Rural Metro & GP Firefighters Extinguished Escaped Burn off New Hope Road
A weekend fire in blackberry briars in the New Hope area prompted an emergency response from Rural Metro Fire Department's Williams Highway Station.
On Saturday at 3:31 p.m., Rural Metro and a Grants Pass Fire & Rescue engine responded to the reported fire at the entrance to the Ponderosa Ridge community off New Hope Road.
Rural Metro officials reported the fire consumed about 1/4-acre of vegetation along a creek bed before it was contained by firefighters. They said the cause of the fire was related to burning yard debris left over from winter storm damage that spread to nearby flammable vegetation.
Officials said it is important for anyone burning debris to realize the current warm and dry weather can lead to debris fires escaping control.
Rural Metro recommends to avoid burning on breezy days, keep burn piles small in size, build burn piles in open spaces away from flammable vegetation, stay in attendance of the burn, have a charged garden hose within reach of the pile, and carry a shovel and charged cell phone to react quickly.
Posted on 4/21/25 6:41AM by Sam Marsh
