Single Publication

Flat Fire

Size: 34,242 acres

Start Date: July 15, 2023

Point of origin: 2 miles southeast of Agness, OR

Containment: 58%

Total personnel: 381

Resources: 11 crews l 3 helicopters l 17 engines l 3 bulldozers l 16 water tenders l 4 masticators

Today’s Activities: The fire remains within its footprint giving crews the ability to make meaningful progress with suppression efforts. Ongoing repair work, including by Oak Flats campground, roads, and trails helps stabilize the area after suppression work and minimizes the fire’s impact to natural resources. Ground resources along with aerial support continue patrolling and monitoring. On Sunday, crews discovered some heat on the south side of the fire and quickly suppressed those areas. An Initial Attack (IA) group consisting of several Flat Fire resources continue to support the local unit on the Cedar fire located north of the Flat Fire.

Anvil Fire

Size: 25.6 acres

Start Date: August 25, 2023

Point of origin: 8 miles east of Port Orford, OR

Containment: 0%

Total personnel: 52

Resources: 2 crews l 2 helicopters l 12 rappelers l 1 engine l 1 bulldozer

Today’s Activities: Good progress continues to be made on the Anvil Fire as ground crews and aircraft work in tandem to move toward full suppression. The fire is located in steep, and in some areas, inaccessible terrain making access difficult by ground. CFPA provided support with their local dozer early Saturday to clear an old roadbed outside of the wilderness boundary, gaining an additional 1.25 miles of drivable access to deliver crews and supplies cutting the hike in half. Working with the 12 Rappelers on scene, resources were able to complete line around the fire by end of shift last night. Aircraft continue to support the incident, but low visibility has limited work at times during the operational periods. No dozer work will be conducted within the wilderness. On Monday, crews assessed retardant line, focused on securing fire edge, and mopped up. Additional resources, including hand crews and masticators arrived on the fire Monday. The fire, located within the Grassy Knob Wilderness is burning in old growth timber approximately 23 miles northwest of the Flat Fire.

Weather: Milder weather over the next few days should help keep fire activity to a minimum due to cooler temperatures and increased humidity levels. A dry cold front will bring slightly cooler temperatures Monday and Tuesday along with a slight increase in northwest winds.

Smoke: Smoke lingering within the area is moving north from the Smith River Complex and settling within some nearby communities, like Brookings. The smoke outlook for the Smith River Complex is available at: https://bit.ly/SWORNWCALsmoke

Closures: U.S. Highway 199 has been closed north of Gasquet due to fires on the Six River National Forest, please use U.S. Route 101 to SR 42 for all travel to and from the Rogue Valley. Forest Service and BLM roads should not be used as alternate routes due to emerging fire activity. The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (RRSNF) has issued a closure order for the fire area including trails, roads, and a portion of the Illinois River. Visit https://bit.ly/RRSNFAlerts for more information.

Evacuations: Level 1 “Get Ready” evacuation status in place for areas in the vicinity of the Flat Fire. Link to more information: https://bit.ly/CurryCoEM

Restrictions: Fire danger is currently extreme; the RRSNF is implementing Level 3 Public Use Restrictions (PUR). Level 3 PURs on the Wild Section of the Rogue River have been implemented by the RRSF, Medford BLM and ODF. More information: https://bit.ly/RRSNFnews