JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. (June 21, 2024) – Firefighters continued to make good progress on both the Highway 62 and Upper Applegate Fires during Friday’s day shift. The Upper Applegate Fire, located south of Ruch, remains an estimated 500 acres on private, BLM and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. The Highway 62 Fire, located south of Shady Cove, remains at 75 acres and 100% lined. Tonight, it’s 100% plumbed with fire hose, allowing water usage across the entire incident. It’s also 20% mopped up at this time, affecting both private and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. Resources tonight will be 53 personnel total, including overhead, two 20-person crews, and an engine. Resources will continue to work on mop up operations and take advantage of the naturally decreased fire behavior overnight.
Meanwhile, the Upper Applegate Fire is holding as the district’s top priority. Firefighters have been able to build indirect line around 70% of the fire and 10% direct line at the fire’s edge, however steep, rocky terrain and hazardous snag trees are creating challenges for resources and slowing down progress. Portions of these areas are affected by Conifer mortality; there are significant patches of dead Douglas fir trees. The dead trees are a result of climate change, decades of fire suppression, prolonged drought, and periods of high temperatures. Today, tree fallers were working to safely remove these trees, which will allow firefighters to work closer to the fire’s perimeter.
For Friday’s overnight shift, 47 personnel are assigned to this fire, including six 20-person crews, two engines, two water tenders and two bulldozers. Numerous aircraft remain assigned to the incident as well, and will fly as long as they are needed until the sun goes down. Today, three federal Large Air Tankers (LAT) and one Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) were used on the fire out of the Medford Air Tanker Base (MATB) to create temporary fire lines using retardant. This largely helped to keep the fire within it’s footprint, despite hot and windy conditions today.
Tonight, resources will be focusing on creating as much direct line as possible along the eastern border, where there currently is no line or control aside from retardant perimeters. Safety remains a top priority with the potential for falling trees and rocks on the steep terrain. Structure protection will also continue on homes nearby.
Resources from across Oregon have been mobilized to this fire, including overhead members of ODF’s Incident Management Team 2. These individuals work in ODF districts across the state and dispatch to incidents where additional help is needed, allowing for surge capacity on the local district. The Oregon State Fire Marshal also deployed two strike teams this morning to the fire. Additional resources that have been working on this fire since it was first reported include BLM, USFS, Applegate Valley Fire District and firefighters and resources from agencies across Jackson and Josephine Counties.
On the Upper Applegate Fire, Level 1 “BE READY” evacuation notices were issued by Jackson County Emergency Management and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office for Zone JAC-436: Little Applegate Rd, west of Upper Applegate Rd, and eastern portions of Sterling Creek Rd., Jacksonville, and Zone JAC-434: Eastside Rd south of Little Applegate Rd to north of McKee Bridge, Jacksonville. Both remain in place this morning. More information about zones and locations is available here: https://protect.genasys.com/
The fire danger level on the ODF Southwest Oregon District is moderate (blue) and regulations are in place. Please be aware of and follow all current restrictions to help reduce the risk of fires in our communities. Fire season information is also available online at our Facebook page: @ODFSouthwest