Large response to 3 a.m. call brought blaze under control before it could reach nearby houses
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
Firefighters were hard at work before dawn Wednesday knocking down a grass fire on Dead Indian Memorial Road.
The fire call came in at 3:06 a.m., and the first engines on scene immediately set to work defending nearby structures, said Fire District 5 Battalion Chief Jim Campbell.
“When the first engines arrived, it was burning against the wind up to the driveway — it became interesting for a couple seconds but they were able to take care of it pretty quickly,” he said.
The grass fire at 2909 Dead Indian Memorial Road, almost 3 miles east of Ashland Municipal Airport, was near a couple of houses and several outbuildings, Campbell said. While firefighters were able to wet line the fire within 30 minutes, complete knock down was not achieved for close to four hours. The fire was 8.5 acres in size, he said.
A total of 13 resources responded to the blaze, six from Jackson County Fire District No. 5 and seven from mutual aid companies Oregon Department of Forestry, Medford Fire, and Ashland Fire & Rescue.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, he said. Firefighters were aided by early morning wind shifts, cooler temperatures and lower humidity levels. But Campbell cautioned valley residents to balance the “county-wide PTSD” from the Almeda Fire with the misconception that rain means its safe to burn. Fire season isn’t over yet and the grass is still dry, he said.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.
