Nearby business evacuated during Cave Junction salvage yard fire

Cave Junction, Ore. — Dozens of firefighters from multiple agencies were able to stop a fire in its tracks yesterday evening.

NBC5 News was there as flames burned a Cave Junction salvage yard and ten acres of surrounding grassland.

At one point, several homes were on evacuation notice.

Today crews finished mopping up the fire as the business and neighbors assessed the damage.

Before they were evacuated, employees at The Good Earth Organics down the road could see the flames.

Megan Shadley is one of those employees.

She says first the power went out and they had no idea why.

Then when they walked outside they noticed some powerlines were down so they moved their cars.

Soon after, Shadley says she and her co-workers saw the smoke rising two properties away.

“We thought it was just going to be a small fire that was over quickly so we weren’t to worried, but as we saw the trees start going up one by one we got more and more worried as the ash started to blow over and the smoke was getting bigger and bigger,” Shadley said.

About half an hour after firefighters started battling the fire, shadley says someone told their business the soil yard was smoking.

She says some employees went back to wet the moss piles as debris was flying onto the property.

Shadley says thankfully nobody was hurt and nothing was lost.

Illinois Valley Fire District says it will continue to check if there are any smokes around the perimeter of the property in the following days.

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