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A forest fire? But it�s January Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Eugene firefighters Russell Houtz, left, and Mike Walker keep their eyes on the weather as they cut a line around the 200-acre Wagner Creek Fire a half-dozen miles south of Talent on Monday. The fire, likely started from logging debris burned a month ago on Boise Cascade forest land, was expected to be contained today. By Paul Fattig TALENT � The scene was right: The acrid smell of smoke clung to the steep mountainside. Flames licked the base of a few fire-blackened trees. A whining chorus of chainsaws filled the air. And there were the firefighters, carrying pulaskis and wearing Bullard hardhats, trudging up the mountain in their canary-yellow fire-resistant clothing. But the calendar was all wrong. "This is the first time I�ve ever fought a fire in January," said veteran firefighter Larry Akerly of Eagle Point. "And never in the snow," he said, then added, "But it�s tinder dry up here." Wet snow pelted the estimated 200-acre Wagner Creek Fire burning at the 4,400-foot elevation in the Wagner Creek drainage a half-dozen miles south of Talent on Monday. Reported late Sunday afternoon, the fire is believed to have started from logging debris originally burned more than a month ago on Boise Cascade Corp. forest land, said Dan Thorpe, Medford unit forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry. Investigators believe strong wind gusts whipped to life a fire smoldering in a log or stump, he said. "That wind came up Sunday afternoon on the heels of weeks of dry weather, and the fire just ran with the wind," Thorpe said. While it�s not unusual for embers to continue to burn undetected long after a fire is believed dead, it is unusual for conditions to be this dry in January, he noted. "The fuel moistures haven�t seriously recovered from the summer," he said. In fact, the Medford area has received only a little over 4 inches of rain since the rainy season began Sept. 1, compared to an average 9� inches. However, the National Weather Service is calling for intermittent rain throughout much of the region this week. Although cautioning the acreage is only a rough estimate, officials say the fire burned about 100 acres of Boise land and another 100 acres of BLM land. The Boise acreage includes lands where slash had previously been burned. Eighty firefighters, three bulldozers and six fire engines were fighting the fire Monday. They were being aided by rain and snow. Akerly, who works for Skookum Reforestation, is usually planting trees, thinning or burning understory this time of year. But he and his fellow firefighters were doing much of the same work they do in summer: cutting fire trail and felling burned snags. "We�re attacking this one the same way we do any fire," Akerly said. "This shouldn�t take but a couple of days." A fire line is expected to contain the blaze today. Crews will then begin mopping up hot spots. But the department, which protects private, county, state and BLM woodlands from wildfires, is concerned about the lack of rain, Thorpe said. "This is unusual," he said. Still, Mother Nature has been known to provide precious little moisture in past autumns and early winters, only to soak the region during the remainder of the wet season, he added. In mid-December 1988, a fire blackened several hundred acres of state-protected land in the Yale Creek drainage in the upper Applegate Valley. The Wagner Creek fire burned in a checkerboard pattern, skipping some areas and scorching others. In many areas, the fire crept along, burning low-lying brush and material on the forest floor. "As you can see, there is a lot of stuff that didn�t burn there," Thorpe said. But on a nearby ridge, the fire roared through, torching trees 70 to 80 feet tall. Underneath, the forest duff had turned to ash. "You get enough fuel built up underneath and a strong wind, and the fire will make a run like it did here," Thorpe said. In addition to the problem of dry dead wood, the living trees are also extremely dry, he observed. "The strategy is to get a line around it, then see if the weather will take care of it," Thorpe said, noting that firefighters will keep a close eye on the site. Because of the wet turn in the weather pattern Monday, the fire isn�t expected to spread, said Chris Johnson, fuels management specialist for the BLM�s Medford District. "We�ll be watching it so we don�t have a repeat," he said, adding, "This is pretty unbelievable." The fire should be a red flag to local homeowners living out in rural areas, said Dennis Turco, fire prevention specialist for state forestry. "This is a reminder that wildfires can start at any time of year," he said. "We all need to be cautious when it gets this dry." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.