Salem, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has deployed Incident Management Team 3 (IMT 3) to the ODF Southwest Oregon District to assist district personnel following last night’s lightning.
Over the last 24 hours the ODF Southwest Oregon District has confirmed over 72 known fires across Jackson and Josephine counties and been actively engaged across the board, straining all resources in the district. ODF IMT 3 will support the district by relieving the local resources and allowing them to focus on suppressing smaller fires and initial attack on new fires.
“Our firefighters have been working around the clock to keep these fires as small as we can, but resources are becoming limited, especially with other incidents across Oregon and the country competing for the same emergency response professionals,” ODF Southwest Oregon District Forester Dan Quinones said. “Bringing in ODF IMT 3 will allow us to regain our strength locally, handing some of these fires off to firefighters who hold the same drive to take them off the map as quickly as possible. Protecting our communities and putting out fires remain our top priorities.”
ODF resources continue to work with federal partners at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as well as local and county structural fire departments. This teamwork is a direct reflection of the complete and coordinated fire response system in southern Oregon.
The team will in brief at 12 p.m., July 9, and take command of the complex at 6 p.m.
High fire danger is currently in effect on ODF-protected land in Jackson and Josephine counties. As firefighters work to extinguish these natural fire starts, help prevent new human-caused fires from sparking by following all regulations currently in place: https://swofire.com/public-fire-restrictions/.
For current fire information, please follow ODF Southwest Oregon’s Facebook page.