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Wildfire puts homes in danger Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Sean Hendrix of Grants Pass keeps an eye Saturday on a flare-up from the Quartz Fire east of Yale Creek in the Little Applegate drainage. Firefighters tried to aim the flames into previously burned areas. The Quartz Fire moves toward unoccupied areas, but seven homes are evacuated anyway By SARAH LEMON A wildfire burning in timberland southeast of Ruch reached 3,000 acres Saturday and was threatening homes, officials said. Residents of seven homes in the Dog Fork area - within one mile of the Quartz Fire - evacuated Saturday afternoon. Task forces from various county fire agencies were on hand for structure protection, but it wasn't enough to keep Jeanne Schattler, of the 4000 block of Yale Creek Road, from packing her family's personal belongings and leaving the area. Schattler and her neighbors even helped move items out of homes whose owners were gone on vacation, she said. While firefighters' primary objective is to defend homes, the area's heavy vegetation and narrow roads make that task particularly difficult, said Joe D'Amico of Applegate Fire Department. And if the fire comes in quickly, it's hard to do much of anything, firefighters said. "You got a piece of fire apparatus that's (worth) as much as the house. Which one are you gonna save?" asked Mike Gentile of Jackson County Fire District 3. It's also hard to commit to defending homes when firefighters' lives are in danger, said Ron Nelson of the Medford Fire Department. "If the fire does come fast and hot, there's one way in and one way out," he said. Because of the lack of escape routes and difficult terrain, fire crews are attacking the Quartz blaze from the sides. With this strategy, fire lines are built right next to the fire, and about 25 percent of the fire was lined Saturday, said officials. Containment was not in sight Saturday. However, the lightning-caused fire wasn't expected to spread dramatically overnight and was moving toward unpopulated areas, said Dennis Turco, fire prevention specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry. The Quartz Fire is burning in the Little Applegate drainage, east of Yale Creek and southwest of Wagner Gap. Moving southeast, the fire was five to six miles from the Ashland Watershed late Saturday, officials said. Sevenmile Ridge, the boundary between the Rogue River and Klamath national forests, stands between the wildfire and Ashland. Ashland residents may have seen a lot of falling ash Saturday, but the hillside town is not considered threatened by the fire, officials said. Falling ash is common, said Turco. And because burning embers rarely travel more than one mile from a main fire, ash falling beyond that distance should be cold and pose no danger, he said. Crews are manning the blaze 24 hours a day, said officials. About 400 people, 14 bulldozers and numerous engines and water-hauling vehicles are battling the flames on the ground. Air support is grounded at night, but two helicopters with water buckets and two planes carrying retardant join in the daytime effort. No injuries to fire personnel were reported Saturday, officials said. Fire officials also remind residents of wooded areas to keep driveways, the best fire escape routes, free of dead or dry grass and brush. And never drive or walk through flammable vegetation to escape a wildfire. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.