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08/07/2015 Status of Fires and Smoke

Air quality continues to be affected by wildfires in Oregon, especially in the SW corner of the state.  Shady Cove is the state monitoring site that is getting hit the hardest by smoke traveling south from the Stouts Creek fire and the 24 hour average Air Quality Index is in the red or "Unhealthy" range, although the most recent reading on the monitor shows that air quality is better, at least for the moment.  More news soon.


Status of Oregon Fires:
153 West Fork: 916 Acres, 90% contained
Cable Crossing: 1848 Acres, 50% contained
Collier Butte: 157 Acres, 0% contained
Potter Mountain Complex: 136 Acres, 0% contained
Lime Hill: 4500 Acres, 5% contained
National Creek Complex: 65 Acres, 0% contained
Phillips Creek: 1657 Acres, 10% contained
Stouts Creek: 18,383 Acres, 20% contained  http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4426/

Some more details on Stouts Creek since it is the primary source of poor air quality in SW Oregon.

"Firefighters spent Thursday focusing their efforts on connecting fire control lines and doing burnout operations along the east and south flanks. Crews on the fire's west and north flanks installed hoses delivering water across greater distances, and strengthening the control lines. Late afternoon winds pushed hard against containment lines on the northeast and south. Airplanes, specifically heavy air tankers, and seven helicopters supported ground firefighters throughout the day over the Stouts Creek Fire because the smoke cleared away earlier than usual today, so the aircraft could help sooner than normal. Another helicopter is on standby to respond to medical emergencies. The air-tankers were used as the fire picked up this afternoon and evening.

Smoke will likely continue drifting from the Stouts Creek Fire and possibly other fires. The smoke may become dense later into the evening as winds increase and if crew do controlled burnouts. Most of the smoke will drift in a south and southeast directions from the fire. 

The Stouts Creek Fire is burning on private timberlands, other tracts of private land, Bureau of Land Management and Umpqua National Forest lands. The Stouts Creek Fire is being managed cooperatively by the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Office of the Oregon State Fire Marshal and the U.S. Forest Service. Wildland fire suppression direction is coming from the Oregon Department of Forestry's Incident Management Team 1. Structural fire protection is being handled by task forces under the command of the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Green Team."