September 12, 2019 11:20 a.m.
Firefighters from the Umpqua National Forest have successfully responded to 38 fires from last week’s lightning storm.
Mark Turney of the Forest Service said all of the fires, except for one, are contained and are in patrol status. One fire which is 1.5 acres in size was accessed on Wednesday and a crew was able to get a hand line around it.
Riva Duncan, Fire Staff Officer, said despite the rains earlier this week, things are drying out and she expects to see holdover fires. Duncan said crews will continue to respond to smoke reports, and are keeping assets on the forest over the weekend to respond to each one.
Turney said warmer temperatures are predicted for the remainder of the week, through Saturday. He said the Forest Service will continue to have observation flights overflying the forest to look for any holdover wildfires.
Duncan said the firefighters have done a great job in responding to the fires. She said they will continue to keep extra resources on until they feel the danger has passed.
For more information on public and industrial fire restrictions go to www.fs.fed.us/r6/umpqua.