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--> --> First wave of evacuees exits firestorm By Jeff Barnard Associated Press Writer CAVE JUNCTION - About 500 people have either left their homes in the Illinois River Valley or told officials of their intention to do so as the largest wildfire in the Coast Range in years burned out of control today. The Josephine County Sheriff's Office said 400 people have evacuated their homes and registered with the Red Cross, and about 100 more have notified the police of their intent to leave. "People have been calling and offering people places to stay in their homes and pastures for animals," said Lt. Brian Anderson with the sheriff's office. But most of the 17,000 residents in the valley have so far chosen to stay in their homes as firefighters try to quell the Biscuit Complex of fires, which is burning on the Siskiyou National Forest in the southwestern corner of Oregon. The Biscuit Complex, including the Florence and Sour Biscuit fires, held steady at about 186,000 acres overnight. Containment was only at 5 percent, fire officials reported. Holding the top priority in the nation for scarce resources, fire commanders called in more helicopters, bulldozers, hotshot crews and top-level management teams. In all, three of the nation's 16 top-level management teams are on the Biscuit Complex. About 15 major wildfires were burning on more than 423,000 acres in Oregon on Thursday, battled by 13,000 firefighters. On the Biscuit Complex, firefighters' strategy Thursday was to torch off backfires along a 30-mile primary fire line, made of logging roads connected by swaths of bare earth carved by bulldozers, between the fire and several small towns. Fire commanders hope favorable winds will blow the intentionally set fires toward the main conflagration, depriving it of unburned fuel. Firefighters ripped out landscaping to protect some homes. Retired high school principal Ron Brood was packed and ready to go should the word to evacuate come. Farther down the valley Bob Bell swore to stay until the bitter end. "Twenty-five years ago, I had a home burn in the Los Angeles National Forest, and I'm not going to have that happen again," Bell said Wednesday while using a fire hose to douse the grass beside his house on the outskirts of Cave Junction. "I've got a pond in back that's seven feet deep, and I'm going to jump in it," if the fire comes. Pickup trucks and trailers loaded with household goods have been trickling out since the fires exploded on Sunday, sending up a 30,000-foot plume of smoke. But as the fires have calmed, most residents seem to share Brood's sentiments. "We're going to stay here until they tell us it's time to get out," Brood said at his home outside Selma. "Then I'll turn on the sprinklers on the perimeter and get out." So far, 90 percent of 300 Illinois River Valley homes assessed by firefighters have been deemed defensible against the fire, and crews continued to clear brush and volatile landscaping to improve their chances, said Tim Birr, spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office. "If it can help keep the fire from getting to my house, more power to them," Brood said as firefighters chain-sawed a moo goo pine and golden junipers in his backyard. A separate fire camp and management team were being established 40 miles to the north in the community of Agness to cover the northern and western flanks of the fire. One primary escape route, U.S. Highway 199 south to the coast, remained closed by another fire in California; however, the same highway north to Grants Pass and three different back roads remained open, said Josephine County sheriff's Lt. Lee Harman. ----- On the Net: National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/ Florence/Sour Biscuit Fires website: http://www.pnw-team2.com/florence/index.html Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing