After thunderstorms rolled through southwest Oregon late yesterday and early today, the Oregon Department of Forestry reported 33 new strikes on lands it protects in Jackson and Josephine counties. There have been 180 strikes on ODF-protected lands so far this week.
ODF said it responded to numerous reports of possible fires on Tuesday, but the majority were drift smoke coming into the area from fires further north or "water dogs," which is steam rising in the heat after rain that has the appearance of smoke.
ODF Southwest responded to four new fires from the recent thunderstorm activity, two of which are completely lined and in different stages of mop-up and two that are now fully-extinguished.
The Schoolhouse Creek Fire on Walker Mountain northeast of Merlin was stopped at just under a half-acre. As of this morning, it was 100% lined and 80% mopped up.
The Armstrong Creek Fire located northeast of Buncom was an estimated two acres. Firefighters were dispatched at midnight, hiked in and located the blaze at 1:45 a.m.. It was 100% lined this morning and mop-up operations are underway.
The Conde Creek and Conde Canal fires northeast of Ashland were found and caught at 1-100th of an acre yesterday. Both are 100% lined and 100% mopped up.
For a third straight day, ODF will be monitoring lightning strike areas with aircraft, the Detection Center and on the ground in firefighter patrol areas.
