CURRY COUNTY, Ore. – The Anvil Fire in Curry County exploding overnight as it triples in size from 1,400 acres on Thursday to 4,438 acres Friday morning.
The fire is still zero percent contained.
Easterly winds and variable temperatures around the fire dramatically affecting fire behavior.
“Up on several places in the anvil fire experienced 103 degrees so that variance certainly played into it,” Anvil Fire PIO Joe Schindel said. “The winds, especially ridge level winds and align of slope topography and aspect those variabilities come into play, you can have fire growth that we experienced.”
Fire officials said favorable weather conditions are expected over the next few days, with less gusty winds and higher humidity.
Level 3 ‘Go Now’ evacuations remain in place along Elk River Road from milepost 4 to the Butler Bar Campground.
This fire has been burning since August 25.
But the fire’s location in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest’s ‘Grassy Knob Wilderness’ has made it challenging for crews to get to.
“The terrain was such that smokejumpers could not access the area,” Schindel said. “There was not a safe place for smokejumpers to land. Folks can certainly see it on google earth, it’s steep, inaccessible, gnarly. Terrain does not get gnarlier than that. It’s dang near vertical and I‘m not exaggerating, it’s a rock scraper for much of it.”
Several helicopters continue to dump thousands of gallons of water on the fire daily.
And although weather conditions are expected to improve in Curry County, the opposite is happening in Jackson and Josephine counties.
ODF Southwest’s fire danger level remains at ‘High,’ but higher temperatures and dry conditions will raise the potential for new fire starts.
“With the time of the year, we start to naturally let our guard down, because we think that fall should be approaching,” ODF Southwest spokesperson Natalie Weber said. “But this weekend we’re actually going to see triple digits again and we’re still in high fire danger here in Jackson and Josephine counties. And that potential is still there. It’s really important for people to remember that to continue to follow the regulations that are in place, they do help us prevent new fires from starting.”
A community meeting for the Anvil Fire will be held Friday starting at 7 p.m..
It’s being held at ‘Sixes Grange Hall’ and broadcasted live on the ‘Flat and Anvil Fires’ Facebook page.
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