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Rain dampens Gorge, but fire season isn’t over yet

By Samantha Matsumoto, The Oregonian
Published: September 20, 2017, 9:23am

PORTLAND — Cool days and rainstorms signaled a long-awaited shift this week: Fall is finally on its way.

That’s good news for crews battling wildfires around the state. For months, dozens of fires have been fueled by a hot, dry summer, prompting evacuation notices and scorching hundreds of thousands of acres.

Rain and cool, cloudy weather have slowed fire growth in recent days, allowing firefighters to make significant progress containing several large blazes. But even as the first day of fall approaches Friday, forestry officials warn the state isn’t in the clear just yet. Fire season still has about another month to go.

This week’s rain is a good start, said Jim Gersbach, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Forestry. But only sustained periods of heavy rain will end the fire season, he said. That typically doesn’t happen until mid-October.

“Fire season is still in effect,” he said. “Usually we need quite a period of soaking rain to feel we can declare the fire season over.”

More than half a million acres have burned this season, which is slightly above average for the past decade. Several fires spurred evacuation orders after they exploded in size, including the Chetco Bar fire near Brookings and the Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia River Gorge.

But a cold front that moved in over the weekend brought some relief. The cooler air, cloudy skies and rain slowed fire growth across the state, giving firefighters more time to contain the blazes.

Evacuation warnings were lifted this week for the Umpqua North fire in Douglas County. Warnings were lowered Tuesday for Breitenbush, which had been evacuated due to threat from the Little Devil Fire. The community is now under a level 1 warning, meaning residents can return home but should be aware of fire danger.

Aided by the cool weather, firefighters made significant progress in containing the state’s largest fire, the 190,512-acre Chetco Bar Fire, said David Olson, the Southwest Oregon Joint Information Center manager. Up to a half inch has fallen on the blaze. As a result, Olson said, the fire is now smoldering with low flame heights instead of burning hot and fast like it did earlier this summer.

“It’s an excellent break,” he said.

The fire was 77 percent contained Tuesday night.

But, Olson said, crews are preparing for temperatures to rise and humidity to fall again in the coming days.

“There’s still work to be done,” he said.

The Eagle Creek Fire, which is burning more than 48,665 acres, only grew about 4 feet in about six hours Monday, fire behavior analyst Dan Pearson said. The fire was 46 percent contained Tuesday evening.

Between three and five inches of rain fell on the fire’s southwest corner, Pearson said, while about an inch fell on the fire’s east end near Cascade Locks.

Though the rain has aided firefighters, Pearson said, the battle isn’t over.

“It is really helping,” Pearson said in a video briefing. “However, it’s not enough yet.”

That’s because, even though the rainfall has dampened dry brush, grass and tree limbs, it won’t take long for them to dry out again once the rain stops, Gersbach said. And, he said, hot spots will continue to smolder even after the first few days of rain.

“The first few rain showers, while helpful, they don’t saturate the fuel,” he said.

Despite the cooling weather, Oregonians should still be cautious, he said. Fire prevention restrictions and fire danger levels have been lowered throughout some of the state, but conditions are still dry. People should still take care not to burn debris, have campfires or do anything that could throw a spark, Gersbach said.

“All in all, it’s better to be cloudy and overcast,” he said. “But it’s not necessarily time to throw away all caution.”

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