Grizzly Creek Fire near Howard Prairie burns 350 acres

 UPDATE 9/7/20: The Oregon Department of Forestry says the fire is currently 20% contained and has been held at 340 acres.

Firefighters have the fire 100% lined.

UPDATE 9/6/20: The Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest District says the fire is now 10% contained.
It says 250 wild-land firefighters are working to reach 15% containment by Sunday night.

ASHLAND, Ore. — A new fire burning just past Howard Prairie Lake has led to even smokier skies in the Rogue Valley.

The Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest District says the “Grizzly Creek Fire” was noticed by their detection center Friday afternoon around 2:30 p-m.
It says the fire has consumed around 300-350 acres.

“We established a line around the fire, it’s about 99% complete, so just adding some finishing touches and then we hope to get a hose lay established and start a wet line to start containment,” said Public Affairs Specialist, Kyle Novy-Riley. He says the fire is contributing to the poor air quality in the valley – which, he adds, is expected to get worse until 8 p.m. tonight before ‘leveling out.’

There are currently 150 personnel battling the fire, 7 hand-crews, 4 bulldozers, 9 engines, 7 helicopters and 5 water tenders.

ODF says despite an ‘aggressive attack’ from fire crews, it’s been a bit challenging to get to the flames.

“We’ve had some difficulty with access and getting into the fire,” said Novy-Riley.

As ODF begins to work towards containment, it says the helicopters used on Friday helped significantly with getting the fire under control.

“We dropped about 24,000 gallons of retardant on the fire and that really helped slow it down so dozers could get in and draw a line around the fire,” said Novy-Riley.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Residents and campgrounds near Howard Prairie Lake remain on a level 2 evacuation notice.

Dead Indian Memorial Road near milepost 17 is closed to all eastbound traffic.

 

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