(Originally published at 9:48 a.m. PT, July 31, 2015, updated at 6:12 p.m. PT, July 31, 2015)


The Stouts Fire 10 miles east of Canyonville, Oregon exploded to 6,500 acres within 12 hours after it started on Thursday (see maps below).
The fire burned actively late into the night toward the southeast before laying down in the early morning hours. Firefighters Thursday night focused their efforts on opening access roads and anchoring into the heel of the fire to begin constructing fireline.
Approximately 450 firefighters are on scene Friday. Fire activity is expected to increase throughout the day today. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for most of western Oregon.
Thursday night, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office issued a Level 3 (GO) evacuation notice for homes on Stouts Creek Road, Ferguson Lane, and Conley Lane. A Level 1 (READY) evacuation notice was issued for all homes on Upper Cow Creek, east of Snow Creek Road. A Red Cross Shelter opened at the Canyonville Elementary School, at 124 N. Main Street in Canyonville.
The Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 1 arrived at the Stouts Fire Friday morning.
The Stouts Fire is 32 miles northeast of Grants Pass and 24 miles southeast of Roseburg.


Satellite imagery of the Stouts Fire (which produced the first documented pyrocumulonimbus in the Lower 48 States for the 2015 wildfire season): http://pyrocb.ssec.wisc.edu/archives/1095