Holiday Farm Fire reported 5% contained - The Register-Guard

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Adam Duvernay   | Register-Guard

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New manpower continues to marshal around the Holiday Farm Fire, which, along with cooperative weather, has allowed search and rescue missions to begin and firefighters to dig fire lines around the more than 161,000-acre blaze sufficient to call it 5% contained.

Office of the State Fire Marshal spokesman Brian Richardson said overnight flights were not possible and no new acreage estimate was available Sunday morning. But he said cooler, more humid weather has kept the fire from expanding with its original speed.

"The fire exploded really quickly on those first few days. It really took up a lot of acreage and moved through our community quickly. It's since then slowed. We've been helped out a lot by Mother Nature as we have gotten more moisture back in the air," he said. 

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The smoke hanging over the area surrounding the Holiday Farm Fire mixed Sunday with a dense fog, leading to visibility from zero to a half-mile at times and poor air quality.

The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency's Air Quality Index at noon was hazardous countywide, with Eugene at 433 AQI, Cottage Grove at 469 and Oakridge at 358. It's the third consecutive day Eugene has hit 400 or higher on the index, which tops out at 500. 

There now are more than 620 people on hand for the Holiday Farm Fire. Richardson said crews on Goodpasture Loop and Deerhorn Road are protecting structures.

Wildfires: Updates: Smoke and fog lead to near zero visibility in Lane County

"Our crews continue to make a lot of good progress," Richardson said. 

Firefighters completed a successful burnout operation in the southwestern corner of the fire to establish a solid control line, according to a Sunday Oregon Department of Forestry news release.

ODF said the Holiday Farm Fire on Sunday threatened 23,456 structures.

At a virtual Blue River community meeting Saturday night, State Fire Marshal's Office Operations Section Chief Alex Haven said the weather has allowed firefighters to move their focus over the past few days from just point protection of structures to mop-up operations.  

"We've got a lot of hot spots around structures that we're working with. We have a lot of hazard areas on those roads, a lot of trees down," Haven said. 

Initial search and rescue operations began Saturday and were expected to continue and expand Sunday, in part thanks to the arrival and deployment of an 80-person, out-of-state team. He said teams conducting such surveys also will assess property damage.

"It's a tremendous amount of work," Haven said. 

Haven said fire authorities hope to make public details about how badly damaged certain addresses are over the next few days as structure assessments are completed. 

The Lane County Sheriff's Office on Saturday lowered the evacuation level in the Mohawk Valley to Level 2, which warns people to be set to leave. Sheriff Cliff Harrold said Saturday night that residents can return home to check on property and collect items they need, but he advised them that fire conditions may change and it's not safe to stay.

"The reality is, we'd rather you not be in that zone for your own safety," Harrold said. 

ODF reported Sunday there are two exceptions to the lowering of evacuation levels: 

• West of Marcola Road south of the intersection with Hill Road is being downgraded from a Level 2  to a Level 1.
• East of the Mohawk River from Wendling Road to the Linn County line remains at Level 3, including Wending Road, Paschelke Road, Hileman Road, Bunker Hill Road and Mohawk River Road and their connecting roads.

The evacuation level along Highway 126 from Thurston Road to Camp Creek Road,

including Camp Creek Road, Upper Camp Creek Road and Cedar Flat Road also

has been downgraded from a Level 3 to a Level 2. Deerhorn Road remains in a Level 3.

The sheriff's office is asking those who have missing friends and family to call 541-682-3977. People who reported then found missing people also should call to update the sheriff's office.

Contact reporter Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@registerguard.com. Follow on Twitter @DuvernayOR.

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September 14, 2020 at 03:35AM
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Holiday Farm Fire reported 5% contained - The Register-Guard

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