Grave Creek Fire 10-15 Acres-UPDATE
A wildfire that broke out late Sunday in the Rogue River Wild & Scenic Area near Grave Creek grew overnight to 10-15 acres. Fire crews made good progress during the night, and this morning their firelines are holding on the north, south and west flanks, but the east side of the fire is actively burning. Helicopters lifted off around 7:30 a.m. to join the firefight.
The Rogue River Trail is closed in the fire area, 1.5-to-2 miles downstream from the Grave Creek boat landing. Also, Marial Rd. and Mt. Reuben Rd. are closed in the area nearest the fire.
A major concern today is keeping boaters from tangling with helicopters, which will be dipping many buckets of water out of the Rogue River today.
Night shift crews working on the Rancheria Fire, burning on BLM and private forestlands east of Butte Falls, made good progress on extinguishing flames and mopping up hot spots around the 32-acre blaze. Today, two 20-person crews, four wildland fire engines and three water tenders will continue pouring water onto flames.
Smoke haze will be visible in the fire area throughout the day, and occasionally a tree may erupt in a fireball (a phenomenon firefighters call "torching," which is normal inside a forest which has recently burned) and send up a plume of smoke.
Helicopters and an airtanker are available should firefighters need them.
The cause remains under investigation.
