Fire Update for Wednesday, Sept 30th; Archie Creek Fire Now 73% Contained

(Incident Command) Special Notes: The Douglas Forest Protective Association will increase the Industrial Fire Precaution Level to IFPL II (two) on all private, county, state, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs lands that are protected by DFPA. The increase to IFPL II will take effect tomorrow, October 1st, at 12:01 AM. Dry and warm weather with near record high temperatures will persist through tomorrow and cause unburned pockets of live and dead vegetation, needle cast and piled logs and stumps throughout both fires to burn and produce smoke. Firefighters are keeping an eye out for increased fire behavior from the ground and from the air and will cool any threats to firelines. No fire growth is expected. Smoke from California fires may be visible at upper air levels. Oregon State University Extension Service Fire Program is hosting a post-fire webinar tomorrow, October 1st from 3-5 pm for residents affected by wildfires, including information on technical/financial assistance. Registration: https://oregonstate.zoom.us/…/reg…/WN_3J8OS8dWTDGOXC5YHy1TtQ Archie Creek Fire: The Archie Creek Fire is east of Roseburg in the North Umpqua corridor on state, private and federal land. It has burned 131,542 acres and is 73 percent contained. There are currently 836 personnel assigned. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Personnel and Equipment: 20 Type 2 hand crews, 4 helicopters, 1 fixed wing air attack, 53 engines, 23 bulldozers, 17 water tenders, 3 masticators, 5 skidgines, 14 excavators, 5 chippers, and 11 dump trucks. With yesterday’s hot and dry weather, a hot spot flared up in steep ground on the northeast flank of the fire in the Zig Zag Creek and upper Trapper Creek areas. Helicopters dropped water on the flareups to cool them down. Today firefighters will continue to patrol, mop up, make sure firelines are cold, backhaul fire hose and other equipment and assess and continue suppression repair. Firefighters will patrol and mop up around buildings throughout the fire, including along Little River Road, Glide, Idleyld Park, Rock Creek and the Scott Mountain Area to Susan Creek. Firefighters will continue removing hazard trees along Rock Creek Road, Wright Creek and Cool Water area to make areas safe. Crews are monitoring the northeastern flank of the fire in the Zig Zag Creek and Upper Trapper Creek areas and will use helicopters to make water drops as necessary. Chippers, excavators and dump trucks are on hand to do suppression repair as conditions allow. Suppression repair ensures actions taken to fight the fire do not have long-term impacts on natural resources. Examples of suppression repair work that has begun are installing water bars on firelines (especially on steep slopes) for proper drainage. On Umpqua National Forest and Bureau of Land Management-managed lands, crews are chipping brush along drainage ditches and hauling out trees felled to construct firelines. Suppression repair work is done in concert with agency resource advisors to meet resource protection standards. Fire suppression repair is for damage caused fighting the fire, not for damage from the fire itself. Thielsen Fire: The Thielsen Fire is located five miles north of Crater Lake near Diamond Lake Resort. It has burned 9,974 acres and is 69 percent contained. There are currently 255 personnel assigned. Cause: unknown. Personnel and Equipment: 5 Type 2 hand crews, 2 helicopters, 8 engines, 6 bulldozers, 6 water tenders and 1 masticator. Gradual drying has allowed stumps and logs to begin smoldering more now that fuels are drying. Yesterday fire crews conducted mop up and suppression repairs along containment lines, and this work will continue today. Firefighters will continue felling hazard trees along Cinnamon Butte Road and improving contingency lines along Forest Service Road 60. Help for Fire Victims: Information on disaster aid and organizations helping victims of the Archie Creek Fire can be found at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/7176/57029/ Evacuations, Shelter Areas: An interactive map of the current evacuation area can be found at www.dcso.com/evacuations. For more evacuation information, visit the Douglas County Sheriff website www.dcso.com/evacuations and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DouglasCoSO The Douglas County Fairgrounds has full RV spaces, electric hookup spaces and dry camping available. They also have stalls and arenas for livestock and farm animals. Contact Ciera Keith at (541) 440-4394. Air quality: See the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality at http://www.oregon.gov/deq Closures: • Roads – Highway 138E is open, but delays should be expected. The route to Miller Lake via FS Road 9772 remains closed from the intersection with Hwy. 97 to the intersection with FS Road 110 due to firefighter traffic. Drivers are being directed to take FS Road 9774 to connect with FS Road 110 as an alternative route. See www.tripcheck.com for updates on highway closures. • Bureau of Land Management – All BLM-managed lands in the Swiftwater Resource Area east of the Willamette Meridan, Range 3 and 4 boundary line, and north of Little River Road are closed. This includes Rock Creek Road from the end of Douglas County road maintenance to the boundary of the Roseburg and Northwest Oregon BLM District line, and all BLM recreation sites in the closure boundary, including Rock Creek, Lone Pine, Millpond, Scaredman and Susan Creek campgrounds, and all BLM day use areas within the closure area. Cavitt Creek Falls Campground is closed for the season. For more information, see https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/7176/57115/ • Umpqua National Forest – sections of the North Umpqua (North Umpqua Ranger District ORDER NO. 06-15-01-20-425) and Diamond Lake Districts (Diamond Lake Ranger District ORDER NO. 06-15-01-20-424) remain under a fire closure order. Umpqua Hot Springs, fire lookouts, cabins and group picnic sites remain closed. See https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/7176/57090/ More information on Forest Service closures are available at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/umpqua/alerts-notices The Umpqua National Forest is currently at Industrial Fire Precaution Level I. The fire danger is Moderate. Temporary Flight Restriction: There are temporary flight restriction for aircraft, including drones, for the Archie Fire and the Thielsen Fire. Wildfires are a No Drone Zones. If you fly, we can’t. For more information, visit http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/ Archie Creek and Thielsen Fire update - Wednesday September 30, 2020 Incident Commanders Mike Dueitt and Tim Keith For a printable version of this update, please visit Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/…/relate…/pict20200830-115028-0.pdf