The Rum Creek Fire 14 miles northwest of Grants Pass, Oregon has grown to 10,709 acres since it started from lightning on August 17. The fire is burning in very steep, remote, rugged terrain on both sides of the Rogue River. It has spread upriver to Galice and east to Stratton Creek. Spot fires have occurred two miles down range.
Much of the work being done by firefighters is construction of indirect fire lines some distance from the fire and prepping structures to increase their chances of survival.
The fire is under a unified command with three incident management teams working together, Northwest 13, Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Blue Team, and Oregon Department of Forestry’s Team 1.
Evacuations
Evacuations orders can be found on the Facebook pages for Josephine County Sheriff’s Office and Josephine Co. Emergency Management. A map is available showing the evacuation areas.
Firefighter Fatality
Logan Taylor, 25-year old firefighter, was killed August 18 when hit by a falling tree while working on the Rum Creek Fire.
