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Oregon Department of Forestry Team 2 Gains Upper Hand on Dixon Fire Ahead of Red Flag Conditions

DAYS CREEK, Ore. – The stronghold on the fire’s perimeter continues with no new fire growth for a third consecutive day.

Firefighters continue the laborious work of mop-up within all areas of the fire’s edge, expanding from depths of 75 – 200ft.

Firefighters, heavy equipment, and air support put in the hard work to halt the fire’s forward progress and get around it. They then took advantage of slightly higher levels of moisture in the air, known as relative humidity, towards the end of the week which aided response.

Local officials commended response efforts to date. “It’s pretty unheard of to get this strong of a catch in August in this area,” said Gabe Wishart, Tiller District Ranger on the Umpqua National Forest.

A Red Flag Warning for abundant lightning has been issued for the area tomorrow. Thunderstorms are expected alongside nearly half an inch of rain, strong winds, and the potential for hail. Crews are on high alert and are ready to engage in an aggressive initial attack on any lightning starts.

The anticipated rain will help firefighting efforts. “We’re working to expose more heat today so Mother Nature can give us a hand tomorrow,” said Incident Commander Matt Howard. However, lightning and severe weather can also bring other challenges.

Firefighter and public safety are the priority. The expected weather conditions may cause road instability and falling debris in fire-related areas. Residents residing in and traveling through the Tiller area should take precautions and be aware of any added hazards.

Evacuations: Evacuation levels are managed by the Douglas County Sheriff and were updated yesterday afternoon.
Please stay up to date on evacuation levels at: http://www.dcso.com/evacuations

Fire Prevention: With cooler weather and forecast rain, dry fuels remain prevalent throughout the Douglas District. Public and Industrial Restrictions are in place to help prevent wildfires. Know Before You Go - It Only Takes One Spark.

Fire Restrictions
• Umpqua National Forest restrictions can be found online – https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/umpqua/fire
• Oregon Department of Forestry restrictions can be found here – https://www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/pages/restrictions.aspx
• Douglas Forest Protective Association: https://www.dfpa.net/public-fire-restrictions

Road update: The Tiller Trail Highway is open; however, with the severe weather tomorrow, ensure to know the conditions before you travel. Use Tripcheck to plan ahead: https://tripcheck.com/

Forest closures: There are two forest closures impacting every district of the Umpqua National Forest. Closure information can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/umpqua/alerts-notices

Fire Information Board Locations: Use this custom Google map to find locations: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=13vb6f48bmfpMszOGMdkoVLIIgXQd4s0&usp=sharing

Smoke Outlook: https://fire.airnow.gov/#

Infrastructure Update: We are working closely with Pacific Power on accessibility to safe areas to restore power. Pacific Power will continue to provide updates to impacted customers via phone/email/text.

For information on current outages, visit:
• https://www.pacificpower.net/outages-safety.html

En español: https://www.pacificpower.net/es/apagones.html

For information on wildfire mitigation and safety efforts, visit:
• https://www.pacificpower.net/outages-safety/wildfire-safety.html

For questions, please contact the Pacific Power Customer Service team at 1-888-221-7070.