As Southern Oregon fires grow, new lightning storms expected on Sunday

Zach Urness | Statesman Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Oregon Wildfire Season 2018 With hot weather in Oregon, wildfires are springring up around the state. Here's a roundup of fires currently burning in the state.

UPDATE at 8:20 p.m. on Thursday, July 27

The Taylor Creek Fire showed significant growth overnight and will bring firefighters a big challenge on Friday.

The fire west of Grants Pass and Merlin reached 16,500 acres and will likely grow today as well, with another red flag warning in effect for the region.

For the latest update on all the fires burning in Southern Oregon, see today's story:

LATEST: Southern Oregon wildfires: Taylor Creek Fire grows to 16,500 acres, another dangerous day looms

UPDATE at 10:38 a.m. on Thursday, July 26

A red flag warning has been issued for Southern Oregon, which could mean an active day of wildfires across the region.

Gusty winds, high temperatures and low humidity could bring a difficult day, fire officials said Thursday morning.

For the latest, see this update:

LATEST: Southern Oregon wildfires: Red flag warning issued as fire teams brace for dangerous day

UPDATE at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25

Despite triple digit temperatures, fire crews made progress on the wildfires burning across southwest Oregon by Wednesday morning, particularly on the area's two most dangerous fires — Taylor Creek and Grave Creek fires.

Even so, smoke remained thick and air unhealthy in the Rogue Valley.

For the latest, see this story.

LATEST: Southern Oregon wildfires still growing, spewing hazardous smoke with no end in sight

UPDATE at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 24:

The air quality in Southern Oregon was the worst in the nation Monday, and the rest of the week doesn’t look much better.

Officials recommended wearing a mask outdoors and said sensitive populations, such as small children and pregnant women, might consider leaving town.

LATEST: Southern Oregon wildfires still growing, spewing hazardous smoke with no end in sight

UPDATE at 10 a.m. Monday, July 23:

Lightning activity Sunday remained over areas south of the Oregon/California border providing some relief and limiting the creation of any new fires.

Wildfire smoke lingering over the area brought down air quality across the region prompting an air quality advisory.

In addition, the Taylor Creek and Grave Crek fires continued to grow and spark new evacuations.

Read more in our latest update:

LATEST on Southern Oregon fires: Air quality deteriorates, lightning stays south of border with California

UPDATED at 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 22 with new evacuations near Grants Pass, new maps of Garner Creek Complex and growth of Kalmiopsis Wilderness fires.

The wildfires burning across Southern Oregon had already brought major problems to fire teams and local residents during the past week.

Now, they’ll face another challenge: lightning storms expected to hit the area Sunday.

A red flag warning was issued by the National Weather Service due to scattered thunderstorms likely this afternoon and evening.

That could complicate firefighting efforts, at a time when numerous fires are burning from Crater Lake to the Siskiyou Mountains.

CHETCO BAR FIRE: How a small blaze erupted into Oregon’s largest wildfire

The lightning strikes appear most likely along the Oregon and California border, and into Northern California, meteorologists said.

That could have a negative impact on the Hendrix and Natchez fires (see below for details), burning near Ashland and Cave Junction.

“Lightning and high fire danger will likely result in new fire starts,” the National Weather Service warning said. “Gusty thunderstorm winds could contribute to fire spread. Despite rainfall, initial attack resources could be overwhelmed and holdover fires are possible.”

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Ironically, weather conditions are expected to improve around the Taylor Creek and Garner Complex fires to the north, meteorologists said. Those fires have brought the greatest danger to towns such as Wimer, Merlin and Grants Pass.

"It might get worse in some locations, but here on the Garner Complex and for the fires more northerly in Oregon, the winds actually got better and calmed down last night," NWS meteorologist Tom Wright said.

"Conditions are still very hot, but we're not going to have the critical fire conditions we've been seeing, at least in our area."

SOUTHERN OREGON FIRES 2018:Blazes grow forcing evacuations, emergency declaration

Even though it might be slightly good news for the most critical of Southern Oregon's fires, any new fires in the region will stretch resources thin, Wright said.

"The concern is that if there's new fires, some of our resources will have to go out on initial attack," he said. "We're already pretty stretched."

There are currently eight major wildfires or multi-fire complexes, and five regions with evacuation warnings in place.

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Air quality in the region has ranged from moderate to unhealthy. This map is the best way to track air quality.

Here’s a breakdown of the situation on each of the fires. The best map for tracking the fires and evacuations can be found here.

Taylor Creek Fire (evacuations west of Merlin and Grants Pass)

The most active and dangerous fire of the past few days has been the Taylor Creek Fire, burning west of Grants Pass and Merlin.

The fire continued to grow Sunday, reaching more than 3,000 acres and bringing a fresh round of evacuations in the populated areas west of Merlin and Grants Pass.

See this post for the latest evacuations.

“It’s definitely spreading,” said Tina Young, public information officer for the Oregon Department of Forestry. “It’s a tough one to get at directly, so we’ve been working contingency lines around the fire to hold it in place, while we have almost 30 aircraft assigned doing drops from above.”

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Young said the fire spread to the south Saturday, toward the Limpy Creek and Shan Creek areas.

The good news is that conditions are expected to become less windy, officials said.

For a full breakdown on evacuations, see this website or call 541-474-5305.

The Taylor Creek Fire is now being managed as part of the Garner Creek Complex, even though it's in a different location.

Grave Creek / Garner Complex (evacuations near Wimer)

The largest and most problematic complex of wildfires in Southern Oregon is centered around Wimer, north of Rogue River and Interstate 5.

One day after an emergency declaration from Oregon Gov. Kate Brown allowed the State Fire Marshal to add resources to firefighting efforts, the fires continued to grow.

Multiple evacuations surround the Garner Complex, impacting more than 60 homes.

On Saturday, the three Grave Fires grew together and are now one fire of 3,792 acres.

The Pleasant Fire (599 acres), which has also brought evacuations, and Ditch Creek Fire (142 acres), are still having control lines built by hand and equipment, fire teams said Sunday morning.

The good news is that the Spencer Fires, King Mountain Fire and Swamp Fire “have been lined, plumbed and are in mop-up,” fire teams said.

The best place to track information on Garner is its official Facebook page here.

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Hendrix Fire (evacuation warnings near Rush)

This could be a dangerous day on the Hendrix Fire.

The wildfire southwest of Ashland, in the Little Applegate River area, grew to 1,057 acres by Sunday morning and is 15 percent contained.

But it will likely see some thunderstorm activity today.

"There is a Red Flag Warning today due to a slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, with the possibility of abundant lightning," the Hendrix Fire teams said in a morning report.

"Firefighters are prepared to initial attack any new fire starts if they occur. The fire is expected to become more active today, as atmospheric conditions become more unstable with a shift in the weather."

The Hendrix Fire already has evacuation warnings in place for around 35 homes near Ruch in Applegate Valley area.

It has also closed a large area of roads and trails in the region, including 13 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from Observation Gap to the Grouse Gap Shelter.

A public meeting is planned for 6 p.m. Sunday at the Ruch Branch Library. The meeting will also be livestreamed. There are 467 personnel currently working the fire.

For details on evacuations, see this post.

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A new vicinity map of the #Hendrixfire has been posted to inciweb. Some new insets have been added which we hope will be responsive to feedback we have received.https://t.co/6ks0sNKmmH pic.twitter.com/RdvZDc75ql — Rogue River-Siskiyou NF (@RRSNF) July 22, 2018

South Umpqua Complex (evacuation warnings near Tiller)

This complex of six larger wildfires and numerous smaller ones continued to grow on Saturday, reaching 3,469 acres — almost 1,200 acres of growth in the past 24 hours.

Located between Crater Lake and Interstate 5 near Myrtle Creek, the fires have brought evacuations to the Tiller area and closures of roads and trails.

"The fires continue to spread to the north and east beyond the private lands," fire teams said in a Sunday morning report.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office issued a level 2 evacuation warning, meaning “get set” to go at any moment, for six homes on Tison Road.

Several trails were also closed in Diamond Lake Ranger District, North Umpqua Ranger District and Tiller Ranger District. More than a dozen roads are also closed in the Tiller Ranger District.

There is a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Tiller Fire Station.

For more details on the South Umpqua Complex, including more details on closures, click here.

Natchez Fire (closures near Siskiyou Wilderness)

The Natchez Fire, located 15 miles south of Cave Junction, continued to grow Sunday morning. It has reached 1,554 acres.

Due to the growth, a large area on the Oregon and California border — near the Siskiyou Wilderness southeast of Cave Junction — was closed.

"Crews continue to make good progress establishing indirect lines on the fire using heavy equipment and hand crews," a report from fire teams said. "The terrain is rugged and crews are working on widening existing roads to use as containment lines."

Klondike Fire (evacuations near Selma and Illinois River)

Two wildfires burning on the east side of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness merged into one blaze on Sunday and is now known simply as the Klondike Fire.

The fire is 4,524 acres and located west of Selma in the Illinois River canyon near Briggs Creek.

The fire brought a level 2 evacuation for the residents of Oak Flat.

"This area is very rugged and it has been unsafe to put fire crews into the fire area," a report on the fire said. "To limit future growth of the Klondike Fire, fire crews and heavy equipment are being used to improve existing roads and old fire lines on the eastern and southern sides of the fire.

"A strike team of engines is being deployed to the Oak Flats area, east of the fire, to provide structure protection."

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Timber Crater 6 Fire

The wildfire burning in a remote area of Crater Lake National Park grew to 1,190 acres Sunday, but the park and all its attractions remain open.

Timber Crater 6 Fire, ignited by a lightning strike and located in the northeast corner of the park, is being staffed by 340 firefighters and numerous helicopters attempting to suppress the blaze.

Smoky conditions have been present at the park, due to both this fire and the numerous other blazes burning across Southern Oregon.

Even so, all trails, boat tours, roads and buildings remain open as usual, officials said in a news release.

Week in Review: July 16-20 Catch up on the Silver Creek Fire, Substation Fire and the latest on Lost Valley Farm in the Week in Review for July 16-20.

Sugar Pine fires

There are around 19 small to medium sized wildfires burning north of Prospect and Tiller on either side of Oregon Highway 62 south of Crater Lake.

Collectively they have burned 645 acres and are known as Sugar Pine, which is also the name of the largest of those fires.

The titular Sugar Pine Fire is 235 acres and crews were still establishing an access rout to the blaze Saturday morning.

There could be slow-moving traffic in the area, particularly near the Highway 62 entrances to Joseph Steward State Park

Other active fires in the area include:

Round Top — 124 acres

Union — 104 acres

Goodview — 140 acres

Most of the other, smaller fires are in good shape.

Wagner Creek Complex in Jackson County

This complex of around 12 fires in Jackson County is in mop-up as of Saturday, a "success story," said Ferguson, the public information officer.

These fires include: Trail Creek, Elk Creek, Green Top Mountain, Sterling Creek and Railroad Gap. The complex burned at least 250 acres.