Closures Lifted on The Middle Fork Fire; Public Ad
Incident: Lonesome Complex Wildfire
Released: 10/9/2008
(Lonesome Complex) Middle Fork Fire - High Cascades Ranger District
Closures Lifted on the Middle Fork Fire; Public Advised to Use Caution when Traveling the Area
MEDFORD, OR, October 9, 2008, - Effective on Thursday, October 9, 2008 the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest will lift all trail and road closures associated with the Middle Fork Fire. These closures went into effect in September 2008.
Currently, the 21,175-acre Middle Fork Fire is 90 percent contained.
With the fire closures lifted, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest fire managers are urging the public to use caution when traveling near the Middle Fork Fire area on the High Cascades Ranger District due to weakened and/or dead trees in the area as well as firefighting crews with equipment traveling on the roads. With firefighters still working in the area, the Forest Service asks that recreationist and motorists observe their surroundings and exercise caution by driving slowly and using their head lights.
There are also dead and/or weakened trees in the area that pose a safety hazard to the public. These weakened live trees or dead snags could fall down at a moment's notice. As these trees fall down the tree tops can break and downed tree limbs and branches can accumulated on the ground and potentially across local roads or trails.
The Middle Fork Fire was part of the Lonesome Complex and one of a number of fires ignited by lightning storms that swept through the southern Oregon area from August 16 through August 18.
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