August 6, 2019 10:20 a.m. 
The Milepost 97 Fire south of Canyonville is 65% contained and is 13,119 acres in size.
The Oregon Department of Forestry issued the final regular update on the fire to the media mid-morning Tuesday.
The Milepost 97 Fire started the evening of July 24^th at 10:00 p.m. as the result of an abandoned and illegal campfire. While firefighters from the Douglas Forest Protective Association and local rural fire districts converged on the fire within 15 to 30 minutes, the fire had established itself in an unmanaged forest area covered with overgrown brush and snags. Those were leftovers from the 1987 Canyon Mountain Fire that was part of the first Douglas Complex.
The update said the fire had many complexities such as multiple land ownerships including private, state, federal and tribal trust lands, a major power line and natural gas pipeline dissecting the middle of the fire area, a major interstate freeway lining the east edge of the fire, and three communities directly in the path of the fire.
The ODF update said the Milepost 97 Fire was the first large fire of Oregon’s young fire season. More than 550 structures were threatened and within level 1 and level 2 evacuation notifications. After 10 days of intense firefighting with crews, aircraft and other equipment, fire officials declared that the fire was completely surrounded by hand and equipment constructed line. A few minor burnout operations followed.
The update said operations tactics, where firefighters took full advantage of opportunities like breaks in the weather, made for a “great stop” which helped to save thousands of acres of timberland, millions of dollars in suppression costs, and hundreds of homes and lives.
1,187 personnel are still working on the Milepost 97 Fire which has cost over $19 million to fight to this point.