9.1.23 News Release
Medford, Ore – The Anvil Fire was reported on August 25, 2023 at 12:23 in the afternoon, a few hours after overnight thunderstorms left thousands of cloud to ground lightning strikes across the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
The fire, initially estimated at five acres, was burning in the Grassy Knob Wilderness, an area of intensely steep, rugged terrain with Port-Orford-cedars that can exceed 6 feet in diameter. Since it’s designation in 1984, there have been no documented wildfires in this Wilderness. The last recorded fire in Grassy Knob was in 1939 - it was 43 acres and it occurred 3/4 of a mile east of where the Anvil Fire is currently burning. The unforgiving terrain of the wilderness is notorious. A recent search for a missing person in the wilderness area taxed Curry County Sheriff’s Office resources heavily and reminded locals of the risks of recreating in such rugged roadless areas.
On the afternoon of Friday, August 25th, a plane load of smokejumpers launched to the newly identified incident, but they were unable to find a suitable jump location in the dense vegetation and dramatic slope gradient. Tree canopies in the fire area exceed 200 feet in height and openings in the giant cedars are few and far between. An attempt to send rappellers to the fire was halted when helicopters couldn’t fly out of the Rogue Valley in the dense smoke from other large fires in the area. Late into Friday afternoon and evening, air resources, which included two Very Large Air Tankers (VLATs), two MAFFs (C-130 Military tankers) and 4 Large Air Tankers (LATs) dropped more than 40,000 gallons of retardant around the fire in a “box” that slowed fire spread overnight.
On the morning of Saturday, August 26th, the Anvil Fire was approximately 20 acres in size. A second attempt to send 12 rappellers was successful and these highly trained, elite firefighters were dropped into the fire area to begin building containment line and constructing helispots for better access and medical evacuation while other ground resources made their way to the location. Coos Forest Protective Association (CFPA) provided heavy equipment to re-open a “cherry stem,” a dead-end access road, up to the wilderness boundary. This allowed crews on loan from the nearby Flat Fire to gain access on foot over more than a mile of intensely thick foliage and extreme slopes. Air tankers continued to drop retardant around the perimeter to slow fire growth and allow rappellers to build hand line. Concurrently, Southwest Area Incident Management Team 3 was assigned to the Flat Fire. They assumed command of the Anvil Fire at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night.
With the help of two 20-person Type 2 Initial Attack crews, the 12 rappellers who had remained on scene overnight were able to construct containment line around 100% of the fire, which measured 25.6 acres by Sunday night, August 27th. Gaining access and completing handline around the fire in incredibly difficult terrain within such a short time frame was a monumental task. Hard work, good coordination, support from CFPA and the Flat Fire resources was vital to the success of the operation. Crews remained on scene overnight Sunday to improve containment lines, remove hazard trees, mop up and improve helispots.
Fire behavior on Sunday and Monday was moderated due to lower temperatures and favorable winds, but some fire spread occurred as burning logs and other materials would roll down the steep slopes and across containment lines. Firefighters on scene rapidly addressed these small slop overs, keeping the fire largely within containment lines until Monday night.
Just before 2:00 p.m. on Monday, August 28th, a call came into Rogue Valley Interagency Communication Center that there were two injured firefighters on the Anvil Fire. Roll out from the fire, which had been challenging containment lines, also posed a threat to the more than 50 firefighters around the fire’s edge who had been working tirelessly on brutally steep terrain to hold the line. A rock rolled out from the fire’s edge and struck one firefighter, causing a fractured fibula. Another nearby crewmember also suffered a minor injury to the hand. Firefighters on scene reported multiple similar near misses as massive burning timbers or smoldering rocks would fall, roll and slide downhill, picking up momentum as they went, and lighting unburned fuels along the way. The call to dispatch triggered an immediate request for medical evacuation of the injured firefighter by air, as it would take several hours to carry the patient out from the steep drainage, putting multiple other firefighters at risk and leaving the fire unattended.
Attempts to launch a short-haul equipped helicopter out of Sunriver, as well as a National Guard hoist-capable ship in Roseburg were canceled due to the thick smoke that once again made flight out of the Rogue Valley impossible. Coast Guard hoist ship 6524 based in North Bend was able to accept the mission and launched to the fire area just before 3:00 p.m., less than an hour after the initial report of the injury.
As the Coast Guard hoist ship neared the fire area, all other aircraft were requested to clear the air and stand down for the duration of the rescue mission. Firefighters on the ground gave aid to the patient and moved them to a location to rendezvous with the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer who would be inserted into the forest just outside of the fire area.
At 4:57 p.m, the Rescue Swimmer was on the ground treating the patient and preparing for extraction. Rotor wash, or heavy winds from the propellors on the helicopter, had pushed hot embers across the containment line. The gusting rotor winds fanned the fire across the drainage and upslope on the other side. As the fire made a run up the hill, firefighting aircraft re-engaged to drop buckets on the area. The Coast Guard ship went to refuel and returned to extract the patient and Rescue Swimmer, once again calling for a halt of aerial firefighting and the slop over continued to move uphill while ground crews worked to contain it.
Just before 7:00 p.m. on Monday night, the injured firefighter had been safely extracted and was being treated in Gold Beach. Rappellers and crews who had been working deep in the drainages of the Elk River hiked out to the helispot they had constructed while fire managers and the Incident Management Team were faced with evaluating the risk to life and safety of crews vs. the likelihood of successfully catching the newly invigorated fire. The roll-out injury was likely to be repeated if crews were sent back into build direct line. Extraction time for the injured firefighter was a necessary loss of several hours of operational engagement on the lines, and with predicted wind and weather conditions, had a high probability of reoccurrence.
While the rescue mission was a success, weather conditions and terrain aligned perfectly on Monday night to give the slop over on the Anvil Fire an opportunity to gain a foothold. By Tuesday afternoon, the fire had continued to move around, challenging air and ground resources. On Wednesday, low relative humidities and optimal burning conditions allowed the fire to make a hard push toward the south. A large column was visible for miles around. Additional air and ground resources have been assigned to the Anvil Fire as a high priority for suppression efforts on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
