Yellow Point Fire

The Yellow Point Fire was a wildfire that began on September 5, 2014, 25 miles west of Cottage Grove, Oregon. It ended up burning 790 acres of private and Bureau of Land Management forestlands before being contained on September 14, 2014.

Timeline

September 5: Officials were first alerted AbOUT the fire on the fifth at 5pm. The smoke from the fire made its way to Eugene, Oregon, though no homes or other buildings were burned. The closest structure to the fire was 1.5 miles away from the blaze.

September 6: The air quality index in Cottage Grove rose to a high of 149 at 5pm, but then fell to 110 at 6pm.

September 8: The fire was estimated to be 15% contained. Tom Fields of the Oregon Department Of Forestry stated the conditions for the Yellow Point Wildfire as being "Low humidity, high temperatures, very tough terrain and a lot of timber; so all the ingredients and recipe of a tough fire." At this point, 746 acres had burned.

September 9: The fire was estimated to be 25% contained and had burned 785 acres.

September 11: The fire was estimated to be 45% contained and fire crews had run over 25 miles of fire hose to combat it. Air quality had moved from an unhealthy level to "good", meaning that its air quality index reading fell into the 0-50 range.

September 14: The fire was categorized as contained as of 7:00AM PST. Matt Mackey, a Wildland Fire Supervisor, was put in charge of clean up of the project and putting out the last of the small flames.

Overview

313 people helped to fight this fire, along with 11 fire engines, 8 water tenders and 4 helicopters.

Road closures included:

  • Oxbow Creek Road (19-7-25.1) from Siuslaw River Road (19-7-25);
  • M-Line Road (20-7-8 and 19-8-29) from J-Line (19-8-3);
  • North Sister Creek Road (20-8-18.1) from Smith River Road (20-11-26);
  • Twin Sisters Access Road (20-8-17) from Smith River Road (20-11-26);
  • Yellow Point Road (20-7-28 and 20-7-8.1) from Smith River Road (20-11-26) and
  • Yellow Creek Road (20-7-32) from Smith River Road (20-11-26)
  • South Sisters Road
  • Oxbow Access Road west of Siuslaw River Road

Cooperating agencies included:

  • Bureau of Land Management
  • Roseburg Resources
  • Seneca Jones Timber Company
  • Lane County Administrative Office
  • Douglas County SHERIFF's Office
  • Lane County Sheriff's Office