Twitter
- www.twitter.com/swofire/
Southwest Oregon District Blog - http://www.swofire.com/
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office - https://www.facebook.com/#!/JacksonCountySheriff
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