Oak Flat Fire
Location: 8 mi NW of Selma, Josephine Co, OR
Specific Location: Briggs Creek, Horse Mountain, Rogue River-Siskiyou NF, Lat 42° 23´ 58″ Lon 123° 44´ 18″
Date of Origin: 08/13/2010
Cause: Under investigation
Situation as of 09/11/2010 3:15 pm
Personnel: 80
Size: 7,494 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $18,810,905 (no update)
Transition from ICT3 Mitchell to ICT4 Hutchinson at 1200 on September 12th, 2010.
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Situation as of 09/10/2010 3:30 pm
Personnel: 90
Size: 7,494 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $18,810,905 (no update)
Patrol, Monitor, Rehab.
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Situation as of 09/09/2010 2:30 pm
Personnel: 87
Size: 7,494 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $18,810,905
Mop-up continues.
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Situation as of 09/08/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 77
Size: 7,494 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $18,746,327
T3 team (IC Mitchell) in in place. ICP moves to Merlin Fire Center.
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Situation as of 09/07/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 359
Size: 7,494 acres
Percent Contained: 100%
Costs to Date: $18,492,024
100% containment declared. Transition from IMT 2 ORCA (Fillis-IC) to Type 3 (Mitchell-IC) occurred at 1800 hrs today. Pockets of activity with limited backing, torching and minimal spread.
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Situation as of 09/06/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 427
Size: 7,494 acres
Percent Contained: 95%
Costs to Date: ~$18.5 million
Burnout of unburned pockets to achieve a uniform sear across the landscape. Nothing living will remain.
ORCA packed up and gone.
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Situation as of 09/05/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 576
Size: 7,494 acres
Percent Contained: 73%
Costs to Date: $17,882,897
Fire continues to grow.
ORCA calls it quits after incinerating 7,000 acres for no good reason. Transition to Type 3 organization is scheduled for 9/7/2010 at 1800 hours.
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Situation as of 09/04/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 607
Size: 7,443 acres
Percent Contained: 73%
Costs to Date: $17,326,706
Fire continues to back into west fork of Briggs Creek. Construction of fire lines on north flank are continuing in Div J. Burnout in divisions D,F and L are mostly complete and mop up has started.
Burnout small islands in Divisions D,F,J and L as perscriptions permit [sic].
Leave nothing green behind. Complete incineration of every acre is the “prescription”.
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Situation as of 09/03/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 651
Size: 7,400 acres
Percent Contained: 73%
Costs to Date: $16,618,772
Backburn, baby, backburn. Another 650+ acres deliberately incinerated bhy the arsonist feds. Your forests destroyed by fire nazis.
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Situation as of 09/02/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 671
Size: 6,850 acres
Percent Contained: 73%
Costs to Date: $15,626,848
Burnouts continue. Another 650 acres lost yesterday despite cool and humid weather.
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Situation as of 08/31/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 737
Size: 6,515 acres
Percent Contained: 70%
Costs to Date: $14,564,245
Currently building line and preparing for burning out. Likelihood of burnout increases due to increase of favorable weather conditions. Burnout in Division D, H and F as the weather permits.
And they are still backburning!!!
The fire is out, there is zero danger from standing next to it, but the Liers That Be are still backburning from miles away in the name of safety!!!!!
What is safe about arson????
What is economic about spending $2,000 per acre to destroy resources worth $20,000 per acre????
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Situation as of 08/30/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 855
Size: 6,500 acres
Percent Contained: 70%
Costs to Date: $13,720,999
Construction of contingency lines to the north of the fire continues. Although the fire is subdued and smoldering from the rain, ORCA is still building “contingency” lines miles away. The fear of direct attack on a smoldering fire has the firefighters petrified and weeping like school girls. Ambulances are on the ready to carry out the traumatized.
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Situation as of 08/29/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 837
Size: 6,445 acres
Percent Contained: 70%
Costs to Date: $12,985,320
The rain is coming down, and all additional burnout operations are foiled. Despite efforts by the RR-SNF and ORCA, this fire is unlikely to get any bigger.
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Situation as of 08/28/2010 2:00 pm
Personnel: 914
Size: 6,350 acres
Percent Contained: 70%
Costs to Date: $12,085,561
Finally a day where no acreage increase is reported. Evidently the IMT went easy on the burnouts, or the report is incorrect. An additional cost of $1 million was spent yesterday, however. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
Reduced fire behavior due to cooler air, higher humidity and cloudy conditions, reduces threat to residence and values at risk. [sic]
Nice to see some minimal lip service toward the victims of this egregious action, the residents.
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Situation as of 08/27/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 1,014
Size: 6,350 acres
Percent Contained: 65%
Costs to Date: $11,195,100
Another 600 acres deliberately incinerated yesterday, at an additional cost of $1 million. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
An additional 12 crews, a few dozers, 2 more type 1 helicopters and several engines were ordered last night for today’s shift. Four air tankers working out of Medford. High winds today may ground aerial attack.
Currently building line and burning out.
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Situation as of 08/26/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 959
Size: 5,708 acres
Percent Contained: 60%
Costs to Date: $10,010,496
Major blow-out to N, NE. Another 1,000 acres deliberately incinerated yesterday, at an additional cost of $1 million. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
The ORCA IMT is without a doubt the most inept and destructive IMT in the nation. The RR-SNF and Region 6 are run by incompetent leftwing political appointees with absolutely no conception of how to manage forests.
Update 8/27: an additional 12 crews, a few dozers, 2 more type 1 helicopters and several engines were ordered last night for today’s shift. Four air tankers working out of Medford. High winds today may ground aerial attack.
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Situation as of 08/25/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 762
Size: 4,760 acres
Percent Contained: 75%
Costs to Date: $9,301,677
Another 100 acres deliberately incinerated yesterday, at an additional cost of $1 million. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
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Situation as of 08/24/2010 6:15 pm
Personnel: 950
Size: 4,760 acres
Percent Contained: 75%
Costs to Date: $8,585,135
Another 400 acres deliberately incinerated yesterday, at an additional cost of $1 million. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
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Situation as of 08/23/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 977
Size: 4,363 acres
Percent Contained: 65%
Costs to Date: $7,061,587 (no update, est. $8 million)
Another 1,000 acres deliberately incinerated yesterday, at an estimated (no report) cost of $1 million. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
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Situation as of 08/22/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 1,014
Size: 3,350 acres
Percent Contained: 55%
Costs to Date: $7,061,587
Another 400 acres deliberately incinerated, at a cost of $1 million. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
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Situation as of 08/21/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 1,108
Size: 2,950 acres
Percent Contained: 45%
Costs to Date: $6,071,371
Another 850 acres deliberately incinerated, at a cost of $1.2 million. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
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Situation as of 08/20/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 1,110
Size: 2,100 acres
Percent Contained: 25%
Costs to Date: $4,800,000
Another 400 acres deliberately incinerated. This fire could have been contained at 800 acres. Everything burned in excess of that is deliberate, malicious arson on the part of the USFS.
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Situation as of 08/19/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 1,110
Size: 1,706 acres
Percent Contained: 18%
Costs to Date: $4,070,494
Burn plan for aerial ignition approved. Road and trail closure in effect.
Regional Forester Review occurred today.
With cloudy and cooler weather approaching for the weekend, fire managers are planning to conduct burnout operations aimed at efficiently connecting the fire into the containment lines within the few days. Both ground and aerial ignition methods will be used, with particular attention paid to minimizing tree mortality and preserving spotted owl habitat.
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Situation as of 08/18/2010 7:00 pm
Personnel: 1,050
Size: 1,250 acres
Percent Contained: 10%
Costs to Date: not reported
There are twenty-seven 20-person hand crews and nine engines working in two shifts to build containment lines around the fire. The fire is considered to be 10% contained this morning as work continues to fully contain the Oak Flat Fire.
Fire managers expect conditions to be favorable to conduct burnout operations over the next few days. If conditions are right, additional smoke will be visible from parts of Grants Pass and the Rogue Valley. This operation is designed to safely and methodically remove some of the lighter unburned fuels near the fire lines so that when the fire approaches containment lines, it will not burn as aggressively and the fire line can be better secured and be more effective.
Some of the fire lines used for the 2002 Biscuit Fire are being improved (removing new vegetation growth) in case they are required for contingency fire lines on the Oak Flat Fire. All efforts are being made to reduce the size of the burned area, to minimize additional smoke generation, and to avoid impacts to private lands.
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Situation as of 08/17/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 708
Size: 925 acres
Percent Contained: 10%
Costs to Date: $1,286,798
Road and trail closures [here]
Longterm analysis team is preparing analysis. Public meeting was held at 7:00 P.M. in the Josephine County Building in Cave Junction on Tuesday, August 17, 2010.
Continue construction of indirect line and prep for burnout operations.
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Situation as of 08/16/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 483
Size: 800 acres
Percent Contained: 5%
Costs to Date: $500,000
An additional nine, 20-person crews on order. Eight helicopters currently assigned.
Active fire with group torching. Continued prep of roads and construction of hand and dozer line. Continue construction of indirect line and prep for potential burnout operations.
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Situation as of 08/15/2010 6:00 pm
Personnel: 337
Size: 600 acres
Percent Contained: 0%
Structures Threatened: 6 PRIM , 15 OUTB
Structures Destroyed: NONE
Transition from Type 3 to Type 2 ORCA at 1800
Active fire with group torching
