7/23/2018 South Umpqua Complex AM Update

A community meeting will be held at the Tiller Fire Department this evening at 6:30 PM. Fire officials will explain the fire situation and suppression effort and respond to questions. The northwest transport wind that had kept the South Umpqua valley clear despite all the fire activity during the past week shifted to the southwest on Sunday. The wind caused the valley to fill with smoke, and an inversion ensured that the smoke didn’t leave. The weather report calls for a change back to the northwest flow that should scour the smoke out of the valley later today. The same inversion that kept the smoke in the valley also affected fire behavior. “The inversion acts as a lid,” explains Fire Behavior Analyst Katie Hetts, “and the fire builds in intensity under the lid. Then, when the lid is removed, the fire “boils over”, so to speak, and firefighters often experience a sudden increase in fire behavior.” As the inversion lifted over the fires yesterday, the increased fire behavior affected all the fires remaining in the South Umpqua Complex. The Snowshoe Fire expanded mostly to the south, but also to the east and west. The Miles Fire grew mostly to the north, but the lines held on the west and south sides. The Columbus/HD fires expanded on both the northwest and southeast sides. Firefighters are anticipating elevated fire activity again today, and planning accordingly. Firefighters have reduced the threat from the Railroad Gap Fire to the point that it is now in patrol status, so most of its resources are being distributed to other fires. Some resources will be used for preplanning in the vicinity of the West Fork of Trail creek, ahead of the Snowshoe Fire. The forecast calls for continued hot and dry weather in the foreseeable future, so extreme caution is called for during any activities in forested or grassy areas.

Fire at a Glance Forest Road and Trail Closures remain in effect. Fire Size:  4926 acres Containment: 10% Location: 45 miles southeast of Roseburg, Oregon (Tiller Ranger District) Cause: Lightning Personnel: 980 Resources Crews: 29 Aircraft: 2 Type 1 heavy helicopters 1 Type 2 medium helicopter 2 Type 3 light helicopters Engines: 32 Dozers: 8 Tenders: 18 Fire Information: 541-825-3295 SouthUmpquaComplexFire@gmail.com Inciweb: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5940/ Facebook: Umpqua National Forest