July 17, 2021 2:00 p.m.  

A strike team with members from as far as Arizona and Tennessee are heading to the Rogue Valley to provide initial attack capacity to the Oregon Department of Forestry Southern Oregon for up to two weeks.

An ODF release said the strike team is made up of five Rural Metro Type-6 engines, three from Arizona, including Yuma, Tucson and Maricopa County. The other two engines are locally based out of Grants Pass. One local Rural Metro firefighter will be joined be joined by three additional personnel from Tennessee to staff those engines. Combined with a strike team leader from Arizona, this mobilization will provide 11 additional firefighters to the region.

The release said the strike team will be based out of the Medford ODF headquarters, beginning its assignment on Monday. While it will be based in the Rogue Valley, the resource will be available to the entire ODF Southern Oregon Area, including the Western Lane, South Cascade and Southwest Oregon districts, as well as the Douglas and Coos Forest Protective associations.

With potential lightening in the forecast in the next few days, prepositioning this strike team ensures additional capacity to the area, according to the release.