Vance Goldsmith, a resident in Grants Pass, has only live in Southern Oregon for 37 days. He just moved up here from Fremont, California.
“It’s scaring me to death, everything I own is literally still in boxes in my garage,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith has already left his new home. He decided to take caution and evacuate early, even though he hasn’t received an official mandatory notice.
“We’re presently at level two, but there’s no reason to wait in my opinion,” he said.
He joined the hundreds of people to get some questions answered like what the movement of the fire is and what the changing weather conditions are.
And most of those questions got answered. Those who joined the the meeting learned that the weather could be in our favor this week as the winds will continue to die down. However residents learned that one of the main things they were concerned about, the smoke, may not be going anywhere any time soon.
The Grace Creek and Taylor Creek fires are considered the largest of the Garner Complex fires, and even though those continue to spread, fire crews are bringing in as many resources as possible to control it.
“We’ve got 70 hand crews out there helping us out that a lot of people spread out over this turf, building lines and holding lines,” Chief John Pellissier, Oregon Department of Forestry, said.
Fire crews have also made it their goal to not only gain control of the fires and put them out, but to communicate as openly with the public, as possible.
“My sincerest hope I guess, I’ll finish her in a second, is that were serving you well,” Chris Cline, ODF, said.
Containment of the Garner Complex Fire is 14 percent and personnel has increased to over two thousand people. Over the last 24 hours, the fire has spread more than three thousand acres.
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