SLCFR News

Archie Creek Fire Update September 22, 2020

Unified Incident Commanders Mike Dueitt and Tim Keith

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: 971-334-7674 Hours: 8am-8pm InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7176/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArchieCreekFireInfo/

There are NO Community Meetings scheduled at this time. A meeting for this evening for the Glide community was considered but not scheduled due to COVID-19 safety protocol.

Special Note: The Oregon Department of Transportation announced that Highway 138E (North Umpqua Highway) will open at noon today. Motorists should expect delays of up to 45 minutes as single lane traffic will be escorted by pilot cars in some areas. Due to potential road hazards, motorists should stay in their cars and avoid pulling over and stopping. Despite the highway reopening, the Umpqua National Forest and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, including all recreational areas between Glide and Diamond Lake, remain closed to the public.

Fire Update: The Archie Creek Fire has burned 131,598 acres and is 44 percent contained. There are currently 1,055 personnel assigned to the fire.

Yesterday’s fire behavior was limited to smoldering and creeping, so firefighters continued to make good progress building and strengthening firelines and mopping up. Water drops from a helicopter were used to help firefighters contain a half-acre fire discovered Sunday outside the perimeter of the Archie Fire, about two miles north of its northeast flank in the Pass Creek area off the 22.1 Road. Crews will continue to work on the holdover fire today. A helicopter also dropped fire retardant on the southern part of the fire in the Thunder Mountain area. Helicopters will be available for fire suppression again today, if needed.

Fire behavior is expected to be minimal again today and firefighters will take advantage of that by constructing firelines as close to the fire’s edge as possible, getting ready for gusty southwest winds forecasted for tomorrow in advance of a frontal system expected to drop 0.5 to 0.7 inches of rain on the fire Wednesday evening through Friday.

An infrared flight taken yesterday showed scattered hot spots throughout the fire. Firefighters will focus on cooling hot spots near containment lines and continuing to build, connect and strengthen firelines. Specific areas of concern are on the south, east, and north edges of the fire. In the south, this includes areas around Little River and Thunder Mountain roads to Highway 138. In the east, mop up continues in three areas where the fire burned over containment lines in the Panther Creek (4714) Road area west of Highway 138. In the north, firefighters will go directly to the fire’s edge in the Zag Creek area to cut off several fingers of fire.

Fire hose has been placed all around the fire helps cool areas near containment lines. Hand crews continue to arrive to help increase containment. Mop up is occurring all around the fire, especially around structures in Glide, Idleyld Park and Rock Creek. Firefighters are protecting homes and other buildings in all areas of the fire, including along Little River Road and will work into the evening to ensure structures are safe. They are also assessing structure protection for the Bar L subdivision. Other areas of special protection include the Wolf Creek Job Corps, Susan Creek Bridge, communications equipment on Scott Mountain and the Big Tree area. The Big Tree is still standing and the area around it was not affected by the fire. Firefighters will install a sprinkler system in the Big Tree area to protect it and will continue to remove live and dead vegetation around the Job Corps to reduce fire risk.

The fire has backed down to the North Umpqua River on the east flank and firefighters are monitoring it there. Fire scars are helping check fire progression in the southeastern edge of the fire and firefighters are using old timber sale roads (600 series) to contain the fire in that area.

North of Highway 138E, in the Steamboat area, firefighters and heavy equipment continue to work along Canton Creek Road to Trapper Creek to improve contingency firelines in case the fire crosses primary firelines.

As containment increases in some areas, firefighters will backhaul equipment, grade roads and begin to assess what actions they need to take to repair damage from building firelines and suppressing the fire. This is to ensure fireline construction and other suppression actions do not have long-lasting impacts to natural resources.

Personnel and Equipment: 23 Type 2 hand crews, 3 helicopters, 76 engines, 43 bulldozers, 50 water tenders, 9 masticators and 5 skidgeons.

Help for Fire Victims: Information on disaster aid can be found at https://wildfire.oregon.gov/ The following agencies and organizations are helping those who were affected by this fire and are accepting donations.

• Glide Revitalization Committee: https://gliderevitalization.com/

• Glide Helping Hands: 541-733-6860

• Glide Baptist Church: https://www.glidebaptist.org/

• Greater Douglas United Way: https://gduway.org/campaigns/fire-relief-fund/

• Roseburg Rotary: https://www.facebook.com/RoseburgRotary/ and

  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3D2BEGT2AJBRS&source=url

• Douglas Timber Operators / Umpqua Fisheries Enhancement Derby:

  https://donorbox.org/2020-archie-creek-fire-relief-fund

• Saving Grace: www.savinggrace.info 541-672-3907

• Red Cross: 541-672-6581

Evacuations, shelter areas: An interactive map of the current evacuation area can be found at www.dcso.com/evacuations. For more evacuation information, visit the Douglas County Sheriff website www.dcso.com/evacuations and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DouglasCoSO

The Douglas County Fairgrounds has full RV spaces, electric hookup spaces and dry camping available. They also have stalls and arenas for livestock and farm animals. Contact Ciera Keith at (541) 440-4394 for more information.

Air quality: See the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality at http://www.oregon.gov/deq

Closures:

• Roads – Highway 138E will open at noon today, but delays should be expected. See www.tripcheck.com for updates on highway closures.

• Bureau of Land Management – All lands east of Interstate 5, within the Swiftwater Resource Area are closed.

• Umpqua National Forest – Maps and closure orders can be found on Inciweb at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7176/.  Additional information on Forest Service closures are available at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/umpqua/alerts-notices Managed lands east of Interstate 5, within the Swiftwater Resource Area are closed.

• Temporary Flight Restriction: There is a temporary flight restriction in effect for the Archie Creek Fire.

I am back from extended medical leave and would like to thank the Board and staff for all their thoughts and messages of support. I will slowly begin resuming normal hours over the next few weeks.

The District would like to again apologize for the technical difficulties and hopes to have them resolved soon. If you would like a copy of the “Draft-Unapproved” minutes, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact our main office at 541-942-4493.

Stay Safe, Chief Wooten

Archie Creek Fire

Northwest Incident Management Team 9 (Incident Commander Brian Goff)

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: 971-334-7674 Hours: 7am-8pm

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7176/

Fire Update: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020

Firefighters continue to work in the Little River area with heavy machinery, engines and crews, to construct and hold containment lines. Structure protection resources remain in place along Little River Road. On the far eastern portion of the fire, crews are allowing the fire to slowly back down the hillside to Panther Creek where crews have prepared roads to hold the fire. Heading north from Highway 138E, firefighters are scouting and constructing both primary and secondary containment lines from the Canton Creek area into the Upper Rock Creek area. Containment lines from South Calapooya Creek down to Glide continue to hold.

Suppression efforts on the Archie Creek Fire were boosted yesterday by an additional 125 personnel from the Oregon National Guard. These soldiers are working to hold containment lines around the perimeter of the fire and mop-up hot spots near structures. Total personnel assigned to the incident is now 773 people.

Air resources were grounded again yesterday due to safety concerns because of the thick smoke. Four helicopters and two Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) remain available in the area for use when the smoke clears.

Winds today are likely to push the smoke from west to east, providing some relief to residents and firefighters. When smoke lifts, temperatures will rise and humidity will decrease leading to increased fire activity.

Highway 138E remains closed to non-fire traffic from Milepost 21 through Milepost 83. Crews from the Oregon Department of Transportation, Douglas County Public Works Department, Pacific Power and their contractors continue to work along Highway 138E, Rock Creek Road and other county-maintained roads within the footprint of the Archie Creek Fire.

The Archie Creek Fire has burned 125,498 acres and is 20% contained. The breakdown of acres by ownership include:

• 62,623 acres of private lands

• 38,536 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands

• 24,300 acres of US Forest Service (USFS) lands

• 39 acres of State of Oregon lands

Archie Creek Fire Donations: At this time, the Archie Creek Fire management team does not need donations. To help firefighters and their families, contact the Wildland Firefighters Foundation at www.wwf.org or 208-336-2996.

To support the community, the following agencies and organizations are looking for donations and volunteers to help those who were affected by this fire.

• Glide Helping Hands: Distribution center for food and clothing. Call 541-733-6860 to leave a message and let them know how you would like to help.

• Greater Douglas United Way: Accepting monetary donations. https://gduway.org/campaigns/fire-relief-fund/

• Roseburg Rotary: Accepting monetary donations to purchase items for firefighters and evacuees. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3D2BEGT2AJBRS&source=url.

• Douglas Timber Operators / Umpqua Fisheries Enhancement Derby: Provide direct relief to the communities and individuals affected by the Archie Creek Fire, including financial assistance, food, supplies, etc. https://donorbox.org/2020-archie-creek-fire-relief-fund

• Saving Grace: To make a monetary donation please visit www.savinggrace.info and click donate. To volunteer, show up around 9 am Mon-Sat. For more info, call 672-3907.

• Red Cross: Located at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Check for current needs.

• DHS: Check for current needs. Food items will not be accepted. Donations can be dropped off this week at Roseburg DHS building 738 W Harvard, Roseburg OR M-F, 9am-4pm through 9/18/20

Evacuations, shelter areas: The Douglas County Sheriff announced that Idleyld residents will be allowed to visit homes Thursday, Sept. 17 from noon until 7:00 pm. Fire managers and the Sheriff’s Office urge residents returning to their homes to drive cautiously and watch for falling hazards such as trees and debris.

An interactive evacuation map from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office can be found online at www.dcso.com/evacuations.

For further information:

Inciweb https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7176/

Douglas County Sheriff website www.dcso.com/evacuations and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DouglasCoSO

Air quality: The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality at http://www.oregon.gov/deq

Road closures: Monitor www.tripcheck.com for updates on the highway closures.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM): all lands east of Interstate 5, within the Swiftwater Resource Area are closed.

Umpqua National Forest: Maps and closure orders can be found on Inciweb at: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/7176/ .  Additional information on the Forest Service closures are available at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/umpqua/alerts-noticesmanaged lands east of Interstate 5, within the Swiftwater Resource Area are closed.

Public Service Announcement

For Immediate Release September 9, 2020