Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Page 5
Wind-driven fire stirred Biscuit fear
-vent it from destroying
nearby homes and Shady
Acres RV Park.
As the fire advanced,
some residents along the
west end of Schumacher
and River streets were
evacuated, as well as from
Shady Acres RV Park.
Some left voluntarily, in-
cluding some residents
from Pine Ridge Estates
off South Kerby Avenue, a
couple of blocks west of
and below Shop Smart
Food Warehouse.
In addition, residents
at Valley Village were
concerned about possible
evacuation, but flames
coming toward them from
the west were halted.
When the first alarm
sounded, IVFD volunteers
from throughout Illinois
Valley, including some
from Grants Pass, dropped
what they were doing,
closed businesses or left
work, and raced to the
scene.
Additional support was
immediately requested
from several agencies,
some of which were moni-
toring I.V.’s frequency and
could tell that the situation
would require additional
resources. Rapidly re-
sponding, either to assist
with containment of the
blaze or to provide other
support service, were Ore-
gon Dept. of Forestry
(ODF), Rural/Metro Fire
De p t. , Gran ts Pas s
Fire/Rescue, Jackson
County, Bureau of Land
Mana ge ment (B LM),
Grayback Forestry, Rough
& Ready Lumber Co., U.S.
Forest Service, Josephine
County Sheriff’s Office
(JCSO), Oregon State Po-
lice (OSP), and American
Medical Response (AMR).
Within minutes, one
helicopter with a bucket
arrived and began dousing
flames along the east ridge
as the fire escaped north
toward Cave Junction
along a brush-covered hill-
side. In all, five helicopters
of varying sizes aided the
battle.
An ODF bomber from
Medford, one of two that
responded, successfully
performed three drops
while flying close over the
fire’s front line, dropping
retardant on advancing
flames. Because of dense
smoke and debris blowing
into people’s yards, and
onto their homes and mo-
tor vehicles, residents were
worried.
“I knew we were in
trouble right away when
we came outside (from a
meeting at the north end of
Cave Junction) and saw all
the smoke,” said IVFD
Chief Harry Rich.
“I thought we’d lose
all the homes near the
fire,” he said. “It was diffi-
cult to reach the fire in
some areas (because of
heavy brush growth and
trees),” he said.
Some civilians were
upset at being
stopped from enter-
ing the fire area.
“As a result of having
a unified co mmand
(involving multiple agen-
cies responding) there was
less loss of property. The
success (of firefighting
efforts) is that we had no
fire-related deaths,” said
Rich.
However, Catherine
Torrence, a 92-year-old
woman staying at the care-
taker’s house died after
being transported to Three
Rivers Community Hospi-
tal in Grants Pass. An in-
vestigation into her death
is continuing.
Four volunteer fire-
fighters needed medical
attention due to heat ex-
haustion and smoke inhala-
tion, said Rich, but all
were eager to get back to
the fire lines. One Gray-
back employee was hospi-
talized due to heat exhaus-
tion.
Katherine Mechling,
an IVFD volunteer and
physician who operates
Clear Creek Family Prac-
tice in Selma, said there
was some danger involved.
“I was afraid for my
brother (I.V. Firefighter
Andy Mechling),” she
said. “When the fire be-
came too close and we
were pulling out of the
“Forks,” a burning tree fell
across the road in front of
his rig. Fortunately, he was
able to quickly get out and
clear the tree from the road
with a chainsaw.”
Larry Welsh, BLM
task force leader, said,
“The wind caused the fire
to move very quickly.
(But) if the wind hadn’t
carried it the way it did,
there would have been
many more homes threat-
ened.”
An additional “spot-
fire,” likely caused by hot
ash carried by wind from
the main fire, burned 2.5
acres near Illinois Valley
Golf Course before being
contained.
Road blocks were set
up by OSP and JCSO to
prevent motorists from
entering burning areas and
hindering fire crews from
responding. Southbound
traffic was backed up at
times for some 3 miles
from Downtown Cave
Junction; and northbound
traffic was slow, some-
times stop-and-go.
This upset some resi-
dents who wanted to get
back to their homes or
families near the fire.
“We were very angry,”
said Cave Junction resident
Lydia Welcome, a former
Evergreen Elementary
School teacher. “We just
wanted to get to our fami-
lies and see if they were
OK,” she said.
According to Wel-
come, there was some con-
fusion as to the nature of
the road block because
signs had been placed on
Sauer’s Flat indicating that
there was a wreck ahead.
American Red Cross
set up an evacuation shel-
ter at approximately 5:15
p.m. at Selma Community
& Education Center. More
than 25 volunteers, includ-
ing six from Illinois Val-
ley, set up cots and were
ready to provide food to
displaced families.
Shelter volunteers
were sent home around
7:30 p.m. when it was an-
nounced by ODF that the
fire was under control.
A report from JCSO
said that the JoCo Emer-
gency Operations Center
was instructed to stand
down at 6:15 p.m. because
the fires had been halted,
and that crews were mov-
ing into the mop-up (clean-
up and final assessment)
stage.
Although some roads
remained closed to traffic,
residents were allowed to
return home shortly after
the announcement.
IVFD crews remained
to assist until being re-
leased at approximately 7
p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5.
Overall, “fire response was
a complete success,” said
Rich.
Thank you,
firefighters and law enforcement
personnel for all your
help during the ‘Rough & Ready’
wildfire, Aug. 4.
Are you
ready?
*Are you interested in learning more about what you and your
neighbors can do to increase your chances of surviving a wildfire?
*Would you like to take protective steps to reduce your risks from
wildfires?
*Do you have ideas about what can be done to make the Illinois
Valley more fire safe?
Come find out how you can help determine our community’s
priorities for reducing our risks from wildfire, and the creation
of the Illinois Valley Fire Plan.
All meetings are from 6:30 - 9 p.m.
Childcare & refreshments provided.
Cave Junction
Wednesday, August 18 - County Bldg.
102 S. Redwood Hwy. at Lister.
Questions?
Please contact I.V. Fire District
Fire Prevention Coordinator
De Spellman at 592-2225.
PROTECTING THEIR HOMES- Residents at Pine Ridge Estates used garden hoses to
wet areas and roofs in the face of approaching flames Wednesday, Aug. 4
U of O Names Two
From Illinois Valley
Nicholas E. Leach and
Andrew J. Seidler, of Cave
Junction, attained the
Dean’s List at University
of Oregon in Eugene for
achieving grade-point av-
erages of at least 3.75 dur-
ing spring term 2003-2004.
Leach is a junior an-
thropology major.
Seidler is a freshman
majoring in anthropology.
EARLY HEAD START
(Continued from page 1)
REGISTER NOW!
Cave Junction Early Head Start!
EHS is for low income pregnant women, infants and
toddlers living in the Illinois Valley. All services are
FREE
for those who qualify. We welcome children with
certified disabilities regardless of income!
Cave Junction Early Head Start Offers:
Parent/Child Groups
For Pregnant Women and Children Birth to 3 Years of Age
Which include:
One Parent/Child Play Group per Week with parent support!
This Center also offers:
Toddler Groups
For children 18 Months to 3 Years of Age
With Two Play Groups per Week!
Please Register
NOW for
September Classes!
For more information,
to turn in an application,
or, to pick up an application
please call:
Suzan McNally at 592-3259
You may also e-mail questions
and requests to:
smcnally@socfc.org or
dbartlett@socfc.org
You may download an application
from our Web Site at
www.socfc.org
Click on Early Head Start, scroll
down to EHS application then
click to download
Spaces are limited!
ALL CHOICES INCLUDE:
USDA Meals and Snacks
Health and Nutrition Education
Child Development Education
Goal Setting
to
Reach Family Dreams
SOUTHERN OREGON HEAD START