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Flat Fire Activity

Size: 34,242 acres             Start Date:  July 15, 2023                Point of origin: 2 miles southeast of Agness, OR

Containment: 70%           Total personnel: 376

Resources: 6 crews, 3 helicopters, 12 engines, 4 water tenders, 11 pieces of heavy equipment

Fire crews are still doing suppression repair and working with Resource Advisors around some culturally sensitive areas. On the north perimeter the focus is around Raspberry Mountain and on the eastern side near Game Lake. Suppression repair may include pulling in berms from heavy equipment lines with excavators and hand crews, installing water bars, re-seeding disturbed areas, chipping branches and small trees, and other repair work. Unburned fuel pockets continue to burn out, and there is the potential for some re-burn where vegetation still holds dried leaves. Firefighters are patrolling and monitoring around the fire perimeter and keeping an eye on the eastern, uncontained side. Initial Attack resources are staged and ready to assist the Forest if needed.

Anvil Fire Activity

Size: 299 acres                   Start Date:  August 25, 2023          Point of origin: 8 miles east of Port Orford, OR                                

Containment: 0%  Total personnel: 117

Resources: 4 crews, 1 helicopter, 5 engines, 3 water tenders, 1 piece of heavy equipment

A break in the weather allowed fire managers to conduct multiple reconnaissance flights over the Anvil Fire yesterday. They identified several ridges close to the fire’s edge for potential direct attack (building fireline at the fire’s edge). Today, firefighters will hike in and ground truth those areas for feasibility and safety of implementation. Helicopters dropped water on the western edge yesterday to slow fire spread. The drops were done methodically, from the bottom of the drainage towards the top, to minimize rollout, which can cause additional fire spread. Rollout occurs when burning logs, stumps, and other forest debris rolls downhill, starting spot fires and posing a risk to firefighters. Fire managers are identifying indirect lines (creating a fireline a distance from the fire’s edge with a higher probability of success and lower risk to firefighters) and developing an implementation plan. Firefighters have begun removing hazardous fuels from around structures in the Elk River Subdivision and identifying additional needs, such as sprinkler systems with hoses and pumps. Crews will continue assessing Elk River and Sixes River roads to determine point protection implementation needs. Property owners can expect to see firefighters in these areas.

Weather: A few showers may occur over the fire areas this morning. Then, a slow warming and drying trend will occur over the next several days. This weather change could result in increased fire behavior.

Smoke: The smoke outlook for the Smith River Complex and surrounding fires, including the Flat Fire, can be found at https://tinyurl.com/smokeoutlook

Closures: Closures: U.S. Highway 199 has been reopened to all traffic using a pilot car system north of Gasquet to the Oregon border in California. Expect delays on this route. The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (RRSNF) has issued a closure order. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/RRSNFAlerts

Evacuations: Level 1 “Get Ready” evacuation status is in place for areas near the Flat Fire. Level 2 “Get Set“ evacuation status is in place along the Elk River from about milepost 4 to the USFS Butler Bar Campground near the Anvil Fire.

Restrictions: There are currently Level 3 Public Use Restrictions (PUR) in the area. Visit https://bit.ly/RRSNFAlerts for more information. There is a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over the fire areas. Please do not fly unmanned aircraft (drones) in the fire vicinity. If you fly, we can't.