JACKSON & JOSEPHINE COUNTIES, ORE. – An overnight flight of Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Multi-Mission Aircraft fixed-wing plane detected two new fires on the Southwest Oregon District, and confirmed a third that resources had already been dispatched to. Using a combination of infrared technology and night vision goggles, the plane can pick up heat sources and even give fire behavior reports.
From this flight, the Skyline Fire was confirmed in northwestern part of Jackson County; it’s estimated to be a quarter acre. In the same area, the Horse Mountain Fire was discovered. It’s estimated to be a quarter acre as well, and resources were dispatched to it first this Tuesday morning. The third fire, the Jack Creek Fire, is located on U.S. Forest Service Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forestland in the Applegate; ODF Southwest has sent an engine to assist on this incident. None of these fires are threatening homes.
The three largest fires on the district remain:
- The Buck Rock Fire, located 5 miles north of Trail.
- The Round Top Fire, located 10 miles northwest of Shady Cove.
- The North Fork Anderson Creek Fire, located on Anderson Butte near Talent.
Firefighters on all three of these fires continued to hold lines overnight, and in some cases, slightly increase containment. All three are burning on steep slopes in high elevations, creating challenges for crews to dig line. There are currently no homes threatened across the district. An update on acreage and containment will be available in our evening update.
Smoke from wildfires burning in Northern California remains in the air over Jackson and Josephine Counties. Information on general smoke reports can be found online at https://fire.airnow.gov/.
Additional information about fire season is also available online on our website, www.swofire.com, our Facebook page, @ODFSouthwest and our Twitter account, @swofire.