Firefighters with the Douglas Forest Protective Association responded to two fires in north Douglas County on Thursday.
Kyle Reed from DFPA said at approximately 3:15 p.m. crews were sent to a smoke investigation located five miles east of Rice Hill, near the 8,000 block of Elkhead Road. When they arrived, the fire was estimated to be five acres in size and was burning through a previously logged unit. A bull dozer was used to stop the forward spread of the fire by creating fire trails around the blaze while crews installed a hose lay behind it. At 7:00 p.m. the incident commander of the Elkhead Road Fire reported that fire trails had been completed around the entire blaze and that crews were working to secure the fire by extinguishing the smoldering and burning material near the fires edge.
Reed said GPS coordinates mapped the fire at just under 17 acres. No homes were threatened and the cause of the fire is under investigation. Crews from North Douglas County Fire and EMS assisted with fire suppression.
At approximately 5:10 p.m. crews were notified of an additional smoke report three miles west of Yoncalla, near the 4,000 block of Hayhurst Road. The first crew to arrive estimated the fire to be forty acres in size and reported that it was burning in a previously logged area. A bull dozer was used to construct fire lines around part of the blaze because the hillside became too steep to operate on. Hand crews continued to work into the night constructing hand line around the remaining portion of the fire.
Reed said the fire is estimated to be fifty acres in size, however the fire perimeter has not been mapped with a GPS. No homes are currently threatened by the Hayhurst Road Fire and the cause is under investigation.
North Douglas County Fire and EMS, Oakland Rural Fire Department and Elkton Rural Fire Department responded to the fire, as well as resources from private timber companies.