Archie Creek Fire Now 52% Contained

Special Note: Today will be windy, with predicted gusts of up to 40 miles per hour on ridgetops. The wind could topple live and dead trees in the fire area as their root systems and the ground around them have been burned away. “Be careful for what’s around you out there today because it might come down,” said incident meteorologist Brett Lutz to firefighters at today’s morning briefing. Please note that the fire area is closed to the public and only residents, firefighters and repair personnel are allowed to enter. Staying out of the fire area is especially important today! Fire Update: The Archie Creek Fire has burned 131,598 acres and is 52 percent contained. There are currently 1,097 personnel assigned. The cause of the Archie Creek Fire is still under investigation. Yesterday fire flared up at the northeastern flank of the fire in the Trapper Creek area, so water drops from a helicopter were used to cool it down. In other areas of the fire, firefighters continued to make good progress building and strengthening firelines and mopping up in advance of gusty winds today. “We’ll have a little bit of a test on our [fire] lines today,” said Operations Chief Mark Jamieson as southwest winds are forecasted to pick up this afternoon. Firefighters will remain vigilant not only for more active fire behavior in unburned areas near containment lines, but for falling trees. They will adjust their work schedules to begin their shifts in more remote areas this morning and work their way out to prevent blocked egress from fallen trees. Gusty winds may prevent aircraft from flying this afternoon. Winds promoting active fire behavior are expected to be followed by rain decreasing it. A predicted average of 0.6 inches of rain will fall tonight through Friday. Firefighters will continue to build, connect, improve and mop up firelines. Specific areas of concern are on the south, east, and north edges of the fire, with concern over terrain aligning with strong winds on the north side. In the east, this is the Panther Creek (4714) Road area west of Highway 138. Mop up will continue in those areas and the Zig Zag Creek area, a half-acre fire outside the perimeter of the Archie Fire in the Pass Creek area, and the area south of Trapper Creek that flared up yesterday. An infrared flight yesterday showed many hot spots scattered throughout the fire. Fire hose has been placed all around the fire to help cool areas near containment lines. Today seven more hand crews than yesterday will work to increase fire containment. Increasing the depth of mop up continues all around the fire, especially around structures in Glide and Idleyld Park areas. Firefighters are protecting homes and other buildings in all areas of the fire, including along Little River Road and they are 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. Yesterday firefighters installed 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 southern 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: 24 Type 2 hand crews, 8 helicopters, 1 fixed wing air attack, 75 engines, 38 bulldozers, 46 water tenders, 8 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: 541-673-3225 Salvation Army: 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 is open, but delays up to 45 minutes 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 for aircraft, including drones, in effect for the Archie Creek Fire and it has been reduced from 10,000 feet above mean sea level to 8,000 feet. Non-fire aircraft may fly over the fire area from 8 pm to 9 am. Wildfires are a No Drone Zones. If you fly, we can’t. For more information, visit http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/