One homeowner figures the East Antelope fire has done its worst, but it’s not yet contained

ASHLAND — Charles Wheeler could smell the acrid smoke and hear the whap-whap of helicopters dipping water out of his huge pond as firefighters attempted to douse the East Antelope fire Thursday afternoon.

But he couldn’t see the 1,550-acre blaze burning a quarter of a mile from his picturesque home or watch the hovering aircraft: He is blind.

Yet he opted not to evacuate his 580-acre parcel in the foothills on the southeast flank of Grizzly Peak.

"I think the fire is done," he said. "I wasn’t real worried about it. The way the winds work through here I figured we would be OK."

The fire skirted Wheeler’s house Thursday, and a dousing by fire retardant bombers and helicopters, along with handcrews on the ground, enabled firefighters to encircle it with firelines Thursday night, according to Dave Wells, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Forestry.

The 435 firefighters battling the blaze planned to start burning areas of unburned fuel between the firelines and main body of the fire late Thursday night. However, those parcels would be relatively small, covering only one or two acres apiece, he said.

Although there is a line around the fire, it is only 25 percent contained, fire officials said.

"It’s so dry out there — we’ve got to be able to hold it a few days before we can call it contained," Wells said.

Sparked by a power line Tuesday afternoon, the fire raced uphill into mixed conifer Wednesday but slowed to a crawl Thursday as it headed downhill into scrub oak and yellow patches of dry grassland.

"A fire burning in grass doesn’t get as hot as in forested areas and it goes out fairly fast," said Howard Hunter, a Bureau of Land Management employee assigned to the fire, which has burned both BLM and private lands.

But a wind-blown fire in dry grass can also streak across the landscape, he said.

"We don’t feel like Ashland is threatened," he said. "But there are some people who live out in rural areas who are.

"Our bottom line is this highway — it’s one of the points where we’re drawing the line in the sand," Hunter added of Dead Indian Memorial Road.

Wheeler’s home was one of several homes firefighters bivouacked at when the fire blew up Wednesday night.

"I sure appreciate these guys," Wheeler said. "It’s not easy work — they earn their paychecks."

That includes the crew of the fire retardant plane laying a line of red fire retardant just west of his home Wednesday night. The descending retardant drenched Wheeler.

"Slimy stuff," he said with a shrug.

His house is about three miles north of the blue highway that cuts through the dry foothills east of Ashland.

It wasn’t the first fire to scorch the area. In 1992, the Walker fire burned to within 800 yards of his home, Wheeler said.

"We put that pond in in case this place ever burned again," said Wheeler, 55, who has owned the property for nearly 15 years.

After the 1992 fire, Wheeler, who lost his sight in a boating accident, has had some fire-prone trees and brush removed from his property.

"We’ve also kept fire trails cut, just in case," he said.

His son, Gus, 14, is following his father’s lead.

"I was a little worried, but I’m not anymore," said the Ashland High School freshman. "It looks like they (firefighters) are taking care of it with the helicopters."

As he spoke, another helicopter roared in overhead to fill a huge bucket.

"Not knowing what was going to happen at first made me a little nervous," he said. "I thought it was going to come right down the ridge there. But the wind changed and pushed it away."

While the Wheelers didn’t evacuate, they did move their three dogs out of harm’s way.

"We couldn’t get the cats, though," Gus said.

Charles Wheeler says firefighters were a little miffed that he didn’t evacuate as advised.

"But I know how the wind works in here," he said. "I knew it would stop before it got to us."

For recorded information on the East Antelope fire, call the Jackson County Emergency Operations Center citizen hot line at 776-7338.

The message is updated each morning and night.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com