Document text
Fire camp sustains effort to tackle Cleveland Ridge fire A firefighter rests in the shade Wednesday at TouVelle State Park after an all-night shift fighting the Cleveland Ridge fire. Mail Tribune / Denise Baratta Wednesday Aug 24, 2016 at 6:36 PM Aug 24, 2016 at 8:16 PM By Hannah Golden Mail Tribune Crews have been summoned from as far away as Washington and California to help fight the Cleveland Ridge fire burning near Trail, and the vast majority aren't staying at the Hilton. After a 16-hour shift fighting to prevent the fire's spread, Jon Seaman and his crew are returning to rest at noon Wednesday, which means crawling inside a tent during 90-degree heat. The crew boss for a 20-man contract crew, Seaman is one of an estimated 400 firefighters camping at TouVelle State Park this week. "It was definitely an intense shift, it's our first one, and I'm ready to go eat," says Seaman, in his 12th season with Dust Busters Plus LLC, a firefighting company from Eugene that contracts with Oregon Department of Forestry. ODF spokesman Brian Ballou estimates that about 500 people are working to contain the now 635-acre blaze north of Shady Cove. These include ground and air crews and support staff. The Cleveland Ridge fire began around 4 p.m. Monday and has steadily grown. ODF estimates the fire originated at the junction of West Fork Trail Creek and Romine Creek roads and spread along the east side of a nearby ridge. A patchwork of agencies comprise the firefighting force, which includes firefighters from several Jackson County districts, out-of-state crews, private crews and state prison inmates. For some, this is the first time they've tackled a wildfire. "You're going to have everything from someone's first fire season to their 11th or 12th," says ODF spokeswoman Melissa Cano. At the fire camp A small city has burst to life miles from the fire line. Swaths of tents cover the grass fields at TouVelle. What previously was a volleyball court is now a neighborhood of crewmen just waking up after a night shift. Men doze on picnic tables in the shade next to a barbecue spit. Tent placement is determined by shift: sunny patches are designated for day-shift crews, while shade is reserved for the night-shift crews. Mobile hand-washing stations have been set up near tents, complete with sinks and mirrors. Pallets of bottled water and Gatorade are hauled in en masse. A food-service station churns out meals for incoming and outgoing crews. "You need food services, you need a shower unit, you need a toilet, things that just don't come to mind when you think of firefighting," Cano says. Shifts are typically 12 hours long, starting at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The morning crew leaders meet at 5 a.m. for a debriefing, and break up into crew meetings at 6 a.m., marking the beginning of a long day on the fire line. At the fire line Fighting a fire requires multiple fronts: defense to suppress it and offense to stop its spread. Crews work by ground and air to line and contain the blaze. "Containment means ... the fire next to the line is extinguished, it's been mopped up, it's been checked for hot spots, it's out, we can walk away," Cano says. Lining a fire means forming a physical barrier to keep it from growing, an arduous process. A line is drawn around the blaze that lays out a workable edge using features such as streams and old logging roads that will stop a fire. The rest is done by hand. Seaman's crew was among those hired to line the fire. Lining crews dig trenches that are deep enough to expose mineral soil free of flammables and wide enough to prevent the flames from jumping over them. Trenches might be anywhere from 1 to 8 feet in width, Cano says. "It's very steep, very rocky, it's kind of treacherous footing, and then you're in there working hard, as well," Seaman says. Snapshot of the fire As of Wednesday, Cano says, the fire is 635 acres, 100 percent lined and 25 percent contained. So far, there have been no injuries. The Cleveland Ridge fire is currently rated as Type III, primarily fought by local agencies. Fires are rated based on acreage, type of land, threat to resources and homes and accessibility. Typically, a fire would have to be at least 2,000 acres to be rated as Type II. As of Tuesday evening, the cost of fighting the fire was projected at more than $800,000. Several homes on nearby Taylor Road were threatened, and authorities issued a Level 2 evacuation Tuesday, meaning residents should be ready to leave at any moment. That was lowered to a Level 1 evacuation Wednesday evening, meaning residents should be on alert for possible evacuation. Structural firefighters from stations in Jackson County are defending the area. The American Red Cross is on standby in the event of a Level 3 forced evacuation.  Current conditions aren't helping the containment effort. The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning for Jackson County from 11 p.m. Wednesday until 11 p.m. Thursday. "East winds, poor relative humidity recovery, and high fire danger will likely contribute to a significant spread of new and existing fires," the Weather Service says in the warning.  Cano says crews continued to join the effort Wednesday to contain the blaze. Reach reporting intern Hannah Golden at [email protected].