The Nation - News from Oct. 18, 1987

Firefighters were within one mile of completing a fire line to confine part of a lightning-sparked blaze that has burned out of control in the Siskiyou National Forest for seven weeks. The so-called Silver fire has raced over 90,000 acres of trees and brush, about half of which is in the remote Kalmiopsis Wilderness of southwest Oregon. Firefighters had been digging the line in the rugged terrain for days, and Ron DeHart of the U.S. Forest Service said it was nearly complete. “There’s heavy brush there and rocky, steep ground. It’s pretty tough going,” he said. Forecasters were predicting winds up to 15 m.p.h., temperatures in 70s and no chance of rain, DeHart said.