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Quartz Fire destroys home photo by Bob Pennell May not be contained until Aug. 20, say officials By DAMIAN MANN LITTLE APPLEGATE - A pall of smoke and ash continued to smother the Rogue Valley Sunday as the worst fire of the summer season destroyed one house and scorched 4,000 rugged acres southeast of Ruch. Fire officials don't expect to have the Quartz Fire contained until Aug. 20. It could devour another 8,000 acres in its path and continue to threaten another eight houses in the remote Dog Fork area. "It's still got a long way to go before it's out," said Forestry spokesperson Jeanne Klein. "It could go at 1,000 acres a day if we continue to have hot weather." Officials close some roads Fire officials have closed public access to the following roads because of the fire: Wagner Creek, Beaver Creek and Yale Creek, as well as a portion of Little Applegate Road beyond Yale Creek. A public meeting will also be held for local residents at 7 p.m. tonight at Ruch Elementary School. Klein said she could not release information about the house and outbuilding destroyed in the upper reaches of a canyon in the Dog Fork of Yale Creek. Another house, less than a 1,000 feet from this one, is also in immediate danger from the flames, she said. Some of the affected residents in the area refused to leave Sunday despite warnings from firefighters who dropped pamphlets from the air and went door to door. "We are strongly encouraging residents who are in there to move out," she said. The danger was even worse Sunday night as the wind shifted, sending the fire in a more southerly direction. At its present heading, the blaze could come close, but potentially miss, the Ashland watershed some five miles away. But fire officials say the prediction is based on current weather conditions. Because of the fire's size, more than 900 firefighters have joined the battle - triple the number on the line since Saturday. "We're trying to get everybody in here that we can," said Klein. More air support has been called in to water down the lines - though poor visibility Sunday slowed this effort down markedly. Helicopter pilot Mike Woolsey, who had just returned from the fire in his twin-bladed jet helicopter said Sunday afternoon: "It was really going crazy at the back side." Despite his efforts to save houses and block the flames, Woolsey said he had difficulty making things out. "There was too much smoke," he said. "I couldn't see much." Ash from the fire has been falling continuously on Ashland residents since the fire started last Friday during a lightning strike. Forestry spokewoman Mary Marrs said one resident said a singed pine needle landed in his back yard. Fire officials stress that the there is no fire danger at this point from falling ash igniting the dry hillsides around Ashland. Ashland Community Hospital nurse K.C. Chamberlain said she has received a lot of calls from people concerned about the smoke and their health, but the hospital hadn't admitted any patients as a result of the smoky air. Nick Gombos, who owns 50 acres along the Little Applegate River, has allowed firefighters to use his property as a staging area. Gombos welcomed turning his property into a temporary war zone. "You just have to do it. You just let them come in and take care of business." A surge of subtropical moisture from the south whipped up winds in the canyons late Sunday, forcing firefighters to call in air support to water down hot spots that threatened the homes. The National Weather Service predicts temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s until next weekend, but doesn't expect more of the thunderstorms that created windy conditions Sunday afternoon. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.