9/22/2017 Miller Creek Complex

September 22, 2017 – 9:00 a.m.

                                                                       

Acres: 36,496  

Percent Contained: 70%   

Start Date: August 14, 2017    

Cause: Lightning

Total Personnel: 284

Location: Private land and federal land on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest 20 miles southwest of Medford, OR.

Fire Information: 541-838-0770 (new phone number), Email address: millercomplex2017@gmail.com

A Type 3 Incident Management Team (IMT) assumed management responsibilities for the Miller Complex at 6:00 a.m. today. The Type 3 IMT remains committed to public and firefighter safety as the top priority. Steep slopes and rugged terrain make evacuating an injured firefighter extremely difficult, and fire management decisions and strategies are based on this and other risk-management factors.

“We continue to assess opportunities for indirect and direct control lines as the terrain and fire activity allow,” said Incident Commander Trainee Jimmer Hunt. “As with any suppression activity, we are weighing probability of success of the operation against firefighter exposure and determining the best course of action moving forward.”

The fire area received significantly less rainfall than other areas of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Minimal fire activity occurred yesterday, and fire behavior will likely be reduced to smoldering and creeping today. A transition towards warmer and drier conditions starts today with temperatures expected to be 5 to 10 degrees above normal by early next week. Expect to see increased fire activity in the Middle Fork Applegate River drainage and Dutch Creek area.

With a warmer weather building over the fire area, fire managers will identify opportunities to limit fire spread on the Abney Fire. A combination of natural barriers, road systems and containment lines will be implemented in the Dutch Creek area on the eastern flank and in the Slick Rock and Bear Wallow areas to the west. In the Joe Bar area, the fire has now backed down to the creek as anticipated. The warning to evacuate was lifted September 19 and residents were notified.

Firefighters will patrol the Burnt Peak Fire to ensure that it remains within established containment lines. On the Creedence Fire, crews and equipment will be utilized to backhaul or remove equipment no longer needed and also repair the impacts from the fire suppression effort. These repair measures include: building water bars, covering hand lines and dozer lines and chipping woody debris.

Closures:

The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has a closure area in place https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/rogue-siskiyou/alerts-notices. The Bureau of Land Management has closed the Grayback Mountain Trailhead. For Klamath National Forest closures see https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/klamath/alerts-notices.

Miller Complex Information Websites:

Inciweb - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5514/#

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MillerComplexFires/ and https://facebook/R6RRSNF

Miller Complex Abney Fire, south of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5511/

For all wildfires on the Rogue River-Siskiyou NF, Joint Information Center Blog - http://swojic.blogspot.com/