September 8, 2022 11:00 a.m.
The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office has reduced or eliminated the evacuation notices for some of the areas near the Rum Creek Fire.
Their evacuations are based on the system of Level 1 means GET READY, Level 2 means GET SET to leave at any moment, and Level 3 means GO NOW.
An update said areas to the east of the fire, including the communities of Merlin, Hugo, Three Pines, Leland and Wolf Creek are no longer under the Level 1 notification. The Level 2 to the east of Hog Creek is reduced to a Level 1.
The Level 3 in and around the fire itself and the Level 2 south of the fire have not changed. A link to the interactive map showing evacuation levels is at: https://joco.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=37b8a655d90f4f82ba35ba107a827840
The update said the reduction in evacuations is possible because of progress fire personnel have made on the Rum Creek Fire. On the west side, the fire is considered contained from the west of Mount Peavine to Galice Road north of Galice Resort. To the northwest, fire has consumed ground fuels on most of the previously unburned interior islands. This reduces the chance of fire flaring up and escaping past the fire lines to the north or west.
On the east side, nearly all of the fire’s edge is considered contained and has stayed within its footprint. Firefighters are monitoring fire lines and have mopped up inside all lines at least 75 feet. Firefighters will patrol and monitor the fire and continue to mop up residual heat near fire edges. No further spread is expected along these contained edges despite hot, dry, windy weather.
The update said the National Weather Service has issued a combination of Red Flag Warnings and Heat Advisories through Saturday. High temperatures, low relative humidity, gusty winds and an unstable atmosphere are expected, raising the potential for new fires to develop and existing fires to spread. Winds from the east and northeast are predicted. Personnel on the fire will be monitoring the weather and fire closely, ready to take action if the fire attempts to escape containment lines.
The fire is 21,227 acres and 44 percent contained.