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P/CLOUDY Temp: 39 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Saturday, April 26, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend July 29, 2002 Florence fire bolts to 50,000- acre giant By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune CAVE JUNCTION — A swift-moving fire west of here ran more than six miles Sunday through rugged terrain and burned 11 rural buildings as it doubled to 50,000 acres. Fed by wind gusts of up to 40 mph, the Florence fire tore through the remote sections of western Josephine County, with some walls of flame 125 feet high helping push the fire as fast as a mile an hour at times. Flames raced to the crowns of tall firs and winds spit embers forward to start spot fires a mile or more ahead, with the bulk of the fire eventually gobbling up acreage in between. "The winds were so high and the smoke so great that the airplanes couldn’t fly on it," said Tom Valluzzi, a fire information officer for the U.S. Forest Service. "It was way too hot to do any kind of direct attack." The 865 firefighters assigned to the blaze clearly lost ground to the flames Sunday, when the day started with the fire considered just 5 percent contained. "We’re lucky if we’re at 5 percent now," Valluzzi said. "This isn’t good." The fire’s major push was due south parallel to the Illinois Valley, where firefighters hope to keep flames away from the rural area’s population centers of Cave Junction and Selma. "The biggest concerns are to keep it away from the homes and keep it out of the Illinois Valley," Valluzzi said. "If it gets into the valley, then we’d have to evacuate everybody." The Florence fire claimed its first structures Sunday when it destroyed two residences on Oak Flat as well as the McCaleb Ranch house in the Eight Dollar Mountain area west of Selma. Also lost were eight outbuildings. Close to 20 residents took Josephine County sheriff’s deputies’ advice to voluntarily evacuate, while hundreds of others were told Sunday to expect evacuation requests within the next day or two. Lois and Rolland Anderson, who manage the Kerby Trailer Park and Campground along Highway 199, watched the orange glow of flames about two miles from the small park where about 100 people live in 50 mobile homes. "We’ve been given 24- to 36-hour notice to get out, but we’ve all started sooner," Lois Anderson said. "The fire’s cresting the ridge about two miles away, but I’ve already got all my pictures and important stuff out of here. Everybody’s packing up and getting ready to go." Twenty-one fire crews, seven bulldozers, eight water tenders, 38 engines and six helicopters tried to work ahead of the fire to slow its progress, yet were never able to directly attack any of the fire’s southern hot flank, Valluzzi said. Plans for fighting the fire today would be similar, he said. Though if the fire turned eastward it would spell disaster for the Illinois Valley, firefighters are also concerned that a southwesterly growth could allow the Florence fire to back into the 17,000-acre Sour Biscuit fire about 15 miles away. And that would do more than simply create one big fire, Valluzzi said. Having a blaze that large with so many active areas would require immensely long fire lines and fire breaks to flank and corral the fire, he said. The Sour Biscuit and Florence fires both ignited from lightning bursts July 13. The Sour Biscuit fire already has gobbled up one smaller fire in its path, but it was burning largely in uninhabited forestland. The Eight Dollar Mountain Road was closed Sunday to all traffic. Fires in Northern California forced the closure Sunday night of Highway 199 from the Oregon-California border south to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. 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 © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S