Boze and Rainbow Creek Fire Update 9-28-09
Incident: Boze and Rainbow Creek Wildfire
Released: 9/28/2009
TILLER, OR - September 28, 2009 - The National Incident Management (NIMO) Type 1 team continues to manage the Boze Fire, located 9 miles southwest of Toketee Falls, and the Rainbow Creek Fire, located in and near the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness Area.
Very low humidity, shifting winds and an unstable atmosphere encouraged the Bose and Rainbow Creek Fires to gain a total of 1184 acres (about two square miles). The Boze Fire expanded in the northwest corner of the fire in the West Fork of Prong Creek. The fire crossed the 2715 road but did not cast spot fires far into the Copeland Creek drainage. Crews activated a sprinkler system around Buckhead Campground to wet down the area as a precaution. The fire has not reached the campground. In the northeast corner, the fire spotted across the French Junction area on both sides of Road 28 and burned toward Mud Lake. The Boze Fire is now measured at 10,092 acres. The Rainbow Creek Fire expanded on its southern and eastern edges but did not threaten any critical areas, and has burned 3, 818 acres.
The weather forecast today calls for continued drier and warmer air and shifting winds, with the potential for fire spread peaking in the middle to late afternoon. By evening humidity will rise and temperatures will begin to drop significantly. Around midnight there is an increasing potential for light rain. Tuesday there is a strong chance of rain and much cooler temperatures.
"This is not yet the season-ending weather we need to finally put out this fire, but it will allow us to significantly reduce our risk", said Incident Commander Tom Cable. "We'll take all the help from the weather that we can get, but we can't relax our guard just yet." Firefighters and equipment remain ready to respond if the fire poses significant risk to recreational developments.
Resources assigned to the Boze and Rainbow Creek Fires include: 10 crews, 1 heavy-lift helicopter, 2 medium helicopters, 2 light helicopters, 16 engines, 1 dozer, 7 water tenders, 210 overhead and 2 camp crews. Several engines are assigned to patrol the fire area at night. In total, 551 people are assigned to managing these fires.
Local hunters may find their favorite hunting areas in the upper South Umpqua River inaccessible due to road closures. With rifle season quickly approaching, hunters need to plan ahead to access other locations. A large area and road closure has been put in place to provide for public and firefighter safety. Additionally, public-use restrictions in the North Umpqua, Diamond Lake and Tiller ranger districts prohibit building, maintaining, tending or using a fire, campfire, or stove fire outside of developed recreation sites such as campgrounds, lookouts and trailheads. Liquefied and bottle gas stoves and heaters may be used for cooking and heating. Please visit the Umpqua National Forest website at www.fs.fed.us/r6/umpqua for the detailed description of the closure area and public-use restrictions. The public is asked to drive slowly and use caution near the South Umpqua River area and to please stay off closed roads.
