Oregon's Rogue River reopens amid Rum Creek Fire
UPDATED 8:33 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24
One of Oregon's most famous whitewater rafting trips has reopened even as the Rum Creek Fire burns above the Rogue River in southern Oregon.
Fire crews closed the river on Tuesday as the lightning-ignited blaze reached 520 acres but changed course Wednesday morning, with fire crews saying that "the river will remain open unless life safety becomes an issue," the Bureau of Land Management said in a news release.
The reopening "will be assessed daily by the incident management team based on fire activity and predicted weather," the news release said.
The Rainie Falls Trail and Rogue River Trail will remain closed from Grave Creek to Russian Creek outside Grants Pass.
With the fire so close to the river, however, the rafting experience will be a bit different. Stipulations will include:
Permit holders must obtain their permit at the BLM’s Smullin Visitor Center between 7:00 am and 9:30 a.m.
All boats must be launched from Grave Creek boat ramp or pass by Grave Creek by 10:00am and headed down river. The objective is to get all boats through the fire area by 12:00 p.m. due to increased fire activity and helicopter use of the river.
River users will not be allowed to exit the river on river left at all from Grave Creek to Russian Creek, and are asked to not stop until Russian Creek, just below Wildcat Rapids. A river ranger in a boat will be posted on the river, as well as a dip site manager being posted on shore above Rainie Falls, to help serve as traffic control as needed, as helicopters come into the dip site at that location. Additional information about safety measures will be distributed to permit holders when they pick up their permit.
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ORIGINAL STORY
The Rum Creek Fire closed the Lower Rogue River and Rogue River Trail from Grave Creek to Russian Creek until further notice as of Tuesday morning, per an order from the Bureau of Land Management. All uses of the area are off-limits, and daily assessments will be conducted to reopen the river when safe.
Northwest of Grants Pass in southwestern Oregon, the Rum Creek Fire reached 520 acres Tuesday after evening fire activity showed significant movement toward the Rogue River, according to an update from fire officials.
While the river closure itself is only approximately 5.5 miles, the location of the closure effectively cuts off access to all major floats downstream on the Rogue River, according to Zach Collier of Northwest Rafting Company.
"By closing that section of the river, they are essentially closing all of the multiday trips on the Rogue River, which ends up totaling like 35 miles," said Collier. "Almost all trips will start at Grave Creek or upstream. If you can't get to Grave Creek, you can't do the run at all."
Rafting companies and their patrons expressed frustration with the sudden closure, which was announced around 7 p.m. Monday. A family had flown in from New Jersey to run the famous stretch of the Rogue River this week, and was only notified the night before that it was canceled after they had already made the journey to Oregon, according to Collier.
"Any kind of warning or notice would have been nice. I have a truck full of food and gear loaded up ready to go run a four-day trip down the Rogue today, and now we just have to wait," said Collier. "I have to trust that the firefighters are making the right decision, but we run trips through active fires all the time throughout the west. It's not an uncommon thing."
The fire was burning on a ridgeline with steep drops with the potential for danger to crews as well as burning debris rolling downhill and spreading the fire, which led to increased fire spotting and a push toward the shore of the Rogue River. Officials said 266 personnel were assigned Monday, including a new additional hot shot crew and multiple hand crews for support.
The trailhead to Rainie Falls has also been closed for safety by the Bureau of Land Management until further notice.
Previous coverage:
Further northeast, the Cedar Creek Fire continued to burn 15 miles east of Oakridge, holding at 7,012 acres and 0% containment as of Tuesday morning. Firefighters continue to work on direct engagement and attack of the fire, with 810 personnel assigned across engines, hand crews, heavy equipment and helicopters.
Crews were still initiating a closure near Waldo Lake, bringing the closure all the way to the shoreline on the west side of the lake. Heavy fire traffic and activity was expected in the area, according to a Tuesday update from Cedar Creek Incident Commander Lonnie Click.
There will be a virtual community meeting for the Cedar Creek Fire at 7 p.m. Tuesday via the incident Facebook page.
The nearby Hog Creek Fire was holding at 32 acres and 30% containment as of Monday. Crews continue to mop up at Hog Creek, as well as monitor the perimeter to ensure the fire doesn't expand, according to an update from officials.
Crews continue to make progress on Big Swamp, Potter, Windigo and Camel Hump fires
Crews continued to make progress on containment and mop-up for fires burning in the Willamette and Umpqua national forests as they prepare for yet another week of unusually dry and warm conditions at least through Thursday, according to officials.
More: PCT to Jefferson Park, Olallie areas reopen after two year wildfire closure
As of Tuesday per InciWeb, the Windigo Fire had burned 1,007 acres and was 98% contained. The Potter Fire has burned approximately 622 acres and was 84% contained. The Big Swamp Fire was 110 acres and 69% contained.
The Camel Hump Fire is now burning an estimated 6 acres in the Boulder Creek Wilderness, according to officials. Camel Hump will be managed by ground teams and air support in suppression efforts as they look to mitigate hazard trees and continue to lay hose lines around the fire.
Final update released for Lightning Gulch and Westside Complexes
Both the Lightning Gulch and Westside Fire Complexes in southwest Oregon showed "extremely limited" fire activity over the last several days and have little risk of spreading further, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest Oregon District. Both complexes were the result of lightning-started fires.
The Westside Complex had in total eight fires burning, and only three remain in mop-up phases, burning a total of 180 acres, according to officials. The Lightning Gulch Complex reported over 40 fires total, and the only two still burning are Hog and Rum Creek Fires.
Mop-up operations will continue on these fires throughout the week, including removing hazardous trees and dousing hot spots to prevent embers spreading the fires further, according to officials. When mop-up is complete, crews will begin suppression repair work, which helps mitigate negative impacts to the area such as debris clean up and erosion control.
There will be no further updates on these complexes unless significant change occurs, according to officials.
McKinney Fire 95% contained
What was once the largest wildfire burning this year in the state of California, the McKinney Fire, is now 95% contained and will receive no further updates unless significant activity occurs, according to officials. The blaze burned over 60,000 acres of land in Siskiyou County.
Skyla Patton is an outdoor reporter and multimedia storyteller. She can be reached at spatton@gannett.com and on Twitter @ganjajournalist.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon's Rogue River reopens amid Rum Creek Fire, trail stays closed
