Firefighters confirmed at least 72 small wildfires following a lightning storm across southern Oregon the night of July 7. The largest, the Neil Creek Road Fire, south of Ashland, grew to 25 acres near Interstate 5.
“Our firefighters have been working around the clock to keep these fires as small as we can, but resources are becoming limited, especially with other incidents across Oregon and the country competing for the same emergency response professionals,” ODF Southwest Oregon District Forester Dan Quinones said.
The Neil Creek Road Fire ignited with a number of other blazes in southern Oregon after a major lightning storm.
Neil Creek Road Fire grows to 25 acres near I-5, evacuation warnings issued
The Neil Creek Road Fire grew to 25 acres near I-5 south of Ashland the evening of July 8. Level 1 and 2 evacuation warnings were issued for the area.
Fire crews said that two retardant drops “are helping to slow the fire’s progress as ground crews continue to engage in an aggressive initial attack.
Type 1 helicopters are conducting water tank drops strategically over the fire to slow progress as well,” a report at 3:30 p.m. said.
“While this fire isn’t impacting traffic on I-5, it is near the road. Please use caution when driving in the area. ODOT is on scene to provide assistance to fire crews if needed,” ODF said.
ODF deploys team to assist in southern Oregon fires
In response to the numerous fires across southern Oregon, the Oregon Department of Forestry has deployed Incident Management Team 3 to assist on the numerous blazes.
The fires are mainly in Jackson and Josephine counties.
The new team “will support the district by relieving the local resources and allowing them to focus on suppressing smaller fires and initial attack on new fires,” a news release said.
“Bringing in ODF IMT 3 will allow us to regain our strength locally, handing some of these fires off to firefighters who hold the same drive to take them off the map as quickly as possible. Protecting our communities and putting out fires remain our top priorities,” Quinones said.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 18 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors and BlueSky at oregonoutdoors.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Neil Creek Road Fire brings evacuation warnings near I-5 in southern Oregon