Applegate fire grew to 100 acres Thursday, evacuation warning expanded

The green area shows Jackson County evacuation area 434 in the Upper Applegate area south of Ruch, which was put on level 1 ("Ready") status Thursday afternoon. ODF Southwest Oregon image
June 20, 2024

Separate fire south of Shady Cove caused delays on Highway 62

Rogue Valley Times staff report

Multiple fire agencies threw all the ground and air resources they have at a pair of wildfires Thursday afternoon and into the evening, one south of Shady Cove and another in the Applegate.

Forward progress of a 50- to 60-acre fire burning along Highway 62 south of Shady Cove has been stopped, according to an update at 8 p.m. Thursday evening from the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest Oregon District.

“Firefighters will continue to work lining this fire and begin mop-up work tonight,” the Facebook post said.

The Upper Applegate Fire in the 3900 block of Upper Applegate Road was estimated at 100 acres as of Thursday evening, the 8 p.m. update said, and a Level 1 “Be Ready” evacuation notice for a portion of the Jacksonville-Ruch area has been expanded. See the Jackson County Emergency Management page for more information.

The area earlier Thursday was classified as Evac Zone JAC-434, which is Eastside Road South of Little Applegate Road to the McKee Bridge in Jacksonville.

“Resources are being ordered for a night shift on both incidents,” a previous ODF release said.

The evacuation notice instructs people to prepare to evacuate, or to act early if there is any reason a person may need extra time to evacuate. Those in the evacuation zone are instructed to leave right away if they feel they are in immediate danger.

For more information on evacuation zones, see protect.genasys.com.

A red map pin marks the approximate location of a fire along Highway 62 between Eagle Point and Shady Cove on Thursday. ODF Southwest Oregon image

In a previous update issued at 5:05 p.m., ODF officials say multiple aircraft have been ordered for the two fires, including two medium-duty Type 2 helicopters, one heavy-duty Type 1 helicopter, an air-attack plane and a large air tanker.

The Shady Cove area fire caused traffic delays between mileposts 15 and 17, according to a 4:45 p.m. update issued by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Traffic officials ask motorists to be prepared to slow, not to stop on the shoulder and to allow access for emergency vehicles.

This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.

Picture of Bert Etling

Bert Etling

Bert Etling is the executive editor of Ashland.news. Email him at betling@ashland.news.

Related Posts...

Phantasms on parade: Ashland’s got souls — lots of them

Thousands of costumed characters packed downtown Ashland on Thursday afternoon, making their along Main Street from Ashland Public Library to Ashland Plaza for the Ashland Chamber of Commerce’s Children’s Halloween Parade, which annually draws large numbers of children of all ages. According to one officer, it was the most people he’s seen in years.

Read More »

Future uncertain for Ashland’s severe weather shelter at 2200 Ashland St.

As the weather chills, the city of Ashland continues to wrestle with how to best operate its severe weather shelter in and plan the overall future of its building at 2200 Ashland St. While the city’s threshold for calling the severe weather shelter in winter is 32 degrees, there is some room for variation depending on accompanying weather conditions, duration of conditions and available resources, Ashland City Manager Sabrina Cotta said Wednesday.

Read More »

Our Sponsors

Literary Arts Portland Book Festival Portland Oregon
Don't Drown Ashland in Debt PAC 23909
Conscious Design Build Ashland Oregon

Latest posts

Crossword: Fun(d)raising #01

Crossword about different ways to support Ashland.news. Solve it directly in the article or download a PDF to print. Next week’s crossword: “Oregon-e Rogue #02.” More crosswords under the Culture menu.

Read More >

Phantasms on parade: Ashland’s got souls — lots of them

Thousands of costumed characters packed downtown Ashland on Thursday afternoon, making their along Main Street from Ashland Public Library to Ashland Plaza for the Ashland Chamber of Commerce’s Children’s Halloween Parade, which annually draws large numbers of children of all ages. According to one officer, it was the most people he’s seen in years.

Read More >

Future uncertain for Ashland’s severe weather shelter at 2200 Ashland St.

As the weather chills, the city of Ashland continues to wrestle with how to best operate its severe weather shelter in and plan the overall future of its building at 2200 Ashland St. While the city’s threshold for calling the severe weather shelter in winter is 32 degrees, there is some room for variation depending on accompanying weather conditions, duration of conditions and available resources, Ashland City Manager Sabrina Cotta said Wednesday.

Read More >

Our Sponsors

Pronto Printing Ashland Medford Oregon
City of Ashland Public Notice Ashland Oregon
Ashland.news House Ad

Explore More...

Crossword about different ways to support Ashland.news. Solve it directly in the article or download a PDF to print. Next week's crossword: "Oregon-e Rogue #02." More crosswords under the Culture menu.
Thousands of costumed characters packed downtown Ashland on Thursday afternoon, making their along Main Street from Ashland Public Library to Ashland Plaza for the Ashland Chamber of Commerce's Children’s Halloween Parade, which annually draws large numbers of children of all ages. According to one officer, it was the most people he’s seen in years.
As the weather chills, the city of Ashland continues to wrestle with how to best operate its severe weather shelter in and plan the overall future of its building at 2200 Ashland St. While the city’s threshold for calling the severe weather shelter in winter is 32 degrees, there is some room for variation depending on accompanying weather conditions, duration of conditions and available resources, Ashland City Manager Sabrina Cotta said Wednesday.
After the AIFF opened the doors to their newly remodeled center, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, leading the festival to go virtual. Now, the AIFF is up and running with their first in person event to be held since 2019.
Herbert Rothschild: The sanctions we impose on other countries have never achieved our stated aims — usually regime change. They have succeeded in inflicting suffering and death on the resident populations.
ashland.news logo

Subscribe to the newsletter and get local news sent directly to your inbox.

(It’s free)

Don't Miss Our Top Stories

Get our newsletter delivered to your inbox three times a week.
It’s FREE and you can cancel anytime.