Tuesday Morning MP97 Fire Update: Fire Up to 12,336 Acres, but Good Progress Being Made. 15% Contained

The Milepost 97 Fire grew another 668 acres in the past 24 hours but good progress is being made on this fire. That's approximately the same amount of growth acre wise as yesterday. The fire is now halfway between milepost 90 and 89. Three homes have been evacuated so far. There are still 586 structures that are threatened. Favorable weather again today will start out cloudy and a be a bit cooler again with high humidity before it burns off. Winds will not be as strong as yesterday which is good. 4-7 mph winds from the northwest with gusts up to 11mph. From DFPA this morning: "Firefighters are focusing much of the suppression effort on the south portion of the fire near I-5 to prevent further spread towards communities. Mop up operations have begun around the north end of the fire to further secure containment lines. Crews and equipment are also continuing to construct contingency control lines along ridges and existing road systems to the west of the fire. The use of aircraft continues to be effective on much of the fire. Air sup-port helps to cool the fire’s edge so that firefighters can gain closer access. Helicopters and Single Engine Air Tankers, or SEATs, are serving as the primary aviation resources on the fire. SEATs dropped 26 loads of retardant on the fire yesterday for a total of 18,549 gallons. Cooperators assisting ODF and DFPA on the fire include Roseburg and Medford BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, Cow Creek Tribe, Roseburg Re-sources, Silver Butte Resources, Lone Rock Timber, Williams Pipeline, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, ODOT, and two Douglas County structure protection task forces." More info coming soon.