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Clearing brush
Canadian firefighters Bob Hurley, right, and Tyler Rathwell of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, clear brush on a hillside in preparation for a burnout on the Boulder Creek fire in the Tiller Complex Tuesday afternoon.
TILLER -- On Dumont Creek, the sun glared through a rain of light ash and choking smoke Tuesday afternoon as the Boulder Fire boiled over fire lines once again.
About a quarter-mile away, 13 miles northeast of Tiller, roiling gray-white smoke and the glimmer of a fiery snag showed another ridge-top fire line had failed. The Boulder Fire is now reaching out to the northwest, taking advantage of terrain and heavy forest fire fuels.
Better visibility today for much of Douglas County is the only significant improvement in sight as the Tiller Complex chewed and digested another 1,400 acres to add to a total of more than 44,000 acres burned.
Much of Douglas County saw smoke from the Tiller Complex Tuesday as weather held smoke from lightning-caused wildfires close to the ground.
Firefighters will continue today to battle heat and dehydration in triple-digit temperatures. Tuesday's temperatures hovered between 103 and 106 degrees.
"This thing is like a volcano. It's oozing along, not running fast, but it's hard to stop," said Frank Keeler, supervisor for division C on the Boulder Fire. Keeler leads more than 200 firefighters including chain saw-wielding fallers, bulldozer and skidder operators and a small army of fire crews working in heavy brush, on 70-degree slopes and in oppressive heat.
"It's tough to fight fire in this stuff and hard to predict where to be and what line to pick," Keeler said. "You hope you know what will hold and what won't."
Keeler said crews are experiencing respiratory problems and fatigue. On the Dumont Creek Road, near the northwest flank of the Boulder Fire, concerned comrades helped one of their number Tuesday afternoon as dehydration took him out of action. That man is now resting and doing well after an ambulance ride back to a Milo fire base.
A soldier with the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery also took a 50-foot tumble while fighting the Little Boy and Big Bend fires off Forest Service Road 2830, west of Fish Lake, at 11:45 a.m.
Army Sgt. Scott Urban was airlifted to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford where he is in stable condition.
The Tiller Complex is officially 41 percent contained at 44,880 acres with 1,320 firefighters, 14 helicopters and more than 700 support staff hoping to hold the line on westward expansion that could threaten Bureau of Land Management and private lands.
Canadian and American crews were cutting away at brush and trees along the lower slope of Dumont Road Tuesday.
Canadian firefighters say it's a different kind of firefighting here than in flatter and wetter Ontario and Manitoba, Canada. Nearly 100 Canadian firefighters are working on the Tiller Complex today.
"The terrain slows you down and the heat tires you out. I don't care what part of the country you're from, you're going to feel it," said Reagan Breeze, a firefighter with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. "You go through water like it's going out of style."
Firefighters plan to lay water hose all along Dumont Creek Road to spray down hot spots that may threaten the line after burnout operations intended to strengthen the fire line.
"I imagine we'll be touching up anything that jumps over here," Breeze added. "That'll be a little bit of excitement over the next three days."
Bill Rice, spokesman for the Tiller Complex fire management team, said fire managers are expecting the Boulder Fire to hit Dumont Creek, the site of expensive stream restoration projects and habitat for many native fish.
"We know it's going to hit Dumont Creek, but we think our contingency line is going to hold," he said. "Things are a little clearer here and we'll be able to get helicopters up this morning."
Ron Barber, acting fire management officer for the Tiller Ranger District, spent nearly four hours trying to drive around most of the Boulder Fire -- a fire he described as a "sleeping giant."
"It's not really doing a whole lot right now, just baking ... ," Barber said. "But relative humidity is sometimes very low, between 12 and 14 percent. That makes for potentially extreme fire behavior."
-- You can reach reporter Jeff Willis at 957-4218 or by e-mail at jwillis@newsreview.info.
About a quarter-mile away, 13 miles northeast of Tiller, roiling gray-white smoke and the glimmer of a fiery snag showed another ridge-top fire line had failed. The Boulder Fire is now reaching out to the northwest, taking advantage of terrain and heavy forest fire fuels.
Better visibility today for much of Douglas County is the only significant improvement in sight as the Tiller Complex chewed and digested another 1,400 acres to add to a total of more than 44,000 acres burned.
Much of Douglas County saw smoke from the Tiller Complex Tuesday as weather held smoke from lightning-caused wildfires close to the ground.
Firefighters will continue today to battle heat and dehydration in triple-digit temperatures. Tuesday's temperatures hovered between 103 and 106 degrees.
"This thing is like a volcano. It's oozing along, not running fast, but it's hard to stop," said Frank Keeler, supervisor for division C on the Boulder Fire. Keeler leads more than 200 firefighters including chain saw-wielding fallers, bulldozer and skidder operators and a small army of fire crews working in heavy brush, on 70-degree slopes and in oppressive heat.
"It's tough to fight fire in this stuff and hard to predict where to be and what line to pick," Keeler said. "You hope you know what will hold and what won't."
Keeler said crews are experiencing respiratory problems and fatigue. On the Dumont Creek Road, near the northwest flank of the Boulder Fire, concerned comrades helped one of their number Tuesday afternoon as dehydration took him out of action. That man is now resting and doing well after an ambulance ride back to a Milo fire base.
A soldier with the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery also took a 50-foot tumble while fighting the Little Boy and Big Bend fires off Forest Service Road 2830, west of Fish Lake, at 11:45 a.m.
Army Sgt. Scott Urban was airlifted to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford where he is in stable condition.
The Tiller Complex is officially 41 percent contained at 44,880 acres with 1,320 firefighters, 14 helicopters and more than 700 support staff hoping to hold the line on westward expansion that could threaten Bureau of Land Management and private lands.
Canadian and American crews were cutting away at brush and trees along the lower slope of Dumont Road Tuesday.
Canadian firefighters say it's a different kind of firefighting here than in flatter and wetter Ontario and Manitoba, Canada. Nearly 100 Canadian firefighters are working on the Tiller Complex today.
"The terrain slows you down and the heat tires you out. I don't care what part of the country you're from, you're going to feel it," said Reagan Breeze, a firefighter with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. "You go through water like it's going out of style."
Firefighters plan to lay water hose all along Dumont Creek Road to spray down hot spots that may threaten the line after burnout operations intended to strengthen the fire line.
"I imagine we'll be touching up anything that jumps over here," Breeze added. "That'll be a little bit of excitement over the next three days."
Bill Rice, spokesman for the Tiller Complex fire management team, said fire managers are expecting the Boulder Fire to hit Dumont Creek, the site of expensive stream restoration projects and habitat for many native fish.
"We know it's going to hit Dumont Creek, but we think our contingency line is going to hold," he said. "Things are a little clearer here and we'll be able to get helicopters up this morning."
Ron Barber, acting fire management officer for the Tiller Ranger District, spent nearly four hours trying to drive around most of the Boulder Fire -- a fire he described as a "sleeping giant."
"It's not really doing a whole lot right now, just baking ... ," Barber said. "But relative humidity is sometimes very low, between 12 and 14 percent. That makes for potentially extreme fire behavior."
-- You can reach reporter Jeff Willis at 957-4218 or by e-mail at jwillis@newsreview.info.
