Ore. Blaze Held Back From Power Line

Firefighters battling the massive Sour Biscuit Fire got a line Monday around a spot fire that threatened a major power line serving Northern California as temperatures climbed to 100 degrees with dry east winds.

“I don’t think we’ll have any reason to turn the power off and cause any problems down in Crescent City,” said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Mike Ferris.

The spot fire had jumped over the main containment line on the southeastern flank near O’Brien, coming within a half-mile of two transmission lines serving 14,800 customers in Del Norte County, said Monte Mendenhall of Pacific Power.

“This week is an important week for the fire,” said Susan Mathison, a Forest Service spokeswoman. “High temperatures, single-digit humidities, strong east winds--all those contribute to an expectation of increased fire activity.”

The fire, Oregon’s largest in more than a century, stood at 376,492 acres on the Siskiyou National Forest and adjoining lands in southwestern Oregon and northern California. It started July 13 from lighting that struck in the remote Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

To fight the fire, authorities have deployed 6,100 firefighters and support staff in three separate units based in Gold Beach, Selma and Brookings.

The fire was formerly known as the Florence Fire. Full containment for the southern flank in California was expected by Thursday. The fire was 25% contained.

“The fire isn’t spreading that much,” said fire spokesman Mike Ferris. “It’s creeping against the wind along the ridges and down the slopes, then running up the other side.”

On the northern flank, Ferris said the threat was reduced to the community of Agness, home to about 150 people and a center of whitewater rafting on the Rogue River. Firefighters planned to do a major burnout south of the Bear Camp Road toward Indigo Prairie to strengthen protection for the community. A fire retardant plan was installed to supply helicopters fighting the fire.

On the western flank, the fire crept within about four miles of the community of Wilderness Retreat, where all but a few of about 40 residents have heeded a voluntary evacuation notice, Mathison said.

Meanwhile a new blaze, the Bald Green Butte fire, erupted Sunday in eastern Oregon, about 17 miles northwest of Burns.