Jack Fire nears 20k acres with 55% containment
Written by Patrick Schneider on July 22, 2021
Steamboat, Ore. – The Jack Fire is currently at 19,643 acres with 55% containment. The fire is burning in timber, primarily the understory and leaf litter, and brush. North of Hwy 138, firefighters continue to successfully keep the fire perimeter within control lines. Mop up and patrolling of fire containment lines will resume.
South of Hwy 138, crews along the west flank will be monitoring fire behavior to ensure fire remains within the control lines and will conduct burning operations where necessary. On the southeast and east portion of the fire, crews will work with heavy equipment to prepare control lines for potential burning operations. Additionally, firefighters will resume scouting for alternate control lines along the southeast flank of the fire.
Structures: The Dry Creek area and Horseshoe Bend campground will be patrolled to maintain safety of these locations.
Aviation: Air support today includes two Heavy Type 1 helicopters with buckets and one Heavy Type 1 helicopter with a tank along with one Light Type 3 helicopter. Air assets provide ground resources with water to limit the spread of the fire and to help establish and hold containment lines. There is a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over the Jack Wildfire to protect aircraft that are involved in the firefighting operation. All aircraft, including drones, are prohibited from flying in the restricted area unless they’re operated by an agency that’s involved in the firefighting operation. Please do not fly a drone near the Bootleg Fire. It’s a federal crime to interfere with firefighting aircraft, and violators can face stiff penalties.
Closures: For your safety and the safety of others, the Umpqua National Forest closure orders remain in effect. The full closure order and map can be viewed at www.fs.usda.gov/umpqua and on the Jack Fire Facebook page.
Evacuations: The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has made no changes to the evacuation levels that were effective Monday, July 19, 2021. A current evacuation map can be found at www.dcso.com/evacuations
Weather: Today will be the start of a warming trend with temperatures around the upper 70s to lower 80s. Afternoon winds will be out of the west northwest ranging from 5 to 8 mph with gusts up to 16 mph.
