Sean C. Morgan
Editor’s note: An Oregon Department of Forestry informational meeting on the Middle Fork Fire was originally scheduled for Tuesday, will be held at 7 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 6, at the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District office, 1099 Long St. ODF officials will provide an overview and take questions on the fire, the largest in more than a decade in the Sweet Home area.
Of The New Era
In a single weekend, fire has engulfed about 1,090 acres of woodlands near Green Peter Reservoir, about 14 miles from Sweet Home.
Firefighters responded to a report of the fire from a lookout or watchman Friday morning to find a fire between 15 and 25 acres. That fire quickly grew to at least 600 acres by Friday night and to 700 by Saturday afternoon.
The Middle Fork Fire is burning on the peninsula between the Quartzville and Middle Santiam arms of the reservoir on land owned by Seneca Jones, Giustina Resources, Weyerhaeuser and the Bureau of Land Management. Some smaller land owners might also be affected.
The fire started south of Rocky Top, Oregon Department of Forestry Spokesman Tom Berglund said. Rocky Top was the site of several lightning fires that burned more than 30 acres last month along with roughly 70 acres on the nearby Boulder Creek Fire.
The area is steep with pockets of slash and “reprod,” Berglund said. “I heard them talking about spots they couldn’t get to.”
Since the fire started, it has grown around Rocky Top, Spokesman Chris Friend said. The fire is creeping downhill on the ground on the west side of the peninsula through BLM old growth toward the reservoir.
“That’s a big challenge working down in that area,” Friend said. The timber has a lot of fuel, rotting logs and debris, on the forest floor.
“We’re hoping to catch it before it gets all the way down to the lake,” Friend said.
Fire officials were concerned about the fire reaching the lake and jumping that arm of the lake, Berglund said. If it did jump the lake, they believed the fire would burn uphill to the west and north.
The fire was about 30 percent contained as of Monday morning, Friend said. “that means there is some line around the fire, either dozer lines or hand lines. We do have areas we’re still definitely working both with hand crews and dozers.”
ODF’s biggest priority is finishing those fire lines, Friend said.
The winds shifted to a west and southwest wind after Friday, Friend said. That wind “is not a hot, dry wind, like the east wind.”
Usually, the east winds are strong, intense and fast, he said. “We had some strong (east) winds Friday when this thing started.”
A combination of things helped this fire grow rapidly, including lightning storms, dry conditions and the hot east wind, Friend said. “Combine it and you have a recipe for rapid fire growth.”
As of Monday, “it’s pretty dry,” he said. “Not quite as dry as it has been, and temperatures have been moderating.”
Quartzville Road and the Quartzville Corridor remained closed at Green Peter Dam. Emergency workers evacuated the corridor Friday.
The closure includes all recreation facilities on Green Peter Reservoir, Whitcomb Creek County Park, Thistle Creek Boat Ramp and all camping along Quartzville Road and the shoreline.
Also, Lewis Creek Park on Foster Lake was closed to the public Friday so it could be used as a camp for firefighters.
About 370 personnel are assigned to the fire, Friend said.
Response the first day included four air tankers and four helicopters.
Fire crews are doing well with the resources they have, but they are having difficulty getting enough men and equipment because 13 other uncontrolled fires are burning in the Washington and Oregon area, Friend said.
Of those fires, the Middle Fork Fire is ranked number four priority, Friend said, which is good; but it doesn’t mean the firefighters are able to get all of the resources they need.
This is a problem everywhere because of the number of fires burning in the Northwest and around the nation.
One firefighter has been injured, Friend said. The firefighter fell down a steep hill and cracked a rib, but no serious injuries have been reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.