WHITE CITY, Ore. (May 31, 2021) – The East Antelope Fire, located on the 9600-block of East Antelope Road outside of White City, remains 100% lined and is now 90% mopped up. Firefighters were able to make this tremendous amount of progress during Sunday’s day shift and through the night; operations today will focus on reaching near, if not compete containment. It remains 49 acres in size, and is on private and BLM land.
An infrared drone flight was conducted Sunday evening, revealing multiple hotspots within the fire perimeter. Overnight, fire crews worked to extinguish those areas. Additional gridding will take place today, allowing firefighters to canvas the entire footprint of the fire for potential areas of concern. This evening, crews will remain on scene and do an additional infrared scan. This technology is extremely important to finalizing operations, as it detects heat in specific areas, even when indicators like smoke or embers aren’t immediately visible.
The E. Antelope Fire was initially reported on Saturday around 2:45 p.m. The road was closed to traffic with the exception of fire resources and residents; these closures have since been lifted. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Jackson County Emergency Management issued level two (Be Set) evacuations orders for the immediate area; they have since been downgraded to level 1 (Be Ready). Additional evacuation information is available through the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Jackson County Emergency Management.
ODF Southwest Oregon District would like to thank our partner agencies who have helped on the fire lines, including the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Jackson County Fire District 3 and Lake Creek Fire. We would also like to thank the veterans who have spent their Memorial Day weekend with us, once again protecting our community; your efforts on the fire and in your military service are much appreciated.
The cause of this fire remains under investigation. Additional information relating to the cause will be released when it is safe to do so without hampering the investigation.
Fire information for Jackson and Josephine counties is always available on Facebook, @ODFSouthwest.