Hugo, Ore. — A fire destroyed a cabin and a barn before spreading to the woods. It happened along Jump Off Joe Creek Road late Wednesday afternoon. In total, five acres of land were swallowed by flames.
It could have been much worse, if not for the efforts by firefighters from multiple agencies, who worked together to stop the flames from spreading further. Luckily, the homes in the fire’s path weren’t damaged. Still, it took over five hours to put out the approximate five-acre burn and around eight other agencies from the area joined Rural Metro Fire (RMF) in battling the flames.
Hot temperatures and high winds that’s a combination that leads to fires like the one in Hugo Wednesday, which eventually lead to a five-acre burn and the loss of a cabin and a barn. A situation that could have been much worse if the area didn’t collaborate with other fire agencies.
“Everyone’s a big team and everyone is a big family and they already know what to expect going into it,” said Melissa Cano, Oregon Department of Forestry.
Cano said the cohesion is a result of routine inter-agency training and being able to trust one another.
“If we don’t have that comfort level and trust agency to agency, then we won’t work as well as a team,” Cano said.
Which is something all agencies prepare for, because you never know when you’ll need to team up on large incidents.
“It’s hard to manipulate, hard to predict. So therefore when a structure fire gets toned – ODF typically responds, just in case,” Cano said.
As for how all the agencies can get the job done with so many moving parts, Cano called it ‘closest-forces.’
“The main point for all of us is we have a similar mission – it’s to get it out and to keep the fire small,” Cano said.
In inter-agency situations it’s all hands on deck — but there is a formula to the organized chaos – and it always starts with an IC – or an ‘incident commander.’
“They’re going to be the ones kind of making the calls. We need someone here, we need someone there, ODF is here – you take the wildland side,” Cano said.
It’s that type of hustle that keeps large fires under control.
“We are a good and perfect example of a complete and coordinated system . That’s what Oregon stands for is how coordinated we all can be when an emergency strikes,” Cano said.
The fire in Hugo on Wednesday night is still under investigation. No one was hurt and crews were able to contain it to five acres. Other agencies that responded include Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, Rogue River Fire District, Wolf Creek Rural Fire Protection District, Applegate Valley Fire District, Illinois Valley Fire District, and the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.