Several hundred local citizens crowded the gymnasium at Azalea Middle School Monday night to hear an update on the status of the now almost 100,000 acre wildfire now known as the Chetco Bar Fire. The eager audience listened intently to a variety of officials who have arrived from around the United States to help manage the now largest fire complex in the nation.
Lighter winds, and a much needed marine layer lowered temperatures and helped to slow down the rapid advancement on the many fronts of this very large fire. As of the 6:00PM Monday meeting, no other evacuations other than the ones previously issued both Saturday and Sunday were in effect. Meanwhile, Sheriff John Ward as well as Brookings City Manager Gary Milliman dispelled any rumors that the city of Brookings would soon be evacuated as “completely false”.
Officials referred to taking full advantage of the “weathers cooperation”, a brief 3 day window of lighter winds and lower temperatures before an expected “Chetco Effect” event this Friday. Officials layed out a plan of attacking the blaze on many fronts, building fire lines in the safer zones of the extremely steep and rough terrain. As officials referred to protecting property as much as possible, it was also very clear that the safety of firefighter personnel was also a very high priority as they spoke of the risks of being trapped and or surrounded in this largely uncontrolled fire situation.
As of 6:00PM Monday night, officials had confirmed that 3 homes had been lost atop Gardner Ridge near Cate Road, and that they will continue to protect structures along all fronts of the blaze which had reached as far down as Nook Bar on the Chetco River and continued to march towards the Pistol River area.