Summary

The Josephine County Sheriff’s office removed and reduced some evacuation levels, described below. The little rain the area received has not reduced the fire danger. A hot front is moving into the area, with expected high winds. This weather will likely increase fire activity. Fuels remain very dry. Patrols are still finding abandoned illegal campfires. Campfires are illegal right now.

 Slater Fire: Crews have completed their work closer to Gasquet, so those crews moved to the southside of the fire on Highway 199. South of O’Brien, crews are mopping up and will be connecting more lines in the coming days. More firefighters and engines moved to the northernmost part of the fire, south of Holland, to continue mopping up. Crews are digging line directly along the fires edge near Browntown.  Firefighters continue widening control lines around the fire to protect communities, forests, and other resources.

 Devil Fire: Crews on the Devil fire have made good progress on the southeast side of the fire and are continuing to build line along the southwest side. 

El personal de bomberos se aprovechó de las recientes condiciones climáticas moderadas y se enfoco en la labor de limpieza, mejorando las líneas existentes, conduciendo las operaciones de estrategias de incendios y en la construcción de líneas alrededor del perímetro del fuego.

Se espera el desarrollo de condiciones críticas del clima en el incendio durante este fin de semana y al mismo tiempo el incremento de la actividad del fuego en el interior de este. También, se observará una actividad gradual y humeante que se convertirá en llamas visibles y un incendio más activo.

Incendio Slater

Los bomberos continúan enfocándose en la reducción de la amenaza del incendio a las comunidades cercanas y a la vez reforzar las líneas de control alrededor del perímetro del incendio. Las fuerzas de trabajo para infraestructuras permanecen trabajando alrededor de la comunidad, monitoreando las residencias afectadas y asegurando que no surjan problemas mayores.

Zona Norte: Los bomberos continúan limpiando y patrullando a lo largo del lado occidental de la Zona Norte. Métodos directos e indirectos serán utilizados para atar el fuego que había cruzado hacia el lado occidental del Highway 199. Se procederá con la quema de material de combustión cerca de las líneas de control y la quema de vegetación a lo largo del incendio en el área de Knopki Creek (al este del Highway 199), en las áreas oeste del Highway 199 y en las áreas South de Holland Loop a lo largo de Althouse Creek Road.

Summary
Fire personnel took advantage of the recent moderating weather conditions to focus on mopping up, improving existing lines, conducting strategic firing operations and constructing line around the perimeter of the fire.  Critical fire weather conditions are expected to develop over the weekend and interior fire activity is expected to increase.  Creeping and smoldering activity will likely transition to more visible flames and fire behavior.

Slater Fire
Firefighters continue to focus on reducing the wildfire threat to nearby communities and strengthening the control lines around the perimeter of the fire.  Structure task forces remain working around communities, monitoring impacted residences and ensuring there are no concerns.

North Zone: Firefighters continue mop up and patrol along the western side of the North Zone.  Direct and indirect methods will be used to tie in fire areas that had crossed to the western side of Highway 199.  Firing and blacklining will proceed in the Knopki Creek area (east of Highway 199), areas west of Highway 199 and the areas South of Holland Loop along Althouse Creek Road.
South Zone: Direct line construction and road prepping will continue above Thompson Creek and aerial ignitions will be utilized for strategic firing areas on the southeast side of the fire.

Devil Fire
The south edge of the fire has been patrolled, inspected and mopped up from Pacific Crest Trail west, towards Fort Goff Creek.   Crews continue to utilize both direct and indirect lines along the north and east sides of the fire. Contingency lines are in place.

Summary

Fire behavior analysts hiked several portions of the fire today and used drone flights to evaluate current fire behavior. With the recent precipitation, fire behavior decreased, and many areas are only showing a few smokes. Efforts will focus on mopping up, improving existing line and constructing line along the east and west flanks of the fire. Burnout operations were put on hold to allow damp fuels an extra day to dry out. Four additional crews, including the Rogue River Hotshots, and 15 engines will arrive on the fire tomorrow.

Slater Fire

North Zone: Firefighters continue to make progress on the north side of the fire from Highway 199 near Goodwish Creek Road to Browntown and many areas are moving into patrol status. Engines with the structure task forces will continue to work in and around the communities, monitoring impacted residences and ensuring there are no concerns.

Crews are building containment line along the southwest side of the fire from Knopki Creek to Sanger Lake. As weather conditions allow, crews will burnout to remove flammable material near the line. Line building continues along existing trails from the southeast corner of the Oregon Caves Monument toward the Sucker Creek area. Scouts are working to identify line location for the eastern side of the fire, and the best method to tie in the lines from the Monument to the line being built up from Thompson Creek.

Firefighters are focusing on two challenging locations: Monkey Ridge Road and the Lower Eight Gulch area southeast of Browntown. Both locations had several spotfires during Wednesday’s wind event. Firefighters were able to contain the spots and are continuing to construct line in preparation for small burnout operations to clean up unburned fuel.

South Zone: Mop up continues the community of Happy Camp. Crews will continue with line construction north of Thompson Creek. When conditions allow, crews will complete burnout operations to remove unburned fuel between indirect containment lines and the main fire.

Devil Fire:  The Devil Fire received no precipitation yesterday; however, relative humidity was high enough to cause a decrease in fire behavior. Firefighters are holding the fire south of the 1040 road and continuing to build containment line on the southwest side of the fire along Fort Goff Road.

Slater and Devil Fires Update

Thursday, September 24, 2020; 9:00 AM

Slater Fire – 152,232 acres and 24% containment

North Zone: Crews continue to hold and improve existing containment lines. Operations will focus on constructing the line between Knopki Creek and Sanger Lake.

The fire came up to the dozer line near Monkey Creek Ridge and is holding. Helicopters assisted crews by dropping water on the fire until winds were too high.

Crews continue to hold and improve the fire line along Highway 199, as well as north and east toward the Browntown area. High afternoon winds caused a spot fire over the line in the Eight Spur Gulch area; however, crews caught it at 20 acres. On the northeast side of the fire near Oregon Caves National Monument crews worked on improving existing trails to be used as containment lines. Highway 46 near the monument was closed from Milepost 10 to Milepost 18. The Sucker Creek area saw little new activity.

South Zone: Mop up continues in and around the community of Happy Camp. Crews will continue with direct line construction north of Thompson Creek. When conditions allow, crews will complete strategic firing operations to remove unburned fuel between indirect containment lines and the main fire. Fire progression to the southwest and west has slowed as the fire burns into the Natchez Fire scar.

Devil Fire – 8173 acres and 18% containment

Crews on the southwest corner of the fire were able to tie handline down into the creek drainage. The fire remains south of the 1040 Road and is holding to the west of the Butte Fork Trail. An additional crew was assigned and is working on the southwest edge of the fire.

Closures

The USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region has extended the Regional Order temporarily closing nine national forests in California, including the Six Rivers and Klamath (including the part in Oregon) National Forests. This decision will continue to be reviewed daily with changing fire and weather. The entire region is also under emergency fire restrictions.

Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has temporarily closed the Wild Rivers Range District and Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District. Find closure orders and maps at www.fs.usda/gov/alerts/rogue- siskiyou/alerts-notices.

The Bureau of Land Management Medford District temporarily closed many areas of public lands to support fire suppression efforts and to prevent new fire starts. Maps of the closure areas are available on the Bureau of Land Management's website: www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire-and- aviation/regional-info/oregon-washington/fire-restrictions.

El Incendio Slater alcanzo un tamaño de 150,230 acres y se encuentra a un 24% de contención. El Incendio Devil tiene una extensión de 7,784 acres y permanece a un 18% de contención. El día de ayer a las 6 p.m., el Grupo para el Manejo de Incidente, Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 2, asumió el comando completo de los Incendios Slater y Devil (Zonas Norte y Sur). Los bomberos continúan progresando en el mantenimiento e improvisación de las líneas de contención en ambos incendios donde la mayor parte del crecimiento del mismo se debe a las actividades paulatinas y de respaldado.
 

El día de hoy se esperan condiciones críticas en el clima, con vientos afuera del suroeste de 25 millas por hora con ráfagas de 40.

The Slater fire is 150,230 acres and 24 percent contained. The Devil fire is 7,784 acres and remains 18 percent contained. Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 2 assumed command of the entire Slater and Devil Fires (north and south zones) at 6 p.m. yesterday. Firefighters continue to make good progress holding and improving containment lines on both fires and most of the growth on the fire is due to backing and creeping. Critical fire weather is expected today with winds out of the southwest at 25 miles per hour with gusts to 40.

Resumen:

El incendio Slater alcanza un tamaño de 148,677 acres y este contenido a un 22 %. La oficina del Sheriff en Josephine County ha reducido el Nivel de Evacuación 2 “Prepárese”, en el área de Dick George Road. Greenview Drive permanece en un Nivel de Evacuación 3 “IR”

Para mayor información, visite el website de la Oficina del Sheriff en Josephine County.

Slater Fire

Zona Norte: Se observa la presencia del humo en áreas alejadas donde la quema todavía está en pie, el fenómeno de inversión se está dando y los vientos desde la parte alta continuan soplando. Los bomberos se encuentran trabajando tan cerca como les es posible del fuego con el fin de evitar el crecimiento del incendio. El movimiento del incendio hacia el suroeste y sur ha disminuido su velocidad ya que el fuego está quemando áreas que ya fueron afectadas en el pasado por otros incendios. Los bomberos trabajando a mano y los que trabajan con bulldozers, han estado trabajando al Oeste del Highway 199 para construir líneas de control indirectas. Estos ya casi completaron las líneas que van desde el Highway 199 a lo largo de Monkey Ridge y regresándose alrededor de la parte más alta del incendio hacia el Highway 199. La labor de limpieza está por terminar sobre el lado noroeste del incendio. Los bomberos que trabajan de noche monitorean las operaciones de quema al sur de Holland para asegurar el eje del fuego. Los bomberos están reforzando las líneas indirectas en la sección noreste y al sur de Oregon Caves con el fin de proteger el Monumento Nacional.

Zona Sur: Con muchas líneas negras a lo largo del lado sur del incendio adentro y alrededor de Happy Camp, los bomberos continúan patrullando y reasignando equipos a otras áreas del incendio.

Los bomberos continúan limpiando y monitoreando a lo largo del Highway 96, mientras ayudan a que el fuego se regrese adentro del drenaje de Thompson Creek. Por el momento se mantiene la protección detrás de las residencias de Seiad y los bomberos se han estacionados en el área con el objetivo de defender la línea. En la noche de ayer, un vuelo con vista infrarroja, mostro que las huellas del incendio abarcan los 150,230 acres.

Incendio Devil:  El fuego continua consumiendo en su mayor parte en el suroeste. El día de hoy, se podría dar un incremento de los vientos de 15-20 millas por hora, originarios del suroeste, creando la posibilidad de un crecimiento en la actividad del incendio. Sin embargo, se espera una pequeña cantidad de lluvia por la noche del día Miércoles o Jueves. En la noche de ayer se realizó un vuelo con visión infrarroja el cual mostro que el incendio alcanzo un tamaño de 7,784 acres.

El grupo Interinstitucional de Manejo de Incidente, Team 10 de California, está saliendo y el grupo de Manejo de Incidente, Northern Rockies Team 2, asumirá el comando total de los incendios de Slater y Devil (zona Sur y Norte) a las 6:00p.m. del día de hoy,

Summary

The Slater fire is 148,677 acres and 22 percent contained. The Devil fire is 7,458 acres and is 18 percent contained. The Josephine County Sheriff’s office reduced the Dick George Road evacuation level to Level 2 “Be Set.” Greenview Drive remains in evacuation Level 3 “Go” status. Cave Junction remains at Level 1. For more information, visit the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office website.

Slater Fire

North Zone: Smoke was visible today as isolated interior areas of the fire burned as the inversion lifted and ridgetop winds blew. Crews are working as close to the fire as they can to keep the fire from growing. The fire's movement to the southwest and south has slowed as the fire burns into old fire scars. Hand crews and dozers have been working west of Highway 199 to construct indirect control lines. Crews have almost completed the lines from Highway 199 along Monkey Ridge and back around the top of the fire to Highway 199. Mop up activities are nearly complete on the northwest side of the fire. Night crews monitored the burn operations south of Holland to secure that edge of the fire. Firefighters are reinforcing indirect lines in the northeast section, south of Oregon Caves, to protect the monument.

South Zone: With a lot of black line along the south side of the fire in and around Happy Camp, crews continue to patrol and reassign equipment to other areas of the fire. Firefighters continue to mop up and monitor along Highway 96, while helping fire back down into the Thompson Creek drainage. Protection remains behind residences in Seiad for now and firefighters are stationed there to defend that line. Last night an infrared flight showed the fire’s footprint is 150,230 acres.

Devil Fire:  The fire continues to burn mainly to the southwest. Winds could pick up to 15-20 miles per hour today coming from the southwest, with a chance that fire activity could increase. However, a small amount of rain is expected Wednesday night or Thursday. Last night an infrared flight showed the fire’s size is 7,784 acres. Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 2 will assume command of the entire Slater and Devil Fires (north and south zones) at 6 p.m. today, as California Interagency Incident Management Team 10 transitions out.

SLATER FIRE PARTIAL REDUCTION IN EVACUATION LEVEL