Poole Creek Fire Grows to 1,942 Acres, Community Meeting Set For Sunday Night

With a dozen smaller wildfires mostly trailed, mopped up or already in patrol status, more firefighters are engaged on preventing the spread of the Poole Creek Fire. Containment on the Complex has risen to 9 percent. At 1,942 acres, Poole Creek is the largest fire in the Skyline Ridge Complex. It is burning roughly six miles southeast of the community of Days Creek. Firefighters plan to keep the fire within two steep drainages by building control lines on ridgetops and securing them with controlled burns at night. This will protect houses and outbuildings on the south bank of the South Umpqua River. Local residents can expect to see more fire traffic and smoke from burn-out operations. Fire managers at the Complex are also responsible for identifying and helping suppress new fires in the area. Sunday afternoon they did just that. A pilot assigned to the Complex spotted a fire on the border of Douglas and Jackson counties, fire managers sent a 10-person hand crew to help Douglas Forest Protective Association firefighters engage the fire. The fire was kept to less than an acre. It likely started during last week’s heavy lightning strikes. ODF Team 1 is hosting a virtual community meeting on Facebook Live Sunday at 7:30 p.m. You can find the event at https://www.facebook.com/events/540312997032963. Incident Commander Joe Hessel said, “We’re protecting multiple values at risk including homes, communities, commercial timberlands, powerlines, recreation and cultural sites, and treasured fishing and hunting grounds. It drives our work to secure the last three active fires in the Complex as fast and as safely as we can.” Community Meeting: An in-person community meeting will be held this evening at 7:30 PM at the Tiller Volunteer Fire Department. Fire managers from both Devil’s Knob and Skyline Ridge Complexes will provide operational fire updates and an opportunity for the public to ask questions. We are asking the public to bring and wear a mask as a COVID-19 mitigation and be prepared for warm weather conditions as the meeting will be outside. Updates and photos via IC