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Western Firefighters Run Low on Resources
Fire Danger Upgraded to Highest Level
By BRAD CAIN
.c The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. (Aug. 15) - Firefighters across the West said their resources
were severely strained Wednesday as flames closed roads and threatened towns,
including an Oregon ranching community where 150 people were preparing to
flee.
The fire near Monument, in the high desert about 270 miles east of Portland,
was approaching 27 homes. Residents stood by waiting for word on whether they
would have to leave.
''The smoke is so thick you can't see two blocks,'' said Bill Kennedy, a
resident who has worked on fire crews in the past. ''As it gets hotter, and
the wind picks up, it's going to get worse.''
Seven homes were evacuated overnight, and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber declared
a ''state of conflagration,'' which means any agencies that send firefighters
and gear to fight the fire will be reimbursed by the state. The blaze was
only 10 percent contained Wednesday morning.
The weather forecast was still calling for possible thunderstorms in the
region which was bad news for firefighters. Lightning was believed to have
caused many of the fires.
The National Interagency Fire Center on Wednesday placed the West at Level
Five alert status, which it does when firefighters are in danger of running
out of people and equipment to fight fires. The agency coordinates
firefighting across the country.
The declaration allows fire managers to bring in crews from across the nation
and tap the military for help if necessary. The last Level Five was last
summer, when wildfires burned across a million acres in Montana.
The center's Web site said a Level Five ''means several geographic areas are
managing major wildland fires, are competing for resources, and have the
potential to exhaust all agency fire resources.''
''We are stretched pretty thin on helicopters, air tankers,'' said Nancy
Lull, a spokeswoman for the fire center in Boise, Idaho. ''Our crews are
starting to stretch a little thinner.''
Most fires in the West were started by lightning and spread quickly through
parched land. The air is so dry across most of the region that rain never
reaches the ground.
A fire in north-central Washington had burned about 27,000 acres on the
Colville Indian Reservation, destroying a least six homes and threatening 50
others, said Nick Mickel, a fire information officer. Campgrounds, hiking
trails and roads in the area were closed because of smoke and firefighting
work.
Other homes and cabins in Washington were threatened by fires burning across
thousands of acres of grass, sagebrush and timber scattered from the Cascade
Range east to the Idaho state line.
In California, crews 290 miles northeast of Sacramento fought to keep a
roughly 28,000-acre fire from spreading to two communities Wednesday.
The fire was only 10 percent contained and threatened Eagleville, a small
community of about 100 people, and Jess Valley, which has 50 residents. Full
containment wasn't expected until Aug. 22, said Wayne Chandler, a fire
information officer for Modoc National Forest.
California's largest blaze, a range fire near the Nevada state line, had
grown to 67,700 acres but had been 90 percent contained, said Jeff Fontana, a
spokesman for the Susanville Interagency Fire Center.
An 82,000-acre grass and brush fire in central Nevada had been contained, and
crews turned their attention to a nearby 11,000-acre fire that was 25 percent
contained.
AP-NY-08-15-01 1958EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active
hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
"Never cease in the fight for peace, justice, and equality for all people. Be
perisitent in all that you do and don't allow anyone to sway you from your
conscience.".....Leonard Peltier
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