Firefighters continued an aggressive attack on numerous fires caused by Monday night thunderstorms, making significant progress on the largest fires initially identified -- but also responding to multiple new reports of fires 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 and the potential for additional holdover fires, the district ordered Oregon Department of Forestry Incident Management Team 3, which will mobilize from ODF districts across Oregon this morning. The Oregon State Fire Marshal has mobilized two structural task forces from Benton and Lane counties after a request for mutual aid by the Rogue Valley Fire Defense Board. As of Tuesday night, the largest fires across the district included the Heppsie Mountain Fire located south of Highway 140 near Lake Creek, which was estimated to be 40 acres; the Poole Hill Fire located south of the Heppsie Mountain Fire, which was estimated to be 15 acres; the Pompadour Fire located in the hills east of Ashland, which was halted at 38 acres; the Deming Gulch Fire located near Buncom, which was estimated to be 350 acres; the Neil Creek Road Fire located south of Ashland, which was estimated to be 35 acres; the Jim Me Peak Fire located in a remote area south of Applegate, which was estimated to be 30 acres; and the Palmer Peak Fire located near the Jim Me Peak Fire, which was estimated to be 20 acres. Numerous additional fires have been stopped at a small size and were completely mopped up by Tuesday evening.
