Here is the report from NBC5 News at 6pm Friday, June 21, 2024:
JACKSONVILLE, Ore. – Fire season is full effect, the biggest fire right now in the Rogue Valley is the Upper Applegate, south of Ruch. ODF Southwest’s Natalie Weber said,
“The way that the fire burned, it burned uphill. So, it’s a pretty long, skinny fire footprint. [Thursday] and overnight, we were able to get dozer line in along the sides of that.”
ODF said the Upper Applegate Fire has grown to over 500 acres, with 41% containment at this point; affecting private, BLM and U.S. Forest Service land on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Now crews are working to strengthen the fire lines they already made, as well as complete more on the eastern side of the fire. Weber said,
“We have numerous crews, bulldozers, water tenders and aircraft on this fire [Friday], all really with the goal of trying to complete that line or get as close we can to that.”
Level one, “Be Ready” evacuation notices were issued for nearby zones. One local resident, Kevin Tully was able to see the fire burn from his house when it first started Thursday, to the towers of smoke it was Friday. Tully said,
“I happened to be working from home that day, got the tripod sprinklers going up on the roof and just try to wet everything down. Had a lot of friends and family call and come by and offer to help, you know? Yeah, it was just a scary ordeal.”
Tully said he’s very familiar with the dangers of fire season and advises people to be prepared,
“Keep the vegetation cut down around your house, keep the fuels away from your house, keep your roof wet down, gutters cleaned out, you know and then make sure you that you consider all of the things you want to take in the event of an emergency.”
The areas issued a level one, “Be Ready” evacuation notice are zone JAC 436 and JAC 434. Click here for more information.
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