Miller Complex Fire Update Sept. 14, 2017 NW Incident Management Team (IMT) 9, Brian Goff, Incident Commander Current Situation: Firefighting operations continue to meet objectives using the resources available with public and firefighter safety as the top priority. Over the past few days, crews have made good progress with 47% overall containment on the complex. Containment has been achieved on the Burnt Peak Fire and is near completion on the Creedence and Bigelow Fires. Firefighters continue to conduct patrol and mop-up operations around the perimeter of all of these fires. The public can still expect to see wisps of smoke and smoldering within the interior of these fires until a season-ending event occurs. Meanwhile, crews on the Abney fire are continuing to improve and secure containment lines to the east and northwest and patrolling indirect handline on the west flank. Crews are securing the line on the northeast corner of the fire and back-hauling some of the hose from a complex sprinkler system. Fire activity on the Abney fire remains moderately active in some areas with smoldering and backing fire behavior. Firefighters have achieved containment objectives on the north line of the Abney Fire near the Joe Bar area where the fire continues to slowly back down the steep hill where it will eventually meet containment line. Because of this, crews will continue to monitor and patrol this edge of the fire and Joe Bar remains under an evacuation warning. Although some fire suppression activities are winding down, crews will begin to engage and plan for suppression repair activities throughout the complex. Fire suppression repair is the next phase of the control effort, and is a series of immediate post-fire actions taken to repair impacts to the land and minimize the potential for soil erosion and other issues that might arise from these activities. It usually begins before the fire is completely contained. Repair work will focus on areas that were affected by the suppression activities such as hand lines, dozer lines, and helispots that were used to support the crews. Other work firefighters may complete include water bar construction on the hand and dozer lines. Water bars divert water from trails and roads to reduce soil erosion and prevent gullies from forming. Before leaving the fire, crews may also construct berms, spread brush and rocks onto the cut lines and bare ground that were used to support suppression targets. Also, crews will remove refuse, flagging, and other equipment as part of their efforts to restore the land to a more natural condition. Over the next few days, firefighters are expecting a dry, cold front to move through the Miller Complex with the potential for some light rain. Cooler day and nighttime temperatures have the potential to increase fuel moistures and decrease fire activity even more, giving firefighters increased opportunity to secure, mop-up and begin rehabilitation efforts. Fire Statistics: Start Date: August 14, 2017 Cause: Lightning Complex Size: 34,535 acres Containment: 47% Personnel: 529 Creedence and Bigelow (Grayback) Fires (Seven miles south of Williams); Creedence: 2,089 acres; Bigelow: 71 acres Burnt Peak Fire (Nine miles southwest of Ruch and three miles north of Applegate Lake); 4,147 acres Abney Fire (South of Applegate Lake and north of Seiad Valley, CA): 27,760 acres. Miller Complex Abney Fire (section located on the Klamath National Forest, south of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)). The Eclipse Complex, located in northern California on the Klamath National Forest, is managing the Abney Fire south of the PCT. Information is available at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5511/. Closures: The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has closed areas on the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District in each of the branches, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/rogue-siskiyou/alerts-notices. The Bureau of Land Management has closed the Grayback Mountain Trailhead. Closures are in place for the Klamath National Forest including a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. Refer to https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/klamath/alerts-notices. Information: Phone: 541-899-5302 Email:
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