OREGON UPDATES
Firefighters coast through the Rogue River in late August along with guides from the Northwest Rafting Company and Arrowhead River Adventures in Josephine County, Ore. Photo: Northwest Rafting Company
After Nearly 150 Days, Fire Season Ends on the ODF Southwest Oregon District Jackson & Josephine Counties, OR | October 25, 2022 | Press Release A fter a long, dry, and unseasonably warm season, the 2022 fire season in the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) Southwest Oregon District is made up of more than 50 fire starts caused by lightning strikes, spawning the Rum Creek and Hog Creek Fires near Merlin. The Rum Creek Fire would become the season’s largest fire, burning a total of 21,347 acres, destroying two homes, six structures, and taking the life of contract firefighter Logan Taylor.
officially ending on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 12:01 a.m. The ending of the 2022 season eliminates all public regulated use restrictions and industrial fire precaution level requirements. This announcement affects 1.8 million acres across Jackson and Josephine counties. This fire season in the Southwest Oregon District spanned 147 days. “We’ve seen longer seasons that have hung on into late October and November before, but it’s been unseasonably dry this month,” said Tyler McCarty, Southwest Oregon District Forester. “Southern Oregon is very fire prone, but the heightened risk has passed at this point with the amount of rain we’ve received this week.” Between the start of the fire season on June 1 to October 25, there have been 240 fires across the district for a little over 21,703 acres burned. Lightning proved to be the main catalyst for fire starts in the season, causing 72 fires across Jackson and Josephine counties, including the Westside Complex in Jackson County and the Lightning Gulch complex in Josephine County. These complexes were
“Logan paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect southern Oregon, and we’re so humbled and appreciative of how the community joined us in honoring him and his service,” McCarty said. “We’ve been fortunate in the Southwest Oregon District to not lose many firefighters, and Logan’s passing has touched everyone in our firefighting community. Our thoughts and prayers are still with his family and friends every day.” The Rum Creek Fire was ignited by lightning on August 17 and was operationally taken over by Northwest Incident Management Team 13 on August 21. Near the end of August, gusting winds pushed the fire from under 1,000 acres to more than 8,400, and ODF Incident Management Team 1 and an Oregon State Fire Marshal IMT were ordered to work in unified command with Northwest IMT 13. All of Galice was evacuated, as well as surrounding rural residences,
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The Business Review | November 2022
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