Document text
Tankers attack fire KERBY -- Firefighters expect to contain a 120-acre fire burning in the Canyon Creek drainage in the Siskiyou National Forest by Thursday. The Sebastapol Fire, reported Sunday evening, is burning about a half dozen miles west of Kerby near the eastern edge of the rugged Kalmiopsis Wilderness. About 200 firefighters have been deployed to the area known as Sebastapol. The name refers to a mining hamlet that once stood at the remote site before the turn of the century. While fire conditions remain extremely dry, the fire was dampened a bit by three Forest Service air tankers, which dropped their loads, creating a "mud line" around the fire on Monday, said forest spokeswoman Rochelle Desser. "The firefighters on the ground have been reinforcing that line," she said. "But it's very rugged area. There is a lot of rock." The fire is burning in a patch of heavy timber largely surrounded by an outcropping of serpentine rock, brush and a sparse population of trees, officials said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Desser said. There was no lightning in the area when it was reported. Because the fire danger is extreme with hot and dry weather predicted through this week, fire officials urge local residents to use caution. Conditions were just as difficult in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area in Northern California, where the nation's largest active fire spread toward the Six Rivers and Klamath national forests. The fire burned 50,173 acres of wildland, about 210 miles north of San Francisco. Smoke limited the use of air tankers and steep slopes hindered hand crews. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA