September 8, 2020 4:50 p.m.

Two fires east of Glide displayed extreme growth on Tuesday afternoon due to hot, dry and windy conditions.

A release from the Douglas Forest Protective Association, the Umpqua National Forest, and the Roseburg Bureau of Land Management said each are estimated to be 6,000 to 8,000 acres in size, with fire burning on both sides of Highway 138 and the North Umpqua River.

The Star Mountain Fire originated in the Susan Creek area and the Archie Creek Fire began in the Steamboat area. With strong winds in the forecast for Wednesday, the fires are expected to merge together and continue to spread to the west.

Multiple homes and recreational sites in and around the fire area have already received Level 2 “Be Set” or Level 3 “GO” evacuation notices. Residents are urged to take these evacuation notices seriously. Those evacuation notices are being coordinated between fire officials and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

The Red Cross has a temporary resource shelter set up at the old Glide Middle School.

Highway 138 East remains closed to non-fire traffic between Glide and the Steamboat area. Go to www.tripcheck.com for updates.

An Incident Management Team has been ordered by the Umpqua National Forest, the Roseburg BLM and DFPA to lead suppression efforts on these two incidents. Wednesday morning, Northwest Interagency Management Team 9 will assume command of the fires.

The cause of both the Star Mountain Fire and the Archie Creek Fire are under investigation.

Kyle Reed of DFPA said in 18 years of dealing with fires, he has never seen anything like the current situation.