9-01-17 Miller Complex Daily Update

For a downloadable, emailable PDF of this update, click here.

Current Situation
Red Flag warning for poor humidity recoveries and gusty east to northeast winds were in effect Thursday night and will be into Friday morning. Heat will begin to build again Friday afternoon and through the weekend. It will be extremely hot and dry with the potential of smoke column development Friday afternoon.  Aircraft was used in Branches I and III as the inversion lifted yesterday afternoon and may be used again today pending smoke conditions.

Evacuations
The following areas are under a Level 2 (Be Set) Evacuation Notice:

Palmer Creek Road and Kinney Creek Road (Forest Service Road 1090)

Both sides of Upper Applegate Road from Palmer Creek Road to the Applegate Dam Spillway (This includes Bolder City)

Beaver Creek Road (Jackson County, Oregon) from its junction with Upper Applegate Road east for approximately a mile. 

The following areas are in a Level 1 (Be Ready) Evacuation Notice: 

Carberry Creek Road from Applegate Road up to and including Steamboat Ranch

Palmer Creek Road/Applegate Road intersection north to 7449 Applegate Road and Eastside Road from Upper Applegate Road north to 2874 Eastside Road. 

South from Applegate Dam Spillway around all of Applegate Lake (1/8 mile buffer around water to include all private property), including French Gulch.

The following Recreation Sites:

Hart-tish, Harr Pt, Watkins, Tipsu Tyee, Latgawa Cove and Stringtown campgrounds

Carberry Picnic Ground

The evacuation order for Joe Bar has been relaxed to an evacuation warning. 

Branch I: Creedence Fire and Bigelow Fire (Grayback Fire – seven miles south of Williams)

Crews continued to work on installing hose lays and sprinklers to secure the fire’s northwest side while helicopter support was used on the south side yesterday afternoon. Crews will continue to hold, mop-up, monitor, and patrol firelines.   

Branch II: Burnt Peak Fire (Nine miles southwest of Ruch and 3 miles north of Applegate Lake).

The fire is backing down Billy Mountain and there are control lines in place along the 1095 and 1090 roads. Structural protection continues north of Applegate Lake; additional hand crews will be placed on the east side to keep up with the fire’s progression down the north and south flanks. Crews will continue to mop-up along control lines where the fire has already reached it.  

  

Branch III: Abney Fire (About nine miles north of Seiad Valley, CA)

Firefighters continue to work to keep the fire north of the Pacific Crest Trail and south and east of private property in section 8.  Masticators were brought in to clear vegetation along the 1050 road.  Dozers, along with retardant drops, were used to reinforce roads as firelines on the fire’s northwest side.  Structure protection is ongoing in the Joe Bar area. 

Closures
The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has closed three areas on the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District in each of the branches, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/rogue-siskiyou/alerts-notices.  The Bureau of Land Management has closed the Grayback Mountain Trailhead.   

Fire Statistics:  

Start Date: August 14, 2017 

Cause: Lightning                                                                                            

Total Personnel: 558 

Complex Sized: 14,939 acres  

Complex Containment: 40%                                                                        

Website: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5514/#

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MillerComplexFires/ or https://facebook/R6RRSNF

Twitter: #MillerComplex

See where you are in relation to the fires:  http://tinyurl.com/MillerComplexEvacs 

Burnt Peak Infrared Map