Officials with the Skyline Ridge Complex of fires in Douglas County say three of the fires continue to grow, while most of the other fires are being described as “more stable.”
In the most recent update, fire managers said only three fires within the Complex continue to grow: the Poole Creek, O'Shea, and Sweat Creek fires.
The southeast edge of the Poole Creek Fire, about 6 miles southeast of Days Creek is burning actively, pushing past sections of fire line. The Poole Creek Fire makes up 1,942 acres of the entire footprint of the Complex which was estimated to be burning across 2,418 acres and was 9% contained.
The second largest fire in the Complex is the 190 acre O’Shea Fire a few miles southeast of Canyonville. Most other fires are two acres or less.
The terrain in the area of the northern edge of the fire is challenging firefighters. Three steep ridges run north to south, split by two deep canyons. Fire managers say at the highest point the ridges are over 2,000 feet high, with slopes of 70 to 100%. The Sweat Creek and O'Shea fires have burning chunks of wood rolling down the steep slopes, past the lines.
Firefighters are building control lines along existing roads on the tops of the outer east and west ridges. Controlled burns over the next several days will help strengthen those lines to prevent the fire from spreading east or west.
ODF Team 1 is hosting a virtual community meeting on Facebook Live Sunday, Aug. 8, at 7:30 p.m. That meeting can be found at https://www.facebook.com/skylineridgecomplex.
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