Published:Saturday, September 20, 2008 6:17 AM PDT
Serving the South Coast of Oregon

Weather helps firefighters
Saturday, September 20, 2008 6:17 AM PDT

PORTLAND (AP) — More favorable weather has given fire crews a hand in their efforts at stubborn fires on Mount Hood and in Southern Oregon.

The resurgent Gnarl fire on the east side of Mount Hood has spared the Cloud Cap Inn and structures at Tilly Jane campground, firefighters said Friday.

The blaze was touched off by lightning in early August, and then flared up again earlier this week.

But firefighters said the advent of cooler temperatures and more humidity late in the week was favorable and allowed them to slow the fire’s advance.

Firefighters have told residents of 18 homes in one development to evacuate, and told 18 more to be ready to do so. Many trails and campgrounds were closed.

Elsewhere:

n Crews at the Royce Butte fire along Oregon 58 between Eugene and Klamath Falls said they might have lines around the fire by Sunday.

n Firefighters said they hoped to contain a 1,250-acre fire that got to within 1.5 miles of Butte Falls northeast of Medford.

n A fire that broke out this week about 30 miles southeast of Estacada in the Mount Hood National Forest remained within the Bull of the Woods Wilderness Area, part of which was closed to visitors.

n A stretch of Oregon 138 remained closed, and two homes were ordered to be evacuated because of a wildfire east of Roseburg.

n Fire blackened a hillside near a Medford subdivision Thursday, knocking out power. But helicopters dropped retardant on the blaze and stopped it.

n Firefighters also are working on a blaze that has burned over the boundary of Crater Lake National Park.


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