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SUNNY Temp: 66 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, August 29, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend July 19, 2002 Crews gain on Squire fire Firefighters trail 60% of blaze, expect to reach containment on Sunday By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune RUCH — More favorable weather conditions and aggressive skirmishes with the Squire fire’s hot southeastern flank helped firefighters turn the table Thursday on this unruly blaze that has burned about 3,000 acres near Ruch. Beefed-up fire crews on the ground and in the air attacked the creeping flames all Thursday in hopes of halting the five-day-old lightning fire before it leaps Sterling Creek Road and potentially barrels into the heart of the upper Applegate Valley. "The line in the sand is Sterling Creek Road," Dan Thorpe, the fire’s incident commander, said late Thursday. "That’s the goal and it’s been our focus all day and it looks like it’s held. We think we’re past the worst of it." The two-lane, paved road represents a strong and defensible fire break that held back the flames Thursday night, when the stiff wind gusts that have given firefighters fits each night did not materialize. "This fire’s just been going crazy every evening, but I feel like we finally have it going our way now," said Stan Alexander, a part-time independent firefighter whose three-man crew helped douse hotspots along the 8000 block of Sterling Creek Road. That’s a far different tune than what firefighters sang Wednesday, when gusts as high as 30 mph whipped flames up and catapulted them over fire lines toward Sterling Creek Road, threatening several homes in the Buncom area. Norm Jackson watched a wall of fire crest the ridge Wednesday and flow toward his house on the 9000 block of Sterling Creek Road, but a quick attack by ground crews, water-dropping helicopters and a late-arriving air tanker helped stiff-arm the blaze at a fire line about 100 feet from his house. "It was roaring like a jet engine and there were 40-foot flames," said Jackson, whose home was threatened by a similar flare-up Tuesday night. "The fire’s been coming at us from so many different angles that we’re never safe. We never feel safe." Fire lines bordered about two-thirds of the fire late Thursday, allowing Thorpe to declare it 60 percent contained and set Sunday as a target date for containment. The lines were a patchwork of cleared trees and brush ranging from the 4-foot-wide trails hacked into the ground by crews wielding axes and shovels to 20-foot-wide swaths cut by bulldozers blowing three-deep across the terrain. More than 580 firefighters had reached the scene Thursday, with rural fire teams from across western Oregon called in to help defend the 220 homes from which residents were urged to evacuate. A Josephine County team helped save Dawn and Steve Baker’s three-bedroom home both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, when flames darted up a hillside and burned so close to their home that the heat melted downspouts on their water pump house on Huckill Hollow. "Those guys from the Josephine County Rural Fire Department backed their truck right up to the fire and didn’t let it get past them," said Don Ross, who stayed at the Baker’s home Wednesday and Thursday. "They saved the house." The extra crews came when the Oregon Department of Forestry on Wednesday labeled the Squire fire the second highest threat, allowing more resources to siphon off other fires and move here, fire information officer Dave Wells said. Three helicopters and 30 bulldozers were employed all day Thursday dousing hot-spots, strengthening fire lines and encircling unburned areas within the fire’s boundaries. Lee Vaughn, the fire’s operations chief, said that work within the fire area robbed the blaze of new fuels and "just sucks out the heat" that helps generate evening flare-ups. The Squire fire grew by less than 500 acres Thursday, but only 100 acres of that was on its own. About 400 acres were burned by firefighters who, under controlled conditions, burn the ground cover lightly themselves and cripple the wild fire’s ability to rage unchecked. By Thursday night, the fire appeared inactive around many of the fire lines, allowing Thorpe to expect today’s efforts to focus on early mop-up as well as strengthening existing lines, he said. "We didn’t lose any line today," Thorpe said. "What we’ve done is working." By Thursday, firefighters had racked up $640,000 in bills, Wells said. But the Squire fire earned special federal recognition Thursday so as much as 75 percent of the cost could be picked up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As the fire moves into its sixth day today, neighbors continued to scramble to each others’ aide despite physical and mental fatigue. "I’ve been at this five days straight helping my neighbors," said Travis Pitari, 27, whose home and 5 acres were untouched by fire. "But I’m so tired, all the worrying is over for me. I’m just watching the fire now." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S