Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 3 assumed command of the Grizzly Complex -- consisting of 24 lightning fires -- yesterday along with the Neil Creek Road Fire that is not part of the complex.
The ODF Southwest District continues suppression efforts on additional fires sparked by lightning on Monday.
As of last night, more than 1,300 personnel were assigned to the fires, with many more on the way. These additional crews and resources continue to arrive to provide relief to existing district personnel, allowing them to continue work on other fires and be ready to respond to potential new fire starts. Significant progress was made on numerous fires with continued aggressive, direct suppression efforts.
The Neil Creek Road Fire south of Ashland was holding at 250 acres as crews completed dozer line on the south end of the fire and continued to build direct lines elsewhere around the fire's perimeter. A Level 2 "Be Set" evacuation notice remains in place for area residents and one lane of Interstate 5 in both directions is still closed between mileposts 8.5 and 10.5.
The Deming Gulch Fire northeast of Buncom is currently estimated to be 250 acres while the Heppsie Mountain Fire near Lake Creek was holding at 40 acres in size. The North Fork Deer Creek Fire in the hills east of Selma was holding at 42 acres, the Jim Me Peak Fire south of Applegate was last reported to be 70 acres and the Palmer Peak Fire near Applegate was 90 acres. No acreage estimate was provided for the Holcomb Peak Fire southwest of Williams. Other small fires are staffed.
Aircraft were used heavily all day, contributing to success across all fires in the district. As a reminder, drone use around fires is illegal and incredibly dangerous to pilots working on incidents. Illegal drone use will be reported to law enforcement.
