Oregon town threatened as winds fan forest fire
Date: 08-Aug-02
Country: USA
The fire, ignited by lightning in mid-July near Oregon's border with California, is now threatening the community of Agness about 90 miles (145 km) south of Eugene, said Tom Valluzzi, an information officer for the U.S. Forest Service.
"We've put out an advisory that Agness residents may have to evacuate within the next 24 to 72 hours," Valluzzi said. The town has a population of 120.
Wildfires in Oregon and the Northwest have been particularly bad this year with arid weather helping fuel the flames that consume the area's dense, oily bush, forests and grasslands.
Residents of Agness said they saw gray smoke pouring out of forests a few miles away and were dousing their homes to protect them in case the fire reached their community.
Firefighters are building a 141-mile (227-km) fireline to help contain the blaze and had just a few miles to go to complete a burnout, which is a controlled fire set by fighters to contain the main forest fire.
"We're concentrating on completing that burnout today," said Valluzzi.
A total of 4,727,730 acres (1,914,729 hectares) have burned in the United States so far this year, almost three times the 1,617,427 acres (655,057 hectares) scorched during the same period last year, making this one of the worst fire seasons in recent memory.
