JULIAN, Calif., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Weather conditions took a turn for the better along the West Coast Saturday, allowing fire crews in Southern California to corral a pair of fires outside San Diego and promising help along the lines in southwestern Oregon where the Florence fire grew to nearly 334,000 acres.
California firefighters were ready to declare victory Saturday in their seesaw battle with the stubborn Pines fire and the nearby Peak fire, which were both more than 75-percent contained and targeted for full containment by sundown Sunday.
"It's looking real good," said California Department of Forestry spokeswoman Audrey Hagen. "Let's hope the winds stay this way. They have been calm all day."
More than 3,400 firefighters have been battling the Pines Fire in the parched forest around Julian since July 28 when the rotor of a National Guard helicopter clipped a power line while searching for clandestine marijuana gardens hidden in the mountain forests. The 63,731-acre blaze has flared up and jumped containment numerous times, but was stalled Saturday by a lack of wind and burning into desert land that doesn't have the abundance of tinder-dry fuel found around Julian.
"It hasn't moved, or it is moving very slowly," Hagen said, pegging the containment at a comfortable 77 percent.
The campaign against the Pines fire was complicated on Friday when the Peak fire broke out not far away and threatened to divide the firefighters' forces and upset their entire strategy, but fast action confined the fire to 150 acres, which was 75-percent contained Saturday.
Meanwhile, a red-flag fire warning in southern Oregon was scheduled to expire Saturday afternoon as high pressure over the area weakened slightly and caused winds to wane in the Illinois River Valley where the Florence blaze grew to 333,891 acres.
"It's burning slowly," said Fire Information Officer Nigel Baker. "The inversion layer -- the high-level winds in the upper atmosphere -- is keeping the smoke low to the ground and not allowing it (the fire) take off. If that were to lift, we would have a serious problem on our hands."
Baker told United Press International that winds of a modest 15 miles per hour were predicted for the immediate future in the area.
"We hope we can do some work out there and shore up the lines," he said.
Heavy columns of smoke were visible in the Illinois River Valley and the fire was only 25-percent contained, but officials late Friday determined the fire lines carved out around the fire were secure enough that they downgraded the evacuation alert for the valley.
"Progress made by firefighters in establishing and holding containment lines and completing burnout operations continues to reduce the potential and risk of the fire spreading toward communities within the Illinois River Valley," fire officials said in a statement.
The Florence fire was to be renamed the Sour Biscuit Fire on Sunday so as not to confuse its location with the town of Florence located on the state's central coast.
(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles)
