Another day of sunny weather means good working conditions for the Type 3 organization’s final operational shift on Smith River Complex North. Management of the incident will be turned over to local Type 4 incident commanders Gavin Mitchell (west) and Monty Edwards (east) tomorrow at 8 a.m. This will be the final update posted. If you have any questions about the fire, please contact Smith River Complex South at 707-383-9727. For more general information, please call the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Fire Info line at 541-646-9177.
The west side is anticipated to complete suppression repair work including biomass processing and debris removal will be completed by end of shift today. Two pieces of heavy equipment will be demobilized tomorrow morning. On the east side, similar repair work efforts have progressed north and northeast. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessment of road systems and severely burned areas to determine emergency stabilization are ongoing.
Closures remain in effect and will be regularly re-evaluated in order to reopen them as soon as safely possible for both firefighters and the public. However, until those closures are lifted, it’s important to respect restrictions. Don’t access closed roads or go onto lands or trails within the closure area. The Closure Order for Smith River Complex North: https://bit.ly/SRCNorthClosure. Closures on BLM land are in place as well. Visit https://www.blm.gov/orwafire for additional information.
Due to widespread rain, the fire danger level on Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest Oregon District-protected lands in Jackson and Josephine counties will decrease to “low” (green) as of Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023 at 9 a.m. Please be aware that this level change means that some fire restrictions for the public will remain in effect. The Industrial Fire Precaution Level will remain at one.
These regulations impact 1.8 million acres of state, private, county, city and Bureau of Land Management lands protected by ODF’s Southwest Oregon District.
In low fire danger, the following activities are prohibited:
- No debris burning, including piles and debris burned in burn barrels.
- No fireworks on or within 1/8 of a mile of ODF-protected land.
- Exploding targets and tracer ammunition, or any bullet with a pyrotechnic charge in its base, are prohibited.
- Campfires are allowed in designated campgrounds, and on private land with the landowner’s permission. Portable stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels may be used in areas clear of vegetation at any time.
- Smoking while traveling will only be allowed in enclosed vehicles on improved roads, in boats on the water and other specifically designated locations.
- Any electric fence controllers must be approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories Inc., or be certified by the Department of Consumer and Business Services and be installed and used in compliance with the fence controller’s instructions for fire safe operation.
For more information about the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest Oregon District’s fire season public restrictions, please call or visit the Southwest Oregon District unit office nearest to you: - Medford Unit, 5286 Table Rock Rd., Central Point. (541) 664-3328
- Grants Pass Unit, 5375 Monument Dr., Grants Pass. (541) 474-3152
Fire season information is also available online on our website, www.swofire.com.