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Medford fire chief: Applegate blaze grew to roughly 400 acres; night crews and air tankers deployed
Summary
Fire Chief Eric Thompson told the City Council the Applegate wildland fire that started midday had grown to about 400 acres, prompted evacuations and drew multiple local and state resources including large air tankers and night crews.
Fire Chief Eric Thompson told the Medford City Council on June 18 that a wildland fire near Upper Applegate Road that began around midday had grown to an area roughly 400 acres in size and remained uncontained that evening. He said the fire peaked on a ridge and was moving downhill; crews hoped to have the line by morning but, at the time of his briefing, the fire was still not contained.
Thompson said Medford Fire has three wildland engines and a task force leader assigned to the incident, and that about 70 apparatus across the Rogue Valley — including five task forces and Oregon Department of Forestry resources — were fighting the blaze. The city also received air support: a very large air tanker, three additional large tankers and multiple helicopters.
The chief said night crews were incoming from Marion County and recalled that teams previously assigned to a Central Oregon fire had returned and were available. He emphasized that Medford’s stations remained staffed and that emergency call-back procedures had kept local coverage intact. Thompson urged residents to use the WatchDuty app and Jackson County Emergency Management links for current evacuation information.
Jackson County had set evacuation levels that affected about 1,500 people and roughly 1,000 structures, Thompson said. He closed by urging residents to enroll in local alerts and “know your zone” so they can respond quickly when evacuation notices are issued.
