Crews Close to Linking Fire Lines Around 2 Parts of Oregon Blaze
PORTLAND, Ore. — Firefighters on Saturday were within a mile of linking fire lines around the western and southern sections of the nearly 495,000-acre Biscuit fire in southwestern Oregon.
Once connected, the two fire lines will form a minimal perimeter stripped of fuel to keep the blaze away from communities along the Oregon coast to the west and mountain towns to the northwest.
Crews should have the line connected within the next few days, a fire spokeswoman said.
The blaze has become the nation’s largest wildfire this year.
Officials said the Biscuit fire was 70% contained by 206 miles of fully reinforced fire lines.
Firefighters made so much progress on fires in Oregon and Washington in recent days that officials canceled plans to call up about 700 soldiers from Ft. Bragg, N.C., said Doug Huntington, an information officer at the Pacific Northwest Multi-Agency Coordinating Group in Portland.
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