The so-called Wyeth fire, which was started last weekend, to be under control for the first time, is the most troublesome and stubborn fire that has been fought by the United States Forest Service men in Oregon this season. The area swept by this fire is over 12,000 acres of scenic territory on which stood much valuable timber of the forest reserve and the cost of suppression in time and money is very great.
At the outbreak of the fire on July 14, when it was reported to the forest service officials, all available firefighting forces were rushed to aid in checking what was to grow into a great conflagration. The fire was encouraged by fickle winds, ever present in the Columbia Gorge, and in spite of all the efforts to check it, it raced rapidly up the bluffs and made it impossible for the fighters to check it without circling by a steep and circumvential route to the rear of the blaze on top of the precipices to establish fire lines. For several days, too, there was a tendency in Portland to minimize the seriousness of the fire, apparently because no one in Portland had seen the fire or knew the country in which it was located.
Ever shifting wind proved a riddle to the experienced fighters who were on the job to do what they could to direct the flames from the handsome stands of timber south of the bluffs. No sooner would they have men on one side of the fire to guard it than the wind would shift and necessitate journeying to the opposite end of the fire to prevent spread. The journey was long and required time, so that when the forces arrived, the blaze had got beyond control. Thus there was no chance with the dry weather conditions and the tinder like condition of the forest cover and underbrush, to head off the blaze in its progress merely by establishing fire lines, over which the favorable humidity and strong winds would carry the fire.
Aware of their plight, the fighters resorted to thousands of feet of water hose with two or three pumps. Where the location of the fire made impossible connection with the water in the river, hoses were attached where convenient to waterfalls and played upon the fire with satisfactory effect. The fighting operations were extended until fire lines of an estimated length of 30 miles surrounded the blaze on all sides.
The man responsible for all this damage got a 90-day jail sentence.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.