MEDFORD, Ore. – An Emergency Operations Center was set up Tuesday afternoon as the Almeda Fire began to burn north.
The city of Ashland was the first to get official information out to the public about the fire. As the fire spread to Phoenix and Talent, and eventually the outskirts of Medford, there was little information available.
The Jackson County Emergency Operations began sending out emails early in the evening. The director of the Jackson Co. Emergency Operation Center, John Vial said, “This was an extremely dynamic event that moved extremely fast and first responders had a very difficult time keeping up. The speed of this event, it changed and moved so quickly. When you put information out, generally it was almost wrong instantly and you had to follow it up with other information. So the speed and the dynamics made it a very challenging fire.”
Vial says the conditions made it difficult for first responders to keep up.
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