Fire Update for Umpqua National Forest

Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 9:00 a.m.

Current Situation: Due to reduced fire activity, the Cougar Bluffs Closure area has been reduced in size and the Fall Creek Trail, Williams Creek Campground, and 27 Road will open today.

The Dry Creek Community and residents living in the Slide Creek area (residents living between mileposts 53-56 on Highway 138E) are now on a Level 1 pre-evacuation notice.

Weather: Instability and moisture along with a disturbance moving up from the south will generate thunderstorms today, with scattered lightning and new fire starts. Storms in the morning will be focused over Northern California and spread north this afternoon. It will be cooler, breezy, and becoming stable on Wednesday.  Today’s forecast calls for high temperatures from 80to 90 degrees with minimum humidity around 30% to 40%. Minimum temperatures will be around 50 to 55 degrees with maximum humidity around 65% to 85%.

North Zone, Umpqua National Forest: A Type 1 Incident Management Team, California Team 4 (J.Kurth) is managing the Umpqua North Complex on the North Umpqua and Diamond Lake ranger districts.  For more information, check inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5505/ and follow the Umpqua National Forest on Facebook.

 

South Zone, Umpqua National Forest: A Type 3 Incident Management Team (Thompson) is managing the Falcon Complex on the Tiller Ranger District. For more information about these wildfires, checkinciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5484/ and follow Falcon Complex Wildland Fires on Facebook. Northwest Interagency Incident Management Team 6 (Sheldon) is managing the Paradise, Windy Gap, and Pup fires (formerly grouped in the Falcon Complex) as part of the High Cascades Complex. Windy Gap Fire is now part of the Broken Lookout Fire. For more information on these fires, check inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5503/ or follow the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest on Facebook.

 

Evacuations/Closures: Douglas County uses a 3-level evacuation process, with levels 1-3 corresponding with preparedness levels of “(1) Ready, (2) Set, (3) Go.”

 

A Level 1 Evacuation Notice, “Get Ready” (fire danger exists in the area, be prepared) remains in place for the Clearwater/Toketee Village area.

The areas of Dry Creek, Illahee, and Slide Creek along Highway 138 East from Mile Marker 53 to 56 have been lowered to a Level 1 Evacuation Notice “Be Ready.” The Clearwater area along Hwy 138 E, from Mile Marker 56 to 61, remains at a Level 1 Evacuation Notice

To register your telephone for the Douglas County Citizen Emergency Notification System and receive notifications about emergencies near your home, workplace, children’s school, or other important places, log onto http://www.dcso.com/alerts/ or call 541-440-4464.

 

Closure Orders: Forest Order 381 restricts public access to trails, roads, and forest areas due to wildfire activity. To view the closure order and an accompanying map, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd558669.pdf. Forest Order 380 closes 1.5 miles of the Brice Creek Trail on the Cottage Grove Ranger District. https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/umpqua/alerts-notices

 

River Closure: The north bank of the North Umpqua River is open between Susan Creek and Forest Road 4714. The river itself is closed to boating or rafting. The remainder of the river from Soda Springs Dam to the Susan Creek Campground remains closed to all angling, rafting and other recreational use due to significant public safety risks.

 

Road Information: As of 7:00 p.m., Thursday, September 7, vehicles began piloting through the wildfire zone on Highway 138 East, between Mile Markers 47-51. Be aware that conditions could change at any time and could close the highway due to safety concerns. Current road information for Highway 138 can be found on ODOT’s website at https://tripcheck.com/Pages/RCMap.asp.

 

Campgrounds: There are numerous campground closures. Please refer to the Umpqua National Forest website for a comprehensive list of campground closures at https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/umpqua/alerts-notices.  For ideas of where to go, check out https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/umpqua/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD556360.

 

Campfires are permitted only in fire rings in designated campgrounds. A list of Public Use Restrictions is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd554660.pdf.

 

Due to widespread wildfire activity and the potential for extreme fire behavior, visitors are encouraged to know what areas of the Forest are closed so they can find places to recreate outside of closure areas. A forest closure is in place for public safety.

 

Air Quality: For air quality and smoke information, visit airnow.gov.

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