Crews fight Weiser fire
By Jennifer Colton and Larry Meyer - Argus Observer
Monday, July 9, 2007 1:22 PM PDT
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| Flames from the Spring Fire consume sagebrush north of Weiser near Rock Creek Road Saturday. The blaze erupted during the weekend and forced the evacuation of several ranches north of Weiser. As of Sunday, the blaze was about 10 percent contained. |
Weiser - More than 26,500 acres of rangeland near Weiser is still in flames after two fires merged Sunday.
The combined blaze of the Spring and Warm Springs fires, covering Bureau of Land Management, state and private land about four miles north of Weiser, was 10 percent contained as of Sunday afternoon, according to a press release from the Payette National Forest.
The fires started Friday afternoon after an area dry-lightning storm, and the Weiser Rural Fire Department responded around 6 p.m. Saturday when the flames crossed into their fire district, Weiser Rural Fire Chief Nate Marvin said Sunday.
“We started out with two fires Saturday,” he said. “The one fire (the Warm Springs fire) was out of our district, and we didn’t have any resources for it. When it crossed into our district, we called for help from the SRV (Snake River Valley) fire chiefs.”
Over the weekend, crews from Fruitland, Payette, Ontario, Gem County, Wilder, Homedale, Cambridge and Vale responded to the fire, Marvin said.
“We had close to 50 people on the fire at different times, and that doesn’t count the local farmers and ranchers who were on it with bulldozers and such,” he said.
Crews from the Weiser Rural Fire focused on 16 endangered homes, Marvin said.
“We kept crews on the fire all night (Saturday) to patrol and watch for any flare-ups,” he said, adding crews will continue to patrol this morning. “If the wind changes, it could bring it back into the Monroe Creek area again like we did two years ago. We’ll wait and see what the winds do today.”
Jenkins Creek and Rock Creek roads are also closed while U.S. Highway 95 is “threatened,” the press release said.
“As long as it’s still a safety concern, those will stay closed,” Denise Cobb, public affairs officer for the Payette National Forest said, adding the Washington County Sheriff’s Office did evacuate 12 ranches Saturday.
With the amount of land burning, the Warm Springs fire is moving up the priority lists for both the BLM and the Forest Service, and crews and equipment are scheduled to arrive today from across the country, including Utah and Minnesota.
“Yesterday we were having a hard time getting resources because there were fires burning all over the U.S.,” Cobb said. “Now we have four single-engine air tankers and at least six engines on the fire, and more are coming. Right now we’re trying to get everyone organized out there. Between the aircraft, the engines and the dozers, we’re just trying to get everyone in place. We have about 100 people either on the fire or on their way to the fire.”
The estimated date of containment is Thursday, Cobb said, based on weather and available resources.
“They were more concerned yesterday when they evacuated the ranches, but I think they’re starting to get a handle on it now with more resources,” Cobb said.
A public information meeting will be held at 6 p.m. today at Weiser High School.
For more information, contact the Payette National Forest Public Affairs Office at (208) 634-0784.
In other area fires:
Several fires in Malheur County that were started Friday night by lightning have been contained, but the fire of main concern has grown to around 40,000 acres and has threatened some ranches.
According to Debbie Lyons, Vale Bureau of Land Management District public affairs officer, said the Clark Butte Fire was burning about 15 miles west of Jordan Valley.
“They had to protect some of the ranches, Lyons said.
Clark Butte fire incident commander Sam DeLong was asking the public to avoid using Danner Loop Road because of the fire traffic, dust and smoke in the area.
Elsewhere, the Saddle Butte Fire in the Leslie Gulch Area was contained Sunday evening at 5,500 acres, and the nearby Three Fingers fires was contained at about 45 acres. Another fire, south of Rome, was contained at 700 acres. Also, a fire on Lookout Mountain, in Baker County, was contained at about 300 acres.
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