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Lakeview area fire grows
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| H&N photos by Andrew Mariman Wildfire crews begin the arduous task of mopping up the Fletcher fire near Goose Lake south of Lakeview Tuesday afternoon. The blaze grew to 7,600 acres as of Tuesday night. |
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
LAKEVIEW — The Fletcher fire southwest of Lakeview grew to 7,600 acres Tuesday, more than double its size a day earlier when it consumed a house and outbuildings at Point Ranch and forced evacuation of three other Lake County residences.
Firefighters from Oregon and California agencies had the fire 40 percent contained by 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to Fremont-Winema National Forests spokeswoman Eric Hupp. However, authorities cautioned that winds might yet drive the northeast edge of the blaze closer to Lakeview, where heavy smoke has been visible for days.
Jennifer Lindsay didn’t need encouragement Monday to leave her home on 132-acres near the Oregon-California border. When she saw a wall of flame leaping 300 feet into the air by mid-afternoon, she knew it was time to flee.
“It looked like a lava flow coming down the ridge,” Lindsay said. “It was an amazing roaring sound.”
She’d just moved onto the land two months earlier and is staying in a trailer until a permanent house can be built. Two-thirds of her land was charred, although the trailer was spared. Lindsay had only praise for firefighters.
“Hats off to them,” she said. “They dug in there and did an amazing job. I had just built the world’s most expensive fence, and it’s all OK thanks to them.”
Lindsay stayed with friends at Davis Creek Monday night. She and her dog returned home at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Much of the land that has burned belongs to Collins Pine. Paul Harlan, vice president of resources for the company, said more than 3,000 acres of Ponderosa pine and white fir had burned as of noon Tuesday.
He said it was too early for an estimate of lost revenue, or to know how much salvage logging can be done.
“We’ll know that once we can get in for reconnaissance and see the amount of damage,” he said. “They have (fire) lines in, it’s a matter of holding the lines against the wind. Right now it’s strong enough to create problems.”
“The winds have been our nightmare,” Hupp acknowledged.
Fire officials said the cost of battling the blaze hit $1.6 million Tuesday night. About 600 responders battled the fire, including 21 fire crews with 42 engines, 13 bulldozers, 12 water tenders, six helicopters, six air tankers, and fire support personnel.
Several large junipers were snapped in two by the combination of heat and wind.
“Some of them were lifted completely over the road,” said Bob Crumrine, fire control manager for the Bureau of Land Management’s Lakeview office. “It was a pretty amazing amount of convection, not something you typically see.”
Wind was created by the intensity of the fire, he said. Firefighters call the phenomenon “fire whirl.”
The lightning-caused fire began July 10 about three miles south of the Oregon-California line in the Modoc National Forest. It spread toward the northeast along the west side of Goose Lake in an oblong shape, Crumrine said.
Stephen Riley, public information officer for the Modoc National Forest, said it didn’t really start to grow until Saturday. That’s when agencies began throwing resources at the blaze.
By Tuesday, Hupp said officials faced the question of how many firefighters to leave on the Fletcher fire and how many to send elsewhere to combat new starts from lightning strikes.
“It’s a balancing act we’re going through,” she said.
Besides a helicopter from the Lakeview office of BLM-Forest Service, the air suppression effort included helicopters from Plumas National Forest, Apple Valley, Ravendale and Chester, all of California; and from Rifle, Colo.
They made repeated water drops while fixed wing aircraft dropped fire retardant to keep the flames from advancing.
By Steve Kadel
LAKEVIEW — The Fletcher fire southwest of Lakeview grew to 7,600 acres Tuesday, more than double its size a day earlier when it consumed a house and outbuildings at Point Ranch and forced evacuation of three other Lake County residences.
Firefighters from Oregon and California agencies had the fire 40 percent contained by 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to Fremont-Winema National Forests spokeswoman Eric Hupp. However, authorities cautioned that winds might yet drive the northeast edge of the blaze closer to Lakeview, where heavy smoke has been visible for days.
Jennifer Lindsay didn’t need encouragement Monday to leave her home on 132-acres near the Oregon-California border. When she saw a wall of flame leaping 300 feet into the air by mid-afternoon, she knew it was time to flee.
“It looked like a lava flow coming down the ridge,” Lindsay said. “It was an amazing roaring sound.”
She’d just moved onto the land two months earlier and is staying in a trailer until a permanent house can be built. Two-thirds of her land was charred, although the trailer was spared. Lindsay had only praise for firefighters.
“Hats off to them,” she said. “They dug in there and did an amazing job. I had just built the world’s most expensive fence, and it’s all OK thanks to them.”
Lindsay stayed with friends at Davis Creek Monday night. She and her dog returned home at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Much of the land that has burned belongs to Collins Pine. Paul Harlan, vice president of resources for the company, said more than 3,000 acres of Ponderosa pine and white fir had burned as of noon Tuesday.
He said it was too early for an estimate of lost revenue, or to know how much salvage logging can be done.
“We’ll know that once we can get in for reconnaissance and see the amount of damage,” he said. “They have (fire) lines in, it’s a matter of holding the lines against the wind. Right now it’s strong enough to create problems.”
“The winds have been our nightmare,” Hupp acknowledged.
Fire officials said the cost of battling the blaze hit $1.6 million Tuesday night. About 600 responders battled the fire, including 21 fire crews with 42 engines, 13 bulldozers, 12 water tenders, six helicopters, six air tankers, and fire support personnel.
Several large junipers were snapped in two by the combination of heat and wind.
“Some of them were lifted completely over the road,” said Bob Crumrine, fire control manager for the Bureau of Land Management’s Lakeview office. “It was a pretty amazing amount of convection, not something you typically see.”
Wind was created by the intensity of the fire, he said. Firefighters call the phenomenon “fire whirl.”
The lightning-caused fire began July 10 about three miles south of the Oregon-California line in the Modoc National Forest. It spread toward the northeast along the west side of Goose Lake in an oblong shape, Crumrine said.
Stephen Riley, public information officer for the Modoc National Forest, said it didn’t really start to grow until Saturday. That’s when agencies began throwing resources at the blaze.
By Tuesday, Hupp said officials faced the question of how many firefighters to leave on the Fletcher fire and how many to send elsewhere to combat new starts from lightning strikes.
“It’s a balancing act we’re going through,” she said.
Besides a helicopter from the Lakeview office of BLM-Forest Service, the air suppression effort included helicopters from Plumas National Forest, Apple Valley, Ravendale and Chester, all of California; and from Rifle, Colo.
They made repeated water drops while fixed wing aircraft dropped fire retardant to keep the flames from advancing.
By Steve Kadel
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| Herald and News updates: | No cause for Furniture Warehouse fire |
Reader Comments
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leesa wrote on Jan 23, 2009 12:37 PM:
" these things should never happened in this world. the world should be safe. "
samantha r. wrote on Sep 23, 2008 12:12 PM:
" this article is So true when your a teen girl and your pregnant It seems to feel like your life is over and there is no way you can fix it but that's not true if your young and your going to have a child then stay focused in school your child wants you to succeed in life so he/she can succeed in life my name is Samantha R. I'm 14 years old i live in Klamath falls and i might be pregnant :] If so I'm determined to make sure my child has a better life then i did :] "
Babe wrote on Jan 23, 2008 6:54 PM:
" I think that chiloquin people do need help and not just the teens but i have also seen places that are alot worse i moved from L.A to chiloquin and ive been back there since and trust me chiloquin is nothing. I also think that crime and drugs etc. are noticed more because it is so small compared to other places and there is no form of disaplin at all "
Tony P. wrote on Jan 19, 2008 7:55 PM:
" I remember the night the plane went down.. My mother crying and my dad in tears.. his dad searched for him for years...
"
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Jane D. wrote on Apr 10, 2009 12:00 AM:
I Love You Bobby
May your soul Rest In Peace
-Deems "