AGNESS, OR, July 31, 2005 -- The Blossom Complex remains as he number one fire in the nation and is getting all of the resources needed to support suppression activities. The complex is estimated at 971 acres, and is 15% contained. Currently, there are 555 people assigned to the complex. This total includes twenty-one, twenty person hand crews, 4 heavy-lift helicopters, one medium-lift helicopter and 2 light helicopters.
Heavy and medium-lift helicopters are primarily utilized for dropping water on the fire, while the light helicopters are used to observe fire behavior, scout future line locations, and to re-supply crews utilizing cargo sling-loads. Today the main helibase will be moved from Merlin to Powers. This move will facilitate efficiency in operations, as a shorter turn around time for refueling means that more effective water drops can be made on the Blossom Fire. Morning flight operations should not be affected by smoke or coastal fog by moving to Powers.
Fire crews continue to construct fireline and monitor established fireline on the Blossom Complex, located approximately 12 miles northeast of Agness, Oregon. The complex consists of three lightning-caused fires that started on July 21.
Crews will continue to patrol the fire perimeter and mop-up the edges of the Solitude Fire (128 acres), working into the interior. Firefighters will monitor the 8-acre Huggins Fire from the air and with a squad of firefighters on the ground today as it was declared controlled on Friday.
The Blossom Fire (estimated at 835 acres) still poses unique challenges to fire managers as they plan to safely suppress the fire north of the Rogue River and east of Blossom Creek. Vegetation that burned incompletely in previous days has the potential to re-burn. Crews have constructed and are holding the fire line along the northwest portion of the fire along Panther Ridge. Today several crews will utilize wood chippers to reduce the brush and ladder fuels along roads northwest of the fire to improve access and create a more defensible fireline. Other crews are constructing containment line along the west flank, and scouting locations along the east flank to safely halt progress of the fire.
A forecast for cooler temperatures and higher humidities on Monday is good news for firefighters. Technicians from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, have installed two temporary RAWS (Remote Automatic Weather Stations) that will link to two existing area RAWS. The weather stations assist fire behavior analysts and meteorologists to predict fuel and fire weather conditions. For more information and maps of the fire, please visit our web site at: www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue-siskiyou and click on Current Fire Information (Smokey Bear sign along the right side of the page).
