South Obenchain Fire

Unit Information

Medford District
Bureau of Land Management
Oregon
OR

Incident Contacts

Jackson County Emergency Management Office
Email: SouthObenchainFire@gmail.com
Phone: (541) 776-7338

Wildfire Informatin Center
Phone: 4582064043
Hours: 8 am- 8 pm

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Highlighted Activity

09/19/2020 When to call 911

Please be aware visible flames and smokes will persist within the fire perimeter until a season ending rain or snow event. Only call 911 if flames are actively spreading or if life or property are...

Announcement - 09/19/2020

Infrared map of heat signatures as detected by aircraft outfitted with special equipment. Thisi type of information is invaluable to gain a large overview of a fire this size. Units on the ground can also find heated areas with thermal imaging cameras.

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The South Obenchain Fire is burning in Jackson County. The fire was reported September 8, 2020 at 1:59 pm. The fire cause remains under investigation.

Basic Information

Current as of
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	Tuesday September 08th, 2020 approx. 01:59 AM
Location	5 miles east of Eagle Point, Oregon
Incident Commander	Kiefer
Coordinates	42.467 latitude, -122.683 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	393
Size	32,671 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained	95%
Estimated Containment Date	Wednesday September 30th, 2020 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Timber (Litter and Understory) Brush (2 feet) Medium Logging Slash Expecting lower intensity activity for another shift or two before another high pressure system sets in with warm and dry conditions.
Significant Events	Observed activity includes smoldering fuels in the duff/pine layer, cigar-like burning of large diameter fuels, and stump holes consuming.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Hold, secure and mop-up existing lines. Provide point protection. Suppression repair.
Projected Incident Activity	12 hour: Low fire potential anticipated over this time period. 24 hour: Red flag warning in effect Sunday night to 8pm Monday for gusty east winds. Low daytime humidity and poor overnight humidity recoveries. 48 hour: Expect continued moderate to poor recoveries on area ridges and dry daytime humidities along with very warm temperatures across the area into next weekend. +72 hour: Expect continued moderate to poor recoveries on area ridges and dry daytime humidities along with very warm temperatures across the area into next weekend.
Remarks	Evacuation levels have been eliminated except for a Level 1 in the eastern end of the fire area.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns	The fire weather environment will change rapidly from tonight into Monday, drying out and becoming breezy with critical fire weather conditions expected Sunday night through Monday. Humidity will trend lower by about 30 percent Sunday compared to Saturday and winds will be increasing om the east and northeast in the afternoon, especially on the eastern sections of the fire. Humidity recoveries on the higher elevations of the fire above 2000 feet will be poor Sunday night with better humidity recoveries in the valleys. Monday will be a hot and dry day with temperatures 10 degrees above normal, humidity in the single digits at times, and gusty east to southeast winds. Winds will trend lower Tuesday afternoon compared to Monday afternoon, but the hot and dry conditions with poor ridgetop overnight humidity recoveries will continue through the week.