JACKSON & JOSEPHINE COUNTIES, Ore. (July 8, 2025) – Firefighters continued an aggressive initial attack on numerous fires caused by thunderstorms Monday night, making significant progress on the largest fires initially identified, but also responding to multiple new reports of fire throughout the day on Tuesday. In total across Jackson and Josephine counties, 72 fires on ODF-protected land have been confirmed by reconnaissance flights, detection cameras and firefighters.
Due to the sheer volume of incidents, the potential for additional holdover fires and predicted dry thunderstorms tonight in Jackson County, the district has ordered Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) Complex Incident Management Team 3, which will mobilize from ODF Districts across Oregon tomorrow morning. With direction from the district, the team will take command of a portion of the fires to free up local resources, bring in additional expertise and personnel, as well as give local firefighters a short reprieve before returning to initial attack readiness.
“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. “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.”
Tonight, the largest fires across the district include:
- The Heppsie Mountain Fire, located south of Highway 140. Firefighters made excellent progress on this incident today, lining 50% of the perimeter. Firefighters now estimate the fire to be closer to 40 acres. Engines, bulldozers and aircraft have been assigned to the fire and continue to fight the fire aggressively. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management have issued a Level 1 – BE READY for a possible evacuation from the following areas: JAC-325-B Heppsie Mountain Road south of Highway 140 and the zone immediately to the south, JAC-326. More information on current evacuations can be found here: https://protect.genasys.com/
- The Poole Hill Fire, located south of the Heppsie Mountain Fire. Firefighters are estimating the fire has grown to 12 – 15 acres, however they have made significant progress on the incident, lining 80% of the fire’s perimeter today. Numerous resources have been ordered for this incident tonight, including two 20-person crews, a water tender and additional engines. Evacuation notifications for the Heppsie Mountain Fire apply to this incident as well.
- The Pompadour Fire, located in the hills east of Ashland off of East Nevada Street and Pompadour Drive. Firefighters caught this fire at 38 acres and have completed lining and mopping up the entire incident. The resources assigned to this fire have been dispatched to new fire reports.
- The Deming Gulch Fire, located northeast of Buncom, is currently estimated at 350 acres. Numerous resources are engaged on the fire, including engines and bulldozers. Firefighters are working to line the fire. There are currently no evacuation notices on this incident.
- The Neil Creek Road Fire, located west of I5 mile marker 10 and south of Ashland. Firefighters are holding the fire at 35 acres with several successful retardant drops this afternoon. Traffic to I5 is not being impacted by this fire. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management have placed Zone JAC-543 under Level 1 – Be Ready to evacuate notice and zones JAC-536, JAC-542 and JAC-558 under a Level 2 – Be Set to evacuate notice. More information on current evacuations can be found here: https://protect.genasys.com/
- The Jim Me Peak Fire, located in a remote area south of Applegate. This fire is estimated to be 30 acres and resources are engaged in an aggressive initial attack. Multiple 20-person crews, engines and bulldozers are being ordered to work on this fire overnight and continue progress on lining the fire’s edge.
- The Palmer Peak Fire, located to the southeast of the Jim Me Peak Fire. Currently estimated to be 20 acres, firefighters are continuing an aggressive initial attack. Engines, a bulldozer and aircraft have been working on this incident.
Numerous additional fires have been stopped at a small size and are 100% lined and mopped up this evening. All other staffed fires are estimated to be between 1/10 of an acre and 10 acres in size. Numerous reconnaissance flights have provided invaluable information throughout the day, allowing firefighters to be strategic about resources needed, helping to prioritize where the greatest needs are. The majority of these fires are located on steep slopes high in elevation where lightning naturally strikes, creating the added challenge of navigating to and accessing the fires. Aircraft has played a vital role in slowing the spread of numerous fires, allowing firefighters to gain access and begin initial attack. The ODF Southwest Oregon Detection Center has also been monitoring cameras in these strike areas today and helped to confirm smoke or fires found across the district when aircraft was unable for reconnaissance.
ODF resources are continuing to work with our federal partners at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in response to these fires, as well as local and county structural fire departments. This teamwork is a direct reflection of the complete and coordinated fire response system in place here in southern Oregon.
High fire danger is currently in effect on ODF-protected land in Jackson and Josephine counties; as firefighters work to extinguish these natural fire starts, help prevent new human-caused fires from sparking by following all regulations currently in place: https://swofire.com/public-fire-restrictions/
For fire information anytime, visit our Facebook page, @ODFSouthwest or our website, www.swofire.com.