Firefighters tackle Southern Oregon fires
Aug. 3—A 20-person hand crew and two helicopters aggressively attacked a 5-acre fire east of Rogue River Wednesday, the Oregon Department of Forestry reported.
The fire was about 40% lined as of 10:55 a.m. Wednesday, ODF reported.
Located in the hills above the 3100 block of Wards Creek Road, the Wards Creek Fire was started by lightning that hit a tree. It was reported Tuesday night, and multiple fire agencies staffed the fire overnight. However, extremely steep terrain and dense brush slowed progress during the night, ODF said.
Temperatures of about 99 degrees in the area took their toll on at least one firefighter Wednesday afternoon.
"We did have a firefighter suffering from a heat-related illness out on the line. We stopped and got medical help," ODF Spokeswoman Natalie Weber said Wednesday afternoon.
The firefighter received medical care at a temporary helicopter base where helicopters fighting the Wards Creek Fire are taking off and landing, she said.
"We certainly do what we can to protect our firefighters," Weber said, but noted that exposure to heat and smoke is one of the dangers of the job.
While fighting fires, firefighters aren't covered by Oregon's new laws that went into effect this year to help protect workers from excessive heat and smoke.
ODF reported no evacuation notices Wednesday due to the fire.
Weber said Wednesday afternoon that no structures are threatened by the fire so far.
On the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, firefighters continued searching for new fires and attacking confirmed starts Wednesday.
On the High Cascades Ranger District, firefighters contained the Meadow, Maude, Ethel, Outn and Bunchgrass fires and will continue work to contain two additional fires.
While hiking out of the Sugar Fire, Crew 62 spotted new smoke in the area and was hiking in to attack it. The fires are scattered across a very broad area ranging from near Crater Lake National Park south to near Fish Lake, officials said.
Wednesday helicopter operations included extracting firefighters from remote fires that have been successfully contained, and returning them to staging for rapid reassignment to new fires, officials said.
Tuesday night, an aerial detection flight was completed over areas affected by Tuesday's lightning on the Siskiyou Mountain Ranger District, the Gold Beach Ranger District and the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area. Significant rain accompanied the lightning, which gives firefighters a little extra time to locate and attack any new fires. However, the rain doesn't eliminate the threat of new fires. Sometimes a week or more may go by between the ignition and detection of holdover lightning fires, officials said.
ODF's Southwest Oregon Detection Center in Central Point is fully staffed and workers were searching for signs of fire and smoke via a system of mountain-top cameras, ODF reported.
The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest continued to help with the Clover Fire on the Fremont-Winema National Forest and the Alex Fire on the Klamath National Forest.
Fire danger is rated as extreme on Forest Service and ODF-protected land in Southern Oregon.
"Despite the rain received in some areas, fuels will dry out quickly with the heat and wind," the Forest Service said in a press release.
