It may still be winter, but firefighters are already putting out fires.
Communities need to change the way they prepare for wildfires, especially massive ones that rip through thousands of acres, according to U.S. Forest Service research ecologist Paul Hessburg.
The Douglas Forest Protective Association and other regional fire crews responded to a fire in the Bear Springs area, approximately 7 miles west of Glendale, which ignited early Thursday morning.
The Umpqua North Complex and Horse Prairie fires ripped through Douglas County last year burning nearly 60,000 acres total, forcing residents to evacuate and roads to close.
Although smoke has cleared from the Miles Fire, fire officials remind residents that there is still active fire in the interior of the blaze and to stay outside of the fire area.
The Miles and Columbus fires continue to slowly burn toward each other and fire officials expect they will join in the next week or so.
The Douglas Forest Protective Association is urging hunters to learn the fire restrictions currently in place, before heading out into the woods for the opening of bow-hunting season, because of high fire danger.
The Miles and Columbus fires have reached more than 50 percent containment on 49,418 acres. Firefighters and resources are continuing to be reassigned to other locations.
The amount of containment went up while acreage and personnel went down on the Miles Fire on Wednesday.
Firefighters plan to continue to secure the eastern portion of the 35,455-acre Miles Fire Wednesday, removing green fuels and patrolling for spot fires.
Changing winds and burnouts on the eastern portion of the Miles Fire are expected to create more smoke in Southern Oregon Tuesday, according to fire officials.
TILLER — While many firefighters are digging hand lines, dragging hose to mop up hot spots and patrolling the more-than-46,000-acre Miles Fire, one small engine crew is working to protect the world’s tallest sugar pine.
The dense forest along Jackson Creek Road outside of Tiller looked misty Wednesday morning. Up above, smoke clouded the sky and the trees became obscured, reduced to outlines in the gray distance.
As fire activity calmed on the southern portion of the Miles Fire Monday, firefighters are hoping to complete a control line around the entire southern portion of the blaze Tuesday and work on “herding” both the Miles and Columbus fires to the east.
More than 1,000 structures and 400 homes have been checked or outfitted to better withstand the extreme wildfire conditions in Southern Oregon thanks to 41 different fire agencies, according to the Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal.
For firefighters battling the Miles Fire on the border of Douglas and Jackson County, the main concern on Friday will be the wind.
More than 1,800 personnel are helping battle the more than 40,000 acre Miles Fire, which includes a series of fires burning on the border of Douglas and Jackson County.
More residents in the Elk Creek and Lost Creek Lake areas were told to evacuate Tuesday as the Miles Fire continued to grow.
Smoky conditions over the last couple days have allowed firefighters to make progress on control lines and spot fires in the South Umpqua Complex, which has grown to nearly 29,000 acres and is 18 percent contained.
No news is good news for firefighters battling Oregon’s southern fires.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation made an emergency declaration aimed at easing the movement of commercial vehicles transporting supplies and equipment needed to combat wildfire activity.
A number of fires burning in the southern part of the state have begun rushing toward each other and combining into larger fires, officials said Friday.
Firefighters continue to battle the blazes in the South Umpqua Complex Fire that are growing with low humidity and high winds, but in one area of the complex, the work is almost complete.
Residents on Elk Creek Road were told to evacuate Tuesday night as the Miles Fire, part of the South Umpqua Complex Fire burning southeast of Roseburg, moved 2 miles down Flat Creek valley towards Elk Creek Road.
Firefighters were able to increase containment on the South Umpqua Complex Fire, a group of fires southeast of Roseburg, to 16 percent as the blazes continue to grow, reaching a combined 14,916 acres.
Gusting winds, low humidity and bone-dry terrain made fighting the South Umpqua Complex Fire difficult on Saturday.
After nearly two weeks of burning, the South Umpqua Complex Fire has torched more than 9,000 acres of land.
Firefighters responded to a fire near Old Highway 99 South, about 2 miles south of Roseburg at about 2:50 p.m. on Thursday. The fire burned approximately 4 acres of brush, grass and other hardwood material.
editor's pick
A new study from Oregon State University claims the 2013 Douglas Complex Fire burned with a higher fire severity in private industrial forests than in nearby public forests, partially due to management practices.
It may be spring, but wildfire knows no season, according to the Douglas Forest Protective Association. Crews from the DFPA responded to a natural cover fire about two miles southwest of Glendale, near the Douglas and Josephine County line, shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday. The firefighters worke…
Fir Grove Elementary School fifth grader Naomi Osunacuriel attempted to maneuver a shovel into rocky soil Friday as fellow student Sara Beth Cook held a small Douglas Fir sapling.
Douglas County officials and Oregon’s Congressional delegation hailed the extension of Secure Rural Schools payments for two years as a victory last month, when the 2018 omnibus spending bill including the payments was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.
During a public tour of the Horse Prairie Fire area Wednesday, Bureau of Land Management representatives talked about proposals for helping the forestland to recover, including removing fire-damaged trees and undergrowth.
The Roseburg Bureau of Land Management plans to host a public field tour of the Horse Prairie Fire on Feb. 7.
The U.S. Forest Service will continue its plans to restore about 3,000 acres of forestland, despite the wildfires that burned 56,000 acres across the Umpqua National Forest this past summer.
editor's pick
While studies warn that climate change has been found to increase the intensity and extent of wildfires across the Northwest, forestry experts and climate change observers say a potential connection remains hazy in Douglas County.
The public is invited to a field trip Wednesday to view areas burned in this summer’s 43,134-acre Umpqua North Complex fires in the Diamond Lake and North Umpqua ranger districts of the Umpqua National Forest.
