Unified Command:

Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 2

Fremont National Forest

Information Contact:

541-943-3513

541-943-0998

Winter Fire Update

July 29, 2002, 8:00 AM

The Winter Fire won’t give up without a struggle. A small spot-fire nearly 1000 feet outside the fire-line grew into a 10-acre hard-running fire yesterday. It was only with retardant drops, bucket drops, dozers, and hand crews that the firefighters were able to stop it from growing larger. Other, smaller spot-fires also kept firefighters busy along the southwest flank of the fire.

The fire is now 35,525 acres and 85% contained. It is expected to be fully contained by the end of tomorrow’s day shift. Firefighters will continue to reduce erosion potential along the fire-lines while ensuring the lines hold the fire. They will be putting out all hot spots within 600 feet of the perimeter of the fire.

There are 1490 firefighters assigned to the Winter Fire, including 468 National Guard troops. The two National Guard Chinook helicopters are being sent to the Medford area today. They were scheduled to leave yesterday, but were brought back into service to fight yesterday’s spot fire.

A cattle truck went off the road Sunday and flipped over, spilling its load of cattle along Highway 31. The truck driver was not injured, and several firefighters helped take care of the cattle.

Today, because of a cattle drive down the main access road to the fire, firefighters will be using an alternate route to get to their fire assignments. About 600 head of cattle will be moved down from the safety of meadows in the high country to pastures closer to the fire area, where the feed is better and the threat from the fire is diminished.

The City of Paisley is posting fire information on its web page at www.paisley.presys.com.

Resources Currently Assigned To Winter Fire

Hand Crews	43
Engines	45
Helicopters	7
Dozers	16
Water Tenders	21
Total Personnel	1490

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