Single Publication

Smith River Complex North update for Wednesday, September 6, 2023 

GRANTS PASS, OR – This morning, Northwest Incident Management Team 13 transferred command to the Alaska Incident Management Team for the north portion of the Smith River Complex, which is primarily located on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Southwest Area Incident Management Team 2 continues to manage the south end of the fire, largely on the Six Rivers National Forest in California. 

During Northwest Team 13’s tenure, 850 firefighters assigned to the Smith River Complex North suppression operation worked more than 216,750 hours building 129 miles of fire line to halt the spread of the fire. Helicopters and fixed-wing resources dropped more than 201,065 gallons of retardant along the fire’s edge, enabling firefighters to attack the fire more directly. 

The Alaska Team will continue to aggressively fight the fire, building on strategies and successes established by the outgoing team. Fire weather is forecast to remain calm throughout the day, with warm temperatures and light winds. Moderated fire activity similar to Tuesday is expected for today, with increased drying throughout the area. While efforts continue on direct fire lines, contingency line construction is ongoing along Forest Road 1107 in a general north-south alignment. 

The Del Norte County Sheriff's Office stated US-199 is now OPEN to all traffic but continues to have hazardous conditions and congestion with fire personnel. An 8-mile segment between Sandy Beach and Knopki Creek has one-way, piloted traffic control. Delays of 20 to 40 minutes are possible. The Sheriff is asking residents to refrain from any unnecessary travel. Local roads will be very active with firefighters and firefighting apparatus, especially between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. For additional information on road conditions, please see the Caltrans site and Oregon Department of Transportation's TripCheck site. 

Monitor Rogue Valley Emergency Management site and sign up for evacuation alerts and updates at https://rvem.org. An interactive Fire First Response Map showing evacuation areas can also be found there.  

Area and road closures are in effect Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and Bureau of Land Management Coos Bay District have issued for the Smith River Complex. A campfire ban remains in place for BLM and forest lands, and the Wild section of the Rogue River. Visit the forest website https://bit.ly/RRSNFAlerts or https://www.blm.gov/orwafire for additional information.