Chetco Bar Fire Update, Sept. 8

Oregon Dept. of Forestry.  Approximately 200 people attended Wednesday’s community fire briefing in Brookings. Weather and Fire Behavior: A Flash Flood Watch was in effect through 11PM Thursday night for northern California and southern Oregon. If the predicted thunderstorms produce excessive rainfall in previous wildfire burn scars, debris flows and/or mudslides may occur in drainages. Expected fire behavior includes surface fire spread and isolated incidences of fire climbing to the tops of individual trees. The weather pattern will begin to change late Friday with temperatures rising and humidity levels falling through the weekend. Heavy smoke impacts continue for inland communities surrounding the Chetco Bar fire this morning. Cave Junction, Grants and Pass and to the East past Medford remain under dense smoke. Coastal areas such as Brookings and Gold Beach have seen dramatic improvement in smoke levels due to onshore Westerly flow lifting smoke out. Thursday, thunderstorms, possible rainfall and gusty winds helped to mix out smoke in inland communities. Overall, there is an expected improvement in air quality. Wednesday: Weather moderated fire behavior so that less spreading occurred. Task forces worked preparing structures along the California border while crews continue to use the cooler temperatures from the last couple of days to both lengthen and widen control lines and wait for conditions to improve in favor of burnouts along lines south of Mt. Emily. Northwest Team 13 took command of the east side of the fire (in Josephine County) last night.  Thursday: Firefighters were taking advantage of this break in weather by constructing more fireline as well as clearing brush to strengthen existing firelines below the southwest perimeter of the fire. They were also taking advantage of opportunities to build direct fireline where doing so would be effective and can be done safely. Patrolling and mopping up spot fires to prevent their further spread is continuing along the western perimeter as is scouting/building of direct and indirect lines along the north and northeast. Crews are scouting and preparing firelines for strategic burning operations. Line construction and firebreak enhancement continues below the southwest perimeter of the fire. Patrolling and mopping up of spot fires is continuing along the western perimeter, and scouting/building of direct and indirect lines along the north and northeast is also continuing. Structure protection is continuing in Store Gulch, Oak Flat, McCaleb’s Ranch, and Footbridge along the Illinois River valley in Josephine County. In coordination with the local Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), heavy equipment will continue to be utilized to open previously-used fire lines as part of a containment operation east of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. As visibility and weather allow, aircraft will support firefighters. 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://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/rogue-siskiyou/notices/?cid=FSEPRD558039