Emergency Declared as Wildfire in Southwestern Oregon Quadruples in Size
The Rum Creek Fire, burning in Josephine County, Oregon, since mid-August, almost quadrupled in size overnight into Saturday, August 27, prompting Oregon Gov Kate Brown to invoke the Emergency Conflagration Act, the state fire marshal said.
Footage from the City of Grants Pass shows a firefighting helicopter filling up at the Rogue River in Merlin.
According to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the fire had burned over 4,700 acres by Saturday.
Local news outlets reported the fire had almost quadrupled in size, from 1,200 acres on Friday.
The Josephine County Sheriff’s office issued Level 2 and Level 3 “go now” evacuations for homes near the fire.
The Rum Creek Fire started on August 17; firefighter Logan Taylor was killed tackling the blaze the next day, local news said. Credit: City of Grants Pass via Storyful
Video Transcript
[NO SPEECH]
