8/5/2015 Stouts Fire EVENING Update

Firefighters spent today focusing their efforts on connecting fire control lines and doing burnout operations along the east and south flanks. Crews on the fire’s west and north flanks installed hoses delivering water across greater distances, and strengthening the control lines. Late afternoon winds pushed hard against containment lines on the northeast and south.
 
Airplanes, specifically heavy air tankers, and seven helicopters supported ground firefighters throughout the day over the Stouts Creek Fire because the smoke cleared away earlier than usual today, so the aircraft could help sooner than normal. Another helicopter is on standby to respond to medical emergencies. The air-tankers were used as the fire picked up this afternoon and evening.

“We’re a tough people in Douglas County,” said County Commissioner Tim Freeman. “It’s going to take a while, but know the county is throwing all the resources it can bear to support the firefighters. We’ve gotten through these tough fires before and we’ll do it on this one.”

The fire is 15 percent contained. Tonight’s infrared mapping will provide a more accurate number of acres burned. Crews are working day and night shifts with over 1,400 personnel assigned to the fire.

Two task forces of structural fire protection firefighters and engines, from Lane and Lincoln Counties, continued supporting the suppression effort. One was working around Upper Cow Creek Road and the other around Drew. Crews reduced shrubs, brush, and other vegetation to make homes more defensible against fire. Crews strategically placed portable water ponds, pumps, hoses and sprinklers among the homes as a contingency measure.
Smoke will likely continue drifting from the Stouts Creek Fire and possibly other fires. The smoke may become dense later into the evening as winds increase and if crew do controlled burnouts. Most of the smoke will drift in a south and southeast directions from the fire. For updates on smoke density and public health advisories, see www.oregonsmoke.blogspot.com.

The evacuation levels remained the same throughout today. The evacuation levels in the Upper Cow Creek Road area, Milo and Drew remained at Level 2 (Set). A small area along the Tiller-Trail Highway north of Trail in Jackson County is under a Level 1 alert.
The Stouts Creek Fire is burning on private timberlands, other tracts of private land, Bureau of Land Management and Umpqua National Forest lands. The Stouts Creek Fire is being managed cooperatively by the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal and the U.S. Forest Service. Wildland fire suppression direction is coming from the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Incident Management Team 1. Structural fire protection is being handled by task forces under the command of the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Green Team.