PCT hikers evacuated from McKinney Fire

Jul. 31—Sixty people were evacuated from the Pacific Crest Trail Saturday afternoon due to the McKinney Fire burning in northern Siskiyou County, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

JCSO Search and Rescue teams got an assist from the Rogue Valley Transportation District, providing rides for the people evacuated from the trail on the California side of the Red Buttes Wilderness Area.

"JCSO SAR personnel assisted, directed and or transported the hikers from Road Junction 1055 to Seattle Bar at Applegate Lake," according to a post on the sheriff's Facebook page. "From there two RVTD buses transported them to Medford and Ashland at their request. The rescue team consisted of one JCSO deputy, three SAR volunteers and four RVTD personnel.

The Pacific Coast Trail Association urged hikers to get to the nearest town, while the U.S. Forest Service closed a 110-mile section of the trail from the Etna Summit in Siskiyou County to the Mt. Ashland Campground in Southern Oregon.

The McKinney Fire, which was reported Sunday morning at more than 51,000 acres, broke out Friday about six miles south of the Oregon border. People in the Rogue Valley awoke to ash falling from the skies Saturday morning, and air quality levels plummeted to unhealthy levels Saturday and Sunday as smoke from the fire spread.

Air quality indexes in the valley ranged from unhealthy for sensitive groups to hazardous. The highest reading in Southern Oregon Sunday was in Jacksonville, where the mark stood at 500 aqi, considered hazardous to health.

Ashland, Talent, Phoenix and Medford all were listed at unhealthy air quality levels, with Central Point, Eagle Point, Gold Hill and Rogue River listed as unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory Sunday through Friday, Aug. 5 for Jackson and Klamath counties due to smoke from the McKinney Fire.

The McKinney Fire became extremely active overnight Sunday, and grew 21,468 acres, jumping the Klamath River and Highway 96, moving closer to the Oregon border.

On Sunday morning, a new fire, the Kelsey Creek Fire, was reported burning to the southwest of the McKinney Fire, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office.

The fire was initially reported at 10 to 15 acres, and crews were on the scene Saturday night, but the fire became active Sunday morning and escaped containment lines, the sheriff's office reported.

Evacuations were ordered in Siskiyou County, but as of Sunday no evacuations were underway in Jackson County.

The Yreka Police Department issued mandatory evacuations Saturday for all areas of the city west of Fairchild Street, and all areas west of Interstate 5. An evacuation center was set up in Weed. For more information about evacuations around Yreka, including emergency animal shelters, see the Facebook page for the Siskiyou County Office of Emergency Services at www.facebook.com/SiskiyouCountyOES.

The Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal announced Sunday morning it had mobilized three structural task forces at the request of California to the McKinney Fire. They will be tasked with protecting communities.

The OSFM received the request for resources from California through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. The three taskforces are made up of 41 firefighters, 12 engines and three water tenders. The task forces left for California Sunday morning were expected to arrive late Sunday afternoon.

OSFM currently has no activations or mobilizations of the Oregon fire service in Oregon, according to a news advisory from the agency. Oregon uses the Oregon Fire Mutual Aid System to respond to local, regional and statewide fires. With weather and fire activity OSFM feels comfortable that the OFMAS has the capacity, should resources be needed.

"Our office has a long-standing mutual aid relationship with Cal OES, and we are more than willing to lend a helping hand," Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said. "Last summer, California sent resources to help on the Bootleg Fire in our time of need. The partnership between our two states has the same end goal, protecting communities and saving lives."

The task forces will be in California for up to two weeks.

Local firefighters were busy with several other fires over the weekend. Near the Oregon-California border, Oregon Department of Forestry, CAL FIRE Siskiyou Unit, Colestin Rural Fire District and Jackson County Fire District No. 5 extinguished a small fire along Old Highway 99 S east of I-5 at mile marker 2 on the Oregon side of the border. It was caught at half an acre, ODF reported.

Northeast of Prospect, ODF and Prospect Rural Fire Protection District put out three small fires. The largest was caught at half an acre, ODF reported.

In Josephine County, lightning strikes were reported Sunday afternoon and ODF was patrolling those areas for any new lightning-caused starts.

To the north, the Windigo Fire was reported Sunday afternoon at 100 acres burning in the Windigo Pass area off Forest Service Road 60 on the Douglas and Klamath county divide.

For smoke and air quality information, see https://fire.airnow.gov/

For citizen alert and preparedness info, see https://rvem.org/

For updates on new fires in our area, follow ODF Southwest Oregon District

For updates on McKinney Fire evacuations, follow the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office

For a map of the McKinney Fire, see WFCA Fire Map at https://fire-map.wfca.com/?lng=-122.8429&lat=41.8756&zoom=10.95

For updates on the McKinney Fire, see Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8287/

Reach Mail Tribune editor David Smigelski at 541-776-4484 or dsmigelski@rosebudmedia.com.