By Mike Nelson & Faris Tanyos
 
September 18, 2008
 
MEDFORD, Ore. -- Four of the six fires burning in the state are located in Southern Oregon.
 
The 900-acre Double Day Fire is blazing within one-and-a-half miles of the town of Butte Falls. The Royce Butte Fire is burning in the Deschutes National Forest about 12 miles west of Crescent. The Rattle Fire is blazing 30 miles east of Glide. The Lonesome Complex is burning just east of Prospect.
 
The other two fires are located in the Mt. Hood region. The Gnarl Fire, burning on the east side of Mount Hood, was caused by lightning August 8th. The Lake Lenore Fire is burning southwest of the Gnarl Fire in the Mt. Hood National Forest.
 
The Royce Butte Fire started Tuesday afternoon. Fire investigators believe the fire was human caused. The Oregon Department of Transportation closed Highway 58 and evacuated people in the Crescent Lake Junction community and summer homes at Crescent and Odell Lakes. Those people are now being allowed to return home. At last report the fire was 20 percent contained and had burned close to 400 acres of land.
 
Further south, the Lonesome Complex continues to challenge firefighters. The flames are making their way over the Cascades onto the Fremont-Winema National Forests and north toward Crater Lake. Parts of the Pacific Crest Trail have been closed. The Middlefork Fire, the largest of the fires that make up the complex, is just 15 percent contained and has burned through 14,000 acres.
 
Weather conditions are expected to improve for the Rattle Fire. Fire managers say it is continuing to move out of the Boulder Creek wilderness area, and forced two homes to be evacuated. A voluntary evacuation has been issued for the Wilson Creek community. On Wednesday Highway 138 east of Roseburg had to be closed. At last report the Rattle Fire was about 30 percent contained and had burned over 11,000 acres.
 
In Northern California the Siskiyou/Blue 2 Complex, the Bear Wallow Complex, and the Panther Complex are all nearing containment in the Klamath National Forest.
 
This has been a record year for California fires. The state has had more than 8,100 wildland fires burning through about 1,227,000 acres.
 
By comparison, Oregon has had just over 1,500 wildland fires over 108,000 acres of land burned.